Uncommon chart types: Waffle charts
If you thought a pie chart was the only food-related chart type out there, think again! There is the donut chart – basically just a pie chart with a hole in the middle – but as a Belgian, I am particularly fond of what’s called a waffle chart. It’s a great alternative to a pie chart, and very easy to make. Oh dear, my stomach’s growling already!
What is a waffle chart?
A waffle chart is basically a square display, usually consisting of 100 smaller squares arranged in a 10-by-10 layout. The squares are colored according to the proportions you are aiming to visualize, similarly to how you would color different slices of a pie chart. As this square layout somewhat resembles a delicious waffle, this immediately explains the name of the chart:
However, compared to a pie chart, a waffle chart is much easier to read – our brain is not well suited to compare different angles and slices, but we can quite easily compare different areas.
Alternative waffle charts
You will notice that many waffle charts are not made up of squares, but of alternative shapes, usually circles. Other shapes, such as small icons, are also possible – in this case we are approaching the realm of pictogram charts.
Another alternative are waffle charts consisting of more (or less) than 100 units, where the items represent actual numbers rather than fractions or percentages:
Here, each square represents $10 million, rather than 1%.
In the latter case, there are some similarities with charts we typically see after elections, showing the distribution of the different seats. One could argue that these kind of charts (‘Parliament charts’) are just a form of ‘warped’ waffle charts:
A Parliament Chart created using Flourish.
Some people prefer to turn their waffle charts by 45°, simply for design purposes, but well, some people are just weird:
Creating waffle charts
Making waffle charts is maybe a little bit tedious, but very simple! For example, you could create square cells in Excel, and color them using intelligent cell formatting to recreate the effect. If you google ‘waffle chart Excel‘ you will immediately get hundreds of blog posts and video tutorials describing the necessary steps.
Or you could take your favourite graphics software (such as Paint.NET, GIMP, or Inkscape), draw 100 identical shapes and color them according to your data.
And some people have managed to do it in Infogram, apparently.
More waffles than you'll ever need
To conclude, some wonderful things people have done with waffle charts, including this tile grid map of waffle charts about internet use in Africa:
Apparently created by one.org, but I can’t find the exact source!
Oh, and a circular waffle chart is sometimes called a plum pudding chart, after J.J. Thomson’s plum pudding model for the atom, which is in turn named after a Christmas cake. The more you know!
Finally, if you would ever think about creating a 3D waffle chart… it’s not impossible, but let’s say it’s frowned upon. Maybe we should keep that 3rd dimension for real waffles only?
More uncommon chart types? We have already covered:
- Slopegraphs
- Waffle charts
Read more:
How to create a graphical abstract
Graphical abstracts are becoming more and more important. Journal publishers such as Elsevier encourage you to create a concise visual summary of the main findings of your research. But where to start? What steps should you follow to create the perfect graphical abstract for your article? What tools can you use?
Behind the maps
In the 30-day Map Challenge, you are challenged to design a new map every day around a certain topic. I participated in November 2020, and wrote this post to share my thought processes, data sources, tools and results!
Data visualization resources: all the links you’ll ever need!
You want to start creating clear and attractive data visuals, but don't know where to start? No worries, here's a complete overview of tools, resources and inspiration you can use as a starting point for your designs.
Storytelling with Data: Dataviz book review
The Storytelling with Data book has been on my wishlist as long as I can remember, because so many people recommend it as one of the must read dataviz books. So let's see what the fuzz is all about - here's my review!
Uncommon chart types: Slopegraphs
Slopegraphs appear in 'serious' newspapers, but they are very easy to create yourself. Use them if you want to compare how values have changed between two different points in time!
Data visualization in a time of pandemic – #6: Viral scrollytelling
In this final chapter, we’ll dive deeper into some of the insightful stories which have been published about the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than looking at single charts, we’ll highlight some long-form stories about the origin of the virus, how it works, and how it spread.
We are really into visual communication!
Every now and then we send out a newsletter with latest work, handpicked inspirational infographics, must-read blog posts, upcoming dates for workshops and presentations, and links to useful tools and tips. Leave your email address here and we’ll add you to our mailing list of awesome people!
