We Need to Real Talk

A letter to visualising data & information (hereafter referred to as: Vida)

by Maral Pourkazemi for Market Cafe Magazine & Designtalent

Dear Vida,
Even though we hang out and work together almost every day, I’ve never had the chance to tell you what I really think and how I really feel about you. It’s not like you ever asked me anyway, but here comes my second outing. I know, I know, this already sounds like a convo á la “we need to talk”, but trust me, this isn’t going to be a ‘break-up-via-WhatsApp-text’ kind of thing, so don’t panic (screw WhatsApp anyways). I promise we’ll still be mates.

I just want to talk about all the things I hate about you. I mean, sometimes you can be a real self-absorbed, hyper superficial mess, and I just can’t deal with
you when you get like that.

OK, OK — relax! That was a bit harsh. The thing is, I do actually want to tell you what bugs me about you, so that maybe you can reflect a little, get a tiny bit more self aware, and maybe even become a better version of yourself. Evolution is the spice of life, innit? BUT I also want to tell you why I love you. Just a little bit of healthy ‘real talk’, ok? So chill your muscles, have sip of warm milk and just listen to me for once — for all the times that I have listened to you.

Ready? Good.

Almost twenty years have passed since I first met you, and it’s been about seven years since we started spending real quality time together. I must
have been 9 or 10 when you taught me about the size of a shark’s mouth and a whale’s tail. Much of what my primary school teachers tried to teach me in with too much text and talking, you managed to explain to me in a few fun pictures in one German book about sea life.

I’ll never forget that roughly three kids can easily chill in the extinct Carcharodon megalodon shark’s mouth with their hands up “in the ayer” — as if Flo Rida had told them to do so. Or that an Orca is the size of an average American truck.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for this. Thank you, for making it super easy for me to understand some very simple concepts of whale and
shark dimensions. Hey, are you judging me right now? Look, I just wasn’t into school and had way more interesting things going on. “Don’t hate the player,
hate the game” is all I can say.

Anyways. Fast forward. It’s 2010, I rediscover you and once again you just ‘wow’ me! This time you very clearly explain what it could mean for Afghanistan if the US troops left or stayed in the then-war zone.

Politics aka life got extremely serious, especially since 9/11 when the US went to Afghanistan on a scavenger hunt to find & fight the Taliban once and for all.

Source

You left me with a totally different kind of wow. After all, we weren’t kids anymore and sharks just aren’t the number one danger in our lives. Our priorities shifted. Especially for me, simply because not long before I rediscovered you I came to understand that as a designer I can take on the responsibility to do something with my skill that is useful to a greater audience. So when I met you again on that day, you helped me realise that through design, complex and seemingly convoluted problems can be untangled and made easier to understand. From that day forward we became partners in crime.

Even though you have a whole spectrum of interests, the one you and I vibe on most is anything human rights-y and ‘for good’ related. Some of your efforts have already made history.

Thank you for not just impressing us but for also teaching many people around the world about how gun violence cut short the lives of so many individuals in the US.

Source

Thank you for opening mine and many other eyes on what drone strikes really mean, especially for the lives of many in Pakistan and for showing us why Obama’s administration has blood on its hands.

Source

I feel like these are some of the pieces where you really showed off with your intelligence, empathy and honesty. You were also extremely humble, so much so that you allowed people to ask questions — which I think is how you can tell people understand you, or want to understand and learn from you.

You didn’t just talk at people, I’m pretty sure you touched many people’s souls too, which means they will never forget what you taught them. Which also means they might pass on their knowledge. Which then also means that you made an impact in their lives. And that, my friend, is your biggest asset.

Right, enough lovey-dovey talk. It is now time to talk about your biggest downfalls in the most generalised and top-level way I can formulate. Sometimes you just really suck. Here’s when and why.

1. When you try to look intelligent and rich of thought when in truth you’re pulling very stupid stuff out of your ass while looking as wrong as a Honda that has been pimped up to look just like a Ferrari. I see you, yeah you look kinda cool, but something’s fucking off about you aka holy moly, why do you even bother… So when you have nothing to say, just don’t say anything at all. Please stop: this damages your rep.
2. When you have very useful and important things to say, but you only talk to me, or other designers or people that work with you day in/out. Yeah, I do respect and understand (and like) that sometimes you get told to say what to say in certain ways. But especially when it comes to political discussions you could try to also formulate a way that is accessible to the readers of “The Sun” or other sources of crap. Serious times just got a lot more serious and instead of creating a bridge for the information divide, you sometimes make the gap bigger. In effect, when those who you could talk to see but don’t understand you, they will not listen or start a conversation because you simply make them feel dumb. Sometimes you even make me feel dumb. Please don’t be a smart ass (all the time).
3. When you go on TV and tell lies to entire nations. MATE! That is an absolute no-go. Sorry not sorry, but lying in general cannot be your territory. Don’t abuse your power, seriously, it doesn’t matter how tired, messed up or stressed you are. You cannot lie. Because every time you do, a kitten image disappears from the internet.
4. Listen, it is 2017. And sometimes you still behave like it is you, and just you alone that people should care about. No mate, sorry, some of your best work was done with experts from photo/video/motion/etc/etc/. I don’t mean to say you always have and should work with them, but please do consider them for your next endeavours. Collaboration is how we roll, and trust me, together you will roll further. If you don’t collaborate sometimes you’ll end up old, grumpy and alone like Clint Eastwood in the film Gran Torino. And he was pretty horrible to hang with, remember? Be (even) more inclusive.

You get the gist. You’re pretty sick when you make people feel clever and and get them to share what you told them with their peers.

Phew. I’m glad I finally got the chance to open up. And I really hope you understand why I’m saying all this, simply because I super believe in you. And because I think you’re not yet at your max potential, the world is your oyster as they say.

Love
—M

Maral Pourkazemi is a London based designer. Follow her on Twitter.