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Nick Desbarats

I’ve Stopped Using Box Plots. Should You?

tl;dr: After having explained how to read box plots to thousands of workshop participants, I now believe that they’re poorly conceived (box plots, not workshop..

Claire Santoro

​​Communicating Climate Risk: Insights from the IPCC Information Design Team

This week marks the end of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which is being billed as “the world’s best last chance to get..

Jason Forrest & Raeedah Wahid

Interview with the South China Morning Post Infographics Team

One of the most interesting teams in the world has to be the Infographics team of the South China Morning Post. Based in Hong Kong,..

DVS Editor

Print Subscription Starts Today!

We are one step closer to Nightingale’s quest toward establishing a print magazine. After announcing our intentions at the beginning of the year, today we..

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Elle Gover
December 2, 2021

Dataviz Horror Stories: Jon Schwabish

Jon Schwabish, co-author with Alice Feng of the “Do No Harm” guide, tells his children five things: Be honest Be kind Be respectful Be hard..
hand sewn venn diagram showing love of tartan as the intersection of passion for patterns, fall/winter, and sewingT
Claire Santoro
December 1, 2021

Three Questions With… Julie Brunet (aka datacitron)

This content originally appeared as part of The ‘Gale, Nightingale’s biweekly newsletter. Building on her former position as a literature teacher and five years as..
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Mary Aviles
November 30, 2021

Curiouser and Curiouser: Crafting Questions and Attending to the Answers

Adjacent skills—some of which are referred to as “soft” skills (such an inappropriately diminutive moniker)–can serve you both personally and professionally. My goal in this..
Now’s the time!
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Gulrez Khan
November 23, 2021

Drawing Data with Kids

For many of us, the pandemic has merged the two worlds of “home” and “office.” On the rare occasions that I used to work from..
Header image from the IEEE VIS virtual showing the conference dates 24-29 Octobre 2021H
Noëlle Rakotondravony, Matt Brehmer & Yiren Ding
November 18, 2021

Highlights from IEEE VIS 2021

For the data visualization community all around the world, the last week of October was marked by IEEE VIS 2021. This was the second year..
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Amy Cesal, J. K. Dru & Jill A. Brown
November 17, 2021

Announcing the 2021 Data Visualization SOTI Survey Challenge!

The Data Visualization Society is pleased to announce a two-month challenge, focused on the results of the 2021 Data Visualization State of the Industry (SOTI)..
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Amanda Makulec
November 17, 2021

Five Questions to Ask When Starting Out in Dataviz at a Consulting Firm

Within the Data Visualization Society we frequently talk about the growing availability of full-time data visualization opportunities, including working as a data visualization consultant. If..
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Theresa-Marie Rhyne
November 16, 2021

Color Scheming from a Vintage Visualization

In this writing, I discuss how to build fresh color schemes from a vintage visualization.  I use a bubble chart created in the 1890s as..
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Oscar So
November 11, 2021

“What are you going to write for your second?” – An interview with Kenneth Field

Recently, I had the chance to interview Kenneth Field about his newly published book, Thematic Mapping: 101 Inspiring Ways to Visualise Empirical Data. Kenneth is..
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Claire Santoro
November 10, 2021

​​Communicating Climate Risk: Insights from the IPCC Information Design Team

This week marks the end of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which is being billed as “the world’s best last chance to get..
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Andy Krackov
November 9, 2021

Dashboards Are Not Data Stories

A few months ago, a longtime client asked if my data communication consultancy could build out a dashboard display for health collaboratives in California doing..
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Nick Desbarats
November 4, 2021

I’ve Stopped Using Box Plots. Should You?

tl;dr: After having explained how to read box plots to thousands of workshop participants, I now believe that they’re poorly conceived (box plots, not workshop..
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Ilena Peng
November 3, 2021

What Data Visualization and Analysis Taught One Activist about Airbnb’s Impact on Communities

Activist and technologist Murray Cox has been described as a “Lone Data Whiz” who is Airbnb’s “Public Enemy No. 1 in New York.” These monikers..
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Evelina Judeikytė
November 3, 2021

Sponsor Outlier!

Does your organization value data visualization? Please consider sharing this message with them!  Outlier – the global virtual data visualization conference – will be back..
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Liubov Popovets
October 26, 2021

Analytics of Avant-Garde: How Soviet Artists Designed Data

Internet research teaches us that people don’t read a text, but scan it. Fonts, pictures, and charts are used to highlight important ideas. A hundred..

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Spotlight on Community

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Jorge Camões
October 13, 2021

Histórias Aterradoras em Visualização de Dados: Jorge Camões

Read this article in English here. Alguma vez cometeu um erro constrangedor numa visualização de dados? Passou por completo ao lado da visão do cliente..
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Jorge Camões
October 13, 2021

Dataviz Horror Stories: Jorge Camões

Leia este artigo em portugues aqui. Have you ever made an embarrassing mistake in a data visualization? Did you utterly fail to meet your client’s or..
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Claire Santoro
October 6, 2021

REVIEW: Michelle Rial’s New Book, Maybe This Will Help, Feels Like a Hug From a Friend (With Charts!!)

If there’s one thing that the last 18 months have shown us, it’s that we are all Going Through Some Stuff. Maybe that’s dealing with..
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Marianne Butler
September 29, 2021

REVIEW: “Data Visualization: Storytelling” on LinkedIn Learning

After decades of dancing between a natural affinity for engineering and an insatiable obsession with visual aesthetics, I’ve recently landed in the professional field of..
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Simran Parwani
October 22, 2021

Early Career Corner: Meet Dzifa Amexo

I feel so lucky to be the Early Career Director at DVS: I get to talk to all sorts of people about data visualization and..
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Mary Aviles & Jason Forrest
October 21, 2021

Information Empowerment Bridges Expertise to Amplify Impact, Part 2

Part two of a six-part series on the application of design thinking for data practitioners, business intelligence analysts, researchers, and anyone working with data. Catch..
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Liz Bravo
October 20, 2021

Datos y Técnica: Reflexiones sobre Visualizar los Datos a Mano

Read this article in English here. Antes de hacer Visualización de datos con Tableau, Illustrator, R y todos los softwares que nos facilitan hacer Dataviz,..
Tidy hand embroidered bar chartD
Liz Bravo
October 20, 2021

Data and Technique: Reflections on Visualizing by Hand

Lee este artículo en español aquí. Before people began creating data visualizations with Tableau, Illustrator, R, and all the software that makes it easy for..
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Emilia Ruzicka
October 19, 2021

Plan Planet: Part 6 of a Year-Long Personal Data Project

This is the sixth installment of a year-long data visualization journey. If you want to read the fifth part before jumping in, here’s the article..
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Jason Forrest & Raeedah Wahid
October 14, 2021

Interview with the South China Morning Post Infographics Team

One of the most interesting teams in the world has to be the Infographics team of the South China Morning Post. Based in Hong Kong,..
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Or Misgav
October 12, 2021

How I Survived Being a New Mum Using My Dataviz Goggles

I found out that I was pregnant with my first child in the middle of the first lockdown. I was sitting at my favourite spot..
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Theresa-Marie Rhyne
October 7, 2021

Five Steps to a Diverging and Contrasting Color Scheme for Data Visualization

In this writing, I discuss the similarities between a Complementary Color Harmony and a Diverging Color Scheme for data visualization. The final results can look..
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DVS Editor
October 5, 2021

Print Subscription Starts Today!

We are one step closer to Nightingale’s quest toward establishing a print magazine. After announcing our intentions at the beginning of the year, today we..
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Eva Sibinga & Erin Waldron
September 30, 2021

Cognitive Load as a Guide: 12 Spectrums to Improve Your Data Visualizations

The internet is brimming with tidy lists of data visualization best practices, and their definitive confidence can be quite comforting. But at the end of..
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Silvia Romanelli
September 28, 2021

Why Mental Models Matter in Data Visualization

My three year-old son once told me, “I know how computers work: when you press a button on the keyboard, it pulls a string inside..
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Erica Gunn
September 24, 2021

An Insight-Informed View of DVS Education Opportunities

In July 2021, I joined the DVS Board as the Education Director. Since then, I’ve been doing some initial research to get clear on what..
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How to Iterate on a CDC Health Advisory Graphic

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has had its hands full for the last year and a half. It’s an agency full of talented,..
Screenshot of course landing page with image of Federica Fragapane holding a data visualizationR
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REVIEW: “Data Visualization and Information Design: Create a Visual Model,” a Domestika course by Federica Fragapane

If you are reading Nightingale, there is a chance you have just discovered the world of data visualization and information design. If that is the..
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Dataviz Horror Stories: Shirley Wu

Have you ever made an embarrassing mistake in a data visualization? Did you utterly fail to meet your client’s or boss’s vision? Did you proudly..
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THE KIDS’ TABLE: Draw Along Dataviz

Welcome to Draw Along Dataviz!This article is part of The Kids’ Table section on kids dataviz. This section of Nightingale is filled with mini-lessons and..
Information Empowerment - part 1I
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Information Empowerment is a Universal Theory for Data Design, Part 1

Part one of a six-part series on the application of design thinking for data practitioners, business intelligence analysts, researchers, and anyone working with data.Jason comes..
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CoViz-19 Part 2: A Personal Visualisation of the UK’s ‘Roadmap to Freedom’

During the first UK national lockdown in 2020, I documented and visualised my experience of living alone for 75 days from April to June 2020...
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Early Career Corner: Meet Rosmery Izaguirre

The Data Visualization Society Early Career Committee is launching the Early Career Corner, a series of conversations with practitioners in the beginnings of their data..
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What the DVS Team Did on Summer Vacation

Ever wonder what’s happening behind the scenes at DVS? What are the Board and Committees working on? What’s coming up soon?Here’s a bit about what..
Book cover: Information Design for the Common GoodI
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Information Design for the Common Good: Behind the Scenes with Author Courtney Marchese

As an environmental analyst, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about how to use information design to help solve societal problems. I think..
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Making Sense of Satellite Data, An Open Source Workflow: 2. Pre-processing Data with QGIS

There is more satellite data available now than ever before, but it still takes a little bit of work to convert the raw data into..
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Getting Physical with Perceptual Uniform Color Schemes: The Journey from HCL to CMYK and Pantone

In this writing, I discuss how to move your data visualization created with a Hue Chroma Luminance (HCL) color scheme to a physical or hard..
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Outlier is back in 2022 – Apply to speak!

This February, Data Visualization Society hosted the first annual Outlier Online with nearly 1,000 attendees, and 57 curated speakers. As we gear up for the next..
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REVIEW: Mapping Affinities by Dario Rodighiero

Influence has consequential implications. Consider Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger’s findings from his book, Contagious:  “A word-of-mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an..
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Today’s the Day: Take the DVS State of the Industry Survey and Live Your Best Life

Greetings from the Data Visualization Society, your global hub for connecting with resources, experts, peers, and data while expanding your own network and data visualization..
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REVIEW: Data Vis Book Club

Historically, I’ve been great at buying books to stage my shelves, but less good at reading them. In 2021, I’ve made a conscious effort to..
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Asia’s data scene deserves greater attention. That’s why we are starting a movement.

A data-driven studio telling stories about Asia, Kontinentalist uses data storytelling to bridge the gap between research and the public, bringing Asia to the forefront..
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Making Sense of Satellite Data, An Open Source Workflow: Accessing Data

We are living in a golden age of access to information about our home planet. Just twenty years ago, access to satellite data was limited..
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DVS NEWS: Erica Gunn joins the DVS board as Education Director

We’re excited to announce that Erica will be stepping in for Nathalie Vladis for the term through the end of this year. Erica will lead..
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Designing a Data Visualization Logo

Viz For Social Good began as a passion project (like many a great endeavour) from our founder Chloe Tseng in 2016. She felt that whereas..
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Ars Memorativa as the Genesis of Information Design: A Conversation with Manuel Lima

Manuel Lima is one of the most prominent figures of data visualization since the publication of Visual Complexity (Lima 2011). In this conversation, Manuel Lima traces..
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Data-Driven Album Covers

While there have been several great album covers that feature Data Visualization (Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures is based on a scientific diagram of Pulsars and..
Outlier conference provides inspirational talks, to meet and connect with others, and for all attendees to have a voice. The conference will also reflect and celebrate the global visualization community.
Check it out!

DVS Fireside Chats

Archives

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How I Used Data Visualization to Showcase My Career Trajectory

In our professional lives, every now and then we have opportunities to share our career trajectory with different audiences. For example, we may share with..
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Endless River: An Overview of Dataviz for Categorical Data

Let us explore some flow and network chart types that are ready-made for visual storytelling using categorical data  As a data scientist, I am surrounded..
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SPOTLIGHT: Designer Dogs

For TIME’s annual Answers Issue in 2014, the graphics department was tasked with presenting data-driven visual solutions to both simple and complex questions, and compiling..
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Highlights from the DVS Accessibility Fireside Chat

On July 28, 2021, the Data Visualization Society hosted a Fireside Chat to discuss accessibility in data visualization. I moderated a panel of community members..
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Como fazer para que as suas propostas de design sejam aprovadas pelo cliente

Read this article in English here or en français ici.Translation by Vivan Andreozzi É fácil apontar o dedo para os clientes quando falhamos como designers. Preferimos pensar..
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Creating a Perceptual Uniform Color Scheme By Combining I Want Hue And Viz Palette

In this writing, I discuss how to use the “i want hue” web app with Viz Palette  to create perceptually uniform color schemes for data..
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Aurora Speeding Tickets

Before smartphones, digital cameras, and orbiting satellites, the international scientific community recruited volunteer observers across the globe to record and report aurora borealis activity as..
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Comment faire accepter vos designs à vos clients?

Read this article in English here or em portugues aqui. Les clients sont un bouc émissaire facile pour nos échecs en tant que designers. Nous..
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How To Get Your Design Ideas Through a Client

Read this article en français ici or em portugues aqui. Clients are an easy target to blame for our failings as designers. We like to think..
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Three Questions with… Elijah Meeks

This content originally appeared as part of The ‘Gale newsletter.For the inaugural “Three Questions With …” we caught up with Elijah Meeks. Elijah is the Chief Visualization Officer..
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SPOTLIGHT: 100 Bridgerton Colors

This project started from my interest in extracting color palettes from scenes of everyday life—I like to take pictures of what is all around me..