Best tool for graph creation

[Matt Hodges]

I'm looking for advice on the best tools for data visualistion.

I'm a professional designer and increasingly I'm needing to design graphs and charts to visualise data in reports I'm putting together. As a designer I obviously want full control over the appearence of these graphics, from fundamental things like colour and typography right through to the finer details like stroke width.

I have experimented with the various graph/chart tools in Illustrator with limited success. My question really is whether I shoud persevere with these tools and master them, or if there is a better third party option I should be using? It's crucial that the graphics can be exported as vector graphics, and also that they remain fully editable.

[Met1]

"I'm a professional designer..."

I think restricting yourself to the way Illy does it may not be best for uniqueness... so why not design exactly what you want from scratch? A long long time ago, I used to do this - I never liked how Illy worked this, maybe I wasn't very proficient in it's use, who knows, I found it easier to design from scratch. However if you are constantly updating data the Illy way may be better.

Now there are a LOT of graphing apps, I don't know whether they support vector though...

[Matt Hodges]

Designing from scratch is not an option for a couple of reasons. Firstly I need to represent the data accurately – I can't run the risk of making mistakes. Secondly, I need to create charts and graphs that I can amend easily in the event that the client decides to change the data, which happens a lot.

I'm currently experimenting with an online tool called Datylon which looks prominsing…

[Monika Gause]

Could you perhaps show examples of things you want to do?

[Matt Hodges]

It's mostly quite straight forward stuff like this. The client might send me a graph they have made in Powerpoint or similar, and I need to recreate it so that I can add it to a report I'm designing in InDesign.

[Monika Gause]

Using graph designs and graphic styles you could do this in Illustrator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P66sEGEqYbI (data points can be styled that way as well)

But then there is also Datylon, third party commercial plugin for Illustrator.