Tool Review: Data Illustrator
Welcome to #FunDataFriday for Data Illustrator
A 3 minute read about a cool data resource.
Today’s #FunDataFriday article is about the data tool called Data Illustrator.
What Is It?
Data Illustrator is a research collaboration between Adobe Systems Inc. and Georgia Institute of Technology. From their website, the tool aims to make data visualization as easy as creating an illustration in a design tool like Adobe Experience Design or Bohemian Sketch.
Why Is It Awesome?
It’s awesome because it’s a very powerful and easy to use data visualization tool. As such, it makes a lot of the more advanced data visualization techniques accessible to a larger group of users. Without any coding, you are able to create a very powerful infographic created directly with real data. Best of all, it’s free!
Below, I show an example of how I was able to very easily repeat and resize an image based on data values.
In the example below, you can see how we can easily create and customize a waffle chart in under 30 seconds!
How To Get Started?
The tool is very intuitive after you have oriented yourself. As someone who is used to working with data tools and not design tools, it took me a bit to understand the flow. But after quickly working through the getting started flow and a few gallery tutorials, it was quite easy. For your first gallery tutorial I’d recommend the US unemployment heat map. I found it very helpful in bridging the gap between traditional BI and design tool flows.
