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From simple charts to complex maps and infographics, Brian Suda's round-up of the best – and mostly free – tools has everything you need to bring your data to life...

A common question is how to get started with data visualisations. Beyond following blogs, you need to practice – and to practice, you need to understand the tools available. In this article, get introduced to 20 different tools for creating visualisations: from simple charts to complex graphs, maps and infographics. Almost everything here is available for free, and \you may have installed already...

Via Lauren Moss, sofilab

We live in a world steeped in graphic information. From Google Maps and GIS to the proliferation of infographics and animated maps, visual data surrounds us.

While we may think of infographics as a relatively recent development to make sense of the immense amount of data available on the Web, they actually are rooted in the 19th century.

Two major developments led to a breakthrough in infographics: advances in lithography and chromolithography, which made it possible to experiment with different types of visual representations, and the availability of vast amounts of data, including from the American Census as well as natural scientists, who faced heaps of information about the natural world, such as daily readings of wind, rainfall, and temperature spanning decades.

But such data was really only useful to the extent that it could be rendered in visual form. And this is why innovation in cartography and graphic visualization mattered so greatly...

Via Lauren Moss, Beth Kanter

On September 27th, the world's best examples of visually stunning information was recognized at the inaugural Information is Beautiful awards.

The event, held at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, awarded designers from all over the world in a variety of categories, including data visualisation, infographics and data journalism.

When David McCandless, author, data journalist and founder of the IIB data-visualisation studio, announced in early 2012 that IIB was looking for award applicants, he was inundated with over 1,000 entries.

"I've just been amazed by the sheer quality of the creative work submitted to the awards from around the world," McCandless told Wired.co.uk. "There are a number of criteria we look for when judging these awards. Not only do they have to have the right visual quality and be easily understood, they have to have that invisible element of story telling as well."

 

Read the complete article for a closer look at all the winners, selected by a panel of judges including musician and visual artist Brian Eno, senior curator of the Museum of Modern Art Paola Antonelli, BrainPickings.org editor Maria Popova and Guardian Datablog editor Simon Rogers.

Via Lauren Moss, Beth Kanter

Curatored by Beth Kanter

http://www.bethkanter.org

 

Is an infographic good or not?

(1)  Graphics - look/feel

(2)  Are there insights shared based on data?

 

 

Via Lauren Moss, Beth Kanter