blog/Data Visualization

Mapping the Changing Coast with the Southern Environmental Law Center

| 02.07.23

In 2022 we had the pleasure of sitting down with Jovian Sackett from the Southern Environmental Law Center to talk about our collaboration on The Changing Coast and the work Jovian does more broadly. The conversation ranged from the decisions that went into making The Changing Coast map, communicating with data, and the data questions...

How the Vast Spectrum of Data Fuels Your Data Visualization Project

| 02.03.23

One of the biggest myths about data visualization is that you have to have the “right” kind of data to tell compelling visual stories.  But, when data visualization only focuses on leveraging numerical facts, it becomes inherently limiting in ways that science, research and discovery were never meant to be.  There’s a better way.  Researchers...

Why Data Gaps Are Often the Missing Link for Data Stories

Researchers are quick to abandon data gaps or anomalies when creating data stories. Learn why digging into missing data helps you tell a more complete story.

Pollinate Ep. 13- RJ Andrews & The History of Information Graphics

| 12.08.22

The field of data visualization and information mapping has historical roots that date back far earlier than most people would imagine. Micronesian explorers created navigation charts with sticks and shells for thousands of years before the introduction of electronic navigation technology. Hundreds of years ago, humans had the means to mechanically collect data on everything...

Pollinate Ep. 8- Carissa Carter & The Secret Language of Maps

| 07.14.22

What is a map, even? A cartographer might answer that question with a focus on the geospatial, whereas an information designer might focus on the conceptual. In this episode, author Carissa Carter offers a definition of “map” in her new book The Secret Language of Maps that is somehow broad and very specific at the...

Pollinate Ep. 6- Shirley Wu & Charting Your Own Way

| 05.12.22

Shirley Wu began creating data visualization for the web shortly after the initial release of D3.js in 2012. She fell in love with the technology after realizing it offered her a way to combine math and art, her two greatest childhood fascinations. After making her way through the steep learning curve with help from the...