AK Peters Visualization Series – serie

CHART is a guide to unleashing creativity in data visualization. It takes you on a journey along the spectrum from an ordinary chart to data art, packed with ways to bring more creativity into any visualization. It will help to make your visuals more compelling and memorable, long after the numbers have been crunched.Drawing from over a decade of experience, the author shares thirteen hands-on, tool-agnostic lessons, each filled with actionable insights and unique perspectives. Between these core lessons, you’ll find tips, mini-chapters, and dozens of real-world examples from both client and personal projects. The book also includes exclusive glimpses into early sketches, works-in-progress, and in-depth design stories that reveal how creativity in data is often a messy, non-linear, but ultimately rewarding process. CHART: Designing Creative Data Visualization from Charts to Art is designed for journalists, data analysts, business professionals, and newcomers alike, these lessons empower readers to push beyond the default. By the end of the book, you’ll have the tools and inspiration to transform typical charts and graphs into visuals that not only inform but also captivate and connect with your audience. This book invites you to break the mold and think outside the chart.

In Data Sketches, Nadieh Bremer and Shirley Wu document the deeply creative process behind 24 unique data visualization projects, and they combine this with powerful technical insights which reveal the mindset behind coding creatively. Exploring 12 different themes – from the Olympics to Presidents & Royals and from Movies to Myths & Legends – each pair of visualizations explores different technologies and forms, blurring the boundary between visualization as an exploratory tool and an artform in its own right. This beautiful book provides an intimate, behind-the-scenes account of all 24 projects and shares the authors’ personal notes and drafts every step of the way.The book features:Detailed information on data gathering, sketching, and coding data visualizations for the web, with screenshots of works-in-progress and reproductions from the authors’ notebooksNever-before-published technical write-ups, with beginner-friendly explanations of core data visualization conceptsPractical lessons based on the data and design challenges overcome during each projectFull-color pages, showcasing all 24 final data visualizationsThis book is perfect for anyone interested or working in data visualization and information design, and especially those who want to take their work to the next level and are inspired by unique and compelling data-driven storytelling.

In Data Sketches, Nadieh Bremer and Shirley Wu document the deeply creative process behind 24 unique data visualization projects, and they combine this with powerful technical insights which reveal the mindset behind coding creatively. Exploring 12 different themes – from the Olympics to Presidents & Royals and from Movies to Myths & Legends – each pair of visualizations explores different technologies and forms, blurring the boundary between visualization as an exploratory tool and an artform in its own right. This beautiful book provides an intimate, behind-the-scenes account of all 24 projects and shares the authors’ personal notes and drafts every step of the way.The book features:Detailed information on data gathering, sketching, and coding data visualizations for the web, with screenshots of works-in-progress and reproductions from the authors’ notebooksNever-before-published technical write-ups, with beginner-friendly explanations of core data visualization conceptsPractical lessons based on the data and design challenges overcome during each projectFull-color pages, showcasing all 24 final data visualizationsThis book is perfect for anyone interested or working in data visualization and information design, and especially those who want to take their work to the next level and are inspired by unique and compelling data-driven storytelling.

Visualizing with Text uncovers the rich palette of text elements usable in visualizations from simple labels through to documents. Using a multidisciplinary research effort spanning across fields including visualization, typography, and cartography, it builds a solid foundation for the design space of text in visualization. The book illustrates many new kinds of visualizations, including microtext lines, skim formatting, and typographic sets that solve some of the shortcomings of well-known visualization techniques.Key features: More than 240 illustrations to aid inspiration of new visualizations Eight new approaches to data visualization leveraging text Quick reference guide for visualization with text Builds a solid foundation extending current visualization theory Bridges between visualization, typography, text analytics, and natural language processingThe author website, including teaching exercises and interactive demos and code, can be found here. Designers, developers, and academics can use this book as a reference and inspiration for new approaches to visualization in any application that uses text.

Visualizing with Text uncovers the rich palette of text elements usable in visualizations from simple labels through to documents. Using a multidisciplinary research effort spanning across fields including visualization, typography, and cartography, it builds a solid foundation for the design space of text in visualization. The book illustrates many new kinds of visualizations, including microtext lines, skim formatting, and typographic sets that solve some of the shortcomings of well-known visualization techniques.Key features: More than 240 illustrations to aid inspiration of new visualizations Eight new approaches to data visualization leveraging text Quick reference guide for visualization with text Builds a solid foundation extending current visualization theory Bridges between visualization, typography, text analytics, and natural language processingThe author website, including teaching exercises and interactive demos and code, can be found here. Designers, developers, and academics can use this book as a reference and inspiration for new approaches to visualization in any application that uses text.

Mobile Data Visualization is about facilitating access to and understanding of data on mobile devices. Wearable trackers, mobile phones, and tablets are used by millions of people each day to read weather maps, financial charts, or personal health meters. What is required to create e­ffective visualizations for mobile devices? This book introduces key concepts of mobile data visualization and discusses opportunities and challenges from both research and practical perspectives.Mobile Data Visualization is the first book to provide an overview of how to e­ffectively visualize, analyze, and communicate data on mobile devices. Drawing from the expertise, research, and experience of an international range of academics and practitioners from across the domains of Visualization, Human Computer Interaction, and Ubiquitous Computing, the book explores the challenges of mobile visualization and explains how it diff­ers from traditional data visualization. It highlights opportunities for reaching new audiences with engaging, interactive, and compelling mobile content.In nine chapters, this book presents interesting perspectives on mobile data visualization including: how to characterize and classify mobile visualizations; how to interact with them while on the go and with limited attention spans; how to adapt them to various mobile contexts; specific methods on how to design and evaluate them; reflections on privacy, ethical and other challenges, as well as an outlook to a future of ubiquitous visualization. This accessible book is a valuable and rich resource for visualization designers, practitioners, researchers, and students alike.

Mobile Data Visualization is about facilitating access to and understanding of data on mobile devices. Wearable trackers, mobile phones, and tablets are used by millions of people each day to read weather maps, financial charts, or personal health meters. What is required to create e­ffective visualizations for mobile devices? This book introduces key concepts of mobile data visualization and discusses opportunities and challenges from both research and practical perspectives.Mobile Data Visualization is the first book to provide an overview of how to e­ffectively visualize, analyze, and communicate data on mobile devices. Drawing from the expertise, research, and experience of an international range of academics and practitioners from across the domains of Visualization, Human Computer Interaction, and Ubiquitous Computing, the book explores the challenges of mobile visualization and explains how it diff­ers from traditional data visualization. It highlights opportunities for reaching new audiences with engaging, interactive, and compelling mobile content.In nine chapters, this book presents interesting perspectives on mobile data visualization including: how to characterize and classify mobile visualizations; how to interact with them while on the go and with limited attention spans; how to adapt them to various mobile contexts; specific methods on how to design and evaluate them; reflections on privacy, ethical and other challenges, as well as an outlook to a future of ubiquitous visualization. This accessible book is a valuable and rich resource for visualization designers, practitioners, researchers, and students alike.

In the age of big data, being able to make sense of data is an important key to success. Interactive Visual Data Analysis advocates the synthesis of visualization, interaction, and automatic computation to facilitate insight generation and knowledge crystallization from large and complex data.The book provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of visual, interactive, and analytical methods. It introduces criteria for designing interactive visual data analysis solutions, discusses factors influencing the design, and examines the involved processes. The reader is made familiar with the basics of visual encoding and gets to know numerous visualization techniques for multivariate data, temporal data, geo-spatial data, and graph data. A dedicated chapter introduces general concepts for interacting with visualizations and illustrates how modern interaction technology can facilitate the visual data analysis in many ways. Addressing today’s large and complex data, the book covers relevant automatic analytical computations to support the visual data analysis. The book also sheds light on advanced concepts for visualization in multi-display environments, user guidance during the data analysis, and progressive visual data analysis.The authors present a top-down perspective on interactive visual data analysis with a focus on concise and clean terminology. Many real-world examples and rich illustrations make the book accessible to a broad interdisciplinary audience from students, to experts in the field, to practitioners in data-intensive application domains.Features:Dedicated to the synthesis of visual, interactive, and analysis methodsSystematic top-down view on visualization, interaction, and automatic analysisBroad coverage of fundamental and advanced visualization techniquesComprehensive chapter on interacting with visual representationsExtensive integration of automatic computational methodsAccessible portrayal of cutting-edge visual analytics technologyForeword by Jack van WijkFor more information, you can also visit the author website, where the book's figures are made available under the CC BY Open Access license.

Building Science Graphics: An illustrated guide to communicating science through diagrams and visualizations is a practical guide for anyone—regardless of previous design experience and preferred drawing tools—interested in creating science-centric illustrated explanatory diagrams. Starting with a clear introduction to the concept of information graphics and their role in contemporary science communication, it then outlines a process for creating graphics using evidence-based design strategies. The heart of the book is composed of two step-by-step graphical worksheets, designed to help jump-start any new project. The author website, featuring further resources and links, can be found here: https://www.buildingsciencegraphics.com/. This is both a textbook and a practical reference for anyone that needs to convey scientific information in an illustrated form for articles, poster presentations, slide shows, press releases, blog posts, social media posts and beyond.

Building Science Graphics: An illustrated guide to communicating science through diagrams and visualizations is a practical guide for anyone—regardless of previous design experience and preferred drawing tools—interested in creating science-centric illustrated explanatory diagrams. Starting with a clear introduction to the concept of information graphics and their role in contemporary science communication, it then outlines a process for creating graphics using evidence-based design strategies. The heart of the book is composed of two step-by-step graphical worksheets, designed to help jump-start any new project. The author website, featuring further resources and links, can be found here: https://www.buildingsciencegraphics.com/. This is both a textbook and a practical reference for anyone that needs to convey scientific information in an illustrated form for articles, poster presentations, slide shows, press releases, blog posts, social media posts and beyond.

In Joyful Infographics: A Friendly, Human Approach to Data, one of the leading graphic designers of recent times shows how a judicious use of humor can make infographics more understandable. Written in non-academic, easy-to-understand language, and with historical and contemporary visual examples presented throughout, this small book provides a short history of light-hearted graphics. The text outlines nine clear ways to make graphics more understandable, explores the importance of the audience, shows you how to make information come alive during presentations through live-action ‘performance’ graphics, discusses why joy and smiling are good for you, and shows you how not to overdo it. The author website, featuring enlargeable graphics, can be found here: https://www.joyfulinfographics.com/.Even if a subject is delicate, controversial, or taboo, being graphically friendly to the audience is the right way to explain it. It is the opposite of being clinically cold and just presenting the facts. If you can get readers to smile--the smile of recognition when they understand the graphic--you are more than halfway toward getting them to continue reading, and understanding, the intention of the piece. Joyful Infographics teaches you how to do just that.

In Joyful Infographics: A Friendly, Human Approach to Data, one of the leading graphic designers of recent times shows how a judicious use of humor can make infographics more understandable. Written in non-academic, easy-to-understand language, and with historical and contemporary visual examples presented throughout, this small book provides a short history of light-hearted graphics. The text outlines nine clear ways to make graphics more understandable, explores the importance of the audience, shows you how to make information come alive during presentations through live-action ‘performance’ graphics, discusses why joy and smiling are good for you, and shows you how not to overdo it. The author website, featuring enlargeable graphics, can be found here: https://www.joyfulinfographics.com/.Even if a subject is delicate, controversial, or taboo, being graphically friendly to the audience is the right way to explain it. It is the opposite of being clinically cold and just presenting the facts. If you can get readers to smile--the smile of recognition when they understand the graphic--you are more than halfway toward getting them to continue reading, and understanding, the intention of the piece. Joyful Infographics teaches you how to do just that.

This book takes the reader through the process of learning and creating data visualisation, following a unique journey with questions every step of the way, ultimately discussing how and when to bend and break the "rules" to come up with creative, unique, and sometimes unconventional ideas. Each easy-to-follow chapter poses one key question and provides a selection of discussion points and relevant data visualisation examples throughout.Structured in three parts: Section I poses questions around some fundamental data visualisation principles, while Section II introduces more advanced questions, challenging perceived best practices and suggesting when rules are open to interpretation or there to be broken. The questions in Section III introduce further themes leading on to specific ideas and visualisation projects in more detail.Questions in Dataviz: A Design-Driven Process for Data Visualisation will appeal to any reader with an interest in creative or unconventional data visualisation and will be especially useful for those at a beginner or intermediate level looking for inspiration and alternative ways to deploy their data visualisation skills outside of conventional business charts.

This book takes the reader through the process of learning and creating data visualisation, following a unique journey with questions every step of the way, ultimately discussing how and when to bend and break the "rules" to come up with creative, unique, and sometimes unconventional ideas. Each easy-to-follow chapter poses one key question and provides a selection of discussion points and relevant data visualisation examples throughout.Structured in three parts: Section I poses questions around some fundamental data visualisation principles, while Section II introduces more advanced questions, challenging perceived best practices and suggesting when rules are open to interpretation or there to be broken. The questions in Section III introduce further themes leading on to specific ideas and visualisation projects in more detail.Questions in Dataviz: A Design-Driven Process for Data Visualisation will appeal to any reader with an interest in creative or unconventional data visualisation and will be especially useful for those at a beginner or intermediate level looking for inspiration and alternative ways to deploy their data visualisation skills outside of conventional business charts.

How can we give data physical form?And how might those creations change the ways we experience data and the stories it can tell?Making with Data: Physical Design and Craft in a Data-Driven World provides a snapshot of the diverse practices contemporary creators are using to produce objects, spaces, and experiences imbued with data. Across 25+ beautifully-illustrated chapters, international artists, designers, and scientists each explain the process of creating a specific data-driven piece—illustrating their practice with candid sketches, photos, and design artifacts from their own studios.The author website, featuring updates and more information about the projects behind the book, can be found here: https://makingwithdata.org/.Featuring influential voices in computer science, data science, graphic design, art, craft, and architecture, Making with Data is accessible and inspiring for enthusiasts and experts alike.

How can we give data physical form?And how might those creations change the ways we experience data and the stories it can tell?Making with Data: Physical Design and Craft in a Data-Driven World provides a snapshot of the diverse practices contemporary creators are using to produce objects, spaces, and experiences imbued with data. Across 25+ beautifully-illustrated chapters, international artists, designers, and scientists each explain the process of creating a specific data-driven piece—illustrating their practice with candid sketches, photos, and design artifacts from their own studios.The author website, featuring updates and more information about the projects behind the book, can be found here: https://makingwithdata.org/.Featuring influential voices in computer science, data science, graphic design, art, craft, and architecture, Making with Data is accessible and inspiring for enthusiasts and experts alike.

Data visualization is the art and science of making information visible. On paper and in our imaginations, it’s a language of shapes and colors that holds our best ideas and most important questions. As we find ourselves swimming in data of all kinds, visualization can help us to understand, express, and explore the richness of the world around us. No matter your age or background, this book opens the door to new ways of thinking and sharing through the power of data visualization.Data Visualization for People of All Ages is a field guide to visual literacy, born from the author’s personal experience working with world-class scholars, engineers, and scientists. By walking through the different ways of showing data—including color, angle, position, and length—you’ll learn how charts and graphs truly work so that no visualization is ever a mystery or out of reach. It doesn’t stop at what fits on a page, either. You’ll journey into cutting-edge topics like data sonification and data physicalization, using sound and touch to share data across the different senses. Packed with practical examples and exercises to help you connect the dots, this book will teach you how to create and understand data visualizations on your own—all without writing a single line of code or getting tangled up in software.Written with accessibility in mind, this book invites everyone to the table to share the joy of one of today’s most necessary skills. Perfect for home or classroom use, this friendly companion gives people of all ages everything they need to start visualizing with confidence.

Data visualization is the art and science of making information visible. On paper and in our imaginations, it’s a language of shapes and colors that holds our best ideas and most important questions. As we find ourselves swimming in data of all kinds, visualization can help us to understand, express, and explore the richness of the world around us. No matter your age or background, this book opens the door to new ways of thinking and sharing through the power of data visualization.Data Visualization for People of All Ages is a field guide to visual literacy, born from the author’s personal experience working with world-class scholars, engineers, and scientists. By walking through the different ways of showing data—including color, angle, position, and length—you’ll learn how charts and graphs truly work so that no visualization is ever a mystery or out of reach. It doesn’t stop at what fits on a page, either. You’ll journey into cutting-edge topics like data sonification and data physicalization, using sound and touch to share data across the different senses. Packed with practical examples and exercises to help you connect the dots, this book will teach you how to create and understand data visualizations on your own—all without writing a single line of code or getting tangled up in software.Written with accessibility in mind, this book invites everyone to the table to share the joy of one of today’s most necessary skills. Perfect for home or classroom use, this friendly companion gives people of all ages everything they need to start visualizing with confidence.

This book explores Information theory (IT) tools, which have become state of the art to solve and understand better many of the problems in visualization. This book covers all relevant literature up to date. It is the first book solely devoted to this subject, written by leading experts in the field.

This book closes the gap between what people think Excel can do and what they can achieve in the tool. Over the past few years, recognition of the importance of effectively visualizing data has led to an explosion of data analysis and visualization software tools. But for many people, Microsoft Excel continues to be the workhorse for their data visualization needs, not to mention the only tool that many data workers have access to. Although Excel is not a specialist data visualization platform, it does have strong capabilities. The default chart types do not need to be the limit of the tool’s data visualization capabilities, and users can extend its features by understanding some key elements and strategies. Data Visualization in Excel provides a step-by-step guide to creating more advanced and often more effective data visualizations in Excel and is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to create better, more effective, and more engaging data visualizations.

This book closes the gap between what people think Excel can do and what they can achieve in the tool. Over the past few years, recognition of the importance of effectively visualizing data has led to an explosion of data analysis and visualization software tools. But for many people, Microsoft Excel continues to be the workhorse for their data visualization needs, not to mention the only tool that many data workers have access to. Although Excel is not a specialist data visualization platform, it does have strong capabilities. The default chart types do not need to be the limit of the tool’s data visualization capabilities, and users can extend its features by understanding some key elements and strategies. Data Visualization in Excel provides a step-by-step guide to creating more advanced and often more effective data visualizations in Excel and is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to create better, more effective, and more engaging data visualizations.

What do belly dancing, pickleball, mountain biking, metabolism, the food pyramid, yoga, the Greek Olympiad, Charles Atlas, broccoli, and tongue twisters have in common? Answer: they are all explained in Let’s Get Infografit, drawn in graphic detail.The book has a quick and easy exercise program, but it’s also a how-to-show-it graphics manual, with examples from Greek vases through 19th and 20th century exercise plans, as well diagrams that explain how to prepare for sports, and to repair any damage while participating in them. It deals with many aspects of exercise: why it’s good for you; what happens if you don’t move around enough; medical and anatomical explanations of soreness and exhaustion; the exhilaration of doing physical activity. It also includes a chapter on nutrition.What’s a dumbbell? Or a Burpee? Or a medicine ball? What makes you “hit the wall?” Do you really need to take 10,000 steps a day? (Hint: NO!) Why do golf balls have dimples? Driven by explanatory graphics both historic and contemporary, Let’s Get Infografit is about exercise and fitness for people who already love it, and also for people who know they should—but don’t! If you can smile while getting healthy at the same time you may learn to love it too.

What do belly dancing, pickleball, mountain biking, metabolism, the food pyramid, yoga, the Greek Olympiad, Charles Atlas, broccoli, and tongue twisters have in common? Answer: they are all explained in Let’s Get Infografit, drawn in graphic detail.The book has a quick and easy exercise program, but it’s also a how-to-show-it graphics manual, with examples from Greek vases through 19th and 20th century exercise plans, as well diagrams that explain how to prepare for sports, and to repair any damage while participating in them. It deals with many aspects of exercise: why it’s good for you; what happens if you don’t move around enough; medical and anatomical explanations of soreness and exhaustion; the exhilaration of doing physical activity. It also includes a chapter on nutrition.What’s a dumbbell? Or a Burpee? Or a medicine ball? What makes you “hit the wall?” Do you really need to take 10,000 steps a day? (Hint: NO!) Why do golf balls have dimples? Driven by explanatory graphics both historic and contemporary, Let’s Get Infografit is about exercise and fitness for people who already love it, and also for people who know they should—but don’t! If you can smile while getting healthy at the same time you may learn to love it too.

We are living in the Golden Age of Data Visualization. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how we increasingly use data visualizations to make sense of the world. Business analysts fill their presentations with charts, journalists use infographics to engage their readers, we rely on the dials and gauges on our household appliances, and we use mapping apps on our smartphones to find our way.This book explains how and why this has happened. It details the evolution of information graphics, the kinds of graphics at the core of data visualization—maps, diagrams, charts, scientific and medical images—from prehistory to the present day. It explains how the cultural context, production and presentation technologies, and data availability have shaped the history of data visualization. It considers the perceptual and cognitive reasons why data visualization is so effective and explores the little-known world of tactile graphics—raised-line drawings used by people who are blind. The book also investigates the way visualization has shaped our modern world. The European Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution relied on maps and technical and scientific drawings, and graphics influence how we think about abstract concepts like time and social connection.This book is written for data visualization researchers and professionals and anyone interested in data visualization and the way we use graphics to understand and think about the world.

We are living in the Golden Age of Data Visualization. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how we increasingly use data visualizations to make sense of the world. Business analysts fill their presentations with charts, journalists use infographics to engage their readers, we rely on the dials and gauges on our household appliances, and we use mapping apps on our smartphones to find our way.This book explains how and why this has happened. It details the evolution of information graphics, the kinds of graphics at the core of data visualization—maps, diagrams, charts, scientific and medical images—from prehistory to the present day. It explains how the cultural context, production and presentation technologies, and data availability have shaped the history of data visualization. It considers the perceptual and cognitive reasons why data visualization is so effective and explores the little-known world of tactile graphics—raised-line drawings used by people who are blind. The book also investigates the way visualization has shaped our modern world. The European Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution relied on maps and technical and scientific drawings, and graphics influence how we think about abstract concepts like time and social connection.This book is written for data visualization researchers and professionals and anyone interested in data visualization and the way we use graphics to understand and think about the world.

This book is a comprehensive guide to exploratory data analysis (EDA), providing readers with the tools, techniques, and knowledge needed to conduct effective and thorough data exploration. Throughout the seven main chapters, this book details various aspects of EDA, from data description and preprocessing to visualization, storytelling, and dashboard design. We will explore real‑world datasets, uncovering hidden patterns and gaining insights along the way. This book is filled with illustrations using practical examples, Python codes, and different types of exercises designed to reinforce the concepts and processes discussed. Whether you are a student just starting out in the field of data science, a senior professional looking to improve your skills, or a curious individual interested in the power of data, this book is for you.

This book is a comprehensive guide to exploratory data analysis (EDA), providing readers with the tools, techniques, and knowledge needed to conduct effective and thorough data exploration. Throughout the seven main chapters, this book details various aspects of EDA, from data description and preprocessing to visualization, storytelling, and dashboard design. We will explore real‑world datasets, uncovering hidden patterns and gaining insights along the way. This book is filled with illustrations using practical examples, Python codes, and different types of exercises designed to reinforce the concepts and processes discussed. Whether you are a student just starting out in the field of data science, a senior professional looking to improve your skills, or a curious individual interested in the power of data, this book is for you.

This book presents an accessible introduction to data-driven storytelling. Resulting from unique discussions between data visualization researchers and data journalists, it offers an integrated definition of the topic, presents vivid examples and patterns for data storytelling, and calls out key challenges and new opportunities for researchers and practitioners.

This book presents an accessible introduction to data-driven storytelling. Resulting from unique discussions between data visualization researchers and data journalists, it offers an integrated definition of the topic, presents vivid examples and patterns for data storytelling, and calls out key challenges and new opportunities for researchers and practitioners.