OCHA by the numbers inspired by this peacock

I had to learn a couple of things when I joined OCHA’s Visual Information Unit just over one year ago: deal with strange visitors at my window and interesting requests. For the first few months at my new office, I had this peacock and its family, allowed to roam freely on grounds of the UN, … Continue reading OCHA by the numbers inspired by this peacock

Show Don’t Tell – what I learned from Malofiej’s workshop

In March, I had to make a choice between going to Sendai, Japan for the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction or to Pamplona, Spain for the 23rd edition of Malofiej. It was a tough choice… Japan was something that I’ve been involved with and following for the past few years, while Spain … Continue reading Show Don’t Tell – what I learned from Malofiej’s workshop

Disaster graphics get bronze prize for international information design award

One of the buzz words these days is “infographics”. While these can range from just simple pie graphs to complex flowcharts, the best aren’t necessary the most “designed”. The most effective information graphics are ones that can communicate an idea or story and that can help the audience turn information into knowledge. This also means … Continue reading Disaster graphics get bronze prize for international information design award

Visualization isn’t just about fancy charts

Continuing from my last post on how data isn’t everything, visualization isn’t just about finding cool ways to show off data. “Visualization”, which seems to be a hot topic at the moment, is more than that. While it might be a buzzword that refers to showcasing data and statistics in a interesting way, I think … Continue reading Visualization isn’t just about fancy charts

Infographics: the gourmet or fast food version?

Great cuisine is an art form with a purpose – to make us feel good and full. I had this amazing dessert in a Les Oliviers in the South of France over the Christmas holidays. It’s made of pineapple, passion fruit, cream, sugar and probably plenty of other ingredients – each of them are simple … Continue reading Infographics: the gourmet or fast food version?

Stop calling these events ‘natural’ disasters…

In the first week of November 2013, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones every recorded made it’s way through Southeast Asia. Typhoon Haiyan, known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, left a trail of destruction which galvanized international humanitarian support and media attention. There was a lot of interest in how many people were … Continue reading Stop calling these events ‘natural’ disasters…

2013 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction

The Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) comes out every 2-years and is an assessment of global situation on reducing disaster risks and provides a comprehensive overview and analysis on key issues and what governments are doing to prevent disasters. GAR13 is the third edition of the report, entitled From Share Risk to … Continue reading 2013 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction

Not just an update, but a redesign

The hugely popular infographic I designed for UNISDR on the impacts of disasters from 2000-2011 required a bit of an update. And with over 7,000 views already on Flickr, it was pretty straightforward to update it with new stats from CRED for 2012. But just updating the graphic wasn’t enough. There were some trials and … Continue reading Not just an update, but a redesign

Thanks for visiting in 2012

Google analytics are great when you’re managing websites or anything to do with tracking online use, visits, or engagement with web content. There’s so much that gets captured and that can be customized the way you want that if you like how statistics can help you do your job better, analytics are a great service/tool. … Continue reading Thanks for visiting in 2012