My acknowledgments below stand, but I have a few new ones to add, and a few old ones to reinforce.

Jeff Kehoe is not just my editor but my friend and calming force, both in the publishing process and in life in general. In the years since we first published Good Charts, his enthusiasm for its ideas has never waned. Thank you to Melinda Merino, the editorial director of Harvard Business Review Press and a publishing mentor who supported this update despite also needing me to acquire and edit other people’s books.

Erika Heilman and the entire commercial team at HBR Press have also been champions, and I’ve witnessed how committed they are to bringing out books that matter and then selling the hell out of them. This team includes Julie Devoll, Lindsey Dietrich, Felicia Sinusas, Alex Kephart, Jordan Concannon, and my favorite Londoners, Sally Ashworth and Jon Shipley.

Stephani Finks makes incredible book covers and has helped me throughout both this update and Good Charts Workbook, in addition to being a trusted confidante who saves me from my sometimes amateur notions of design.

Sometimes you don’t know who is really running things until you rely on them to fix your mistakes. I’m grateful to everyone in Press Production and Operations, superstars all, for their attention to detail and patience with deadline-blowing authors. Allison Peter, Rick Emanuel, Brian Galvin, Ed Domina, Anne Starr, and Victoria Desmond.

Of special note from this group is Jennifer Waring, whose patience with me is unnervingly constant, even when (especially when) I don’t deserve it. Jen also shepherded Good Charts Workbook through production and continues to make something out of my words and pictures that is much more than the sum of the parts.

Thank you to my fellow Press editors, Susan Francis, Kevin Evers, Courtney Cashman, Alicyn Zall (come back!), Dave Lievens, Emma Waldman, and Cheyenne Paterson.

Thank you to everyone who has bought this book, those who’ve reached out with questions or just kind words, and the thousands of people I’ve encountered speaking and consulting on good charts, all of whom challenge and inspire me.

Finally, my family: Sara, Emily, Molly, Piper, and Ollie. Thank you for everything. I love you.

Fall 2022

Publishing a book is no small thing. Publishing a book on its side, in color, with a few hundred charts is no sane thing. Fortunately, I’m surrounded by smart, energetic people who are willing to embrace a little insanity.

Principally, I need to thank Jeff Kehoe, my editor, whose steadfast enthusiasm for this project was eclipsed only by his patience with the author. Getting to work with someone as skilled at crafting books as Jeff is winning the editorial lottery for a first-timer like me.

Also, if you are impressed with the charts in this book—and you should be—it’s because of the elite information design skills of Bonnie Scranton. Bonnie was given scratched-out sketches, messy data sets, rough prototypes, and sometimes just a description on the phone. With that raw material, she created the effective and elegant charts that give this book its meaning.

The compelling structure and deluxe design of what you’re holding is a testament to James de Vries, who brings sophistication and a sense of play to everything he touches. He also masterfully penned all of the freehand sketches in this book, most of them in one go. Most of what I know about the role of design in visualization, and in life, comes from my friend James.

I’m also indebted to HBR’s leadership, especially Tim Sullivan and Adi Ignatius, who championed this project; and to my HBR colleagues, including Martha Spaulding, who makes average prose exceptional; Erica Truxler, who managed innumerable and mind-numbing details; and Allison Peter, Dave Lievens, and Ralph Fowler, who expertly managed the construction of the book. Special thanks, too, to dataviz researcher Lane Harrison of Tufts University, who was beyond generous with his time and knowledge.

Thank you also to the many colleagues and friends who listened to me, read for me, and ultimately endured me, especially Amy Bernstein, Stephani Finks, Susan Francis, Walter Frick, and Marta Kusztra.

To these people and to anyone I’ve accidentally omitted, thank you for your time, knowledge, and support: Andrew Abela, Kate Adams, George Alvarez, Alison Beard, Katherine Bell, Jeremy Boy, Remco Chang, Catalin Ciobanu, #dataviz on Slack, Julie Devoll, Lindsey Dietrich, Nancy Duarte, Kevin Evers, Steven Franconeri, Kaiser Fung, Jeffrey Heer, Eric Hellweg, David Kasik, Robert Kosara, Josh Macht, Jock Mackinlay, Steve J. Martin, the Magazine Team, Sarah McConville, Dan McGinn, Maggy McGloin, Greg Mroczek, Tamara Munzer, Nina Nocciolino, Karen Palmer, Matt Perry, Keith Pfeffer, Ronald Rensink, Raquel Rosenbloom, Michael Segalla, Romain Vuillemot, Adam Waytz, the Web Team, Leland Wilkinson, and Jim Wilson.

Finally, thank you to my entire family—Sara, Emily, Molly; Vin, Paula, my siblings, and my extended family—many of whom endured a grueling night of shouting and insults over truncated y-axes.