A Ridiculously Deep Dive into an Elaborate Data Visualisation Project
What does it really take to make an elaborate, fun, interactive data visualisation project? Usually, a lot of things that never make it into the final result.
Join me for a slide-free, slightly chaotic journey through the making of “Searching for Birds”, an interactive data story created for Google. Rummaging through physical early hand sketches, “throw up” sheets full of questionable charts, horrible initial designs and screenshots from awkward in-between stages. I’ll show you ideas that went nowhere, rabbit holes that were worth taking, and mistakes that helped uncover the right direction. And, for good measure, I’ll code a little nest of eggs in D3.js, live.
This isn’t a tidy story about having a brilliant idea and executing it flawlessly. It’s about experimenting, meandering, changing your mind, and making a mess until something clicks. Because sometimes, the road to a beautiful final result is paved with some truly ugly ducklings.
