Awesome Data Storytelling

A curated list of tools, videos, guides, and examples to turn data into clear stories that people understand and remember.

Contents

Videos

Starter kits and templates

  • FT Visual Vocabulary – Chart chooser by Financial Times to pick the right chart type for your message – great starting point for choosing an effective visualization

  • From Data to Viz – Decision tree to find the best visualization based on your data characteristics, with guidance and code examples – helps you select the appropriate chart and learn how to create it

Tools

No code and low code

  • Datawrapper – Fast creation of responsive charts, maps and tables for the web with an easy GUI – perfect for reporters and scientists to publish visuals without coding

  • RAWGraphs – Open-source app to convert spreadsheet data into unconventional charts – great for quick exploration and unique chart types

  • Tableau Public – Free version of Tableau to build interactive dashboards and stories, and publish them online – powerful drag-and-drop analytics for everyone

  • Looker Studio (Google Data Studio) – Free web-based tool for creating shareable dashboards and reports on top of your data – connects easily to many data sources for live visuals

  • Knight Lab Tools – Suite of storytelling tools (TimelineJS, StoryMapJS, etc.) for easy interactive timelines, maps and more – quickly create narrative visualizations without coding

  • Flourish – Platform for interactive charts, maps, and “stories” without coding – turns your data into beautiful visuals and multi-step story presentations

  • Infogram – Online tool to design infographics, charts, and interactive dashboards with drag-and-drop – useful for creating polished visuals and embeds quickly

Charting and interaction

  • D3.js – The standard low-level JavaScript library for custom interactive data visualizations – extremely powerful for bespoke charts and graphics on the web

  • Vega & Vega-Lite – Declarative grammars of graphics in JSON – specify charts in a high-level format and let the library handle drawing; power behind many tools

  • Observable Plot – High-level JavaScript plotting library for rapid visualizations – simple syntax to make exploratory charts in Observable and vanilla JS

  • Chart.js – Popular simple charting library for websites – great for dashboards or small projects with bar, line, pie charts etc. out of the box

  • ECharts – Rich interactive charts from Apache, with dozens of chart types and smooth performance – good for heavy data and complex visualizations

  • Highcharts – Mature charting library offering many chart types and features (free for non-commercial use) – well-documented and widely used for business visuals

  • Plotly.js – JavaScript library for interactive charts, also powering Plotly’s Python/R tools – creates dynamic, publication-quality graphs with hover tooltips and zoom

  • Apache Superset – Open-source BI platform for data exploration and dashboards – allows you to create and share interactive charts and SQL-based dashboards at scale

  • Dash (Plotly) – Low-code framework for building interactive analytical web apps in Python (and R) – connects Python data analysis to a web UI without needing JavaScript

  • Shiny – R package and framework to build interactive web apps straight from R (also available for Python) – lets you turn analyses into shareable web applications without web development skills

Mapping and geospatial

  • Leaflet – Lightweight open-source JS library for interactive maps – easy to use for pin maps, tile layers, and basic geospatial visualizations

  • Mapbox GL JS – Powerful library for vector maps with custom styling – enables smooth, interactive maps and data layers with WebGL, great for advanced map visuals

  • deck.gl – Uber’s WebGL framework for large-scale geospatial data visualization – renders millions of points or complex 3D maps efficiently in the browser

  • kepler.gl – Open-source tool by Uber for geospatial analysis and visualization with no coding – upload data and quickly visualize it on maps, with filters and 3D hex bins, etc.

  • CARTO – Platform for spatial data analysis and interactive map publishing (offers open source libraries and a hosted service) – useful for location intelligence and storytelling with maps

  • QGIS – Full-featured desktop Geographic Information System – open source software to analyze and visualize geospatial data, create map layouts, and export for presentations

Notebooks and publishing

  • Observable – Web-based computational notebook platform for JavaScript and data visualization (by the creators of D3) – collaborative notebooks that run in the browser, ideal for sharing interactive analyses

  • Quarto – Open-source framework to publish data analyses as websites, reports, presentations, blogs (supports R, Python, Julia) – next-generation of R Markdown for creating reproducible, shareable outputs

  • Jupyter – The classic notebook environment for Python, R, etc. – mix code, data, and narrative, and share as HTML or via JupyterHub; a staple for data science storytelling

  • R Markdown – Authoring framework in R for creating dynamic reports, books, slides – weave together prose and R code to generate polished documents with results, great for transparent reporting

Scrollytelling

  • Scrollama – Lightweight library for scrollytelling using IntersectionObserver – helps trigger events based on scroll position to build narrative scroll-based graphics

  • GSAP ScrollTrigger – Plugin for GreenSock Animation Platform to create scroll-driven animations – smooth and powerful way to tie animations to scrollbar progress without heavy code

  • Intersection Observer API – Browser API for observing scroll position of elements – the underlying web technology for building custom scrollytelling and lazy-loading content

Design and prototyping

  • Figma – Collaborative interface design tool (free for basic use) – design your data story layout, annotations, and visuals, or create mockups before coding

  • Penpot – Open-source design and prototyping tool (similar to Figma) – great for teams preferring self-hosted or open solutions for UX/UI design

  • Svelte & SvelteKit – UI framework and metaframework for building fast, interactive web stories – efficient alternative to React; helps create reactive visualizations with less code

  • Next.js – React framework for web applications, ideal for content-rich sites – offers hybrid static/SSR rendering, great for building interactive data story websites with React components

  • Astro – Modern static site builder focused on content (MDX, Markdown) – lets you sprinkle interactive components as needed, keeping site speed high – good for longform articles with some charts

  • Eleventy (11ty) – Simple and flexible static site generator – useful for generating data storytelling websites from templates and content, with no client-side overhead by default

Design, color, and accessibility

  • ColorBrewer – Tried-and-true color palettes for maps and charts, with guidance on usage – select palettes optimized for readability and colorblind-friendliness

  • Viz Palette – Tool by Susie Lu to test color palettes for data viz – see how your colors look in charts, check for colorblind issues and accessibility contrast

  • iwanthue – Color generator for maximally distinct hues – great for when you need many categorical colors that are visually distinct

  • Chroma.js – JavaScript library for color conversions and palette generation – helps with color interpolation, lightness adjustment, and ensuring color scales are perceptually uniform

  • WebAIM Contrast Checker – Quick web tool to check contrast ratios between text and background colors – useful for making sure your chart labels and elements meet accessibility standards (WCAG)

  • Color Oracle – Free desktop tool to simulate color vision deficiencies – lets you preview how your visuals appear to those with color blindness, ensuring no information is lost

  • Chartability – Comprehensive accessibility checklist and guide for charts by Frank Elavsky – provides structured tests to make data visualizations more accessible to all users

  • W3C WAI Tutorials – Practical guides from Web Accessibility Initiative on developing accessible web content – includes sections relevant to data tables, images, and visualizations

  • WCAG Quick Reference – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) with success criteria and techniques – use this as a reference to ensure your data story meets established accessibility standards

Story craft and structure

  • Storytelling with Data (Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic) – Blog and resources teaching practical techniques to make charts clear and influential – focuses on communicating effectively and designing with a narrative in mind

  • Good Charts (Scott Berinato) – Guide to making smarter, more persuasive data visualizations – emphasizes the messaging and design choices that turn charts into compelling stories

  • DataStory (Nancy Duarte) – Book on structuring data-driven presentations to drive action – helps you craft a narrative arc (with beginning, middle, end) around your data insights

  • Effective Data Storytelling (Brent Dykes) – Framework for connecting data to decision-making through narrative – covers how to find the narrative in data and communicate it to stakeholders for impact

  • The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (Edward Tufte) – The classic text on data visualization design principles – foundational lessons on clarity, honesty, and efficiency in statistical graphics

  • The Truthful Art (Alberto Cairo) – Book on principles of truthful, intelligent visualization and the ethics of charts – teaches how to be both accurate and captivating when telling stories with data

  • Visualize This & Data Points (Nathan Yau) – Practical books for designing creative infographics and understanding data – full of examples and step-by-step processes for making your data relatable

  • Information Dashboard Design (Stephen Few) – Guide to creating dashboards that inform effectively – though focused on dashboards, it teaches principles of decluttering, arranging data, and focusing attention

  • Data Visualisation: A Handbook for Data Driven Design (Andy Kirk) – Comprehensive book on the process of visualizing data from preparation to design to iteration – offers a structured approach and case studies to improve your data viz projects

  • Data Sketches (Nadieh Bremer & Shirley Wu) – Showcase of 12 creative data visualization projects and their detailed process – inspires thinking outside the box in data storytelling, with an emphasis on the journey from data to final art

Courses and training

  • HarvardX: Data Science Visualization (edX) – Free online course teaching data visualization basics in R (ggplot2) as part of Harvard’s Data Science series – great for scientists to learn principles and hands-on plotting

  • UC Davis: Fundamentals of Visualization with Tableau (Coursera) – Intro course on creating visualizations and dashboards in Tableau – learns by doing, focusing on real-world datasets and storytelling in business contexts

  • freeCodeCamp: Data Visualization with D3.js – A free online curriculum to learn D3.js basics and build projects – excellent for web developers or anyone looking to create custom interactive visualizations

  • Knight Center: Data Visualization and Infographics MOOC – Periodically offered massive open course covering design and development of infographics, taught by Alberto Cairo – covers theory and practice from one of the leading experts

  • Visualising Data (Andy Kirk) Training – Workshops (online and in-person) and e-learning by Andy Kirk covering data visualization skills from beginner to advanced – learn practical techniques and the data viz design process from a seasoned trainer

  • Storytelling with Data Workshops – Training sessions and community resources from the Storytelling with Data team – hands-on practice in refining charts and crafting persuasive data narratives

  • Kaggle: Data Visualization Course – Free short course on Kaggle (uses Python’s seaborn & matplotlib) to teach the basics of visualizing data and building effective charts – good for scientists and analysts to quickly level up plotting skills

Articles and guides

  • The Pudding – Process Posts – In-depth write-ups on how each visual essay was made (data, design, code) – offers a transparent look at the creative and analytical process behind award-winning data stories

  • Datawrapper Academy – Extensive collection of step-by-step tutorials and tips for creating charts, maps, and tables with Datawrapper – learn not just the tool but also general design best practices

  • Reuters Graphics – “How We Built It” – Articles by the Reuters graphics/data team explaining the development of their high-profile visual stories and news graphics – valuable insight into tools, techniques, and challenges in newsroom data storytelling

  • FT Visual & Data Journalism – Blog posts and showcases from the Financial Times data journalism team – explains methods and reasoning behind some of FT’s data visuals and projects

  • BBC News Graphics R Cookbook – Guidelines and examples from BBC News for creating graphics in R (ggplot2) following BBC style – practical recipes for making publication-ready charts with consistency and accessibility

  • Google News Initiative Training – Data Journalism – Free lessons on using data in journalism, including finding data, using spreadsheets, visualization tools, maps, etc. – good beginner-friendly modules for journalists and communicators new to data storytelling

  • Ten Simple Rules for Better Figures – PLOS Computational Biology article outlining core principles for scientific figure design – concise, practical advice to make research graphics clearer and more effective

  • Data Journalism Handbook – Open-access resource (1st edition) compiling tips, case studies, and techniques from journalists around the world – covers the entire workflow from getting data to telling impactful stories

Datasets

General

  • Our World in Data – Repository of clean, up-to-date datasets on global topics (economy, health, environment, etc.), often with ready-made visuals – excellent for finding reliable data for storytelling

  • World Bank Data – Huge collection of global development indicators and country statistics – great for economic, social, and environmental data with an easy country/year query interface

  • UN Data – UN repository of official statistics from many UN agencies and databases – good for country-level data on population, education, GDP, etc., often hard to find elsewhere

  • OECD Data – Economic and social indicators for OECD member countries (and some partners) – useful for comparing policy-relevant metrics (health, education, economy) across developed nations

  • Eurostat – European Union’s official statistics portal – wide range of data (economy, demographics, elections, etc.) for EU countries and regions, with visualization tools included

  • Data.gov – U.S. Government open data portal – tens of thousands of datasets from federal and local agencies, covering topics from climate to health to transportation

  • Kaggle Datasets – Community-contributed datasets on a variety of topics – great for finding ready-to-use CSVs for practice projects or storytelling (check data quality and licensing per dataset)

  • Google Dataset Search – Search engine for datasets across the web – helps you discover data hosted on various portals, repositories, and websites by keyword

Global health focus

  • WHO Global Health Observatory – Health-related data from the World Health Organization (mortality, disease prevalence, risk factors, healthcare resources) – authoritative source for global and country health statistics

  • IHME Global Burden of Disease (GBD) – Results from the GBD study by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation – rich dataset on diseases, injuries, and risk factors globally, with tools to visualize health trends

  • GHDx (Global Health Data Exchange) – Catalog of health-related datasets, surveys, and indicators from IHME and partners – useful for finding specific health datasets (by country, by topic) and downloading them

  • UNICEF Data – Statistics on children and maternal health, education, and equity – data and reports focused on child well-being worldwide, often in user-friendly formats

  • Our World in Data – Health – The health section of OWID with charts and data on various health outcomes (life expectancy, disease, nutrition, etc.) – quickly get annotated charts or download the underlying data for reuse

Inspiration and case studies

  • The New York Times – Graphics – Archive of NYT’s special visual projects and interactive graphics – top-tier examples of data storytelling and visual explanation in journalism

  • The Pudding – Digital publication that crafts visual essays to explain ideas with data – innovative and often playful interactive stories that push the boundaries of data visualization

  • Bloomberg Graphics – Data-driven news features and graphics by Bloomberg’s team – great examples of business and finance-related visual storytelling with high production value

  • Reuters Graphics – Portfolio of Reuters’ interactive stories and explanatory graphics – notable for clean design and strong integration of data, code, and narrative for global news

  • Washington Post Graphics – The WP’s visual journalism projects covering news, analysis, and investigative stories – shows how data and graphics can clarify complex issues and add depth to reporting

  • Financial Times – Visual & Data Journalism – FT’s data visualization and journalism hub (stories, graphics, and behind-the-scenes) – often focused on economics and markets, illustrating how to communicate insights to a niche audience

  • The Guardian – Data Visualizations and Interactives – Gallery of infographics and interactive content from The Guardian – combines playful design with serious data in an accessible way

  • FlowingData – Blog by Nathan Yau showcasing everyday insights with data visualization (plus tutorials for members) – inspiration from creative charts, humorous data analysis, and real-life data stories

  • Observable Gallery – Community showcase of notebooks created on Observable – find interactive data visualizations and mini data stories across diverse topics, with the ability to view and fork the underlying code

  • Information is Beautiful Awards – Annual awards highlighting the best in data visualization and storytelling across the world – browse winning and shortlisted projects for inspiration on design and narrative techniques

Workflow and templates

  • ABT Narrative Framing – The “And, But, Therefore” method for structuring the core narrative of your data story – helps in formulating a concise story premise that has setup, tension, and resolution

  • Data Ethics Canvas – Worksheet by ODI to identify ethical issues in data projects (privacy, bias, consent, etc.) – ensure your data storytelling considers risks and is responsible

  • Notion Storytelling & Project Templates – Collection of Notion templates for data story planning, tracking tasks (GTD), and outlining story briefs – useful starting points to organize your project and narrative structure

Communities and newsletters

  • Data Visualization Society (DVS) – Global community of data viz professionals and enthusiasts (with an active Slack, forums, and local chapters) – great for networking, feedback, and learning from peers

  • Nightingale – Online magazine by DVS featuring articles on data visualization practice, case studies, and interviews – regular insight into the art and science of data storytelling from practitioners

  • FlowingData Newsletter – Weekly newsletter by Nathan Yau with highlights of new interesting data vizzes and resources – keep up with creative examples and datasets in your inbox

  • The Why Axis – Substack newsletter by Lisa Charlotte Rost (Datawrapper) analyzing what works and what doesn’t in specific charts each week – practical design tips and critiques that improve your “chart literacy”

  • Datawrapper Weekly Charts – Weekly email showcasing a compelling chart with context and how it was made – learn by example each week, often touching on design and data choices

  • Reddit r/dataisbeautiful – Community of hundreds of thousands sharing data visualizations (mostly static images) – inspiration and crowd feedback, with diverse topics and skill levels (upvote-worthy examples daily)

  • Reddit r/DataViz – Discussion-focused subreddit on data visualization techniques, tools, and questions – good for asking for tool recommendations, feedback, or reading about others’ workflows

Podcasts

  • Data Stories – Long-running podcast by Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner interviewing data viz experts – insightful conversations on the craft of data visualization and storytelling, with diverse guests

  • Storytelling with Data – Podcast from Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic’s team discussing how to turn charts into clear messages – short episodes with tips on chart design, presenting data, and listener Q&A

  • PolicyViz Podcast – Hosted by Jon Schwabish, covering the communication of data and evidence, often in policy contexts – mix of tool talk, design best practices, and how data viz fits into making decisions

  • Data Viz Today – Hosted by Alli Torban, focusing on the creative process behind effective data visualizations – each episode breaks down one specific data viz project or tip for practical learning

License

This list is inspired by the Awesome list guidelines – it is open for the community to contribute.

Each linked item belongs to its creator; please check individual resources for their own license or terms of use.