CIRCLE PACK

nested-look circle cluster, AREA proportional to value. Needs: 3-12 positive values where an organic cluster beats a grid.

part-to-wholemagnitude

DL-01 AGRAW

Use when

WARN: editorial openers where an organic cluster invites exploration
one-off overviews where precision is explicitly not the point

Do not use when

comparing circle areas (worse than rectangles, much worse than bars)
any recurring report (the pack layout shifts as values change)

See instead

areas must be compared: CH-PTW-05
rank matters: CH-RNK-01

Alternatives

CH-PTW-05 (same data, readable rectangles)
CH-RNK-01 (exact ranking)

Rules

deterministic spiral packing, published algorithm; no random layouts
labels inside circles that fit, above the rim otherwise
one highlight maximum

Never do this

WARN ENTRY: circle areas are the least readable encoding that still counts as a chart; CH-PTW-05 whenever anyone must compare
random or physics layouts
nesting deeper than one level

QA before delivering

deterministic layout
values printed where circles fit
highlight <= 1
source present

Data shape

title	action title with a number
source	bottom-left always
unit	on the largest circle
categories	[{label, value, highlight?}]

Sample data (golden)

{
  "title": "Piping dwarfs every other backlog",
  "eyebrow": "OPEN ITEMS BY SECTION",
  "source": "Source: sample dataset v1, 2026-07-12",
  "unit": "items",
  "categories": [
    {
      "label": "Piping",
      "value": 84,
      "highlight": true
    },
    {
      "label": "Electrical",
      "value": 46
    },
    {
      "label": "Instr.",
      "value": 33
    },
    {
      "label": "Civil",
      "value": 22
    },
    {
      "label": "Mech.",
      "value": 18
    },
    {
      "label": "HVAC",
      "value": 10
    },
    {
      "label": "Paint",
      "value": 7
    },
    {
      "label": "Scaffold",
      "value": 5
    }
  ]
}