Home

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,..

Mary Aviles & Jason Forrest

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..

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..

Nancy Organ

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..

Latest articles

A
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..
E
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..
I
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..
Now’s the time!
Subscribe to Nightingale Magazine
Nightingale Magazine is a collectible community celebration! Our print magazine showcases some of the most compelling data visualization projects and stories from around the world.
SUBSCRIBE NOW! $40 for 2 issues
Messy backside of a hand embroidered chartD
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..
P
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..
I
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,..
H
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..
D
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..
H
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..
F
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..
R
Claire Santoro
October 6, 2021

REVIEW: Dataviz Gets Personal: 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..
P
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..
C
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..
R
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..

Sponsors

Sign up for The ‘Gale
Get our monthly newsletter! It's a fun overview of our content and community
Sign Up
We love first time writers
Write for Nightingale!
Here’s a comprehensive list of everything you need to know to begin to (or continue to) write for Nightingale! After you submit your article, we will team you with an editor, publish your article, promote it on social media - and even pay you for your work!
Get started now

Spotlight on Community

A
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..
Screenshot of course landing page with image of Federica Fragapane holding a data visualizationR
Marilia Ferreira da Cunha
September 22, 2021

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..
D
Shirley Wu
September 21, 2021

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..
C
Chesca Kirkland
September 14, 2021

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...
W
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..
H
Alex Rich
September 23, 2021

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,..
T
Nancy Organ
September 16, 2021

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
Mary Aviles & Jason Forrest
September 15, 2021

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..
E
Simran Parwani
September 13, 2021

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..
W
Amanda Makulec
September 10, 2021

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
Claire Santoro
September 9, 2021

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..
M
Robert Simmon
September 8, 2021

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..
G
Theresa-Marie Rhyne
September 7, 2021

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..
O
Evelina Judeikytė
September 3, 2021

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..
R
Mary Aviles
September 2, 2021

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..
T
Jill Brown & J. K. Dru
September 1, 2021

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..
R
Main Category

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..
A
Main Category

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..
M
Main Category

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..
D
Main Category

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..
D
Main Category

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..
A
Main Category

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..
D
Main Category

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..
H
Main Category

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..
E
Main Category

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..
S
Main Category

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..
H
Main Category

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..
C
Main Category

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..
C
Main Category

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..
A
Main Category

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..
C
Main Category

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..
H
Main Category

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..
T
Main Category

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..
S
Main Category

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..
Y
Main Category

You’ve Got Mail: Part 5 of a Year-Long Personal Data Project

This is the fifth installment of a year-long data visualization journey. If you want to read the fourth part before jumping in, here’s the article..
Y
Main Category

You’ve Visualized Your Data, Now Actualize Your Promotion

I sat through approximately 160 cross-calibration conversations for analysts in my career. A cross-cal is how many companies ensure associates get a fair performance rating..
Some of W. E. B. DuBois’s original charts in the background and their #DuBoisChallenge recreations.R
Main Category

REVIEW: Data + Diversity-Exploring the Data Visualizations of W.E.B. Du Bois

I identify as “new to data.” So, when I attended Tableau’s February Data + Diversity talk, I was totally sending out imposter syndrome vibes. In..
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

W
Main Category

What Is the Bechdel Test and What Is Its Relevance to Today’s Film Industry?

The film industry is one of the most impactful sectors in our society and it has been influencing our values and opinions for decades now...
S
Main Category

SPOTLIGHT: The Process behind “Among Us” and What I Learned from the DVS Census Challenge

Loris’s visualization won first place in this year’s Data Visualization Society Census Challenge, exploratory category. As a data visualization designer hobbyist, participating in the DVS Census..
T
Main Category

Three Questions with… Emilia Ruzicka

This content originally appeared as part of The ‘Gale newsletter. Today, we’re getting to know one of our regular Nightingale writers, Emilia Ruzicka. Emilia studied data journalism..
T
Main Category

The Why, the What, and the How in Dataviz

This is part nine in a series of articles that illustrate how basic design principles can improve information display. The previous article took a deep..
R
Main Category

REVIEW: Evergreen Data Academy

Two years ago, I didn’t even know that data visualization was a thing. I had just started a new job where I was asked to..
Book cover of Hands-On Data VisualizationR
Main Category

REVIEW: Hands-on Data Visualization

As a community-taught dataviz designer, I love digging into the craft of turning data into narrative and finding new ways to combat the dataviz equivalent..
C
Main Category

Chatting Xenographics With Maarten Lambrechts

This content originally appeared as part of The ‘Gale newsletter.Maarten Lambrechts is a freelance data journalist, data designer, and visualization consultant. Recently, he sat down with Nightingale to..
example dashboard in Grafana displaying results of DVS censusH
Main Category

How to in Grafana - Part 2: Creating Interactive Dashboards

This is the second article in a series about Grafana. Part 1 was an intro, demonstrating how to create a simple static dashboard using Grafana,..
S
Main Category

SPOTLIGHT: Europe against Racism – in Memoriam to George Floyd

The brutal killing of George Floyd made me rethink many things. Racism is a global problem, but this incident reached a tipping point that drove..
P
Main Category

Perceptual Uniformity with HCL Wizard

In this writing, I discuss how to build a Color Scheme for your data visualization with the freely accessible web app called HCL Wizard. HCL..
T
Main Category

Three Questions with… Amanda Makulec

This content originally appeared as part of The ‘Gale newsletter. Back in January, the Data Visualization Society held its first ever Annual General Meeting and elected a..