Using Visuals to turn Data into Content | Four Links | 11.22.09

My appreciation for all things visual did not peak with my article on why PR needs visual thinking.

My focus on the topic has increased and there are plenty of sites driving this passion. Here are just a few of them.

The Popular Ones: It’s no surprise that Indexed and Post Secret have books stemming from their popular sites. Post Secret tapped into an entire world’s need for expression while Indexed shows us the power of simplicity.

The Smart Ones: Flowing Data and Infosthetics are my two must reads when it comes to the latest in data visualization. They even point to great content like this article outlining how to create an infographic.

The Wild Cards: Logo Design Love is arguably not a wild card, but it has helped me be more appreciative of the subtleties behind brand redesigns. And Strange Maps brings us visuals like the one to the right showing how large the social sites are getting. It's a great site showing the creative potential in combining the old and the new.

The Future: Google Swirl shows us how important visuals will be to navigate the data streams, rivers of news and content flowing all around us. I’ve also created a Twitter list to track many of the leading data geeks as this field continues to unfold.

The above are just a start. They don't include the media outlets that are also pushing visualization mainstream. The New York Times Multimedia section immediately comes to mind. But The LA Times has its Data Desk and, in my own backyard, The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Data Center and WLWT’s Weather Dashboard point to an even bigger picture of data in the future.

Comments

[Melissa H]

I think that map needs to be updated, Myspace can't be that big anymore.
I agree with PR needing more visual thinking. Social media like Flickr and YouTube work wonders to create a non-authoritative message that has the potential to reach everyone. A picture truly says a thousand words - it saves people time and can get their interest beyond wordy descriptions.

[Kevin Dugan]

Actually Melissa, that map IS outdated. Facebook would be much bigger and MySpace much smaller. Thanks for mentioning this.

[Wine Shaker]

Myspace is not the No.1 now..

[data center storage]

I guess it is on the top, great post.