Marks and Channels

Marks

Marks are the the basic geometries, or graphical elements, in a plot that depict our data items or their linkages.

  • Points
  • Lines
  • Area
  • Volume
  • Containment
  • Connection

    Channels

Channels are the attributes of that control how the marks appear. Channels are used to encode (or indicate) the values or meaning of our data.

Identity Channels: Categorical Attributes

  • Spatial Region
  • Color Hue
  • Motion
  • Shape

Magnitude Channels: Ordered Attributes

  • Position on common scale
  • Position on unaligned scale
  • Length (1D size)
  • Tilt/angle
  • Area (2D size)
  • Depth (3D position)
  • Color luminance
  • Color saturation
  • Curvature
  • Volume (3D size)

Source: Tamara Munzner, Visualization Analysis and Design

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