Randy Krum's Blog, page 7
July 29, 2021
Interviewed on the Customer Insight Leader podcast
Customer Insight Leader podcast interview with Randy Krum
I was recently interviewed by Paul Laughlin on Episode 42 of the Customer Insight Leader podcast. We covered a wide range of topics from my background leading into data visualization and infographics, visualizing consumer research data, running the Cool Infographics website, and how to show off your data visualizations skills when job hunting.
From Paul’s episode description:
For episode 42 we again venture to the USA and talk with Randy Krum the creator of the famous CoolInfographics website . Randy is a data visualisation designer with his own design agency ( InfoNewt ), teaches a University course and is a published author. His book is “ Cool Infographics: Effective Communication with Data Visualisation and Design ” and he's also active in organising Data Viz Meet-up groups. So, we had plenty to chat about.
In this conversation we explore Randy's career story, including the role for blogs to visually share others' content & showcase your work. We also discuss the continued role for infographics , as well as solely effective data visualisations. Randy shares what has helped him through his career & we consider when firms might choose to bring in an external design agency. Well worth a listen, especially for those interested in the role of visual communication beyond just charts.
I love Paul’s description of his podcast series: “Helping you through the morass of language & hype surrounding Data Science, Analytics & Customer Insight.”
July 15, 2021
Weaving an Infographic Tapestry of Journey Mapping
While reflecting on 2020, Catherine Madden graphed 6 different charts that she felt represented her year; and brought them to life within an infographic tapestry! Her categories were 3 personal (relationships, projects, and adventures) and three external (Covid cases, air quality, and average tide heights in San Francisco). See Catherine’s full creative process on her blog, Catherinemadden.com.
From Catherine:
‘Every December, my friend Eugene hosts a gathering among friends, colleagues, and co-learning group members where he guides everyone through a process of reflection. In this process we map out the highs and lows of the past year. I have been able to participate two out of the past three years, and feel so grateful for the simple fact that I have people in my life who similarly value making time for reflection, connection, and art making.
Two years ago, I had a blast creating this simple journey map that started with sticky notes and ended with some sort of layered line chart. Looking back two years later, it’s such a great summary of the highs and lows that felt so intense in the moment but now are distant memories.
In part two of the activity, each person was encouraged to create some art inspired by the journey. Everyone took a very different direction, and the data storyteller in me wanted to keep some of the structure of the journey map. My first step was to identify a set of categories that felt interesting to me— personal and professional blend together in so many ways that I wanted to look at the year by different dimensions.
I went back to the first set of lines and split them apart into small multiples. This felt like I was onto something. You can see my note for measurements on this page because at this point I realized I needed to do some space planning based on the size of my loom.
Found on Flowing Data
June 22, 2021
Bluetooth in Indoor Positioning Systems
The Bluetooth in Indoor Positioning Systems infographic is an overview summary of Integra Sources’s article about what IPS is and how it is used in different industries.
Many people worldwide regularly use positioning systems. The most popular of them are location services relying on geographic data and satellite navigation (GIS and GNSS). However, these systems only work efficiently outdoors and don’t work so well in enclosed areas. Indoor positioning systems are special solutions that use technologies and methods other than satellite data. Bluetooth is one of these technologies. In this article, we’ll give you a basic idea about indoor positioning systems and describe how Bluetooth positioning services work, what methods they use, and how you can implement them in your project.
In our recent article, we talked about indoor positioning systems with Bluetooth technology. To get a brief overview of this topic, you can check out the infographic below.
The full article can be found here .
Infographics are a great tool for Visual Explanations. In this case the concepts Bluetooth beacons and positioning are illustrated with an isotype system. The text included is fairly minimal and references a much longer, more detailed article write-up about the concept.
Thanks to Anastassiya for sending in the link!
May 5, 2021
65 Bar Glasses and What They're Meant For
The Which Glass for Which Drink? 65 Bar Glasses and What They're Meant For infographic from Wine Cellar Innovations is a fantastic reference for identifying that mystery cocktail glass.
Which type of drinking glass goes with which drink? We’ve made it easy to decide with our giant chart of different types of glasses and their uses, from slender wine glasses to old-fashioned cocktail cups. If you want to update a home bar or wine cellar and have a semi-professional look when you serve your guests drinks, learn about the types of glassware you need for your personal bar. This quick guide will help you find out which types of bar glasses are appropriate for which drink!
We’ve created a comprehensive guide with names of different types of drinking glasses, which type of drink they’re typically used for, and why they may be better for some drinks rather than others.
This type of Informative infographic is one of the most popular for views and sharing because it just provides helpful information without trying to pitch anything.
I was even considering designing a similar infographic myself, but gave up that idea when I saw it had already been so well done. The Online Lifespan of an infographic like this will be decades. This information is evergreen and doesn’t change from year to year, and will bring in viewers for years to come.
April 30, 2021
President Biden’s $4 Trillion Economic Plan, in One Chart
The Upshot team at the NY Times designed this data visualization of President Biden’s $4 Trillion Economic Plan, in One Chart.
On one hand, I love this. This is called a Voronoi Treemap, which we don’t see used very often.
The area of each segment is proportionally sized to match the dollar amount, and the total circle adds up to the total of $4 Billion.
It’s a hierarchical structure: Total Circle > 2 major portions > Major categories > Minor segments
The size of each level of the hierarchy conveys meaning, and they are further broken down into smaller segments
On the other hand, this type of data visualization may be too advanced for many readers.
This is NOT a pie chart. Many of the less data-savvy readers will immediately try to read this like a pie chart.
The odd shapes of each section can be confusing
It’s very hard to compare any two segments that are not adjacent. Which is bigger, Transportation or Child and Family Support?
The two major portions are close to 50/50, but aren’t. They are 56/44, so the major dividing line is slightly off center, but many will assume it’s a center split.
One of the nice things about this design, is that they were able to simplify the data that was being displayed to create a thumbnail version for sharing on social media. This version is still true to the data, but doesn’t show the data values for the lowest level of the hierarchy.
March 17, 2021
The Chemistry of Guinness
Happy St. Patrick’s Day with this infographic all about The Chemistry of Guinness.
Chemical educator and Compound Interest blogger Andy Brunning explores the famous beer’s bubbles and bitterness
Originally published in 2015, I love infographics like this that have a long Online Lifespan. Year after year they continue to get views, links, shares, social mentions and more because of the evergreen topic.
Designed by Andy Brunning for Chemical & Engineering News.
February 17, 2021
How to Stop Procrastinating (and Become a Joyful Writer)
You see some people publishing new blog posts every week. Others even publish a whole new book every year. The results of other people’s writing looks simple and effortless, but can become daunting for anyone challenged with writing blog posts, reports, books, articles, etc. The How to Stop Procrastinating (and Become a Joyful Writer) from designer Henneke will ring true to many of us.
As a writer myself, I have run into these challenges when the Cool Infographics Book and writing posts here on the Cool Infographics site.
From Henneke:
We only see the end result of other people’s writing.
We see their finished pieces but we don’t see their resistance to writing.
We don’t notice the despair about a crappy first draft. We don’t see the huge effort of restructuring and revising and editing until the writing flows naturally and the ideas are finally communicated with clarity and flair.
If you’re a procrastinator, you’re not alone.
You’re not the only one who finds writing a challenge, who wrestles to get your ideas on paper.
As psychologist Dr. Christian Jarrett suggests, procrastination isn’t a matter of managing your time better, it’s a matter of managing your emotions.
Your illustrated guide to stop procrastinating …
This infographic is very different than many I have posted on Cool Infographics. It’s hand-drawn illustrations and storytelling format are unique and fresh. She isn’t trying to communicate data, so there aren’t any data visualizations in this design.
From an infographic design standpoint, I think the only thing this one is missing is including the URL to the original infographic landing page. This infographic is part of a larger article, but many people will share the image alone and may not link back to the original. Infographic designs should always include the URL back to the original so when readers find it reposted on social and other sites they can easily find their way back to the original.
November 10, 2020
Instagram in an Instant
The team at S9 has designed this handy infographic guide to Instagram In An Instant that shares facts and data about the growing social media platform.
A helpful infographic that we have worked on that provides lots of information about the image sharing social networking service, Instagram . The piece includes general facts about Instagram, the most followed Instagram users and data about the growth of Instagram along with some marketing tips and hints for businesses.
This is a good rundown of the Instagram service, and most of the data is visualized. There are only a handful of data points that are shown only as text, and readers will consider those to be secondary information.
They did a good job of including the URL to the infographic landing page in the footer of the infographic image. That way when readers find this infographic shared and reposted without a link back to the original on the S9 site, they’ll be able to find it quickly themselves.
October 7, 2020
16 DataViz Shows: Podcasts and Video Series
DataViz Shows is a new directory page I just added to the growing library Cool Infographics Tools pages. A number of data visualization designers and professionals have started podcasts or video shows on YouTube that explore the craft of designing data visualizations, visual communication or interviewing people from the data visualization community. I know a lot of these people, and they are publishing some amazing content!
This will be a growing list as more shows get started, so feel free to send me a note if you know of a show that I should consider adding to the list!
One challenge for the list is that there are also many shows about data, data science, analytics, statistics, and even some of the specific tools we use (like Tableau or PowerPoint), and I’m not including those. I’m only including shows in my list that talk about the craft of data visualization design, visual communication, and data storytelling (if not in every episode, at least frequently).
Another challenge for listing podcasts are the links, because you can subscribe through many different podcast apps and services. If the shows have their own website, I’ve linked directly there. Additionally, I’ve tried to provide all of the direct podcast subscription links that I know about.
Here are the initial 16 Podcasts and Video Series on the list. You can see all of the details and links I’ve gathered on the DataViz Shows page.
Data Stories
The PolicyViz Podcast
storytelling with data
Chart Chat Live
Explore Explain
The Present Beyond Measure Show
Data Viz Today
eagereyesTV
VizComm in a Blink
Analytic Stories
Podcast Your Data
Datasaurus-Rex Podcast
The Tableau Wannabe Podcast
Data + Love
Stats + Stories
ZigZag (Season 2)
September 29, 2020
A Handy Guide to Image Print Resolutions
A Handy Guide to Image Print Resolutions infographic is useful when it’s time to take your digital work into the the physical world by printing it (banners, posters, brochures, etc.). Without prior knowledge of megapixels, you might not know how big you can print the image you just found without it looking pixelated. Photobiz skips the technical lesson and gives you the answer with this guide. Follow this infographic, and you’ll never print a pixelated photo again!
Ever tried to print an image that's been saved for the web and noticed that the image quality was significantly downgraded? Or, have you ever tried to enlarge an image taken with an 8 megapixel camera, or even an image taken using a cell phone, to a size of 16"x20"? If you have, you probably know that the culprit lies with the relationship between Image Resolution and Maximum Print Size. To non-photographers, these concepts can sometimes be hard to explain, since it's easy to see that an image looks perfectly fine on a computer screen at 72 pixels per inch (ppi), however if you attempted to print that same image, more than likely the print would have visible JPG artifacting, or visible pixels.
With that said, rather than go through the motions of explaining how megapixels relates to print resolution, we've created this handy infographic that might make it easier to understand that even though you can print something at a certain size, it doesn't guarantee that it will necessarily be print quality. We hope this might help explain the concepts of how image resolution relates to print size in the future, so please feel free to share!
What a great use of an infographic as a visual guide! This is an information infographic that is sharing valuable information without any type of sales pitch or advertisement.
Since infographic images get shared and reposted on the Internet frequently without any accompanying text or links, they should have include the publishers info in the design of the infographic: logo, website, copyright.
Found on thephoblographer.com
