Teaching Visual Communication in a Business Communication Course

"There are many different ways of telling a story, but everything starts with an idea. So to help you get started we've rounded up some of the most awesome data visualization tools available on the web."

"Presenting information in a crisp and concise way is something that we need daily needs such utilities as well. So we took our time to find tools that are time-efficient and offer some class in presenting yourself and/or your project." . . .

"Displaying data can be a tricky proposition, because different rules apply in different contexts. A sales director presenting financial projections to a group of field reps wouldn’t visualize her data the same way that a design consultant would in a written proposal to a potential client.

"So how do you make the right choices for your situation? Before displaying your data, ask yourself these five questions:" . . .

"With all our data creation—clicks, likes, tweets, photos, blog posts, online transactions—our digital data tells a compelling story about who we are and what we do. For people and business alike, the key to making these digital actions worthwhile is to ensure they and the data they create continue to improve our lives." . . .

ike many designers, Eric Rodenbeck has had a long relationship with bar graphs and pie charts. He just thinks they are a little old school for today’s data-filled world.

Mr. Rodenbeck has experimented with animation, three-dimensional maps that show the height of buildings by color changes and a representation of how photos spread on Facebook that looks like ice crystals forming on a car window. He’s even tried to characterize in a graphic how people were communicating in back channels at business conferences, with the biggest talkers at the center of a series of circles. . .

"What is the color of money? Of love? Of the ocean? In the United States, most people respond that money is green, love is red and the ocean is blue.

"Many concepts evoke related colors — whether due to physical appearance, common metaphors, or cultural conventions. When colors are paired with the concepts that evoke them, we call these “semantically resonant color choices.” . . .

"I had the pleasure of attending a Guardian Masterclass in London. Presented by both an editorial director and an art director, it covered both the story and the graphic design aspects, and the core theme of the course addressed a simple question – does your data tell a story and can you visualize it?" . . .

To take the quiz, with each new screen of colors, click on the lightest hue. Don't take more than 60 seconds with each screen, or you will be penalized." . . .

"Visual thinking is a way to expand your range and capacity by going beyond the linear world of the written word, list and spreadsheet, and entering the non-linear world of complex spacial relationships, networks, maps and diagrams."