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Does anyone know what this type of chart is called?

Edit: Thanks for the responses, I know it is a type of bar chart, I want to know the specific type with the tubes and cylinders.

Edit2: FYI: This type of chart is always used in Dutch election results.

enter image description here

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5  
Hmm... Bar chart? – Captain Oct 18 '12 at 14:34
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There probably isn't a specific name for this type of chart (it seems to me to be a fairly unique design), but I would propose column/rounded column/cylinder and sleeve. What's your purpose in finding a name for it? Are you looking for the API that will create them, or do you just want to communicate its design with words to a client/manager? If the latter, just describe it concisely. – msanford Oct 18 '12 at 15:25
I want to generate them on a web page. (API/library) But I was also curious for the name :) – RobAu Oct 18 '12 at 15:28
There is no special name, that I have ever run across, that specifically calls out a bar chat that uses cylinders and tubes. It is simply a bar chat, that uses fancier graphics it he form of cylinder and tubes. You just need to draw them accordingly on the web page. – Evil Closet Monkey Oct 19 '12 at 13:41
Just in case anyone interested; I wrote a bit of javascript to generate these graphs: audenaerde.org/svgcylinder – RobAu Oct 23 '12 at 19:43

closed as off topic by dhmholley, ChrisF, Benny Skogberg, Ben Brocka♦ Oct 19 '12 at 18:10

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4 Answers

up vote 12 down vote accepted

This chart belongs to the family of Bar Charts. However, there are a variety of bar charts that you can create, including vertical, horizontal, grouped, stacked, and overlapped.

Grouped

enter image description here

Stacked

enter image description here

Overlapped

enter image description here

As you see from the examples, your chart would correspond to the Overlapped bar chart, because values are drawn inside of each other.

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The nice thing about the chart in the image is that the inner-values can always be seen, either when they are higher or are lower than the outer values – RobAu Oct 18 '12 at 15:15
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+1 this is definitely an overlapped chart, and a clever one at that. I would add that some people ( Microsoft, Google ) distinguish between bar (horizontal) and column (vertical, as above) charts. – msanford Oct 18 '12 at 15:19
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@msanford Thanks! Ok, so from their perspective this would be considered an overlapping column chart, since it's vertical? – AndroidHustle Oct 18 '12 at 17:56
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@RobAu I totally agree. I've actually heard from people dealing with presentation of statistics that you shouldn't style the charts since that takes away from the perception of the data and the viewer will put more focus on the actual chart, eg. 3d bar charts. However in this case, making the bars 3d works absolutely great compared to if they were only 2d. – AndroidHustle Oct 18 '12 at 17:59
@AndroidHustle Apparently. I only added it for completeness. If you search Google Images for bar chart and column chart you get the same results at the top (which are, incidentally, almost universally column charts). – msanford Oct 18 '12 at 18:14
up vote 4 down vote

I would call it a bar chart or a bar graph. I'm not aware of a special name in the case that there is no vertical axis.

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up vote 2 down vote

I'd go with that.. Bar chart = chart with bars of length proportional to values they represent.

Axis are labelled in a slightly unusual way though.

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up vote 2 down vote

One might call it a stacked vertical bar chart. And also, at the risk of sounding obnoxious, I think Edward Tufte and Stephen few might call them stacked vertical bar charts embellished with superfluous visual ornaments, texturing, and 3d effects that call attention to themselves rather than providing the best possible means for the brain to accomplish the task at hand, the task of comprehending the data. (Here's just one example of Few on the topic: http://www.perceptualedge.com/blog/?p=559.) Tufte's phrase for this is "chartjunk".

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+1 for the term "chartjunk" – RobAu Oct 19 '12 at 6:42

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