With a fascinating career that has “tracked alongside the major technological developments in and out of the newsroom that brought us to the current point in data visualization,” Prof. Alberto Cairo was described in a Microsoft / Story Labs profile as “always in the vanguard of visual journalism.” A renowned visualization designer and art director with many years of experience leading graphics and visualization teams in several countries, he joined the University of Miami School of Communication to teach courses on infographics and data visualization, where he was subsequently honored with a Knight Chair in Infographics and Data Visualization.
About Alberto Cairo, PhD
Currently, Prof. Cairo is also Director of Visualization at UM’s Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC), and a Faculty Fellow at the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy. Beyond his role as Associate Professor in the School of Communication’s Department of Journalism and Media Management, in the past decade Prof. Cairo has taught and consulted in more than 30 countries. He has worked for Microsoft, Google, the U.S. National Guard, the Congressional Budget Office, and many other companies and institutions. He has been the keynote speaker at many conferences about data journalism, data science, and visualization, such as Microsoft’s Data Insights, the JMP Discovery Summit, Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy, New Directions in Health Communication, or the Ihaka Lectures.
Prof. Cairo is the author of four books:
- How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter About Visual Information (W.W. Norton, 2019)
- The Truthful Art: Data, Charts, and Maps for Communication (Peachpit Press, 2016)
- The Functional Art: an Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization (Peachpit Press 2012), and, his latest:
- The Art of Insight: How Great Visualization Designers Think. (Wiley Publishing Company 2023).
About The Art of Insight | Purchase Now
In conversations with several leaders in the field of data visualization, Prof. Cairo delivers an inspiring exploration of how they make design choices. The book is a
celebration of visualization, and a personal journey that dives into subjects like:
- How the professional background and life experiences of every designer shape their choices of what to visualize and how to visualize it.
- What designers from different countries and cultures, and working in different fields, such as data art, data analytics, or data journalism, have in common, or how they differ.
- How designers reflect on research, ethical reasoning, and aesthetic judgments to make decisions on appropriate ways to encode data, or the most appealing visual style.
A perfect book for data scientists and data journalists, The Art of Insight will also inspire artists, analysts, statisticians, and any other professional who uses data visualizations.
Praise for The Art of Insight
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“Alberto Cairo’s The Art of Insight delves into the lives of numerous designer and what has shaped them. Each chapter showcases stunning examples, but also life stories and the motivation that informed those choices. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, but perhaps most importantly, I caught glimpses of myself and my own story.” —Bridget Cogley, co-author of Functional Aesthetics for Data Visualization and Chief Visualization Officer at Versalytrix.com |
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“The book is a breath of fresh air following the exhaustion of the pandemic! Cairo has crafted a pragmatic, inspiring reflection on the process and purpose of contemporary data visualization.” —Catherine D’Ignazio, Associate Professor and Director of the Data + Feminism Lab, MIT, Co-author of Data Feminism |
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“Alberto Cairo brings us along on his exploration of the new and different ways designers are visualizing our world. It’s an uplifting journey to get a glimpse into the perspective and processes of these creative data artists.” —Randy Krum, visualization designer, author of Cool Infographics: Effective Communication with Data Visualization and Design and Founder of InfoNewt.com |
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“Practitioners of data visualization and storytelling hope to get people to see, understand, and feel differently about data. The Art of Insight has me thinking differently about the field of data visualization and storytelling itself. Cairo’s intimate and caring interviews and commentary are revealing, thought-provoking, and most of all, inspiring.” —Steve Wexler, Professional chart Looker-atter, co-author of The Big Book of Dashboards, and author of The Big Picture |
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“Visualization stretches beyond reports and sterile charts to uses more tightly coupled with real life, which is full of beauty, complexity, and stories. With The Art of Insight, Alberto Cairo places the full field on display. Learn the design and analysis processes of those in less traditional visualization roles, alongside Alberto’s unique perspective, and your own data work will benefit, wherever that may be.” —Nathan Yau, statistician, FlowingData.com |
