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The 20 best tools for data visualization | Design tools | Creative Bloq

Written by Brandon Klein | Mar 26, 2013 9:00:58 PM

A picture is worth a thousand words, but creating cool infographics can be time-consuming. So we've found 20 amazing tools to make it easier.

It’s often said that data is the new world currency, and the web is the exchange bureau through which it’s traded. As consumers, we’re positively swimming in data; it's everywhere from food labels to World Health Organisation reports. As a result, for the designer it’s becoming increasingly difficult to present data in a way that stands out from the mass of competing data streams.

One of the best ways to get your message across is to use a visualisation to quickly draw attention to the key messages, and by presenting data visually it’s also possible to uncover surprising patterns and observations that wouldn’t be apparent from looking at stats alone. As author, data journalist and information designer David McCandless said in his TED talk: "By visualising information, we turn it into a landscape that you can explore with your eyes, a sort of information map. And when you’re lost in information, an information map is kind of useful."

There are many different ways of telling a story, but everything starts with an idea. So to help you get started we’ve rounded up 20 of the most awesome data visualisation tools available on the web.