More than pretty graphs: Tips, tricks and resources to elevate your dataviz

Dataviz
Data Storytelling

A 45-minute tool-agnostic dataviz workshop, exploring how we can make the most of data visualisations to tell compelling stories with context

Published

November 18, 2024

I had the pleasure of presenting this workshop as part of the DataLab Dataviz theme series of workshops. If you were there, I’d love to know what you made of it!

Recording

Slides

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Resources

This is the most comprehensive list of tool-agnostic dataviz resources I’ve compiled to date. I explore them in more data in the full-day workshops I deliver, so there are many here I didn’t get to mention within the 45 minutes we spent together. Still, here they are, along with a description of where they all fit into the equation.

Happy plotting!

Choosing the right data visualisation

What would be missing if this visualisation wasn’t included? How would you tell this story to someone over coffee? How can you replicate that story in the way you present the information?

  • The datavisualisation catalogue allows you to explore different types of visualisations, read about their strengths and weaknesses, and follow links for tutorials and online tools
  • For tutorials on creating different types of visualisations in Python, R and D3: data-to-viz.com
  • Allison Horst’s blog post on lesser used dataviz options
  • For inspiration, keep an eye out for #30DayChartChallenge and #TidyTuesday on social media

Building a colour palette

What do your colours represent? Do they look nice together? Do you need to tweak them so that they look “on brand”?

Checking colours for accessibility

Is enough of dark-to-light variation between your colours? Have you used slightly blended colours? Have you run them through an colourblindness simulator?

Typography resources

What kind of personality do you want to convey through the font? Have you checked it is legible in small print for all users? Have you checked the contrast between the text colour and the background colour?

Data-to-viz workflow

Curate a set of data visualisation types that you know your users find helpful. If you are looking to automate your colours and fonts, there are a few tools at your disposal.

Over to you! And if you get stuck, reach out - hello@cararthompson.com.

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Citation

For attribution, please cite this work as:
“More Than Pretty Graphs: Tips, Tricks and Resources to Elevate Your Dataviz.” 2024. November 18, 2024. https://www.cararthompson.com/talks/datalab-workshop-more-than-pretty-graphs.