Constructing a Career in Data Visualization: The How
Learning data viz requires doing data viz—here are some tips to get you started
In my first essay, I touted my status as a “self-taught” designer and developer — this was a lie. Or rather, a mischaracterization, for almost no one is self-taught. Perhaps you can remain truly self-taught if you stick to books — this is how I got my start, and I still recommend this path. Books give you a stable base and an introduction to the terminology, which will be immensely helpful before diving in head first. But eventually you will have to venture outside the confines of books and tutorials, and learn by doing.
As my dad noted about his experience building our house: “The books can say do X, Y, and Z, but when it comes to actually putting hammer to nail, things are always different.” The same applies in data visualization. When you leave the world of theory and start building your first big project, you will inevitably run into bugs in your code, unknown design territory, or problems that your books just didn’t cover. This is when you turn to your community and the incredible ecosystem of free resources that is now at our fingertips in the form of blog posts, StackOverflow answers, YouTube tutorials, slack groups, and our mentors and friends. Ask almost anyone that is “self-taught” and…
