Isotype chart
Counts drawn as rows of icons.
Definition · Updated Nov 2, 2026
An isotype chart draws counts as rows of icons, each standing for a set amount, so a number becomes something you can see. Use it for orders, people or parcels when the audience reads pictures faster than bars.
Pay once. Every update included.
Live preview
Sample data: orders by channel, one box = 100, web 1,840, retail 310
- Data shape
- A count per item and a unit per icon
- Good for
- Orders, people, parcels
- Avoid when
- Values are not countable things
- Sizes
- XS, S, M and L, re-laid out from the data
Anatomy
Inspect it like the Figma file.
The same layers, names and tokens as the component. Select one to read its size, fill and style.
Layers
097 / Isotype
- Layer
- parcel
- Type
- Rectangle
- Size
- 12 × 12
- Fill
- data/cat-2
- Radius
- 3
- Group
- Marks · 84
Layers
097 / Isotype
- Layer
- parcel
- Type
- Rectangle
- Size
- 12 × 12
- Fill
- data/cat-2
- Radius
- 3
- Group
- Marks · 84
Layers
097 / Isotype
- Layer
- parcel
- Type
- Rectangle
- Size
- 5 × 5
- Fill
- data/cat-1
- Radius
- 3
- Group
- Marks · 44
Sizes
Re-laid out, never scaled.
The same data at XS, S, M and L. Every size is redrawn from the data, so text and line weights never shrink.
M against S
Width360 px480 px
Plot328 px440 px
Labels88
Marks4484
Height212 px246 px
Same tokens at every size: text styles, 1 px lines and mark radius stay put.
When to use
Counts you can see.
Three signs it fits, and three signs another type fits better.
Code and Figma
One name in Figma and in code.
Every Figma property is a prop with the same name and values. One command installs it.
Figma
chart/097-isotype-orders
npx shadcn add @chartory/isotypeimport { Isotype } from "@/components/chartory/isotype"import { channelOrders } from "./channel-orders"export function ChannelOrders() { return ( <Isotype data={channelOrders} size="m" legend={true} /> )}Hearth widget
Isotype as a widget.
The chart in a Hearth card with a hero number and two blocks. One token set, light and dark.
EmberPreset
ChartoryDefault preset
Pick the blocks, the size and the preset for your own widget.
Read the Hearth widget docsFAQ
Isotype questions.
What people ask before they put an isotype in a dashboard.
Something else?
hello@usechartory.comA set amount, named in the legend (1 box = 100), so web's 1,840 orders read as a little over 18 boxes.
At the end of each icon row, with the channel's name on the left (Web … 1,840), so the icons give the picture and the numbers the detail.
One data object in the sample’s shape: a count per item and a unit per icon. The docs page lists every field and links its JSON Schema; the sample data comes with the component, so you can start from it and swap in your own.
Series take the preset’s data colours in order, and states such as up, down or warning take its status colours. Change the preset in Figma or in code to recolour every chart at once.
XS, S, M and L, in light and dark. Each size is laid out again from the data, so text and lines keep their size.
Yes. It plays in when it scrolls into view, and when the data changes every mark moves from its old place to its new one. With reduced motion on, it does not move.
Yes. The React component is free in the public registry in Hearth, no token needed; Signal comes with Code and Complete. The Figma component comes with Figma and Complete.
Ask for it by name. The MCP server tells the agent what data it needs and runs the same command: npx shadcn add @chartory/isotype. You review the diff.
Related types
Other ways to show part of a whole.
The same question, a different shape of answer. Every type ships in Figma and in code.
Same family
Part of a whole
16 types in Chartory answer this question.