Information is beautiful

By Sarah Andersen On August 26, 2009 · 2 Comments · In >archive

I stumbled across a fabulous website this morning. Information is Beautiful. It’s run by David McCandless, a writer and designer in London who does things like this:

and this:

As a species we generate a LOT of data–especially since the advent of computers. The amount of information being generated by genomic sequencing alone is massive. (in fact, they’re building an enormous new MaRS building at the University of Toronto that will have entire floors devoted entirely to storing said data). That’s great, but the larger problem is not storing the data, it’s processing it. Our brains are not computers. We are not hard-wired to be able to pick out the patterns in endless rows of numbers.

We need people like David McCandless who can present it in a meaningful way. What I especially love about his work is that it sits at the crossroads between arts and science. Or in this case, graphic design and statistics.

And fun too. Case in point:

p.s. If you want to get in on the action, he’s looking for extra data crunchers!

2 Responses to Information is beautiful

Shagufta says:

August 26, 2009 at 10:21 am

Wow..he presents data in stunning ways. I love the timelines! Thanks for sharing.
Geoff Costeloe says:

September 1, 2009 at 5:57 am

Love it!!