Lecture: Professional Approaches
As you analyze examples of professional graphics for your assignment this week, it’s a good opportunity to broadly look at how data visualization works in news and other industries. This is a more conversational topic than previous lectures, but it may provide useful context for thinking about your midterm comparison examples for this week’s assignment.
Follow along with the slides here: Professional Approaches (there are a few “hidden” slides at the end that will used a different day)
Video not showing up? Watch on YouTube here.
At the end, I mention the Data Visualization Society. This is a vibrant group that brings together people who are interested in data visualization from all different industries and around the world. Most benefits are available in the free membership if you are interested in joining, but it’s also a good example of how data visualization is becoming a more prominent skill and career path in recent years. Today’s reading is the group’s mission statement, because this is a useful document for explaining how data visualization practitioners think about their work at this moment in time.
Readings:
• Data Visualization Society Strategic Plan 2020
• Talk to the Newsroom: Graphics Director Steve Duenes
The second reading is an old interview by now, but I think it still represents the New York Times approach accurately. I read this interview in 2008 when it was published, when I was a senior in college, and it was the first time I’d thought of graphics as a career path. The technology and workflow has changed somewhat, and I do think Steve would be embarrassed in retrospect that he doesn’t list any women as design influences. That’s been a positive change in the past decade, that women have a more influential role in visual design and technology.
Discussion
Based on recent lessons or perhaps your own assignment research this week, what would you want to ask a professional in data visualization? Perspectives and standards vary across industries — for example, a scientific researcher might use data visualization very differently than a data journalist, a corporate graphic designer, or the director of communications for a nonprofit organization.
Ask a Professional: Write three questions you could ask a data visualization professional in a particular field or industry. You can think about creative processes, technical choices, career paths, etc. (Make sure to include what industry or type of work you have in mind, perhaps with a visual example to show what you mean.)
No New Assignment
This week we have one longer assignment, the Midterm Comparison Project, rather than two smaller assignments. The point total for weekly assignments is always 30 points, so in this case the one assignment is worth 30 points.