Fifty Hours to Draw Some Lines
The article discusses the process of hand-drawing data visualizations, highlighting the author's experience of spending 50 hours on a project that could be completed in a fraction of the time using software. It emphasizes the artistic aspect of creating data visualizations by hand, using traditional tools and techniques. The author shares favorite resources and methods for those interested in this craft.
- ▪The author spent 50 hours creating a hand-drawn data visualization of a coffee maker computer.
- ▪The article emphasizes the artistic value of hand-drawing data visualizations compared to using software.
- ▪The author lists several favorite books on hand-drawn data visualization, many of which are available online for free.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
50 Hours to Draw Some Lines Hand drawing data visualizations with artist Doug MacDowell Description: I used to live on a quiet road on top of a huge hill. When leaves were on the trees it felt so secluded, and when the leaves fell, the entire city would appear below as sparkling lights. Sometimes, I'd run into a neighbor. "What are you working on these days?" "Data visualizations." I told him. "Ah, you using algorithms, machine learning, cloud computing, things like that?" "No." I said. "I'm just trying to draw a line graph." My neighbor thought I was getting into some complex sh**. But what's been more interesting to me lately than using powerbi, powerpoint, tableau, D3, python, illustrator, R is learning to draw data by hand.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Dougmacdowell.
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