
Getting the basics right
I’m surprised to discover it’s eight years now that I’ve been running workshops about drawing charts (amongst other things +). The reason this was brought to mind today was JP Koning‘s graphic doing the rounds on Twitter (for the second,…
The secret of good presentations
In the course of other work I am repeatedly asked to help with creating better presentations. I don’t claim any expertise in this area other than being someone – admittedly with a background in visual communication – who’s been both…

The Unpacking of Complexity
Another great Design of Understanding just happened here in London on Friday. Max’s conference set out to explore mark making and meaning on the basis that, as designers, we should only communicate if we understand something. Well, so what? That’s…

To map or not to map
A bugbear of mine is people who jump at using a map as a solution for a set of data that happens to include place names. “But what’s the story?” I ask. Matt Ericson explains so eloquently, with examples, why…

Wow v ah-ha
This title captures so perfectly a current theme in the ever more data driven infographic-land that I haven’t changed it. It’s lifted from a recent blog post from Juice Analytics that caught my eye a couple of weeks back. Whether…
Factual visuals II
Following on from my previous blog post, the same “rush, speculation and invention” in evidence in the coverage of the Bin Laden story drove two industry heavy-weights – Alberto Cairo and Juan Antonio Giner – to issue a fine six-point…

The Design of Understanding
While last Friday’s ‘Design of Understanding’ managed to pose more questions than it answered, I have no doubt that the people who have the wherewithal to find the answers – multidisciplinary in their talents, interdisciplinary in their approach – were…