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1 Introduction: network visualization

The main concern in designing a network visualization is the purpose it has to serve. What are the structural properties that we want to highlight? What are the key concerns we want to address?



Network maps are far from the only visualization available for graphs - other network representation formats, and even simple charts of key characteristics, may be more appropriate in some cases.



In network maps, as in other visualization formats, we have several key elements that control the outcome. The major ones are color, size, shape, and position.