
Data Viz Today
Helping you become a more effective information designer.
You want to create effective data visualizations. That’s hard work. There are so many decisions to make, like chart type, annotations, and color!
Will this podcast help?
Host and fellow data viz designer Alli Torban is in the trenches with you. She shares the latest tools and methods that she’s discovered while on the job and interviewing top designers.
If you’re an analyst, journalist, or designer who wants to hone your skills with specific tactics, then this show could be just what you need.
Latest episodes

Oct 11, 2022 • 26min
80: How to start a creative project with Manuel Canales (Creativity Mini-Series)
We’re exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! Let’s hear how Manuel Canales, the graphics assignment editor at the Washington Post and previously the senior graphics editor at National Geographic, gets the most out of his creativity. How he approaches the pressure of a new project has changed the way I work! Let’s go… Show notes

Sep 6, 2022 • 32min
79: Don't exceed your audience's patience with Marcelo Duhalde (Creativity Mini-Series)
We’re exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! Let’s hear how Marcelo Duhalde, the Associate Creative Director at the South China Morning Post, approaches creativity. We dive into how he defines creativity, what his process is like, what kills his creativity, and more! Show notes

Aug 16, 2022 • 37min
78: Creativity is a risky act with Duncan Geere (Creativity Mini-Series)
We’re exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! Let’s hear how Duncan Geere approaches creativity. We dive into how he defines creativity, how he gets the most out of his creativity, and more! Duncan Geere is an information designer living in Sweden who works with graphics, words, and sound. He's one-half of the loud numbers, data sonification podcast and studio. And one-quarter of the Elevate data viz learning community. Duncan is always surprising me with his creative data sonification experiments, and he's also a really deep thinker. So I knew he'd have some interesting answers to my questions about creativity and he did not disappoint! Show notes Volunteer to be a Beta reader for my new book!

Aug 9, 2022 • 32min
77: What daily practice looks like with Mesa Schumacher (Creativity Mini-Series)
We’re exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! If it’s not a magical process, then what is it? Let’s hear how Mesa Schumacher approaches creativity. Mesa Schumacher is a science artist currently living in Fiji who specializes in communicating complex ideas through illustration, infographics, and animation. Mesa's work can be found in National Geographic and Scientific American, on signage at the National Zoo, in academia, and on giant puzzles! We dive into how she defines creativity, what her routines are, what kills her creativity, how she presents creative ideas to clients…and more! Shownotes Volunteer to be a Beta reader for my creativity book!

Aug 2, 2022 • 35min
76: Creativity is a spectrum with Andy Kirk (Creativity Mini-Series)
We’re exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! If it’s not a magical process, then what is it? Let’s hear how Andy Kirk approaches creativity. We dive into how he defines creativity, what his routines are, what kills his creativity, how he presents creative ideas to clients, where he finds inspiration…and more! Shownotes Volunteer to be a Beta reader for my creativity book!

Jul 26, 2022 • 22min
75: Change your space to change your mind with Stefanie Posavec (Creativity Mini-Series)
Today, I’m launching a mini-series all about creativity in information design. If you’re like me and came from a data background, communicating information in creative ways can feel a bit like a magical process, so over this series, I’ll invite creative information designers and dive into their process: What are their routines, what kills their creativity, how do they present creative ideas to others…and more! Let’s hear how Stefanie Posavec approaches creativity in information design… Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/75 Stefanie Posavec's work Sign up to be a Beta reader for my new book on creativity in information communication!

Jun 30, 2022 • 47min
74: What It's Like Being a Data Journalist — Featuring Danielle Alberti
Today, we have Danielle Alberti on the show to share a behind-the-scenes look at how to become and be a data journalist! She's the editor of the data visualization team at Axios and shares: What's a typical day as a data journalist Which skills are important What she looks for in a resume and portfolio when hiring for a data journalist position What she would do differently if she were starting her data journalist career over again This interview with Danielle was the special opening segment to the Elevate Learning Community conference — you can watch the whole conference with thoughtful talks about information design here: https://elevatedataviz.com/live Full shownotes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/74

May 24, 2022 • 26min
73: 3 Ways to Analyze Time Series Data Without Losing Nuance — Featuring Zan Armstrong
Today, we have Zan Armstrong with us to share 3 simple alternatives to aggregating time series data in the usual ways so you don’t lose important nuance. It’s so easy to get pushed into aggregating data a certain way by our software so being aware of some alternatives is really helpful when you’re analyzing and visualizing data. Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/73

Apr 26, 2022 • 12min
BONUS: Top Tips on Creating a Data Viz Brief
I walk you through my process for creating a data viz brief and how to use it! If you're interested in a short training and getting a copy of the data viz brief template that I use with my clients, shoot me an email with the subject line "INTERESTED!" and if there's enough interest, I'll host a live training! hello@allitorban.com

Mar 15, 2022 • 40min
72: How to Add Strategy Sessions to Your Data Viz Workflow — Featuring Liz Hatherley
When you’re kicking off a data viz project, do you have a series of questions that you ask to uncover the goals, audience, and data? Want to know how to kick it up a notch? I know I do! Recently, I had the pleasure of working with Liz Hatherley, whose whole expertise is wrapped up in pulling this kind of information out of her clients, which has led to incredibly smooth dataviz projects! In this episode, Liz shares more about what kinds of questions she’s asking in her discovery workshops and how we, as data viz designers, can start integrating more strategic thinking into our own workflows. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/72
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