Found Co-Working Space

Friday, August 12, 2011

I would like to first thank the J-Lab and the judges for selecting me for a New Media Women Entrepreneurs grant. I am delighted to be chosen since it will allow me to continue my work on VisualizingEconomics.com over the next year as I experiment with new ways of delivering economic data visualizations to a broader audience.

I am currently working on the first of my illustrated guides about income in the United States. This will be a comprehensive overview of the subject using data placed in historical context (an "infographic explainer"). With this guide funded by my Kickstarter project, I will be using my NMWE grant to start additional guides while building out my website to provide access to these new infographics and the data I used in creating them, including background information about how they are made.

My main goal is to find a balance between giving students, teachers, journalists access to this work while creating an income from the sales of high-quality digital and print products based in the guides. However, my secondary goal is to support other people in the creation of their own infographics. There is an abundance of economic data on the web today, more than any one person can hope to tackle. I hope my site becomes both an inspiration and a place that shows people where to begin their own projects.

Over the past five years, I have seen the interest in infographics increase while the tools to make them are becoming more accessible. I believe with the vast amount of economic data available, there is now an opportunity to experiment with new ways of explaining the economy using data graphics and I hope my work will be a valuable contribution.