Visualization Techniques and Practice

Data Visualization is driven by data. Its form is often derived from optimizing the efficiency of inputting data (and information about that data) into a human brain. It is a very pragmatic practice, built around numbers and logic.

And yet it is beautiful. It evokes emotions. It can be aesthetically pleasing, or hideous. It communicates complex concepts and provokes thought. It is consumed for enjoyment. Some visualizations even share similarities with poetry.

There are several stages in the life cycle of data visualizations, and while the core of the practice is driven by rational thinking, any number of stages in the process have opportunities for subjective decisions or artistic interpretations...

Via Lauren Moss

A pictorial display of statistics, the infographic is a huge hit in the internet age.

But as one on rape figures has recently shown, they can be highly misleading.

A picture apocryphally speaks a thousand words, but its 21st-century counterpart – the infographic – often says much less. It's no surprise that the grabby and easily shared format has taken off in the internet era, and the latest graphic to go viral is one on a tough and complex problem: rape and criminal justice...

Via Lauren Moss