Description:

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Hello! In this lesson “Principles of Data Visualization” you will learn about the power of storytelling in designing visualization. We will discuss some things to consider when you’re getting started and graphic styles you may want to choose to begin. We’ll also talk about things to consider from the perspective of your audience so you can be not only a better designer but an informed viewer as well. So let’s get started!

In the previous lesson, we learned that data are facts about people, places and things, and that data become more powerful when combined to tell a story. Take a look at these interactive visualizations from the US Census and notice how they use some of the charts already familiar to you such as bar charts, line graphs and choropleth maps. [image from interactive maps from:http://www.census.gov/2010census/data/] Apportionment data] Take a look at how the data about population change, polulation density and apportionment are each visualized using a combination of graphics. (show these features of each tab). Here is what the data for population change looks like without the visualization [image: Imagine seeing only this list of text and numbers. While this information is valuable, the impact of the story of how the population actually changed by state makes a greater impression when presented using graphs, charts and maps [Image: back to Population change map, showing the changes over time]. This is the power of a visualization and you can use it to impact the emotions and spark ideas in others too!
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