Read “CHART” by Nadieh Bremer with us!

Do you keep getting recommendations for data vis books, maybe even buying them, but then don’t make it a priority to read them? Let’s get more out of these books by reading and discussing them together in the Data Vis Book Club. Here’s what we’ll read next — join us!

We’re excited to announce the next book for our book club: “CHART” by Nadieh Bremer, the data visualization designer behind Visual Cinnamon.

That’s 9 a.m. on the U.S. West Coast; 11 a.m. in Chicago, Colombia and Peru; 12 p.m. on the U.S. East Coast; 1 p.m. in Brazil and Argentina; 5 p.m. for readers in the U.K. and West Africa; 6 p.m. for most Europeans; and 9:30 p.m. in India.

Nadieh Bremer herself will join us around 45 minutes into the discussion to answer all our questions.

As always, everyone is welcome to join! Just open the notepad at the correct date and time and start typing. Many participants will be new to the conversation — we’ll figure it out as we go.

We’re thrilled to welcome Nadieh back to the Data Vis Book Club! You might remember her from our June 2021 session, where she joined Shirley Wu to discuss their co-authored book “Data Sketches.” Nadieh is a data visualization designer passionate about bringing data to life — from education and astronomy to immigration, Google search trends, and environmental issues.

In May 2023, Nadieh gave a keynote talk at the Outlier conference where she touched on the intersection of data visualization and art, and the importance of humanizing data. She also shared some examples of her own work and explained how she applies these concepts to create visualizations that are both informative and beautiful. And that is how “CHART” began.

What is this book about?

“CHART” starts with an introduction to Nadieh’s journey into data visualization, from her early years to becoming a freelancer. The rest of the book is divided into four main sections that grow more and more creative as you move through the book. From familiar chart types to more abstract data art, each section showcases a wide range of visual approaches. Within these sections, you’ll find detailed case studies, complete with Nadieh’s handwritten sketches and notes guiding you through her initial ideas to the final visualizations.

Scattered throughout the chapters you’ll also find quick tips and broader insights designed to spark inspiration at every stage of your data visualization journey.

Should you read this book?

This book isn’t meant as a how-to manual for data analysis or chart design. It doesn’t cover software tutorials or design checklists on what to consider when doing data visualization.

In Nadieh’s own words, “this book is all about creativity and making your charts look unique, memorable and beautiful.” So if you like stunning visualizations and are looking to get inspired by a collection of Nadieh’s projects, this book is for you — you’ll find yourself flipping through every page, stopping to admire the designs again and again.

How does the book club work?

1. You get yourself a copy of “CHART.” Ask your local library to order it for you, buy it, borrow it from a friend, or ask around on your preferred social network.

2. We all read the book. This is where the fun begins! Please use the hashtag #datavisclub on social media if you want to share your process, insights, and surprises. Don’t worry if you don’t read every word in the book! Start by reading the chapters that appeal the most to you and see how far you get.

3. We get together to talk about the book. This will happen digitally on Monday, August 18th at 4 p.m. UTC over at https://notes.dw.tools/p/chart.

It won’t be a call or a video chat; we’ll just write down our thoughts. The discussion will be structured into three questions:

Three questions

During the conversation, I’ll ask these three questions in the following order:

1. What was your general impression of the book? Would you recommend it? To whom?

2. What was most inspiring, insightful, or surprising? What did you learn that you didn’t expect to?

3. Having read the book, what stuck with you? What will you do differently the next time you visualize data?

For each question, you can prepare an answer in 1-2 sentences and paste it into the notes once I ask the question during the conversation. If you can’t find the time to prepare anything at all just come by and chat — we’ll quickly get into discussion mode.

After discussing these three questions for about 45 minutes, Nadieh will join us to answer questions we might have about her book.

More questions?

Here’s a short FAQ for you, in case you have more questions:

So what will happen, exactly, during the book club?

A digital book club is a new experience for many of us. See what our book club discussions have looked like in the past:

You can also read the review of the first book club, to learn how people found the experience.

This is what others have said about some of the last book club discussions:

• “Just wanted to say this was my first time joining the book club and I JUST LOVED IT! Thank you everyone! This experience was incredible.”

• “Such a great experience connecting with the authors and fans of this unique book that I love.”

• “Great experience! It was fun reading all of the questions and answers as they popped up and to scroll up and down the screen to check out any new comments.”

• “OMG! First time that I do it and I just loved it!!! I like that I can write everything I’m thinking about live and comment on other people’s ideas easily.”

Why don’t we do a call? Why the notepad?

Because it works well for introverts and for people who prefer to stay anonymous in the discussion. Plus, native English speakers have less of an advantage than they have in calls. Plus, the documentation of our meeting writes itself.

I can’t make it on this date/time.

Do you have a lunch date? Vacation? Need to put the kids to bed? Need to sleep yourself? No problem! The conversation will be archived in the notes and can still be extended over the next day(s).

How can I learn about new book club discussions?

You can either subscribe to our Datawrapper Blog Update newsletter or follow us on social media.

I’m looking forward to reading through “CHART” with all of you. If you have any questions, write them in the comments or send them to guillermina@datawrappper.de or to Guillermina / Datawrapper on X (Twitter). I’ll see you in August!