A straight span used to hold, to block, or to measure. The same shape serves as support, barrier and scale.

A surface showing many measures at once. It exists to make a state graspable in a glance.

A drawing that shows how parts relate rather than how they look. A diagram is an argument in lines.

A chosen measure standing in for something harder to measure. A metric is always a proxy, and forgetting that is how it starts to lie.

Marked-off pieces of ground, and the shapes stories take. Both are areas someone drew a line around.

A single measured figure held for comparison. A number lifted out of its context, which is both its use and its danger.

Data given a form the eye can read at once. A visualisation is an argument made of shapes.