City of Helsinki infographics guidelines

A practical guide for data visualization

Flow chart explaining how to choose a correct presentation mode for a time series graph.

The City of Helsinki data visualization guide (“Visuaalisen ilmeen ohjeisto: tiedon visualistointi”) is an extensive addition to the city’s existing brand guidelines, aimed at helping content creators produce clear, concise, and brand consistent data visualizations in line with the city’s other communication materials.

The guide covers general visualization topics such as proper choice in chart type, best practices for common visualization types, ideal layout and content of text elements, as well as use of color, including accessible color palettes. In addition to the guide, the finished package will include Excel chart templates to aid users in creating graphics in line with the city’s brand guidelines and visualization best practices.

Example of a divergent color palette with brand green and blue. Figure explaining minimum contrast requirements for different elements. Example of a use case for big numbers or a pictogram chart. Figure demonstrating the use of a horizontal grouped bar chart and a horizontal stacked bar chart.

Example sections from the guidelines

Intro section from the site containing the guidelines. Section of the site explaining the guidelines for time series representation. Section of the site explainig how to truncate scales when necessary.