Data Visualization

Creativity Tools & Productivity Tools Combined

Data Visualization is an important part of our ever-changing, technical world. As Hans Rosling's son, Ola, stated in the TedTalk How Not to Be Ignorant About the World, "people love shortcuts." In other words, as professionals, activists, students and teachers, we need to learn to present data in a way that is not only engaging, but simple and straightforward. We don't have time to waste in this vast world of information! I know for myself, when I want to learn something new, I look for the quickest and most simple way of getting that information. So, how do we do that in the most effective way?

















The first part of creating data visuals is collecting the data. In the past, I have used SurveyMonkey to accomplish this. This week I tried out Google Forms to collect data, which was comparable for basic data collection needs. Here's my survey for women about how they feel about their makeup and their makeup application skills.

 
Now, if I was Hans Rosling, my data visualization from this survey might be as amazing as this:



This may have been created in a program similar to AnimaGraffs. At this time, I don't have the proper skills, tools or the time... or the data... to create something so fantastic. But, here's what I came up with using a very simple program - Google Slides!




Garr Reynolds discusses How to Present Data, highlighting the following criteria:

• Simple Design
• Basic Facts
• Use images
• Limit words

Here's some examples of what are considered Good Infographics. I found a lot of these to be too large on my screen, maybe if I looked at them on a phone, it wouldn't be so overwhelming.

There are lots of programs to create infographics with. You could make them from scratch in a program like Photoshop or PowerPoint. Or, you could use an online program that has lots of customizable templates to choose from. I would've preferred to use one of these programs, but after trying a few of them and not easily being able to make the adjustments that I watned to, I moved on to a simpler platform - Google Slides. But, given more time, I would love to get to know some of these programs better:

• Visually
• Dipity
• Easelly
• Infogram
• Piktochart

Before even getting started, it is important to think about WHY you are creating your infographic. In this article - 3 WAYS TO DESIGN AN INFOGRAPHIC THAT STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD - they suggest using the "FIRED" method, which I found very helpful!

Fresh – How will your design stand out from the crowd?

Informative – Are you presenting accurate and intriguing facts?

Relevant – Does your information tell a harmonious story?

Entertaining – Is the viewer drawn in and excited to be a part of your story?

Different – Is your infographic new? Has it been done before?

I will consider these things in everything I am involved in, going forward - from my community service, to my career, to my studies. It is so important to present yourself and your ideas in an interactive, engaging, simple, and visually attractive way -- and there's plenty of online tools to help me achieve this! 

All About That Prezi

This week I got to learn all about Prezi - The innovative presentation tool that not only helps you create presentations but really helps you map out your own ideas so that they make sense! My son has been using Prezi for years in school and I am really trying hard to keep up with his technical knowledge. So, I'm excited that I finally got to catch up to him. 

Here's what you need to do

Get informed!

• Watch: Getting Started with Prezi 
• Also, visit Prezi's own support page with many tutorials to choose from! 
• Here's a video about how to add sound to a Prezi. Remember, there are many places online to get free music. Here's a few:
• YouTube Audio Library (This is where I got the music for my first Prezi)
• Free Music Archive
• Archive.org Audio

• And, here's another about creating charts in Prezi (This tool would've been so helpful in my last job where I had to do data analysis and write reports and presentations for my boss! Darn!)

• Read: Support Articles & Knowledge Base
• Explore some examples

Next, create a Prezi account

If you are a student with an college email, you can create a free Educational Account. If not, there are other limited free options available. 

Now, you can try it out!

A Prezi can be about anything - a project at work, an invention, data analysis, a new idea or concept that you want to present to someone, a timeline of historical events, a research topic, goals, plot for a story, outline for a blog post. This list goes on! It is a tool that is used to educate, inspire, and share ideas. I did mine about Jesus because I've been wanting to streamline some things I've recently been pondering about Him. This was really helpful!

Keep in mind the design elements that I've already shared in previous blog posts. The idea is that these presentations be simple and easy for someone to understand and retain. No need for unnecessary fillers - less is often more. I found that creating more "frames" helped to keep things looking simple. No need to try to cram a ton of info into one frame. I also used fun, energetic colors to try to keep my audience engaged and excited about the topic. Did it work? Here's my Prezi:

I would say that my biggest challenge in creating this Prezi was "mapping" out my order. I discovered after quite some time how to click on areas to create the map instead of creating a new frame from scratch each time. This project was time consuming, but now that I know how to do it, I will be able to whip one up fairly easily and really wow people with it! I may sign up for one of the pro accounts just to see what's available. This tool quite revolutionary! As a writer and creator, I value tools that help me organize my thoughts in a visually pleasing and productive way. Prezi does just that.

My First Prezi

Creativity on the Web

Presentations to Inform, Inspire or Educate

There are so many online tools that can be used to create and publish professional presentations online. Some of these include:

MoveNote

ScreenCastify

WeVideo

HangOuts on Air

Any of these programs will create a presentation that can be imported into YouTube for easy sharing on the internet. 

Presentation Tips

• Less is more
• Use font that is easily readable
• Don't use too many colors or crazy colors.
• Don't use clip art or any other cheesy design elements
• Keep the images/words minimal so that the focus is on the presenter
• Be passionate about what you present

For more information about how to make the best presentations, check out these helpful tips by Garr Reynolds: 

Top Ten Presentation Tips for Delivery

Top Ten Presentation Tips for Design

Presentation Zen Rubric

Using Google Slides to Create a Slideshow Presentation

This is the Google version of PowerPoint, but better, because you can invite people to join in and work on it with you. You can also use it in conjunction with Hangouts on Air (or other programs that allow you to share your screen) to record a live presentation! While you speak, you can share your slideshow with your audience! A very useful tip is to use the speaker's notes section at the bottom of each slide. When you present, you can read those notes while the audience watches the slideshow - they don't have to know you are looking at notes! With Hangouts on Air, the presentation automatically saves to YouTube, so you are ready to educate and inspire the world!

Here's my Google Presentation:

This was just an experiment, but it's good because now I know that I need a new webcam and microphone! The slideshow done on Google Slides came out awesome and I really enjoyed learning how to do this. Hangouts on Air, however, was a bit more challenging and I wasn't happy with the results. It seems very limiting, but perhaps I just need more practice. Overall, I know how important presentations are in our world where information is at our fingertips! So, I will continue to practice these skills and works toward more professional presentations in the future. 

Alright Stop, Collaborate and Listen

What is Creativity and Why is it Important?

According to Google, creativity is the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. 

Creativity. Something I am all too familiar with. It can be a blessing and it can be a curse! Sometimes it is difficult to be a creative person in this society where creativity isn't always considered important, or at least not as important as academics. People who are highly creative are often considered weird, "out there", not intelligent, or even crazy! But what exactly is creativity? Why is it important? And most importantly, why should our society embrace creativity as a type of valuable intelligence?

In Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk "Do Schools Kill Creativity?", he claims that we are all born creative but that it is unlearned over time as schools reject our creativity in order to form what they feel is an "intelligent" human being. He claims that the most academically intelligent people, such as professors, don't pay attention to their bodies, but instead think of their bodies as a tool to carry their slightly-left-leaning-brains around in. Makes sense. 

Why would the establishment try to stop creativity? Because they don't view the arts as important. But the arts are what make the world go around. Therefore, this way of thinking about education needs to be overturned. Time for the creatives to fight back and prove that the arts are valuable, exciting, moving and needed.

One type of creative art, photography, can literally spark a revolution! 

We've seen this in history time and time again. Take a look at The Big Picture website to see beautiful collections of powerful photographs in all types of categories. I really enjoyed the one of Scott Kelly's Year In Space. Many of the images don't even look like something you'd think about seeing in space. They look like oil paintings. The vibrant colors, the shapes, the design of our universe is mind-boggling! These images tell a beautiful story. They are art, but they are also science, they are also spirituality, they are also a key to unlocking curiosity and they inspire the pursuit of new things! I loved this website! I've been working on a photography project in my community involving powerful images that describe where I live. Here's some I'm starting with.

These days if someone wants to get into the art of photography, they really need to understand how to promote their work online. Appropriate photo size and resolution is the first step toward achieving this. All photo editor programs have the ability to resize the image and change the resolution. For example, Pixlr you can click on "Image", "image size", and then change the size - also known as dpi (dots per inch).  You want to edit an image size so that it is similar to where you are trying to use it. If it is a website, it doesn't need to be too large. If it is to be printed as a billboard, you will need a lot of pixels!

Then, when you save it, you can lower the quality (resolution) if you didn't want a large image or file. If you lower it too much, it will become blurry. If you make it too large, it will make your website run slow.


Once you have a lot of great images and want to share your craft with the world, what do you do?
One pretty cool way that I just learned about how to do, is right through Youtube! The easiest way to do this, I discovered, is by uploading your photos to Google Photos - or, maybe they are already there if you use your camera phone and have your images automatically backed up. You can go through them and create a specific album just for your photo slideshow. From there you can easily link them into your Youtube Photo Slideshow. Here's one I did just for fun!

This method also enabled me to add music, which was so easy and I found the song I wanted right away by searching for "farm" since that's the theme of my video. It fits perfectly! My video is creative because I used colorful images that fit into a nature theme. Some are landscape, while others are macro (up close). I ordered my images to tell a story of the seasons - starting with winter, going into spring, summer, then a little fall, and ending again in winter. And so, the cycle continues! 

Audio/Video For Beginners

This week I explored all the basics of the online audio/visual world! You really don't need much to get started on becoming a YouTube star or recording your own music/songs, etc. In reality it can all be done from a smartphone these days! That's not to say it will be the highest quality, but it is a start. And, hey, if you are just doing it for fun... it is definitely a ton of fun! Here's some tips to get you started... 

Music

Music matters - You must have music in the background of your videos to add excitement and emotion, unless of course your videos are of you making music! Soft beats or suspenseful instrumentals, music really makes a difference in what people feel when they watch a video. Here's some places to get free music:

• YouTube Audio Gallery (you can download music from here to use elsewhere!)

• Free Music Archive (large variety if you can't find what you want in the previous spot)

• Archive.org Audio (music, photos, videos and more for free download here - I found the website difficult to navigate, however)

Video

YouTube is "the place" to be. I easily set up my account using my Google log in, personalized it with a profile and timeline picture, description, etc. Now I have my own YouTube channel! Soon I'll be a star ;-)  Some perks of using Youtube:

• YouTube also has built in editing. You can upload your video, and then cut it, add music, change the coloring, alter the speed, you can even merge multiple videos together! 

• YouTube is a great place to upload personal videos for safekeeping. Videos can be set to either public, private, or unlisted (must have the link to view it). 

• You can go back and edit, organize or share videos at any time!

• You can make money by monetizing your account (in your settings). Basically this ensures that your videos will have tons of ads. You get paid each time someone clicks on one of those ads. 

• However, you might not want ads on your videos (who likes ads?!), so you can also go into your settings under "video manager" and turn ALL ads off. 

Audio Recording

In the event that you are a musician, or a poet, or want to record any type of sound, there are free online programs for that! 

Audacity is one that I've used for years. You can download for free onto your computer and mix tracks, record instrumentals or voice if you have a microphone, import MP3s and more. 

Sountrap is similar but I like it more! I was able to set up my account quickly and easily without any downloading to my computer! It comes with a comprehensive library of tracks to use for free! This was fun! It also has built in instruments like a keyboard and drums that you can use to make your own music (if you are musical... I am not!). I was able to mix a recording of myself reading a poem with some background music. Not cheesy sounding, either! Bonus! 

So, really there's no reason why everyone with a smartphone or more can't go have fun creating audio/visual web content! Enjoy :-)