The Freak Parade » Graphics & Design http://www.thefreakparade.com Strange noises from the mind of Nathan Stults... Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:10:06 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Create Bullet Graphs with Google Charts in 7 Easy Steps http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/06/create-bullet-graphs-with-google-charts-in-7-easy-steps/ http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/06/create-bullet-graphs-with-google-charts-in-7-easy-steps/#comments Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:23:39 +0000 Nathan http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/06/05/create-bullet-graphs-with-google-charts-in-7-easy-steps/ I haven’t paid much attention to Google Charts so far, but I have enjoyed Stephen Few’s “Bullet Graphs.” A bullet graph is an extremely condensed sort of bar chart that shows the current value of a KPI, and various ranges such as unacceptable, acceptable and target, and an optional indicator line that can mean several things. Anyway, here is an example of a bullet chart (from wikipedia):

 

Bullet graph labeled.png

 

This blog post referenced below was referenced in Stephen Few’s blog this morning and describes the several easy steps required to create a bullet graph using the Google API. Being able to easily throw these things up, ad hoc, in any web page is pretty phenomenal, if you ask me. The image below is actually a Google Graph:

 

Here is the link to the guide:

DEALER DIAGNOSTICS » Blog Archive » Create Bullet Graphs with Google Charts in 7 Easy Steps

]]> http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/06/create-bullet-graphs-with-google-charts-in-7-easy-steps/feed/ 0 css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/05/css-zen-garden-the-beauty-in-css-design/ http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/05/css-zen-garden-the-beauty-in-css-design/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 01:20:26 +0000 Nathan http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/05/06/css-zen-garden-the-beauty-in-css-design/ Here is a pretty awe inspiring demonstration of the power of raw CSS for rendering a website design. Why bother with more complicated skinning mechanisms when CSS can do it all?

css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design

]]> http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/05/css-zen-garden-the-beauty-in-css-design/feed/ 0 The Open Source, .NET version of Photoshop http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/04/the-open-source-net-version-of-photoshop/ http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/04/the-open-source-net-version-of-photoshop/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:35:15 +0000 Nathan http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/04/11/the-open-source-net-version-of-photoshop/ Maybe not quite Photoshop, but a few light-years ahead of MS-Paint in case you need to crop and image or add transparency to something, or you want to see how various image transformations can be accomplished in .net…

 

]]> http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/04/the-open-source-net-version-of-photoshop/feed/ 0 For the next time you need an icon editor… http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/04/for-the-next-time-you-need-an-icon-editor/ http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/04/for-the-next-time-you-need-an-icon-editor/#comments Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:02:12 +0000 Nathan http://www.thefreakparade.com/2008/04/03/for-the-next-time-you-need-an-icon-editor/ IcoFX

Here is what looks to be a very powerful, open source icon editor. You never know when you’ll need one.

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