Data visualization is an expressive medium. We use it to tell stories that help us make sense of the world. For five hundred years we wrote and illustrated those stories for the printed page. Toward the end of the last century, Edward Tufte showed us how much we had yet to learn about envisioning information using ink on paper. And his lessons will always inform our practice. But with data processing tools, networked software, and digital displays, we enter a new era of data visualization -- and not a moment too soon.
Information Visualization is a hot topic. It seems like a new data visualization library or artistic visualization is released every week. As Jon Udell's article shows, we are just beginning to see how software can help us find meaning in data. So, when we set out to create this issue of MIX Online, we decided to focus specifically on interactive infographics, a fascinating application of information visualization that hasn't received much coverage.