Part-to-whole
Pictogram (icon array)
A grid of identical icons where each stands for a fixed unit, coloured by group, so a share can be counted rather than estimated.
All 100 icons, each one 1% of American adults: 4 vegetarian, 96 not.
Use it when
- Small shares that would vanish as a slice or a bar
- Audiences who think in counts: “4 in 100”
- A single, memorable proportion
Avoid it when
- Comparing many groups or many periods
- Precise values that do not round to whole icons
- Decorative icons that do not relate to the subject
Display modes
- Default
- All 100 icons, each one 1% of American adults: 4 vegetarian, 96 not.
- Annotated
- Fades the majority so the four vegetarians become the subject, as the caption “only 4 out of 100” does.
