

Data Viz Today
Alli Torban
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.
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 25, 2021 • 39min
63: How to Integrate Accessibility into Your Data Viz Workflow — Featuring Frank Elavsky
What can we do to make our data visualizations more accessible to more people, especially those with disabilities? In this episode, Frank Elavsky shares how we can integrate accessibility into our current data visualization workflow. It's a skill just like anything else, so let's get practicing! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/63

Mar 30, 2021 • 9min
62: How Much Money Do Data Visualization Professionals Make?
Ah, money. The topic everyone wants to hear about but no one wants to talk about! It's a complicated and nuanced subject because there are so many variables that factor into someone's compensation, but... In this episode, I'll share some highlights from the responses in the Data Visualization Society community survey to give you a sense of what data viz professionals are pulling in. Don't forget to check out the interactive chart in the show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/62

Feb 16, 2021 • 39min
61: 3 Insights From a Personal Project That Blew Up — Featuring Nadieh Bremer and Shirley Wu
What are the ingredients of a successful personal project? How do you even know what topic to make your personal project about? What constraints make for a successful personal project? In this episode, data visualization designers Nadieh Bremer and Shirley Wu share insights they learned from completing a year-long collaboration that ended with a new book called Data Sketches!

Jan 25, 2021 • 8min
BONUS: 3 Steps to Feel More Confident in Your Data Visualization Process
Do you feel lost when you're creating a chart? Are you feeling around in the dark with every new project? Confidence comes with practice, but you can also take a few smart steps, in the beginning, to create an effective chart. I've interviewed top designers for years on my podcast while creating and experimenting on my own, and I've found that these steps reap great rewards. Try them out, and you'll feel more confident in your data visualization skills regardless of the situation or your toolset. If you need help making your data visualizations a reality, I'd be happy to help! I have space in my consulting schedule opening up; I specialize in creating static charts, maps & infographics that are engaging and effective. Drop me a line! https://www.allitorban.com/resources/1

Dec 22, 2020 • 1h 4min
60: The Best Data Visualizations of 2020 — Featuring Lea Pica
The last episode of the year! In this episode, I have a little data viz tennis match with fellow podcaster Lea Pica. We found the most inspiring visualizations in four categories: climate change, COVID-19, racial injustice, and the US presidential election. Lea and I bounce back and forth describing our favorite in each category and the mastery on display for each. What was your favorite data viz this year? Shownotes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/60

Nov 24, 2020 • 35min
59: How Art Direction Can Make Your Work More Effective — Featuring Gabrielle Mérite
Have you ever created a successful graphic that really hit the mark and you felt like you were just spot on? Do you know how you can consistently replicate that feeling? If not, I have an idea of what you might be missing... Art direction! In this episode, we'll learn when you need art direction and when you don't, and how to use art direction to make sure you and your client work efficiently together to create graphics that hit the mark.

Oct 13, 2020 • 22min
58: How to Turn Data Into an Experience — Featuring Miriam Quick & Stefanie Posavec
Have you ever felt frustrated when you're trying to express important data to someone? Do the bars and pies just seem to fall flat? Try turning the data into an experience! In this episode, I try to bottle up Miriam Quick and Stefanie Posavec's creative genius that they poured into their new book so that we can create data experiences in our work, too. Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/58

Sep 29, 2020 • 11min
57: A Big Lesson Learned From My 100-Day Project
I recently went on a journey to improve my design skills, and looking back, I learned a lot about how to build a skill and one big lesson about being a creator... Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/57

Aug 25, 2020 • 10min
56: [Mini] 3 Ways to Enhance Your Legend
Chart legends are so key (ha!) to make your chart understandable, but you need to give it some thought and care. The goals of a good legend: informative and concise It shouldn't be a puzzle. So how can we enhance the default legend to be more informative and concise without becoming a puzzle? Let's jump into 3 ways to enhance your legend! Show notes

Jul 28, 2020 • 10min
BONUS: 3 Invisible Tools to Help You Create Faster
What are the invisible tools (i.e. processes or methods) that I use to help me create visualization more efficiently? I pinpointed 3 roadblocks that I encounter frequently, and in this episode, I share the invisible tools that I use to catapult over them and keep moving. Let's go!


