PICTOGRAM

Use when

• countable things told in countable marks (people, lots, trucks)
• audiences who respond to unit metaphors

Do not use when

• non-count measures (rates, currency)
• values needing precision

See instead

• the share of a whole is the message: CH-PTW-06
• no countable-units story: CH-RNK-01

Alternatives

• CH-RNK-01 (no unit metaphor needed)
• CH-PTW-06 (share of 100)

Rules

• a square is an abstract unit, never a distorted icon
• partial units drawn as partial squares
• the unit key (one square = N) printed under the chart

Never do this

• icons whose area distorts the count
• undeclared unit value
• different unit values per row

QA before delivering

• unit key printed
• partial squares exact
• values printed
• source present

Data shape

{
  "title": "Deliveries doubled in a year: 240 loads against 120",
  "eyebrow": "LOADS BY YEAR",
  "source": "Source: sample dataset v1, 2026-07-12",
  "unit": "loads",
  "unit_value": 20,
  "categories": [
    {
      "label": "2024",
      "value": 120
    },
    {
      "label": "2025",
      "value": 240
    },
    {
      "label": "2026 plan",
      "value": 300
    }
  ]
}