This chapter covers
- Exploring visual channels for quantitative and qualitative data
- Breaking down a complex project
- Combining D3 methods to create a custom visualization
- Creating a responsive SVG grid
- Positioning visual elements on a radial layout
In the first three sections of this book, we’ve been applying diverse D3 techniques to develop well-known visualization layouts, such as bar charts, streamgraphs, histograms, maps, and so on. But if you picked D3 as a data visualization tool, there’s a good chance that you also want to build intricate and unusual visualizations. To create unique projects, you need to understand the different methods and layouts that D3 has at your disposal. It’s not so much about knowing every single method in detail but instead mastering the philosophy behind D3 and knowing where to find information when needed. Appendix C, where we mapped all the D3 modules and what they are about, can help you with that. Another skill you’ll need in order to create custom layouts is the ability to break down ideas and geometries into code, which we’ll do in this chapter’s project.