52: How to Keep Your Reader Engaged with Thoughtful Annotations — Featuring Alyssa Fowers
Release Date: 02/18/2020
Data Viz Today
Are you ready to write a book? Or maybe see it in your future down the road? Well, I spent hours and hours researching the book publishing process, spoke with tons of authors about their experience, and then lived through it myself. I want to save you some time and share what I learned. Recently I shared all about the process with the Elevate Dataviz Learning Community that I co-founded and I’m sharing that conversation here today… In this episode, I share what's included in a book proposal, how advances and royalties work, what was harder and easier than expected, and much more!! Grab my...
info_outline 92: How to Navigate a Dataviz Career in Mozambique — Featuring Charama SulemaneData Viz Today
Have you ever felt like you made a big career mistake? Like you completely chose the wrong college major or took the wrong job. Well, today we’re chatting with Charama Sulemane, a data analyst at the United Nations Office for Project Services. But only a few years ago, he was a fresh graduate in Mozambique and found out that no one was hiring for data science jobs in his area. He was questioning his decision to get into this field. But not ready to give up, Charama made a few smart moves that landed him his first job in dataviz. Let's go! Sponsor: Show notes: My book Chart Spark:
info_outline Welcome to Data Viz Today!Data Viz Today
Data Viz Today, hosted by Alli Torban, is a friendly and insightful podcast for anyone interested in data visualization. It offers practical advice, showcases the latest tools and methods, and features inspiring stories from the field, aimed at analysts, journalists, and designers seeking to refine their data viz skills. Show notes: Chart Spark book: Elevate Dataviz Learning Community: Follow Alli Torban on LinkedIn:
info_outline 91: AMA — Creativity, freelancing, dataviz process and more!Data Viz Today
In this episode, I answer some common questions I’ve received lately about creativity, freelancing, dataviz process, and more. Let’s go! What platforms would you join when on the look out for a network, freelance projects etc? I want to transition into a dataviz job but not sure where to start? What exactly do you mean by 'creativity' in the context of data and analytics? How can data people be creative? How do you respond to negative feedback of your creative idea? What do you do when you feel unmotivated? How do you handle the feeling of not living up to a client's...
info_outline 90: How to Come Up with Creative IdeasData Viz Today
In this episode, I’ll share a concept and prompt from my NEW book CHART SPARK, and how I applied it to the library check-out receipt to develop a creative idea that uses dataviz to encourage people to go to the library more. Use this prompt in your work to come up with creative ideas! Let’s go! Now available:
info_outline 89: How Great Visualization Designers Think — with Alberto CairoData Viz Today
In this episode, Alberto Cairo shares some common threads he’s noticed among his dataviz students who go on to excel in this field and common traits he noticed while interviewing accomplished visualization designers for his new book The Art of Insight.
info_outline BONUS: Wanna chat? ☕ I'm opening up my calendar!Data Viz Today
Hey dataviz friend, my book is launching in early December (CHART SPARK), and after giving a workshop this morning that used the prompts from the book, I realized....chatting and brainstorming with other people is my happy place! So, do you wanna chat? Anything on your mind about dataviz careers, creativity, or brainstorming on a real project? I'm opening my calendar on Thursdays until the year-end for fun coffee chats. Snag a time on my calendly below. No cost or commitment required – just good vibes and chart sparks! 📊⚡
info_outline 88: 3 Ways to Monetize Your Data and Dataviz — with Dr. Barbara WixomData Viz Today
In this episode, we explore Dr. Barbara Wixom's insights on the three main ways companies (or even freelancers) can monetize data and dataviz, drawing from her extensive research and the insights of her book, Data is Everybody’s Business. She shares the patterns of successful data monetization gathered over 29 years and we brainstorm ways it applies to dataviz work. Also, since Barb was a client of mine, we get a sneak peek into clients' top concerns when beginning a dataviz project so we can improve our processes. Let’s go! Show notes:
info_outline 87: How to Navigate the Complexities of Neurodivergent Creativity — with Andy J. PizzaData Viz Today
As data people, we tend to be more logical and analytical, which makes navigating creativity’s ambiguity a little tricky. So I called on Andy J. Pizza to help us out. To me, he is creativity personified — illustrator, author, podcaster, and more! He’s worked with big clients like The New York Times and Nickelodeon, and has a new book coming out where he illustrates “invisible things.” In this episode, Andy shares how his ADHD has become his superpower in his creative work, the little tricks he’s found that help him create, how he sees critique in a new way, and he shares his three...
info_outline 86: How to Find a Balance Between Clarity and CreativityData Viz Today
In this episode, I share the framework that helps me decide when to stick with “best practices” or try a new approach in my visualizations. We explore four key variables: the reader's time and patience, the need to capture attention, past struggles conveying a concept, and the designer’s available time and resources. Let’s go! Show notes:
info_outlineI’ve noticed that many of the really engaging graphics have something in common: really thoughtful annotations. Usually, we think of annotations as a way to communicate context (like the title, subtitle, data labels) or point out outliers or specific events.
But what if we thought of annotations as a tool beyond just context. What if we could use annotations to keep the reader more engaged?
In this episode, we’ll learn about a recent project by Alyssa Fowers, where she visualized data about protests around the U.S. and the specific things she did to create annotations that made her project more engaging. Let’s go!