Fast Data

I don't know if it's me, but it seems like data visualization is becoming a very popular space. One way to do that is through the use of infographics . While most infographics are static, there's definitely an opportunity to make interactive infographics with the varitety of tools that are available. I came across this infographic that shares the " 10 Rules That Make An Infographic Cool, Effective and Viral. " Found it to be helpful and just wanted to pass it along. Enjoy! Information + Story + Design = Infographics How To Create A Unique Infographic?

Wow, didn't even think it was possible, but I actually won the Crowd Favorite in the T ableau Social Media Viz Contest ! Thank you to all who checked out my twitter feed viz and for those of you who voted for me!! Really appreciate it! Be sure to check out all the amazing entries ... so much creativity and talent.  Keep on doing incredible work!! :)

One of the wonderful things about Tableau is that you can always find a new way to do something. Even though I already submitted my entry for the Social Media data viz contest, I wanted to use waffle charts that I found here . I modified the waffle charts slightly - it's fun to try using circles instead of squares just to give it a different look. Waffle charts aka square pie charts work well for summary information, but the downside is that they take up a lot of space on the screen. The hardest part was being able to provide a global filter across multiple data sources. And I found out that the only way to really do it is to use a parameter which does require both data sources to have a common field. Big props to Jesse Gebhardt for the help with getting the parameter option to work with these waffle charts! And for providing the template for creating waffle charts in Tableau. This viz breaks down the four groups (Apps, Buffer, Social, and Web) by weekday %. Thought it'...

Tableau is holding another viz contest , this time using any type of social media data. Since I've been tweeting a lot more lately, I thought it'd be very interesting to analyze my own tweets and of course, to enter the contest. :) Twitter makes it super easy to download an archive of all of your tweets (you can request this archive in the settings of your twitter account). Once I downloaded the data, I ended up grouping my tweets into four main categories: Apps - iOS & Android apps such as Flipboard, Zite, YouTube, etc.  Buffer - One of my favorite sites for spacing out your tweets according to a set schedule. I've been using it quite frequently (http://bufferapp.com). Social - Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest Web - Websites that I let tweet for me, the majority of them were done via a "Share button." Some interesting pieces of data that I found after analyzing my tweets: I have a total of 4,540 tweets since I began using twitter in August 20...

It's quite amazing to see the explosion of data + design. Everywhere you look, data is now being communicated in a visual way. The most common occurrence of this intersection of data + design occurs with infographics. One infographic that is able to communicate a wealth of information in a visual way is the 2014 US Federal Budget from Visual.ly : Death and Taxes 2014: US Federal Budget infographic by jess .

Haven't updated this blog in awhile, but I figured I might as well share the  slide deck  that I came up with for my Mom. Hope y'all will take the time to honor and to thank your Mothers this weekend! :) And while you're at it, be sure to check out  Haiku Deck  - a great app to create slide decks! And to set your story free!

Even though Photoshop doesn't seem related to data, you'd be surprised by the reach and breadth of Photoshop.  Especially with the growing fascination of infographics, Photoshop and Illustrator are useful tools for any data analyst. I'll admit that they are programs I am still trying to learn better.  When I stumbled across this Photoshop CS6 Cheat Sheet from Zerolag.com , I made sure to save a copy. Hope it'll be useful for you too! Photoshop CS6 Cheat Sheet By ZeroLag Hosting – Experts in Magento Hosting