Coffee & Viz Workshop - Dodging Dreadful Diagrams through Discerning Design

Well-designed diagrams aren’t just pretty; they convey information and aid understanding by working in concert with human perception. The problem is that effective design isn’t intuitive – we may feel like we know it when we see it, but producing compelling work ourselves takes some training that not many of us have had. The good news is that with a bit of guidance, we can quickly make large improvements in what we produce and recognize how to improve what we’ve created in the past. In this workshop you will see how designers transform reality to increase explanatory power, learn a few core principles of good graphic design, and practice visual brainstorming and critique for more creative, clear communication. There are no prerequisites – the session will combine lecture, discussion, and hands-on paper and pencil activities.

Register for this workshop.

Eric Monson got his PhD in the experimental sciences, but has always had an interest in visual communication and design. He currently works for the Duke University Libraries as a consultant and instructor in their Data and Visualization Services department, helping researchers and students from all departments across campus clean, analyze, visualize and communicate their data.