Personal on Visual Cinnamon

The 100 Tallest Buildings in the World

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This self-initiated data visualization appeared in the third issue of Nightingale, the printed journal of the Data Visualization Society. The theme of the issue was guidelines and with this visual, I embrace one of the main “taboos” within data visualization: 3D (bar) charts. It is accompanied by a short article that explains how you can go beyond the guidelines and rules when you have the right reasons.

Using a 3D perspective in data visualization is generally only to the detriment of the visual, and for good reason. However, when I started playing with the dataset of the 100 tallest buildings in the world, and noticed that they all fall within a rather narrow band of heights (apart from the tallest handful), I knew that comparing exact heights would not be the main point of visualizing this dataset. Instead, seeing that more than half of those buildings are in China, that most of them are offices, and which buildings once were the tallest (and for how long) became the insights that I wanted the visual to focus on.

Charting Our Adventures: How I Created a Personalized Map with R, JavaScript, and more

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this blog, I’d like to show you how I created the map below of Senja, Lofoten & Vesterålen in Norway. Using a combination of tools, including the OpenStreetMap API, Amazon Web Services Terrain Tiles, R, d3.js, and JavaScript, I was able to create a unique and personal map that features our hikes, Google location history, and the locations we stayed at during our 5-month trip through Norway in 2022.

My Experience & Projects from Studying at Fab Academy and Learning How to be a Maker

Sun, 11 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In September 2020 I decided to stop working for the first half year of 2021 and go back to studying. I had just applied for the Fab Academy, a globally run, full-time course of 20 weeks, headed by Neil Gershenfeld from MIT, focused on learning how to become a maker / fabricator. Making designs on a computer and then turning these into a reality with machines such as laser cutters, 3D printers, milling machines, and more, while also incorporating electronics. It’s also known as “How to Make (almost) Anything”.

Fab Academy

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

For 20 weeks between January and June of 2021 I decided to stop working and study at the Fab Academy, also known as “Learn to Make (almost) Anything”. It has taught me several of the most important facets of being a fabricator. Starting with an idea, designing it with 2D or 3D tools on a computer and taking those designs to become a reality by using laser cutters, 3D printers, vinyl cutters, CNC milling machines and more. A big emphasis was also placed on electronics; learning how to come up with the requirements, design PCBs, mill & solder them and finally test and use them in conjunction with other materials to create interactive results. Every week resulted in the creation of something, depending on the topic of the week, getting more and more complex as the weeks went on. This culminated with building my final project, called NOVA, a jigsaw puzzle with light.

My Journey into Data Visualization

Mon, 27 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I often get emails from people asking me diverse question about my path into data visualization. And after typing out my story for the Nth time I thought it might actually be easier if I just place it in a blog post. That way I can be more detailed & even add some images (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧