Graphics Training

TRUTHstudio offers 1-hour, 2-hour, half-day, and full-day workshops on how information design can be used effectively by individuals and teams to understand, analyze, and communicate complex topics. Learn how to…

  • Translate complex ideas into clear graphics.

  • Create and deliver effective visual presentations.

  • Distill your key points into a single “super-graphic.”

  • Select the right graphics type for your content.

  • Practice ten principles of good graphics (see below).

  • Discover graphics tricks in Excel & PowerPoint.

Ten Principles of Good Graphics

  1. Be clear in your purpose for visualization.

    Is my my purpose to experiment? Explore data? Explain results?

  2. Create a hierarchy of messages and information.

    What is the primary message? What is secondary? What is tertiary?

  3. Emphasize the information/data.

    Is the key data (or information) the boldest element on the page?

  4. Match data variables to visual variables.

    Is each data variable assigned a unique visual variable (color, size, etc.)?

  5. Prototype with humility. (Iterate, iterate, iterate.)

    Have I tried other ways to represent this? Have I solicited feedback?

  1. Create a consistent visual vocabulary within a project or series.

    Have I minimized variation of background context?

  2. Integrate visual information wherever possible.

    Is there redundancy that can be eliminated? Can different graphics be combined?

  3. Focus information design where it counts.

    Where should I invest design time for maximum understanding?

  4. Specify your needs, priorities, and audiences.

    Where do I want graphic design? Infographics? Information design?

  5. Learn from existing examples.

    How have others visualized similar issues?

What Our Training Clients Say

  • In a one-hour ‘crash course,' TRUTHstudio provided our mid-career professional students a toolkit for using visual methods to think and communicate clearly about complex issues.

    David Robertson, Senior Fellow, Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability, Virginia Tech

  • We have done a lot to inspire our staff to use stories to change behaviors. TRUTHstudio's workshop on data and information visualization helped our staff understand how and why they should use visuals, not just words, to tell their stories. The presentation... could have intimidated staff but, instead it motivated them to apply what they learned to their projects.

    Jill Schwartz, Senior Communications Director, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)