Mathieu and Francis standing behind a high table with two high chairs, in front of a yellow poster that says: Voila, faisons parler vos données.

Francis and a woman looking at a white poster. There is a large tv with a quote in the background and tall white curtains.

Francis is standing behind a high table at a kiosk at a conference. To the left, there’s a tall yellow poster saying “Faisons parler vos données”. To the right, a white tv screen and a white poster.

Mathieu is speaking with a conference participant. Behind them, a yellow poster and a white tv.

We’re at the Montreal Climate Summit for the fourth year in a row and the third with a kiosk. Hoping to help more people communicate their climate data clearly.

📊 Everyone is debating the use (or not) of #GenAI, and the #dataviz community is no exception.

My colleagues and I are conducting a survey to understand this moment, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on how this is impacting our field (please share!): survey.au.dk/LinkCollecto...

Well, thank you!

Or are you trying to bait me into posting less flattering feedback?

(I wrote "shameless", but I realized when I pressed the Post button that I do feel a bit of embarrassment)

9. Avez-vous quelques bons mots pour Voilà: que nous pourrions partager publiquement ? / Do you have some good words for Voilà: that we could share publicly? I have yet to work with a better organized and professional creative agency. We are so pleased with the final product.

I've been too busy at work to post, but I'll make an exception for this absolute, shameless brag because it's good to hear positive feedback and there's no reason for this one to stay buried in our drive.

From our client survey:

EFF is Leaving X After almost twenty years on the platform, EFF is logging off of X. This isn’t a decision we made lightly, but it might be overdue.

After almost twenty years on the platform, EFF is logging off of X.

This isn’t a decision we made lightly, but it might be overdue. 🧵 (1/5)
www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Once again, I discover a group of information design practitioners I didn't know before. I've known the IIID for years though and I really like their wide scope for information design.

www.visionplus.iiid.net/visionplus-c...

Yes! Very nice to see the refining like this. Even with our best work, taking another turn can be surprisingly effective. Well done!

Scicomm Collider 2026 The Scicomm Collider workshop will bring together a group of the most innovative science communicators helping to connect the public with topics in physics and astronomy for a three-day workshop aimed...

⚛️🔭 Hey physics/astronomy science communicators: apply to come to @perimeterinstitute.ca for a workshop in October on how to engage the public in science! Anyone can apply, working in any kind of scicomm (video, audio, text, live performance, whatever it is you do). Check the link for more details!

Lack of client education: Many clients still undervalue data visualization, seeing it as a commodity rather than a strategic craft. Smaller practitioners spend extra effort convincing clients of the ROI for thoughtful, custom work—efforts bigger firms can skip thanks to established trust. Clients might also demand fast turnarounds or trendy features (e.g., “make it interactive!”) without understanding the complexity, forcing independents into a reactive, rather than proactive, creative mode.

This one hurts because it's true. So few clients are aware of the value of information design. Then they shell hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on consulting firms for cookie cutter PowerPoints. Even branding gets more respect. ID is not yet recognized (enough) for its value added.

"Industrialized culture in general tends to rely on remixes of known patterns. Just look at Hollywood. We might be part of an industrialized form of culture now, after the gentrification phase in the 2010s."

Gentrification of the 2010s is a really good way to put it.

"Fact-based communication has partly been replaced by vibes and lore."

It seems emotions ride higher than average for collective decisions. Plain goals of making the world better and debating facts/data are relegated. But facts are still the underlying basis of 90% of how the world works.

On the decline of creative dataviz:

"In an economic crisis, everybody plays it safe: This leads to much less enthusiasm for investing in experimental, innovative work or hard to quantify outcomes."

I wonder if the global regression is to blame for lack of enthusiasm and energy. It affects mine.

I just read this for the first time and it's really rich in insights and food for thought. Moritz has been a leader in the business, both creatively and commercially, for some time by now and he can process a lot.

I'll quote and comment a few things 👇🧵

White dots on a black background mimicking an image of stars in the universe. Clusters are labeled (Anaesthelogy Commonwealth, Brazilian DevOps Plateau, Nature Photo Canopy, Geospatial Professional Athletes, etc.). A yellow arrow in the middle points to the small cluster named "Data Visualization Studio".

As I watch pictures of Earth from above, I think of this mapping of the Bluesky universe and how data visualization can also give us perspective on our lived experience. 📊

bluesky-map.theo.io

#10 Rose Over a decade ago, Rose was kicked out of her college sorority. “You know what you did,” was the only explanation she was ever given. All these years later, Rose still wants to know what it is she…

Despite the massive offer, it’s not always easy finding a good podcast. I enjoyed this episode of Heavyweight because Goldstein is such a good storyteller. It’s in the details, what’s unsaid.

Visualizing Your Future: Careers in Data and Design YouTube video by Data Visualization Society

The Eventbrite link is showing as sold-out for me but this is the link to the live meeting on their YouTube channel (will also be available there later as a recording)

www.youtube.com/live/N5PwkMX37I4

This is probably snark but this app has been buggier recently.

Microsoft logo Microsoft is committed to improving your Microsoft 365 subscription. We regularly review how our subscribers use features within Microsoft products. This email includes details regarding features going away next year and reminders about current benefits included with your subscription. Beginning 10/1/2026, Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported as part of Microsoft 365. Many common Publisher scenarios are available in other Microsoft 365 apps, including Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Action Recommended: Before 10/1/2026, convert your existing Publisher files to PDF or Word format. After this date, you will no longer be able to open or edit these files with Microsoft Publisher.

Microsoft is getting rid of Publisher, their layout software.

I'm sure 365 will get a little cheaper now. Haha.

Source: support.microsoft.com/en-us/office...

Logo of the DATA VISUALIZATION SOCIETY Logo of ID DV VISUALIZING YOUR FUTURE Careers in Data and Design FREE TO JOIN ONLINE, JUST RSVP ON EVENTBRITE! Panelists BEN FRY Owner and Principal of Fathom Information Design AUCHER SERR Data Visualization Engineer at Netflix GABRIELE ROSSI Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Accurat APRIL 6th 3:30 PM ET

In just a few hours (at 3:30 ET), there's an event by the @datavizsociety.bsky.social on careers in data and design. 📊

The speakers are people who are used to hire, so it looks very relevant if you're looking to manage your career in the field.

Register here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/visualizin...

Ohh, no! :( www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/c...

The Power of Visual Insight In 1968, humanity embarked on a journey to the moon, seeking to unveil its secrets. Yet, it was the view back home that forever changed our perspective. Captured in the iconic “Earthrise” photograph, Earth appeared as a fragile blue marble adrift in the boundless cosmos. This striking image ignited an unprecedented wave of environmental awareness, culminating in the landmark year of 1970. It saw the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the banning of leaded gasoline, the enactment of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and the celebration of the inaugural Earth Day. This moment marked the dawn of a new era of environmental stewardship. This historic moment highlights the transformative power of visuals to inspire change. Just as the “Earthrise” photo galvanized a global push for environmental protection, modern data visualizations can play a crucial role in driving sustainability efforts. By turning complex data into compelling and understandable visuals, we can bring pressing issues like climate change, resource depletion, and pollution into sharper focus. Data visualization has the unique ability to make abstract data tangible and relatable. When people can see the impact of their actions on the environment, they are more likely to take meaningful steps toward sustainability. Effective visualizations can highlight patterns, trends, and connections that might otherwise go unnoticed, empowering individuals, communities, and policymakers to make informed decisions. By harnessing the power of data visualization, we can continue the legacy of that first breathtaking view of Earth from space, using visual stories to drive a more sustainable future. *Photo courtesy of NASA.*

A lot of us have seen the new photo of Earth, and I want it to serve as a reminder for how powerful such visuals can be.

This was a short piece I wrote for Nightingale's fifth issue on nature, highlighting the Earthrise photo and what became after it was released.

Pretty much everything good or worthwhile that humanity has produced has come through non-zero-sum cooperation. The bravery that has mattered, the bravery that has advanced our species, has been the bravery of reaching out beyond tribal lines to expand circles of cooperation.

Has anyone studied the psychic toll of years spent waking up to the unhinged rantings of a vicious madman who could kill us all — and then going about one’s day per usual?

I apply this to Google AI summaries on search as well.

A slope chart showing the development of indicators of the quality of liberal democracies (V-DEM) during the first year of Trump I and Trump II administrations. From 2016 to 2017, the indicators (ranging on a scale from 0 to 1, with 1 being high quality) decreased between 0.01 and 0.09 points. From 2024 to 2025, the liberal democracy index decreased by 0.18 points, legislative constraints by 0.25, equity before the law by 0.11, and judicial constraints by 0.06.

What will stop the transformation of the United States into an autocracy?

The rate at which American democracy is currently being dismantled is without precedent in modern history.

#30DayChartChallenge | Day 4 - Slope #dataviz 📊

Smoothed Line Faux-Pax's (and Other Things UI/UX Can't Teach You About Data Visualisation) - EXPLORATIONS IN DATA STORYTELLING WITH POWER BI → The explanation → Jump to the Point Power BI development is a relatively straight forward process when managed by one individual start to finish. But when the development process is shared among tea...

Profuse apologies for the profuse use of em-dashes.

Prompted by common sightings of smooth lines in the wild.

kerrykolosko.com/smoothed-lin...

Portrait of Ernst Chaladni overlaid with a collection of the patterns he created / observed

A collection of Chaladni patterns

A machine vibrating flat plates that generates Chaladni patterns

#TodayinHistory #dataviz #Onthisday #OTD 📊
💀 Apr 03, 1827 Ernest Florens Friedrich Chladni died in Warsaw, Poland 🇵🇱

1787: Visualization of vibration patterns (by spreading a uniform layer of sand on a disk, and observing displacement when vibration is applied)
Who knew? Boggled many minds!

If you no longer do the junior work, how exactly do you become senior at your job?

Estimated share of abortions that are unsafe Horizontal bar chart showing estimated percentage of abortions that are unsafe by region, with a global average highlighted at 45%. A note above explains safe abortions have a fatality rate of less than 1 per 100,000 abortions and that unsafe procedures can have fatality rates hundreds of times higher. Footer notes and data sources: based on modelled estimates over the period 2010 to 2014 (more recent data is not available); estimates of abortion rates and their safety are uncertain for many countries, particularly where abortions are banned or severely restricted. Data source: Ganatra et al. (2017), titled "Global, regional, and subregional classification of abortions by safety, 2010–14: estimates from a Bayesian hierarchical model." Published on OurWorldInData.org; chart licensed under CC-BY by the author Hannah Ritchie.

Estimates suggest that 45% of abortions globally are unsafe — but this varies widely across regions.

Around 4 in 10 women worldwide live in countries where abortion is illegal or highly restricted.