New to dataviz field guide

New to Data Viz — DVS Early Career Pathway
2026 EDITION
NEW TO
DATA VIZ?
Start here.
A BEGINNER’S FIELD GUIDE
DVS crowd illustration

Data visualization brings together analysis, design, storytelling, and technology to help people understand and communicate data. Whether you are a student, hobbyist, analyst, designer, journalist, or someone exploring a new career path, the Data Visualization Society team have curated helpful resources to get you started and to support you as you grow.

Learn → Practice → Connect → Grow
BY CEDRIC LARY AND ISOBEL PARKES
Questions this guide answers
Questions this guide answers

Here you will find curated resources to help you learn the fundamentals of data visualization, explore tools, work on practice projects, receive feedback, and connect with a broader community of people who care about communicating data clearly and creatively.

Wherever you are starting from, we hope this guide helps you build confidence, develop your skills, and find your place in the data visualization community.

Learn

FOUNDATIONS & BEST PRACTICES

Build your understanding of visualization principles, chart design, color, and typography before picking up any tool.

VISUALIZATION PRINCIPLES
Guide
Datawrapper: dos and don’ts
Practical, opinionated guides on making charts that communicate clearly.
datawrapper.de
Library
Data Viz Project
A comprehensive catalogue of chart types with use cases and examples.
datavizproject.com
Guide
From Data to Viz
Decision tree for choosing the right chart type for your data.
data-to-viz.com
Library
DataViz Catalogue
Searchable library of visualization types with descriptions and examples.
datavizcatalogue.com
Guide
Chart types guide — Datawrapper
When to use which chart: a clear, visual walkthrough of chart selection.
datawrapper.de
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Guide
York University: design principles
Research-backed overview of how people perceive visual information.
yorku.ca
Guide
Johns Hopkins: design fundamentals
Covers gestalt principles, pre-attentive attributes, and cognitive load.
jhu.edu
STORYTELLING & ETHICS
Book companion
Storytelling with Data (downloads)
Free companion resources from Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic’s foundational book.
storytellingwithdata.com
Article
Annotation techniques — SWD
How annotations guide the reader through a chart — with examples.
storytellingwithdata.com
Article
Ethical data visualization — Nightingale
Why ethics matters in visualization and how to tell the human story responsibly.
nightingaledvs.com
CHART DESIGN & STYLE RULES
Guide
Core dataviz style guide — Nightingale
Practical style conventions for axes, labels, grids, and chart anatomy.
nightingaledvs.com
Guide
DataViz Style Guide
Community-built reference for consistent, publication-quality chart design.
datavizstyleguide.com
COLOR & ACCESSIBILITY
Tool
Viz Palette — Susie Lu
Evaluates color palettes for accessibility and perceptual distinctiveness.
susielu.com
Tool
Coolors
Fast color palette generator — useful for building harmonious chart palettes.
coolors.co
Tool
Adobe Color Wheel
Interactive color wheel with harmony rules and accessibility checker.
color.adobe.com
Tool
Canva Color Wheel
Beginner-friendly color exploration and palette building.
canva.com
Guide
Datawrapper color guide
Three-part series on color in dataviz — principles, palettes, and accessibility.
datawrapper.de
Guide
Color in dataviz — Datawrapper
In-depth guide on color theory applied specifically to charts and dashboards.
datawrapper.de
Guide
Create good color palettes — Datawrapper
Step-by-step process for building palettes that work across chart types.
datawrapper.de
TYPOGRAPHY
Guide
Fonts for data visualization — Datawrapper
How to choose typefaces that improve legibility in charts and dashboards.
datawrapper.de
Article
Choosing fonts — Nightingale
Editorial perspective on typography choices for dataviz projects.
nightingaledvs.com
Tools

EXPLORE THE TOOLKIT

No single tool is right for every project. Start with no-code options to understand visualization concepts, then add programming skills when you’re ready.

Data

FINDING DATA TO WORK WITH

Practice requires real data. These open sources cover government, international, and community datasets across every topic.

NYC Open Data
City government datasets across transport, housing, crime, and health.
opendata.cityofnewyork.us
DVS Annual Survey
The DVS state of the industry survey — great for dataviz-themed projects.
datavisualizationsociety.org
Kaggle Datasets
Thousands of community-shared datasets with notebooks and competitions.
kaggle.com
UN Data
Global statistics from United Nations agencies and international organizations.
data.un.org
US Census Bureau
Demographic, economic, and geographic data for the United States.
data.census.gov
Big Book of R — data sources
Oscar Baruffa’s curated list of data sources for R practitioners and beyond.
oscarbaruffa.com
Practice

CHALLENGES & INSPIRATION

The fastest way to improve is to make things. These weekly and monthly challenges give you data, community, and deadlines.

PRACTICE CHALLENGES
Makeover Monday
Weekly challenge to redesign an existing chart. Great for beginners.
makeovermonday.co.uk
TidyTuesday (R4DS)
Weekly R and dataviz challenge with community submissions on GitHub.
github.com
Workout Wednesday
Weekly technical challenges for Tableau and Power BI practitioners.
workout-wednesday.com
SWD Challenge
Monthly storytelling and design challenge from the Storytelling with Data community.
storytellingwithdata.com
Pudding Cup
Annual awards for the best visual essays and data journalism of the year.
pudding.cool
#30DayChartChallenge
April challenge: a new chart every day across themed prompts. Massive community.
github.com
INSPIRATION
Information is Beautiful
Award-winning showcase of the world’s best data visualization work.
informationisbeautiful.net
Nightingale — DVS journal
Articles, interviews, and analysis on dataviz practice and culture.
nightingaledvs.com
VizHeads
Community gallery of dataviz work — scroll for ideas across styles and tools.
vizheads.com
The Pudding
Long-form visual essays on culture, sport, and society. Exemplary storytelling.
pudding.cool
Tableau Public — viz of the day
Daily featured visualization from the Tableau Public community.
tableau.com
Dear Data
Stefanie Posavec & Giorgia Lupi’s year of hand-drawn weekly data postcards.
dear-data.com
Outlier Conference 2025
DVS’s annual conference — watch talks and see the community’s latest work.
datavisualizationsociety.org
Connect

FEEDBACK & COMMUNITY

Dataviz is a social practice. Getting critique, sharing work, and meeting peers will accelerate your growth more than any tutorial.

FEEDBACK
DVS program
DVS Critique program
Submit your work for structured feedback from experienced DVS members.
datavisualizationsociety.org
Podcast
SWD Podcast feedback
Submit charts for discussion on the Storytelling with Data podcast.
storytellingwithdata.com
COMMUNITY
Community
DVS Slack community
Join thousands of dataviz practitioners — channels for every skill level and interest.
datavisualizationsociety.org
Events
DVS Events (Eventbrite)
Browse and register for upcoming DVS events, workshops, and webinars.
eventbrite.com
Community
Women in Data
Community and resources specifically supporting women in data roles.
womenindata.org
Community
SWD Community
Forum, challenges, and resources from the Storytelling with Data team.
storytellingwithdata.com
Community
FlowingData membership
Nathan Yau’s tutorials, examples, and community for R and dataviz.
flowingdata.com
Grow

EDUCATION, MENTORSHIP & CAREERS

When you’re ready to invest in longer-term growth, these pathways offer deeper education, structured mentorship, and career resources.

Education
Honing your skills — Nightingale
Thoughtful guide to developing as a dataviz practitioner over time.
nightingaledvs.com
Education
Open Visualization Academy
Free, structured curriculum for learning data visualization from the ground up.
openvisualizationacademy.org
Mentorship
DVS Mentorship program
Connect with an experienced practitioner for structured one-to-one mentorship.
datavisualizationsociety.org
Careers
DVS Job Board
Dataviz-specific job listings across industry, newsrooms, and agencies.
jobs.datavisualizationsociety.org
Careers
Career paths in dataviz — Nightingale
Overview of the different roles and routes into a professional dataviz career.
nightingaledvs.com
Careers
Starting out in dataviz today — Nightingale
Practical advice for breaking into the field from practitioners who did it.
nightingaledvs.com