foreword
In my capacity as a freelance data visualization educator, consultant, and designer, I’ve been deeply immersed in most corners of the data visualization world since the late 2000s and been fortunate to have a front-row seat to a huge amount of change. The technological landscape is always shifting. From the evolution of the tools of our trade to the platforms on which our work reaches its audience, there are always new forces pushing and pulling.
Where once this was a small, niche community of specialists, the elevated mainstream exposure of visualization led to substantial growth, both in the volume of enthusiastic participants and through the improved widening in their diversity. A field is only as rich as the breadth of its sensibilities and cultures, and the trajectory is hopeful.
This expanding pool of talent continues to inject fresh thinking. Traditional discourse and so-called established convictions are being challenged. A heightened appetite for experimentation has led to innovative methods impacting audiences in novel ways. The boundaries of creative possibility are being stretched beyond just the chart and just the visual.