Michael Brenner, Lucia Kocincova and Shadi El Hajj

24.01.2019

We're kicking off 2019 with a new round of talks about data visualisation. This time in the heart of Shoreditch at the Microsoft Reactor. There will be some food&drinks and an opportunity to chat before the talks which should start around 7 pm. Don't miss a stop at the Market Cafe Magazine editorial stall. This time they'll host a fast-paced workshop that involves creating personal data portraits using rubber stamps. As always, we'll be heading for drinks after the event somewhere local. We have the following speakers scheduled:

## 7:00 pm - Michael Brenner - Our relationship with data

Michael is a designer. Before joining DATA4CHAN.GE as Head of Design, he was Design Director at Beyond Words Studio. He's been fortunate enough to create data visualisations for and with a wide range of collaborators such as Al Gore, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BBC, The European Youth Forum, The New York Times and Die Zeit and more. His approach to data design is holistic, research-driven and focuses on creating tools and experiences that aim to clarify and build impact.We'll dive into a broad and philosophical adventure of thoughts, ideas and musings on how we might start to reframe our relationship with data and how we might start to create more empathetic expressions of data. Whatever works. We will probably leave having more questions than answers!

## 7:30 pm - Lucia Kocincova - Iterating dataviz with a designer in the loop

Lucia is a Front End engineer specialising in data visualisation. She especially loves to create interactive tools to explore the hidden insights in various datasets.What ways can a developer use for iterating dataviz prototypes? And how can we effectively share the output with designers so that all of us are on the same page to have meaningful conversations about the next steps? Lucia will share some secret tips and also introduce ideas still being explored. So the discussion is very welcome!

## 8:00 pm - Shadi El Hajj - Data and Visual Storytelling

Shadi is a Creative Technology consultant operating at the intersection of Software Engineering, R&D and Digital Art, in the Design and Creative Industries. He has been working for the past 15 years for a broad range of international clients and is the author of several Digital Art projects, covering Digital Dance performances, Interactive Installations and Algorithmic Visuals. Many of them have been showcased at international festivals.Starting from recent projects we've worked on for commercial clients, we'll look at how to apply story-telling and film-making techniques to data visualisation in order to build a compelling narrative and express abstract concepts. We'll also take a look at the creative process behind these projects and the sketch-in-code approach.

For any questions, thoughts or suggestions, please contact zdenek.hynek@gmail.com.