Chartjunk -what does it mean?

Wikipedia says Edward Tufte said in ‘83 that chartjunk is “a lot of ink that does not tell the viewer anything new” and compares it to Adolf Loos “ornament is a crime”

In a ‘08 translation that would be: lots of added graphics in a web page without any purpose other than to tire the eye of the visitor

It’s not hard at all to find examples of cluttered websites. They are everywhere. I guess they come from a general impression that the upper side of the page is critical real estate, therefore it has to contain every single product the company has to offer.

The first example that comes to my mind is the biggest Apple reseller, MacMall where the sales and the super sales are fighting over square inch.

It’s not so much about the information that’s stuffed on home but the overall “ornament”. It’s blue and green and grey. And it has stars. And airplanes and boxes. It’s screaming :

“I don’t want to be Apple, I’m just proving by contrast that Apple’s design is great”