Dear Data's Stefanie Posavec on Hand-Drawn Visualizations

In a time when coding skills are in demand, one may wonder if there’s still room for hand-made projects in the field of visualization. If you do a bit of research, chances are you will find references to the work of Stefanie Posavec.

When it comes to Stefanie’s work, the data viz community praises her Writing Without Words project, and the subsequent hand-made visualizations described by Alberto Cairo as “examples of the incredible results you can get with a low-tech (rather than algorithmic-based) approach to visualization.”

Visualoop – a member of the Infogram family – asked Stefanie about her current interest in visualization, design, technology and more.

This interview was originally published by Visualoop on December 19, 2014.

Have people stopped trying to convince you to learn how to code?

I don’t know if anyone was really pushing me to code but were really just baffled that I created work by hand, subjecting myself to such an often tedious and time-consuming activity. And actually, this year I started to learn how to code, but I am terrible and slow, and work often gets in the way, so I haven’t made much progress. However, I’m quite happy collaborating with super-talented developers who I can work back-and-forth with on a project, as I like how these two different approaches to creating visuals, when combined, tend to produce some lovely results.

However, this year I’ve also realized that I’m interested in analog data-gathering and visualization because of its intrinsic physical nature: one feels the effects of physically engaging with and moving through data while working in this intensive manner. This interest in physically moving though data has been manifesting itself in some of my projects over the past couple of years: my Facebook art installation, for example, and my recent Open Data Playground that was part of the Web We Want festival at the Southbank Centre, London.

I’m not averse to automation, I’m just attracted by the physical aspects of analog.

There has been a lot of talk about what makes a ‘good’ visualization. Won’t this data criticism trend create an intimidating environment for newcomers?

I think this environment can be quite intimidating; I used to feel pretty nervous of being criticized by online commentators when I first began working in this field. This highly critical environment is likely why I ended up explicitly defining the space for many of my projects as ‘data illustration’, to appease the hardline data visualization critics! So, I suppose the current environment has shaped my behavior, but perhaps it was also an asset in helping me clarify my position and direction.

I think it’s down to a matter of character, in some ways: some people prefer when things are black and white, and others like to work in the fuzzy, grey bit in the middle. I think I’m the latter type of person, which is why I enjoy working with data in that in-between space between the traditional rigors of data visualization and the emotional communication of traditional graphic design.

However, I think it’s important that in order to explore these new spaces, one needs to have a good grounding in the theories in principles of data visualization regardless. You can’t bend the rules without knowing ‘the rules’…

The “Literary Organism” is one of your most famous works, alongside Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” visualization. Since then, have you expanded your data explorations?

I haven’t explored text visualization very much further, but mainly ‘visualize’ text in the form of the occasional book cover or book design, these days. This is mainly because text visualization is something that I pursue in my spare time and freelance work tends to shout the loudest! I have been looking at exploring the handmade visualization (using Reed-Kellogg sentence diagrams) of the grammar structure of the longest sentence in James Joyce’s Ulysses, but have yet to extend it further (one day).

I’m currently considering wrapping up this interest in text visualization into a small book, or slimline printed volume, perhaps. Readers: anyone want to publish me?

What other areas are you focused on?

As I’ve spent much of my career working in 2D on screens and in books, I’ve currently become more interested in physical and movement-based representations of data (as shown through the Facebook and Open Data Playground projects). I’m interested in how you can use more subtle and less defined experiences and interactions to communicate information.

As I’ve also said, I’m learning how to code, but I’ve put that on hold recently because I’ve also been learning how to draw… Let’s see which wins, shall we?

After the “Literary Organism,” some exciting opportunities came your way. What can you tell us about that period?

I think that I was privileged to have created design work that I’m proud of at a time when interest in data was increasing exponentially… It was definitely the impetus to quit my job and go freelance. However today, the type of people who get in touch for work has changed slightly: I have less people getting in touch because ‘data visualization’ is the hot buzzword, I suppose.

For someone who does so much work by hand, you have a unique perspective on the role of technology for data gathering, visualization, and analysis. What excites you?

I have to say, I find Nick Felton’s Reporter app the most useful at the moment, mainly because I use it regularly. And for an Adobe Illustrator-using person such as myself, RAW is great because I can export and manipulate the files in Illustrator. (My needs are simple!)

Visit Stefanie’s  website for a comprehensive overview of her work, and keep up with her on Twitter (@stefpos) and Instagram.

Tiago Veloso is the founder and editor of Visualoop – a digital environment dedicated to all things data visualization. The website features over 2,300 detailed infographics and a collection of featured designers and collectives for you to enjoy.