Sankey is usually enough
Studio piece · Field guide no. 1
Every story has a shape
Seven questions, 30 visual forms, one dataset. Find the question your data answers, start with the plain form beside it, and move right only when a more unusual shape tells the story better. Select any form to see it at work on real EU electricity data.
The question
Start here
Alternatives
Earns its place
01 · Change
What changed over time?
02 · Ranking
Who leads, who trails?
03 · Part of a whole
What is it made of?
04 · Distribution
How is it spread?
05 · Flow
Where does it go?
06 · Relationship
What goes with what?
07 · Place
Where is it?
* Petal. In the EU Electricity Garden, each country's six energy sources only make sense together, as one shape. A stacked bar shows the parts; the petal shows the character. That is the test for anything in the right-hand column.
* Bump. A bump chart shows change over time, but what it shows best is rank, so it sits under Ranking. Every form here is, or will be, in Dataosity Viz. Follow the work at dataosity.com.
Data. Eurostat: gross electricity production by source (nrg_bal_peh, 2015–2024), monthly net generation for Ireland (nrg_cb_pem, 2019–2025) and electricity imports by partner (nrg_ti_eh, 2024).