Abstraction as Emotional Distance

We are living in the age of data, which allows us to describe, quantify, and summarise societal issues. Turning real-world events into datapoints, however, introduces a level of abstraction that can strip away the emotional weight of a topic. How can we use design and data visualization to inform viewers, without desensitizing them to the subject matter?

Rachel Binx

Design Technologist, Watershed

Rachel Binx is a creative technologist with a background in data visualization, art history, and interaction design. Her current work centers around climate change, using data visualization to communicate the scope and scale of the challenges we are facing.