All Press
Telling A Story With Visual Data
Rash Blog
05.30.2019
Do you ever approach organizations with ideas on how to further their mission through data visualization? Or do they always come to you with a challenge?
People typically bring us their challenges. Sometimes they’re extremely proscriptive with what that challenge is, other times the challenges are wide open and we collaboratively figure out what we’re going to build, and other times there’s a bit of both. Each has its own merits and opportunities.
What’s the biggest hurdle you face when communicating the importance of your work to potential clients?
It used to be I’d say “we do data visualization” and people would say “data what”? We get less of that these days. I’ve really simplified how I talk about our work to people we don’t know yet; I’ll typically say “we design maps,” at which point people say something like “I love maps,” and I usually say “I know!”
How much of Stamen’s studio time is devoted to pure experimentation?
Most projects involve some kind of experimentation in the beginning. We’re getting better at helping our clients understand that a discovery phase is an important part of every project at the onset. It just takes time to learn and figure out all the things that will go into a project, and a big part of that is trying new things.
We also really like to make visualizations of our clients’ data before they even hire us, as part of the business development process and to verify that we understand what the task is or is going to be. There’s a lot of experimentation there as well. And very often we’re experimenting all along the development of a project. One of my favorite things about our work is that we’re often asked to learn new things as part of project work, and that often means trying things that you don’t know how to do.
How do you stay on top of new technologies in design and visualization?
I hire people who are younger and smarter than me!