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Recent blog posts

Dot voting helps make decisions through prioritization

April 26, 2023, 10:01 am

Dot voting, sometimes called dotmocracy, is a facilitation method that helps groups prioritize options or ideas and make decisions through a visual and participatory process. When a bunch of possibilities have been generated in an in-person meeting or a virtual...

Tremendousness co-founder Bill Keaggy’s 2022 TEDxVienna talk: “How to Find Attention, Mindfulness, and Creativity in the Ordinary”

March 28, 2023, 9:02 am

All of us here at Tremendousness have our side projects and hobbies. We've got visual artists of all kinds, plus writers, designers, musicians, woodworkers, cyclists, runners, hikers, skiers, gamers, and on and on. My personal art projects tend to focus on making...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #271

March 10, 2023, 2:15 pm

Creative wisdom from Rick Rubin: Embrace your inner gatekeeper | "Unlock the full potential of your creativity with holistic detachment. This is the way of the editor." The tech tycoon martyrdom charade | "I've been saying this for a few years now, but it's worth...

Celebrating Black History Month, 2023

February 14, 2023, 1:43 pm

By Hannah Fales & Shreya Damle Black History Month is a time for celebration, remembrance, and reflection. It’s a time to recognize the joyous and inspiring impact African Americans have had on the United States—as well as the struggles. This includes...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #270

February 10, 2023, 9:37 am

How to Stay Creative Forever | "How do writers stay in shape? They usually don’t. But writers (and all creators) do have to keep their minds in shape over the decades if they hope to maintain that career or hobby." Creative wisdom from Rick Rubin: Embrace your inner...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #269

January 13, 2023, 11:44 am

Temple Grandin: Society Is Failing Visual Thinkers, and That Hurts Us All | "When I was younger, I believed that everybody thought in photo-realistic pictures the same way I did, with images clicking through my mind a little bit like PowerPoint slides or TikTok...

What will your life look like in 30 years? Ben Lytle sees incredible potential.

December 19, 2022, 9:57 am

For most people, thinking deeply about the future is scary because no one knows for sure what’s going to happen, and most people assume things are just going to get worse, not better. However, the reality is that we are living in the best time in history. The...

Gimme a break—the hows, whens, and whys of taking breaks in virtual sessions

December 13, 2022, 9:16 am

This may come as a surprise, but virtual sessions generally create more fatigue than in-person meetings. The combination of being seated, extended screen time, and the lack of in-person stimuli often mean that even a 90-minute session can result in participants losing...

The best ways to deal with conflict during virtual collaboration

November 28, 2022, 2:42 pm

The power inherent in building a shared image—whether a map of the current state, an ambitious vision story, or a new or updated process—is that it forces you to shift from discussing something to defining it. The work required to define an intangible "thing" (the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #268

November 11, 2022, 12:03 pm

How curiosity can supercharge your brain and boost your success | "Curiosity can boost memory and creativity for sharper thinking, yet it can also lead to distraction and procrastination. The trick is to know when and how to use it." Why did ancient humans paint the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #267

October 14, 2022, 8:52 am

Flow: The #1 Secret To Enjoying Your Work | "You want to be experiencing “flow.” It’s when you’re so wrapped up in what you’re doing that the world fades away: 'Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a...

How to make transformation and change compelling for your organization

October 11, 2022, 8:51 am

So you have a plan for your big organizational transformation, but do you have the story? Harvard’s John P. Kotter cites lack of a vision and under-communication of the vision as critical blunders in most transformation...

Storytelling with data: how to communicate effectively in just 3 steps

September 13, 2022, 12:17 pm

Engage your audience by using the power of storytelling to effectively communicate data-intensive presentations. Your data has a story to tell Really, it does. Sometimes, it’s known or obvious. But other times, as you dig into it, you find an entirely new or...

The shift to virtual collaboration requires updating old processes

August 30, 2022, 10:45 am

Tremendousness puts great care into constantly analyzing our work processes and finding areas for improvement. Everyone here has multiple skills, allowing us to jump in on different projects. This is especially important in a project’s earlier stages and in handoffs...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #266

August 19, 2022, 1:19 pm

The blog took the summer off but we're back with good reads on curiosity, creativity, downtime, thinking & fatigue, and a perspective on the never-ending pursuit of growth. Doing Absolutely Nothing Has Mental Health Benefits | "A Personal Perspective: This...

How to get better at including diversity and inclusivity in your visual storytelling

July 26, 2022, 3:41 pm

By Maddy Mueller (alum) For many organizations, diversity and inclusion is finally a major priority. This manifests across the spectrum of business—in hiring practices, company culture, and more; and across the spectrum of race, gender, age, sexuality, body type,...

What is pickleball?

July 20, 2022, 10:10 am

Life can't be all visual thinking and virtual collaboration, right? Last year, I started playing pickleball with a friend on a regular basis. It wasn’t the first time I ever played. That was in 1984 or so when I was the intramural chairman of my fraternity and needed...

Virtual work can be chaotic. Here’s how to collaborate with intention.

June 29, 2022, 11:07 am

Scheduling a virtual session doesn’t equal instant or productive collaboration—it takes much more than a Zoom invite. How many meetings have you sat through, only to reach the end and wonder whether any progress was made? Avoid this by collaborating with intention....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #265

May 25, 2022, 3:05 pm

Why Does the U.S. Have So Many Mass Shootings? Research Is Clear: Guns. —NYT Firearms overtook auto accidents as the leading cause of death in children. —NPR America's gun culture in seven charts. —BBC What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. —Pew The facts on...

Virtual collaboration is how we work now. Live sketching brings it to life.

May 5, 2022, 2:00 pm

Welcome to episode two of our Two Minutes of Tremendousness video series (here's episode one). In these, we explain key visual thinking concepts as well as how and what we do—and why it all works. Today's topic: How does live sketching improve virtual collaboration?...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #264

April 8, 2022, 10:38 am

Architecture and Graphic Design | "So I have been talking a great deal lately with my students about many aspects of graphic design as they relate to architecture representation and presentation. I am always amazed at how little this is discussed within most...

WFH is here to stay. Adapt or die.

March 14, 2022, 11:10 am

COVID-19 disrupted the way we work as a company. It changed how, when, and where we do… everything we do. But it didn't stop us. Almost overnight we went from giving employees the option to work from home one day a week—with any additional flexibility as needed—to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #263

March 11, 2022, 1:12 pm

Never Change Your Password | "I’m going to set off all your smoke alarms when I make this fiery statement: Never change your password. Before you call the fire department, consider these three crucial provisos. Never change your password if…" (Related: password...

When confusion = clarity

March 7, 2022, 9:08 am

There's a design that's been making the blog rounds the last couple weeks. Its origin is nearly 20 years old but it's never been more relevant. At first glance the poster appears ridiculously simple, nearly "undesigned"... then after a second or two it becomes...

Use color value to improve your illustrations

February 15, 2022, 11:35 am

By Maddy Mueller (alum) Here’s a quick trick to improve your use of color in illustrations. First you need to know about “value”—the relative lightness or darkness of a color. Every color has a value, and we can see a color’s value more easily by converting the color...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #262

February 11, 2022, 9:49 am

This week's links include an explanation of the metaverse, the painted trucks of Pakistan, the look of American homes from 1940–1980, remote work, and more. A Rosetta Stone for visual storytelling | "One thing that every project here at Tremendousness has in common is...

A Rosetta Stone for visual storytelling

January 24, 2022, 9:39 am

One thing that every project here at Tremendousness has in common is the translation of complex information into compelling visual formats. This is what we do to help our clients tell the stories they’re trying to communicate. That word “translation” is a specific...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #261

January 14, 2022, 10:09 am

This week we take a look at creativity (again), Wes Anderson, 4DWW, MBSR, how older movies imagined 2022, and more. How Do You See the World? People With Creative Personalities Really Do See the Things Differently | "As Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire explain...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #260

December 17, 2021, 10:16 am

How to think in questions, not answers | "Tips for entering the what if? zone." Spotify Wrapped is a design nightmare | "Spotify Wrapped is every music geek's favourite time of the year. But it seems as though the internet has noticed something a little off about this...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #259

December 10, 2021, 8:29 am

Dive into the data behind the news with How To Read This Chart, a newsletter from Philip Bump | "In How To Read This Chart, we’ll consider good charts, parse complex ones and discuss how bad ones might be improved. We’ll look at ways in which information might be...

Learning to feel comfortable with the unknown

November 23, 2021, 9:09 am

I am seven months out of college, working as an information designer at Tremendousness. I was first introduced to this place while attending Maryville University in Saint Louis and I currently work remotely from my hometown in Olathe, Kansas. When I got my...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #258

November 19, 2021, 9:54 am

Creative types say it’s better to be nice than brilliant. Here’s why. | "The reign of the creative genius may finally be coming to an end. A new report published by WeTransfer, the Dutch B Corps best known for its delightfully simple file-sharing service, suggests...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #257

November 12, 2021, 9:03 am

As companies look to bring remote workers back to the office, a writer asks: Why? | "The evidence is mixed, but many employees say they're able to be more productive working from home than they were in the office. At the same time, there's value in being able to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #256

November 5, 2021, 9:47 am

A new explanation video: What is information design? | "Learn the answer in the video series premiere of “Two minutes of Tremendousness”. Here’s a peek: the term ‘information design’ may sound academic, but it’s really egalitarian. And like air, it’s something...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #255

October 29, 2021, 9:42 am

Unbelievable 100-year-old font can be read both backwards and forwards | "It's not every day we stumble across innovative fonts that are over 100 years old, but this typeface from 1909 has certainly sparked our interest. This special font can be read both backwards...

A new explanation video: What is information design?

October 12, 2021, 9:11 am

tl;dr — I piggybacked on a crisis, uncovering an opportunity... and we ended up with a cool new video. Scroll down to skip the backstory and watch the video. In February 2020 I wrote a short blog post that attempted to encapsulate and explain the concept of...

Infographic: Should I take a statin?

September 28, 2021, 1:46 pm

If you have high cholesterol or a family history of heart disease, statin therapy can be an excellent course of treatment for lowering your overall risks. Every person is unique, so ultimately it’s a shared decision that you should make with your doctor. We’ve put...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #254

September 24, 2021, 2:17 pm

What Causes a Creative Hot Streak? A New Study Found That It Often Involves These Two Habits | "Jackson Pollock is one of three examples used to show how a hot streak manifests." Also: "The world’s most creative people have this one thing in common". The world’s most...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #253

September 10, 2021, 9:40 am

What Is Inspiration? | "Inspiration is a much-used, domesticated, amorphous and secular word for what is actually a revolutionary, countercultural and spiritual phenomenon. But what exactly is inspiration? What are we talking about when we use that term?" Can you...

Video: Worried about cardiovascular disease? Let’s talk about CT Calcium Scoring.

September 8, 2021, 7:29 am

I recently went in for a routine physical. I’ve always had high cholesterol, and my blood test results showed it was still out of range. Specifically, my low-density lipoproteins or LDL, which are known on the streets as the “bad” cholesterol, was higher than...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #252

August 20, 2021, 10:53 am

Flowers of Fire: Illustrations from Japanese Fireworks Catalogues (ca. 1880s) | "...anyone who has ever held their camera up to the blazing sky knows that a brilliant firework show can rarely be captured to any satisfying degree. Perhaps this is what makes a...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #251

August 13, 2021, 9:25 am

TV Is Full of Stories About Creative Work — Minus the Work Part | "HBO’s 'Hacks' is more interested in its characters’ personalities than their output. But plenty of great stories have been told about the creative process itself." Scientists Invented a Simple New Test...

The new hybrid reality: how we’re handling on-site vs remote client sessions

August 5, 2021, 1:26 pm

Visual collaboration and live sketching are at the heart of our process here at Tremendousness. For years, we’ve worked with clients both on-site (drawing on whiteboards and large sticky notes) and remotely (collaborating with tools like Zoom and Miro). While the...

The new hybrid reality: how we’re handling WHF vs “the office”

July 16, 2021, 7:52 am

We've all been working from home since March 2020. Until this week, that is. As of last Monday, the Tremendousness office is empty no more—we've officially opened the St. Louis space back up. It's completely rearranged to create more space for everyone, and is again...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #250 (yo, Noah!)

July 15, 2021, 11:27 am

Noah Jodice is now the newest member of our team, in the role of Illustrator for the summer. Noah's a 2017 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a B.F.A. in Communication Design. After spending three years in NYC he’s returned to Wash U and...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #249 (hey there, Jake!)

July 12, 2021, 11:35 am

A big welcome to Jake Woodard, a new Project Manager here at Tremendousness! Jake is a 2013 graduate of Central Washington University where he earned a B.F.A. in Fine and Studio Arts. In 2015, he earned a teaching certificate from the International TEFL Academy and...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #248 (howdy, Hannah!)

July 9, 2021, 9:24 am

We’re very excited to welcome another new member of our team, Hannah Fales, as a design intern for the summer. Hannah is a 2021 graduate of Maryville University, here in St. Louis, where she earned a BFA in interactive design and animation. Her portfolio beautifully...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #247 (bonjour, Bella!)

July 7, 2021, 9:28 am

Izabella Vadovicky has been with Tremendousness since the beginning of the year and we're more psyched than ever to have her as part of the team. She's a 2020 graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #246 (ahoy, Alicia!)

June 21, 2021, 12:09 pm

Even though we're just now sharing her link roundup, Alicia Chen has been working with us since last fall and we love having her here. She's a 2018 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned a BFA in Communication Design with minors in Psychology...

The tangible benefits of virtual collaboration

June 15, 2021, 8:05 am

Workshops are a powerful and efficient way to define and align on strategy. And while in-person gatherings have certain upsides, the virtual setting gives you a number of opportunities to design a workshop that is fun, dynamic, and yields results. We’re going to take...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #245 (introducing Ari!)

June 11, 2021, 12:58 pm

We’re very excited to have Ari Abraham here in the role of Lead Strategist. He's been with us for a little bit now, so we asked him take over the link roundup this week and share some of his media favorites. Ari is a writer and strategist of American mind, Malaysian...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #244

June 4, 2021, 9:35 am

Complexity shouldn’t be complicated | "Mechanical watch dials are an excellent example of an industry embracing complexity but not making it complicated. The thought that goes into a feature-rich dial is a good representation of how we think about the synthesis and...

Complexity shouldn’t be complicated

June 2, 2021, 11:40 am

The challenge We live in a world layered with complexity and ambiguity. If 2020 taught us anything, it was in revealing the interconnectedness of the complex systems that govern our lives for better or for worse. We also began to see the flaws of "less friction" and...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #243

May 28, 2021, 1:04 pm

Microcopy: an essential guide to becoming a more literate designer | "Designers should not be mere decorators, but have an understanding of language and microcopy, a crucial design skill, now more than ever." Pencil Typography | "Even just looking at photos of...

The value of internships

May 11, 2021, 1:04 pm

When I was a college junior I landed a summer design internship at Maritz. That's a company here in St. Louis that back then boasted they had the largest art department in the world—behind only Walt Disney and Hallmark Cards. That's not the case today, but in those...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #242

May 7, 2021, 11:01 am

Why Are Watch Dials So Busy? | "Across the design world, minimalism equates to luxury. In the watch world, it's the opposite." MegaBlock lets you nuke a tweet. | "Don't like a bad tweet? Block the tweet, its author, and every single person who liked it—in one click."...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #241

April 30, 2021, 2:57 pm

A simple static visualization can often be the best approach | "How I overengineered a worse solution by making an interactive visualization." Let’s Stigmatize the Internet | "It’s time to put our extremely online year (and selves) behind us." Simplify Your Time...

The business impacts of multitasking vs monotasking

April 27, 2021, 3:58 pm

Right now we're wrapping up an animated video project about multitasking. I wrote the script, so I had to dive deep into a lot of reference material from the client, as well as do independent research. The video is about the pitfalls of multitasking and the benefits...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #240

April 23, 2021, 2:31 pm

Star Wars: The High Republic’s Infographics Show Evolving Approaches to Storytelling | "Many Star Wars Legends novels included a timeline and a dramatis personae, the High Republic era now has infographics to keep track of the story." The Case for Universal Creative...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #239

April 9, 2021, 4:40 pm

Infographics aren’t magic. | "A good infographic is an accurate, consumable, attractive visual overview of a complex topic—they are not magical solutions to impossible communication challenges. Much more than the sum of its parts (pictures, data, words, and design), a...

Infographics aren’t magic.

April 1, 2021, 4:41 pm

A good infographic is an accurate, consumable, attractive visual overview of a complex topic—they are not magical solutions to impossible communication challenges. Much more than the sum of its parts (pictures, data, words, and design), a good infographic simply tells...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #238

March 19, 2021, 2:45 pm

Looking Back on a Lost Year in the Arts | "The Times’s Arts & Leisure section collected comments from 75 artists about their creativity during the pandemic. The challenge was then putting them all together." Baking Your Layercake | "Layercakes should simplify, not...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #237

March 12, 2021, 2:41 pm

Emma Willard's Maps of Time | "In the 21st-century, infographics are everywhere. In the classroom, in the newspaper, in government reports, these concise visual representations of complicated information have changed the way we imagine our world. Susan Schulten...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #236

February 26, 2021, 3:45 pm

Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule | One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they're on a different type of schedule from other people. Meetings cost them more. There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #235

February 19, 2021, 4:10 pm

What are magazines good for? | "Late last month, as President-elect Biden prepared to mount the dais at the Capitol to become President Biden, the Grolier Club, on East Sixtieth Street, opened its doors to a room-size history of the republic as told through its...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #234

February 12, 2021, 4:00 pm

Using storytelling in your sales pitch deck will close more deals | "What big names and cool features can’t do is answer the question of why. If you can’t tell prospects why your product matters, then you haven’t convinced them to pick you. The secret to a sales pitch...

Every infographic is built around one of three visual frameworks

February 10, 2021, 5:28 pm

Frameworks are like an infographic’s skeleton—they're not always visible but they provide critical support nonetheless. Think of a framework as the visual architecture that holds a story together, helping you to explore, arrange, and communicate information. They...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #233

February 5, 2021, 3:40 pm

Taiwanese designer Tsai Chia-Hao on how he fine-tunes meticulous compositions | "The designer’s fondness for intricacies has resulted in a portfolio filled with book and exhibition design, visual identities and movie posters." Formats Unpacked: RSA Shorts | "How an...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #232

January 29, 2021, 3:45 pm

Why remote work may render the 5-day workweek obsolete | "During the conventional 5-day week, most workers’ productivity levels gradually drop off as they move closer to the weekend, signaling the format may be outdated." Slick new Post-It logo has the internet...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #231

January 22, 2021, 3:09 pm

Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump and some allies | "Zignal Labs charts 73 percent decline on Twitter and beyond following historic action against the president." It’s like a Little Free Library, but there’s art inside. People are...

A sun for ‘CBS Sunday Morning’

January 12, 2021, 5:44 pm

I’ve long been a fan of the CBS Sunday Morning news show. If you haven’t seen it, each edition begins with a short summary of national and international news headlines and then moves on to longer-length segments on a variety of cultural topics. It’s been running since...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #230

January 8, 2021, 1:41 pm

2020: The Year in Visual Stories and Graphics - The New York Times. Stop Counting Clicks. The Myth is Busted. | "Every user interaction is a decision. Every decision can lead to an exit. So the more options we offer, the more exit opportunities we create, which will...

Getting through 2020

December 28, 2020, 2:25 pm

Dear friends, Well, heck… it’s been a terrible year. There’s no denying that. 2020 was... ug. And month after month it just kept coming (for, like, 23 months, it seemed). For the Tremendous team, 2020 was "haphazard, topsy-turvy, fast, furious, blurry, extra, salty, a...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #229

December 18, 2020, 3:48 pm

When Can We Start Making Plans? | "We asked Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and other experts when they thought life would start to feel more normal." We need to learn how to talk to (and about) accidental conspiracists | “We’re going to have to learn to create a vocabulary to...

‘Your internet connection is unstable’—dealing with virtual meeting snafus

December 9, 2020, 1:47 pm

It's a reality of WFH life: sometimes the internet connection just sucks. Sometimes your whole family's on their own video calls, or all your roommates are streaming movies, or the entire neighborhood is spreading misinformation on Facebook. Whatever the case, it's...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #228

December 4, 2020, 8:32 pm

‘My 2020 in Data (So Far)’ | "Giorgia Lupi documents her life during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in a data visualization for ‘The New York Times.’ Web Conversations With the Year 2000 & Web Conversation From the Other Side | "I wrote a piece on here the other...

Meet meeting fatigue face-to-face (part 3 of 3: the personal)

December 1, 2020, 1:41 pm

Part three in a series. Here are parts one and two. The final part of this series on better dealing with virtual meetings is more personal. We've covered software settings you can change, meeting plans you can change, and now we look at what you might be able to...

Meet meeting fatigue face-to-face (part 2 of 3: the practical)

November 23, 2020, 2:34 pm

Part two in a series. Here are parts one and three. The COVID-19 pandemic is only getting worse here in the U.S., so us office workers who can work from home are definitely going to continue working from home. This means all our meetings will remain virtual until...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #227

November 20, 2020, 2:01 pm

5 Tips for Improving Your Organization’s Microlearning | "Microlearning is a buzzword used widely in the edtech industry, with many learning designers simply chunking learning content into small pieces of three to five minutes without actually solving competency-based...

Meet meeting fatigue face-to-face (part 1 of 3: the technical)

November 17, 2020, 1:43 pm

Part one in a series. Here are parts two and three. Because so many Americans refuse to wear masks or avoid large gatherings, we're looking at a whole new set of lockdowns as winter approaches and new infections top a million a week. Even with promising coronavirus...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #226

November 13, 2020, 7:32 pm

Adobe Liquid Mode is ideal for PDF files on small devices | "One of the pitfalls of reading PDF files on small e-readers and smartphones, is all of the pinching and zooming you have to do... Adobe has launched a new feature it calls “Liquid Mode.” Liquid Mode taps...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #225

November 6, 2020, 1:08 pm

Tremendousness is looking for an Administrative Assistant | "Tremendousness is a high-end design firm that makes complex ideas understandable and engaging through infographics, animations, and more. We are seeking an administrative assistant to support multiple...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #224

October 30, 2020, 12:47 pm

Imaginative Infographics Reveal Historical Facts About Iconic Objects | "UK-based studio Dorothy creates conceptual and innovative art with a clever and, oftentimes, educational twist. Their newest series of infographics, called Inside Information, was made in...

There are no perfect election results visualizations

October 27, 2020, 12:57 pm

For those of us who remember the 2000 U.S. presidential election, it was first time we experienced seeing a candidate win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote. This was because it hadn't happened since 1888. It's actually happened five times in this country's...

Visualizing the benefits of clean air, clean energy, and low carbon emissions for The Nature Conservancy

October 22, 2020, 5:49 pm

Live sketching is a great way to make ideas visible and tangible. Whether convening in person or virtually, visual thinking and live sketching are invaluable tools for helping groups explore and express ideas and to align around a strategy. At Tremendousness, we...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #223

October 2, 2020, 1:03 pm

Face masks could be giving people Covid-19 immunity, researchers suggest | "Mask wearing might also be reducing the severity of the virus and ensuring that a greater proportion of new infections are asymptomatic." Lorem Ipsum | "Lorem ipsum is placeholder text...

The unexpected origins of 17 words and phrases we use every day

September 30, 2020, 3:47 pm

One of the many important reckonings of the Black Lives Matter movement is a reconsidering of the language we use in our everyday lives—and in our work every day. This is a large set of terms and phrases informed by time, habit, and thoughtlessness. Just as...

Today is National Voter Registration Day!

September 22, 2020, 6:32 pm

This year voting is more important than ever—but more difficult and more risky as well. So Tremendousness made a video to help people understand the situation and their options. Find it on all our social channels and share on yours! Mail-in voting is a safe and secure...

Project Quarantine: The ‘New Normal’ Survival Guide

September 8, 2020, 12:19 pm

Designs, distractions, and delicacies to get you through 2020 and beyond. Note: sorry, but this section is under re-construction after our June 2021 site redesign. And as all of Tremendousness continues to work from home and worries for the world during this pandemic,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #222

September 4, 2020, 7:29 pm

The Pulsar Chart That Became a Pop Icon Turns 50: Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures | "A classic data visualization brought an astronomical curiosity to music lovers." Steal Steve Jobs's Secret for Being More Creative at Work | "Steve Jobs may not have upended our...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #221

August 28, 2020, 4:07 pm

How to Pitch an Idea, According to an Oscar-Winning Actor | "Matthew McConaughey brings his communication skills to the classroom." The deep work guide to Slack | "Here’s my guide to how knowledge workers today can use Slack while being more productive and preventing...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #220

August 21, 2020, 2:11 pm

Russell Kirsch, Inventor of the Pixel, Passed Away This Week | "Computer scientist Russell A. Kirsch, the inventor of the pixel and an undisputed pioneer of digital imaging, passed away on Tuesday in his Portland home from complications arising from a form of...

Hack your home office

August 10, 2020, 12:39 pm

My father gave me a vintage drafting table when I graduated college and moved away to start the first real job of my career. The desk probably dates from the 1940s, is 6x3', has four drawers, is made of wood, and is heavy. Arguably, it's overkill for the computer work...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #219

July 31, 2020, 2:38 pm

12 Tips That Actually Help with Zoom Fatigue | "We're all using video calls more and more at work and in our personal lives—and it's exhausting. Zoom fatigue is real. Here's what you can do about it." This Company's New 2-Sentence Remote Work Policy Is the Best I've...

6 ways to make the most of online meetings

July 28, 2020, 2:31 pm

The dog is barking at the mail delivery, your kids want a snack, the wifi is acting up, and now yet another Zoom/Webex/Meet/Skype/etc. meeting is about to start even though you're not yet finished with the actual work you have to do. Almost makes you miss that cool,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #218

July 24, 2020, 2:37 pm

atomic design | "As the craft of Web design continues to evolve, we’re recognizing the need to develop thoughtful design systems, rather than creating simple collections of web pages." With Great Visualization Comes Great Responsibility | "Data journalist Youyou Zhou...

Hey St. Louis, take a hike!

July 20, 2020, 2:36 pm

When the quarantine started and kept people in, people actually went out. Not to bars or restaurants or movies or concerts or sporting events, but to parks. In fact, they overwhelmed some St. Louis area parks and authorities had to close or otherwise limit access to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #217

July 17, 2020, 2:32 pm

xkcd COVID Risk Chart. Related: Charts rank COVID-19 risk involved in more than 60 activities. Andrew Cuomo is touting a new pandemic poster. Artists call it an ‘incoherent’ mess. How to Create Brand Colors for Data Visualization Style Guidelines | "Your brand colors...

How to determine what computer setup you need

July 13, 2020, 2:27 pm

In these trying times, working from home has forced us to move a lot of in-person tasks online. Often this has revealed the need for better equipment to get our work done. From lagging video calls and screen sharing to slow saves on big files, it’s clear that some of...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #216

July 10, 2020, 2:43 pm

Milton Glaser obituary | "Graphic designer and creator of the I ❤️ NY logo, whose work was full of colour and wit." Symbololology | "Easy access to commonly-needed symbols that aren't on your keyboard. It's a one-pager, and the list of symbols is in a JSON blob right...

The bestest quickest bread recipe

July 9, 2020, 12:19 pm

Tired of seeing all the beautiful bread on your friends' insta feeds and getting frustrated with no yeast or traditional flour being available at your local grocery store? Too hot for a long bake in the oven? Not into gluten or carbs? I've got you covered with this...

Visualization as a tool for collaboration and communication

July 7, 2020, 12:09 pm

I’m not gonna lie, live sketching is fun but it can be tough work. You’re on your feet for long stretches, listening to what’s being said while drawing what was just said, all the while trying to keep the energy, accuracy, and creativity up in your artwork. By the...

The best free software to create digital art

June 29, 2020, 1:41 pm

Anyone who has ever wanted to create digital art (design, music production, animation, 3d) has likely experienced sticker shock while researching the software required to get started. Luckily, there are some free tools that are almost as good as the mainstream apps,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #215 (+ a Flash memory)

June 26, 2020, 2:25 pm

How to improve your team’s Miro experience | "Miro is Tremendousness’ go-to platform for virtual workshops, and we’ve learned a few things you can do within it to make collaboration across distributed teams work even better." How to Succeed in Your Office Job When...

How to improve your team’s Miro experience

June 24, 2020, 12:55 pm

Miro does a great job at replicating the real-world tools and spaces necessary for collaboration across distributed teams. Essentially an online whiteboard, it helps teams gather, share, create, communicate, and make decisions with a variety of collaborative tools....

Your pandemic time capsule

June 22, 2020, 12:33 pm

This pandemic has had a profound effect on daily life across the globe. We are all coping as best we can, and each person's situation is unique. I know that for many it's brought waves of fear, confusion, heartache, and difficulties—both financial and emotional. There...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #214

June 19, 2020, 3:36 pm

Hella Juneteenth | "From henceforth, we decree Juneteenth to be an official national holiday that is recognized & celebrated in all 50 states and territories of the United States of America." More here: How We Juneteenth. Historical Painting Is Altered to Show...

How to confront racism within your circle

June 16, 2020, 9:21 pm

Lately we’ve been more silent on social media and this blog out of respect. And as a small, not-so-diverse company we have been hesitant to take up space in the current conversation. People are making their voices heard in the streets around the country and the world,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #213

June 12, 2020, 3:22 pm

Black Lives Matter is Not a Design Challenge. | "If you’ve come here to be fragile, please check that at the door, or leave. If you’ve come here to listen and learn like you vowed you would, welcome. Thank you for following through and making time and mental space for...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #212

June 5, 2020, 1:03 pm

What it means to be anti-racist | "It’s not enough to be 'not racist,' experts and educators say." For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies | "I am not going to do much coddling here; I don’t know that I believe that love requires coddling. Here are six things you...

A Zoom with a View (part deux)

June 3, 2020, 12:32 pm

Last week we shared 10 cool backgrounds to use in your remote meetings. Whether Webex, Zoom, or some other app, most of them allow you to set a virtual background—even without a green screen. Well, some of them even support movie files. That's right. The latest...

Using the power of visual storytelling to explain the power of machine data

June 1, 2020, 12:22 pm

We’re very proud of our recent collaboration with MachineMetrics on the company's newly released explainer video. Getting to know the product and helping to tell the story of their IoT platform—all while working remotely—was a fantastic challenge. What’s hard to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #211

May 29, 2020, 3:27 pm

Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How. | "A crisis on this scale can reorder society in dramatic ways, for better or worse. Here are 34 big thinkers’ predictions for what’s to come." Just 4 Seconds of Exercise Counteracts the Terrible Effects of...

Mask or masquerade?

May 28, 2020, 6:23 pm

After nearly three months, it's understandable that states would prefer to open back up rather than stay closed. It's understandable that businesses want to do business, to survive. It's understandable that people want to travel, see friends, goof off, and dine out...

A Zoom with a View

May 22, 2020, 4:17 pm

Whether you use Webex, Skype, Zoom, or another remote meeting tool, you've probably seen someone using a virtual background. Maybe you think they're cool, maybe you think they're cheesy. Well, the fact is that, yes, they're both. Here's how we see it: somewhere...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #210

May 22, 2020, 3:20 pm

Instagram is unleashing a new wave of social and creative potential in comics | "Over the past decade, Lucy Knisley has become a preeminent nonfiction cartoonist, creating charming, heartfelt comics about travel (Displacement, An Age Of License), food (Relish: My Life...

Telehealth’s time has come

May 19, 2020, 4:38 pm

But it sure has taken a while. One of the first mentions of the practical potential uses of telemedicine dates back to 1924. The April issue of Radio News magazine featured a cover story called "The Radio Doctor—Maybe!". Well, cover story may be overstating the case....

Move your ideas forward with virtual (and visual!) collaboration

May 15, 2020, 3:25 pm

In order to get anything done, whether working from home during a pandemic or working from the office in normal times, business leaders must get their teams to do three key things: Align, Create, and Refine. This is how ideas become real, how momentum is built, and...

The joy of quarantine baking

May 13, 2020, 12:41 pm

By Christina Wang (alum) Perhaps you’ve noticed that everyone on your social media has started baking bread from scratch. Even people who don’t usually bake are suddenly rising up to the challenge, making sourdough starters and naming their pet yeasts. What was once...

Managing wellness—before, during, and after the pandemic

May 11, 2020, 12:21 pm

Jen Fisher is the Chief Well-being Officer at Deloitte and the host of the popular WorkWell Podcast. She is responsible for driving strategy and innovation around work-life, health, and wellness for her firm. In 2015, Jen launched the Empowered Well-being program to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #209

May 8, 2020, 5:16 pm

Wealth shown to scale | 400 people! This is data viz for good. Workers Don't Want to Return to Offices. Start Preparing Now | "A new survey from IBM shows that, for a majority of Americans, remote work is here to stay." How to Deal With Career Anxiety in Uncertain...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #208

May 1, 2020, 1:05 pm

3 ways Virtual Live Sketching accelerates success | "Live sketching is one of the core tools we employ during our facilitated virtual sessions. And after hundreds (maybe thousands?) of hours of digital drawing, we’ve learned that it has business benefits that go well...

3 ways Virtual Live Sketching accelerates success

April 27, 2020, 8:12 pm

Live sketching is one of the core tools we employ during our facilitated virtual sessions. And after hundreds (maybe thousands?) of hours of digital drawing, we’ve learned that it has business benefits that go well beyond the pretty pictures. Here are three ways to...

Namaste home, friends.

April 21, 2020, 6:40 pm

In a recent all-company Zoom meeting a colleague noted that she thought all this stay-in-place might result in a calmer, more focused life. Like, somehow, all those fitness and meal-planning goals would suddenly come to fruition with this newly found "free time" that...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #207

April 17, 2020, 1:04 pm

When Your Employees Are Remote, You Have To Stop The Body-In-Seat Mentality | "There's an insidious attitude permeating many companies; that when employees have their bodies-in-their-seats, it means they're productive. But if you've ever seen studies on actual...

5 must-haves for effective and engaging virtual collaboration

April 14, 2020, 12:15 pm

For many knowledge workers, this is a brave new world. Despite the fact that we usually sit in front of computers most of the day, and always have, we're not used to doing everything in front of computers every day. We can email and Slack and talk on the phone...

It’s OK to rest

April 13, 2020, 9:17 pm

Even before Missouri, Michigan, and D.C. issued “stay-at-home” orders, Tremendousness decided that we’d all work from home. We can, so we are. And now we’ve been WFH for a HFW (Working From Home for a Heckuva-long Four Weeks). Early on, I thought about what an...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #206

April 10, 2020, 3:11 pm

How to talk to your kids using visual frameworks | "When I started working on this post a couple months ago, the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hadn't yet spread around world. I had started writing about using drawing and visuals as a fun way to kickstart...

How to talk to your kids using visual frameworks

April 8, 2020, 6:57 pm

When I started working on this post a couple months ago, the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hadn't yet spread around world. I had started writing about using drawing and visuals as a fun way to kickstart meaningful conversations with your kids. And even though...

“We actually look forward to this meeting”—how to improve virtual collaboration

April 6, 2020, 4:40 pm

We have a standing weekly online meeting with a large biotech client. We’ve been working with different groups within that organization for years, and are currently helping them with a major employee career development communications overhaul. Each week we go over the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #205

April 3, 2020, 1:20 pm

It’s Time to Make Your Own Face Mask | "Here’s how to do it." COVID-19: WHY WE SHOULD ALL WEAR MASKS — THERE IS NEW SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE | "The official recommendation in the United States (and other Western countries) that the public should not wear face masks was...

Working remotely, leading from afar

March 26, 2020, 5:56 pm

By Drew Mattison (alum) Remote work is not easy. For nearly 20 years, I have been working remotely and leading dispersed teams both nationally and internationally. As an experienced veteran, I have a few pointers for the folks who are new to this space. Pacing is...

What to do when you don’t even know what to think

March 23, 2020, 1:49 pm

OK, thanks Internet—everyone has enough Zoom tutorials now. (It's not hard.) And everyone's been inundated with tips on how to work from home. (It won't be easy.) Everyone has good information on "social distancing". (Do it!) Everyone has seen plenty of "how to wash...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #204

March 20, 2020, 12:51 pm

Get comfortable with remote meetings | "Because of COVID-19, the whole world is discovering the joys (and frustrations) of online meetings." All of Wirecutter’s Coronavirus Coverage | "The coronavirus pandemic has overtaken nearly every aspect of life in America:...

Get comfortable with remote meetings

March 12, 2020, 2:00 pm

Because of COVID-19, the whole world is discovering the joys (and frustrations) of online meetings. For Tremendousness, this has been our modus operandi since we started. Early on we gravitated to Zoom, and unless our client has a preference (or their own solution, hi...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #203

March 10, 2020, 7:24 pm

Here's a special edition of the T10 roundup, dedicated entirely to coronavirus. Coronavirus (COVID-19): Update and Thorough Guidance | "Compiled by Julie McMurry, MPH. You can share this as widely as you like using the URL: www.flattenthecurve.com, via...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #202

March 6, 2020, 2:54 pm

I Illustrated National Parks In America Based On Their Worst Review | "I'm an illustrator and I have always had a personal goal to draw all 62 US National Parks, but I wanted to find a unique twist for the project. When I found that there are one-star reviews for...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #201

February 28, 2020, 2:49 pm

Ranking Girl Scout cookies from worst to best | "We consumed many, many boxes of Girl Scout cookies and ranked them so we can now put the issue of which cookie is best to rest." Pixar’s Rules of Storytelling Applied to Product Managers & UX Designers | “The most...

Embracing openness during the feedback process

February 26, 2020, 2:58 pm

What does it mean to be open? To some, it’s being honest about your feelings—sharing thoughts and opinions and speaking your mind. Too often, however, this is a one-way street; while some may freely present their opinions to others, they quickly close up and assume a...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #200

February 21, 2020, 2:55 pm

Execution is where good strategies go to die | "Why? Because there’s usually a gap between strategy (the thinking) and execution (the doing). Leaders spend a ton of time and money designing a new strategy only to watch as teams pull in different directions, new...

How to practice noticing

February 19, 2020, 9:21 pm

I used to teach digital photography workshops and classes at St. Louis' Center of Creative Arts. For one of them, the first assignment I gave was simply to go out and take pictures of yellow things. Just go outside and use whatever camera you have—and don't worry...

Execution is where good strategies go to die

February 17, 2020, 1:23 pm

By Drew Mattison (alum) Why? Because there’s usually a gap between strategy (the thinking) and execution (the doing). Leaders spend a ton of time and money designing a new strategy only to watch as teams pull in different directions, new initiatives take priority, and...

Practice makes perfect

February 14, 2020, 9:24 pm

By Maddy Mueller (alum) When Christina and I started working at Tremendousness last year, neither of us knew what “graphic recording” was. We’d both studied traditional illustration in art school, encompassing primarily editorial, books, comics. There, we typically...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #199

February 14, 2020, 4:43 pm

Defining your own career path | "Because the answer to any of the career questions we face is inevitably 'it depends' we are then led to ask ourselves what our personal, individual answer would, in-fact, depend on. And in my experience there is really only one...

What is information design (these days)?

February 7, 2020, 2:26 pm

Well, what isn't it? It's the nutrition label on your food. The recipe in your cookbooks. The instructions for your Instant Pot. It's the directory in your office. The vacation schedule on the wall. The pie chart in your presentation. It's the flight options on...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #198

February 7, 2020, 1:32 pm

The mythology of startup success has to change | "It’s the Shark-Tank-ification of building businesses. It’s mythology, really. A narrative of Herculean efforts, nonstop ‘hustle’ and miraculous overnight successes which has only been amplified by startup blogs,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #197

January 31, 2020, 1:34 pm

What Is Leadership Storytelling, Anyway? | "When I started Leadership Story Lab 10 years ago, I got a lot of blank stares whenever I said 'I teach storytelling.' People would search for the closest thing they knew. 'You mean, like writing children’s books?' Now, a...

7 ways to figure things out

January 30, 2020, 7:55 pm

Learning is... kind of everything. It helps us to get what we want and to take us to where we want, even showing us how—so we can become who we want. At its best, it’s also figuring out the why of something, which is actually the most important and informative part as...

Another fun way to practice visualization

January 24, 2020, 6:59 pm

We decided that in 2020 we would revive our happy hour jam sessions. We're growing, and they're a great way to train up new people, socialize with the community, and have fun while learning. These get togethers were started a long time ago at XPLANE as Visual Thinking...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #196

January 24, 2020, 2:38 pm

This is the one skill designers need to develop most in 2020 | "Legendary designer Don Norman takes designers to task for elevating craft above all else, when what matters most is the willingness to collaborate." Paper Sizes | "The best resource for International...

Looking at things differently, via bikes & books

January 21, 2020, 4:17 pm

I think it all started because I rode BMX freestyle bikes, starting around age 15. In the 1970s, BMX racers started doing simple tricks when not on the track. This led to flatland freestyle—basically doing tricks on a 20-inch bike in a parking lot. And there were...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #195

January 17, 2020, 1:15 pm

Drawing is the best way to learn, even if you’re no Leonardo da Vinci | "Drawing shouldn’t be about performance, but about process. It’s not just for the “artists,” or even the weekend hobbyists. Think of it as a way of observing the world and learning, something that...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #194

January 3, 2020, 3:04 pm

100 things that made my year (2019) | "1. Moving back to Texas. 2. Publishing a book that genuinely felt like the best I could do. 3. Surviving book tour." 4 Ideas to Boost Your Creativity | "Creativity doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and other insights from Forge."...

A year’s worth of drawing exercises

December 31, 2019, 2:00 pm

The new year is nearly upon us. Today people are making resolutions left and right—and most will be broken before January is over. People tend to make difficult resolutions. So how about you try one that's pretty easy, really fun, and has great long-term benefits? One...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #193

December 27, 2019, 9:38 pm

Let's do a roundup of roundups, shall we? Have a great New Year, everyone! 136 INTERNET VIDEOS THAT BLEW MY MIND* (*at some point or another) | "A couple of days ago marked my five year anniversary leading creative development at Condé Nast Entertainment. I remember...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #192

December 20, 2019, 1:15 pm

My magic response to "Hey, can I pick your brain?" | "The first few times it happens, it feels like a positive signal. Somebody wants your advice and perspective. You must be good at what you do. And that’s gotta translate to your career…somehow, right? Thing is, it’s...

Who doesn’t love cool socks?

December 19, 2019, 7:08 pm

OK, the bigwigs at Tremendousness asked me to avoid dumb puns in this holiday blog post about the socks we had made, so I need to get off on the right foot. Ug, I walked right into that one. I’m afraid I can’t do it... I’ve got cold feet. I’m hosed. No! I can do...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #191

December 13, 2019, 1:30 pm

The Bézier Method Zine | "20-page printed zine designed and written to help explain the Bézier Method. 2-color Risograph printed on 60lb Whip Cream Pop Tone paper by French Paper. Limited Edition." The Breakthrough that Made Animation Look Natural | "In the latest in...

Fight confusion with visual storytelling

December 12, 2019, 8:54 pm

There's no end to the many things that can get in the way of success. And when it comes to effective communication, there are several flavors of confusion that are sure success killers: Too much complexity Too little time Constant change Many things are necessarily...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #190

December 6, 2019, 1:45 pm

Information is Beautiful Awards 2019: The Winners | "Let's raise a glass to dataviz that pushes boundaries, illuminates truth, and celebrates beauty. Thank you to everyone who joined us on the Information is Beautiful Awards journey this year - now see which entries...

How to tell a story without words

December 3, 2019, 3:00 pm

Visual thinking combines pictures and words to help us communicate and understand complex or confusing things. Most design is one form or another of this mashup—it’s the combination that brings the power. Of course, words on their own can be powerful as well. So can...

What to do if a review call goes completely wonderfully

November 25, 2019, 2:29 pm

First, don't panic. You can figure this out. Second, ask yourself what could have gone so wrong that the client loved everything you did. Are they easily impressed? Do they know what their goals are and did you ask the right questions during discovery to uncover those...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #189

November 22, 2019, 1:54 pm

WTF Visualizations | "Visualizations that make no sense." Yep. What a difference a word can make: How a single word can change your conversation | "British psychologist Elizabeth Stokoe studies the patterns in talk that most of us don’t even notice. She explains how...

Design systems vs Algorithmic systems

November 15, 2019, 5:30 pm

The curious case of the MIT Media Lab’s branding experiments. We all know what a “logo” is. Most of us can define “graphic design”. Many people might even be able to explain what “branding” means. But what about “design systems”? What, exactly, is a design system? A...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #188

November 15, 2019, 2:57 pm

A Visual Compendium of Letters as Logos + Logos as “Art” | "Typographically speaking, the bones of a capital “A” are mostly non-negotiable: two diagonal strokes, one crossbar, and a single counter. But within those constraints, there’s a world of opportunity. In the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #187

November 8, 2019, 2:00 pm

Evolution of the Scrollbar | Self-explanatory. Via kottke.org ...while we're at it, this is from Kottke too: The Size of Space. Visual capture at Express Scripts’ 2019 Experience Diversity Summit | "If you’re paying attention to news and social media, then you’re...

Visual capture at Express Scripts’ 2019 Experience Diversity Summit

November 4, 2019, 1:15 pm

We were truly honored and privileged to be a part of Express Scripts’ annual Experience Diversity Summit again this year. If you’re paying attention to news and social media, then you’re no doubt aware of the need for greater inclusivity and equality in all aspects of...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #186

November 1, 2019, 2:54 pm

Hellvetica | Proper spacing. How visual thinking supports transformation and change | "There are many reasons organizations undergo transformation and change—but did you know that only 12% of them fully accomplish their goals? Let's take a look at how leaders can...

‘Size matters’: designing large-scale graphics and animations

October 30, 2019, 5:12 pm

For the last couple years we've been working with a fast-moving company called Niche Technology. They provide development, implementation, and support for system architectures that better enable law enforcement agencies to serve their communities. In fact, the...

How does Production work? (part 2 of 2)

October 21, 2019, 1:12 pm

Last week we looked at some of the many things we do or need to think about during the Production phase of a visual storytelling project. This is the last step in our core visual storytelling creative process. That process began with Discovery (for example, an...

How does Production work? (part 1 of 2)

October 15, 2019, 12:09 pm

Part 1 of 2 — At Tremendousness, we call the final “making of the thing” the Production phase. That thing might be an infographic—maybe a poster to hang on the wall, maybe a PDF for digital sharing, maybe a scrolling infographic formatted for a blog, or maybe...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #185

October 11, 2019, 11:45 am

Peculiar Prompts: 365 Ways to Explore, Make, Think, and Write | "We should probably all be more peculiar. Looking for a mindful way to spark your creativity? Need an excuse to get a little weird? Peculiar Prompts is for you. This free download includes 365 prompts for...

Design Heroes: Herb Lubalin

October 10, 2019, 5:16 pm

My path to becoming a designer was less-than-typical. Beginning age 15, I rode BMX freestyle bikes from about 1986 to 1993 or so. It was kind of before "extreme sports" were cool, so we weren't considered all that cool—except to ourselves. You tend to feel cool when...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #184 (say hi to Susanne!)

October 4, 2019, 12:45 pm

Hi! I’m Susanne, a design strategist at Tremendousness. This week I’m taking the reins of the Tremendous 10 link roundup. Here’s my collection of sweeeet interactive design inspiration, compelling data viz, and a grab bag filled with illustration, motivation, and...

How visual thinking supports transformation and change

October 2, 2019, 12:52 pm

There are many reasons organizations undergo transformation and change, ranging from crises and performance gaps to M&A, new technologies, evolving customer tastes, and even changing for the sake of change—often when a new CEO takes the reins. Whatever the cause,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #183

September 27, 2019, 3:43 pm

The Top 25 20th Century Typographers | "Those reading this magazine should know the difference between type design and typography. Right? 'Learning to draw letters is hard enough,' wrote type designer Jonathan Hoefler, 'but learning to create typefaces is something...

Verbal to visual: Podcast sketching

September 23, 2019, 1:00 pm

By Maddy Mueller (alum) Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been creating a regular series of sketches to support Rhetoriq, a podcast about technology and innovation. These drawings typically accompany a series of episodes called “Red Envelope,” published under the...

Drawn Out: Television sets

September 16, 2019, 1:08 pm

A good portion of my time at Tremendousness is spent drawing. And a lot of those drawings are of technology—in offices, homes, factories, you name it. This has led me to wonder about how changing forms in technology have influenced the way we represent them in...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #182

September 13, 2019, 12:35 pm

Process | "At The Design of Business | The Business of Design conference last year we met Swedish designer Ida Wessel, whose work so impressed Jessica that she taked about it on The Observatory podcast. Ida's studio, BankerWessel, has recently authored a book about...

When animation works best: Strengthening internal communications with strategic animated videos

September 10, 2019, 12:28 pm

Imagine how many times these scenarios play out every day: a CEO or VP sends a long company-wide email with the dull subject line “New product info” …and no one reads it. A Director sends a detailed division-wide email linking to a new process documentation on the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #181

September 6, 2019, 12:55 pm

Ashley C. Ford: Imagination Is a Creative Superpower | "In her inspiring 99U talk, writer Ashley C. Ford explains how significant life experiences opened up her ability to expect things she didn’t previously think were possible for herself and others. The lack of...

Ideation sessions provide structure for creativity and collaboration

September 2, 2019, 5:46 pm

I don’t consider myself an ideation expert, but in my role as a sketch artist I’ve been involved in many ideation exercises. Not actually ideating mind you, but the visual facilitation and capture of ideation. You could just say I draw people’s ideas. I’ve sketched my...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #180

August 30, 2019, 1:10 pm

Bill Gates Says This 1 Employee Perk Is Most Important. A New Harvard Study Backs Him Up | "It turns out employees want this, and it just might make them more productive." Introducing "charm" into visual storytelling | "When I was in college, I was tasked with drawing...

Introducing “charm” into visual storytelling

August 26, 2019, 1:25 pm

By Maddy Mueller (alum) When I was in college, I was tasked with drawing a dog as part of an assignment. Every day, I would bring a slightly different dog drawing to class—and every day, my professor would frown at my work and tell me I needed to redo it. She said she...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #179

August 23, 2019, 12:52 pm

Shareholder Value Is No Longer Everything, Top C.E.O.s Say | "Chief executives from the Business Roundtable, including the leaders of Apple and JPMorgan Chase, argued that companies must also invest in employees and deliver value to customers." Art Spiegelman: golden...

Spell it out… or don’t—voice-over vs on-screen text

August 20, 2019, 12:37 pm

Most of the time, voice-over, commonly referred to as “VO”, is the driving narrative force behind videos–a mysterious guide that provides all the information a viewer needs while being bolstered by the visuals. While VO is not absolutely necessary, it is definitely...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #178

August 16, 2019, 4:08 pm

Design Questions Library | "How does design work? We’re asked this question often and we’ll always be curious about it. The reality is that design is useful, a bit mysterious, and forever in flux. Right now, this is a guide to some of what we know—and don’t know—about...

Storytelling with data: Improve your data presentations to communicate effectively

August 14, 2019, 6:51 pm

Your data has a story to tell. Sometimes, it’s known or obvious. But other times, as you begin to dig into it, you find an entirely new or unexpected story. Here’s how to make the most of it using visual storytelling. Whenever possible, I try to read the book before I...

Iteration, iteration, iteration… exultation!

August 13, 2019, 1:35 pm

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” —Ernest Hemingway Some infographic projects go so smoothly you wonder if you missed something. There's a great kickoff and conversation with the client. They share...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #177 (hello Christina!)

August 9, 2019, 1:45 pm

By Christina Wang (alum) Hi everyone! I’m Christina, Tremendousness summer 2019 intern #2. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite illustrators and comic artists today. These artists focus on depicting people, which is what I do in my own work—I like to observe and draw...

Scribblings from New Jersey

August 8, 2019, 1:24 pm

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 2019 International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP) Conference at Montclair State University in New Jersey. It was my first deep exposure to a very, very energized community of graphic recorders and facilitators from...

Aligning questions to visuals

August 6, 2019, 1:20 pm

If you align your design to the questions you’re asking, you can create powerful visual storytelling communications. In journalism—or any kind of information gathering—questions establish focus and engage readers’ attention. Reporters learn to start with the “five...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #176

August 2, 2019, 1:07 pm

Design legend Stefan Sagmeister steps away from commercial work for good | "His partner Jessica Walsh will take over Sagmeister & Walsh’s commercial projects, and its employees will shift over to her new agency, called &Walsh." &Walsh launches, joining the...

5 1/2 tips for better creativity

July 29, 2019, 12:54 pm

1. Surround yourself with people who inspire you The people that you choose to spend your time with in life are going to have a profound influence on your beliefs, aspirations, and mental outlook. Whether it’s work, school, or life, don’t waste your valuable time with...

Reel life — tips for cutting animation highlight reels

July 25, 2019, 12:30 pm

Cutting together a highlight reel of recent video work is daunting; you may find yourself asking, “How can I possibly distill all the cool stuff I made over the past year or two down to just one minute?!" It’s easier than you might think. Right out of the gate, I can...

Color me impressed: 10 ways to pick a color palette

July 23, 2019, 1:55 pm

In design, working with color is both an art and a science. So much is involved: there’s intuition, physics, electromagnetic radiation, algorithms, taste, brand, culture, philosophy… it's complicated, and yet it's not. Once you've done your research, how do you get to...

Markers, murder, and mayhem—the perils of visual metaphors

July 22, 2019, 12:52 pm

We use visual metaphors a lot. They're a powerful way to make a point quickly and many easily lend themselves to fun, illustrative treatments. However, they can be tricky to work with. I recently had to call on past experience to get me out of a sticky metaphor...

Beyond words—why you should use visual storytelling for your next big idea

July 18, 2019, 8:43 pm

Lots of us—whether businesspeople, teachers, innovators, or even parents—rely heavily on our words to explain important, complex things. It’s our default, and it’s pretty easy. Most of us are perfectly happy with that. Talk, write, read. Read, talk, write. We’re...

5 quick tips for presenting to clients remotely

July 17, 2019, 12:40 pm

Most of our projects are presented to clients in online meetings. Sure, we present live sometimes when the project calls for in-person discovery, but we generally interact in more virtual ways throughout the life of the engagement. Here are a few simple tips to help...

Make your client part of the team

July 12, 2019, 1:15 pm

There are seemingly two approaches to working with clients in the creative field... Approach #1 You tell us what you want, we go away for awhile and when we return, you get the thing you asked for (or something close to it). This is how things magically work in...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #175

July 12, 2019, 11:41 am

So, Gutenberg Didn’t Actually Invent the Printing Press | "On the unsung Chinese and Korean history of movable type." The story behind our name | "The thing I most enjoy about our company name is what happens when it’s said out loud during client introductions,...

Music to work to…

July 10, 2019, 8:45 pm

I love music. I love all kinds of music. I love listening to music doing all kinds of things. Before my son was old enough to be recruited to mow the lawn, I almost always listened to Dropkick Murphys’ “Blackout” or a Drive-By Truckers album as I did that chore....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #174 (say hi to Maddy!)

July 5, 2019, 2:00 pm

By Maddy Mueller (alum) Hello everyone! Tremendousness intern Maddy Mueller here. I’m an illustrator and recent college graduate, and I’m taking over The Tremendous 10 this week to post a (non-exhaustive) collection of my recent inspirations. The list is divided into...

The story behind our name

July 3, 2019, 1:27 pm

The thing I most enjoy about our company name is what happens when it’s said out loud during client introductions, especially to a new audience who hasn’t heard of us before. “We are joined today by some of the folks from Tremendousness.” The name usually elicits...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #173

June 28, 2019, 12:15 pm

Names and Locations of the Top 100 People Killing the Planet | “'The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses.' – Utah Phillips" What I Learned Co-Founding Dribbble | "Last month, I gave a 30-minute talk at the...

Using animated videos to explain innovative ideas and futuristic scenarios

June 26, 2019, 3:17 pm

Explaining an innovative, abstract idea with just words or data can be extremely challenging. Animated videos make it possible to visualize even the most complex of subjects. Why choose animation? If there’s one thing that the internet and social media has proven,...

Infographics help make health & wellness content accessible

June 18, 2019, 3:12 pm

Infographics are one of the most powerful ways to communicate complex ideas. They are especially valuable in the healthcare sector where clarity and accuracy can be a matter of life and death. Let’s look at how these visual tools help teach, communicate, and...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #172

June 14, 2019, 12:01 pm

Personal Data and the Organization: Stewardship and Strategy | "Personal data – used lawfully, fairly, and transparently – is central to helping organizations achieve their missions. Today, Boards of Directors, CEOs, policymakers, and others need to understand the...

Create Space for Storytelling: The Value of the “Outsider” Perspective

June 12, 2019, 5:47 pm

I wear many hats at Tremendousness, and one of them is as a “Consultant / Facilitator". This label is fairly generic and many of you also may identify, in one way or another, as a consultant (or as a chameleon). So what does “Consultant / Facilitator” mean in...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #171

June 7, 2019, 12:45 pm

Architectural Cutout People | "Whether it is because time is limited or cutout libraries are too small, it often seems like adding entourage into an illustration is treated as an afterthought at the end of most workflows. When it is finally time to insert people, a...

Checklists as motivation

June 4, 2019, 10:24 pm

One of my favorite things to do is to make checklists; whether I’m packing for a family trip to Tennessee or making edits to an animation, the first thing I want to do is make a checklist. Checklists are great for a variety of reasons: they can help you organize your...

Why Start with Napkin Sketches?

May 31, 2019, 6:49 pm

The blank page is both opportunity and agony. It is an empty canvas to be filled with ideas. It is a barren wasteland, taunting us with its emptiness. The page itself is not to blame, and can’t do anything to help release our ideas except to be there, ready. This is...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #170

May 31, 2019, 5:07 pm

The Myth of 'Learning Styles' | "A popular theory that some people learn better visually or aurally keeps getting debunked." Ikea recreated living rooms from the Simpsons, Stranger Things & Friends with their own furniture. Excuse me, do you work here? |...

Visual Storytelling Empowers Sales Teams—with Empathy

May 22, 2019, 2:23 pm

Start with “why?” Are you one of the 43 million people that has watched Simon Sinek’s TED talk on the golden circle? If so, then you’ve heard this line before: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. His concept is simple: it is...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #169

May 17, 2019, 11:43 am

Visualizing the History of Fugazi | "During the 1980s and 90s, in the era before the internet, fans of punk music discovered new bands through obsessive documenters. The mainstream music press did not cover the majority of punk music, and it wasn’t played on MTV. Fans...

What is a Blueprint?

May 16, 2019, 4:26 pm

We don’t mean graphic info about buildings—these Blueprints are about building infographics. Let’s talk lingo Every profession has its own set of lingo, familiar to practitioners but foreign to everyone else. In the sales world, when a prospect is BOFU—Bottom of the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #168

May 10, 2019, 12:45 pm

How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To | "There’s that project you’ve left on the backburner – the one with the deadline that’s growing uncomfortably near. And there’s the client whose phone call you really should return – the one that does nothing but...

Visualize the “Elephant” with Live Sketching

May 9, 2019, 8:56 pm

You may have heard the Indian fable about six blind men who encounter an elephant. Each examines it in turn. One feels the tusk, another the trunk, and so on. As they share what they’ve experienced with each other, they come away with six conflicting reports. Each...

Visual storytelling makes research real

May 3, 2019, 3:57 pm

Your research is only as good as the visual story it tells Research is so coooooooool. Did you see the recently released, first-ever photo of a black hole? Research is booorrrrrring. Have you read “The nature of navel fluff”, a paper on the causes of belly button...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #167

May 3, 2019, 11:15 am

What Was the Bauhaus? | "The legacy of the legendary design school is both universal — and universally misunderstood." How to Make Data-Driven Visual Essays | "Ilia Blinderman of The Pudding has written a pair of essays about how to make data-driven visual essays....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #166

April 26, 2019, 7:11 pm

My Creative Type | "Discover your creative personality", courtesy of Adobe. List of Physical Visualizations and Related Artifacts | "This is a chronological list of physical visualizations and related artifacts, maintained by Pierre Dragicevic and Yvonne Jansen....

Why we make a year-end gift every year

April 24, 2019, 10:55 pm

It’s April, and that means it’s time to start thinking about starting to think about our end-of-year holiday gifts for clients, partners, and friends. Wait, why April? Because we won’t really get started until much later. But thinking about it this early lets ideas...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #165

April 19, 2019, 2:58 pm

Storyboarding makes big ideas manageable | "Okay, imagine you were tasked with directing the biggest blockbuster of 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Then you got to this point in the script. 'They fight.' What takes up two words in a script results in a...

Storyboarding makes big ideas manageable

April 16, 2019, 4:58 pm

BATMAN Do you bleed? SUPERMAN (glares) BATMAN You will! They fight. Okay, imagine you were tasked with directing the biggest blockbuster of 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Then you got to this point in the script. “They fight.” What takes up two words in a...

Advocacy empowers people—and visual storytelling empowers advocates

April 11, 2019, 3:01 pm

Empower advocacy with visual storytelling Visual storytelling has the power to communicate with clarity and impact, and in doing so to engage and persuade audiences. That’s because great stories help sell great ideas. The business world realizes this, but visual...

Contending with clichés in visual communication: the “idea!” light bulb

April 9, 2019, 7:31 pm

A light bulb. A light bulb floating over someone’s head. A light bulb floating over a group of people as they smile and react ecstatically. A light bulb in hand. A light bulb on a document. A light bulb as a hot air balloon. I cannot even count how many times...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #164

April 5, 2019, 4:12 pm

Creativity hinges on churning as many ideas out as possible — then taking a break | "Being creative is as simple as letting yourself come up with ideas — and then walking away for a while." The Difference Between Art and Design | "Art and design – both involve...

Illustration is not just decoration

April 3, 2019, 10:38 pm

A brief history of illustration It’s easy to get academic about the history of illustration, but there are already plenty of other people doing that better than me. The important point is that since before written language, humans were painting in caves to communicate...

What makes a good presentation?

March 26, 2019, 3:59 pm

Here’s the (deceptively) simple recipe I think we all know a good presentation when we see one. Maybe it informs us of something we needed to know, or convinces us to change our minds about something we had previously been for or against, or it compels us to take...

Want to explain a complex idea in just 120 seconds? Use Animated videos

March 15, 2019, 8:26 pm

Video is moving to the forefront of marketing and communications, and animated videos in particular are proving to be powerful, persuasive, conversion-driven, and cost-effective. Discover how explainer videos cut through the noise to deliver complex ideas with clarity...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #163

March 15, 2019, 1:54 pm

A creative person’s guide to thoughtful promotion | "A guide by artist and creative strategist Kathryn Jaller with illustrations by Molly Fairhurst." Sleep When You're Tired | "Updated a piece I did 10 years ago (!!!) to reflect my current views on workaholism and...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #162

March 8, 2019, 1:45 pm

Creativity: The Strategic Necessity You May Not Have Thought Of | "Any strategy, which purports to improve the bottom line, must include a proactive and intensive approach to bolstering creativity and innovation, along with the cornerstone of all creativity and...

Visual storytelling transforms ordinary information into engaging data visualizations

March 6, 2019, 8:57 pm

What is data visualization? No matter how cutting edge the term data visualization sounds to you, the idea is not so new. Charles Joseph Minard made clear the devastating mortality of Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia way back in 1869. This is often cited as one of...

How to use infographics in your next marketing campaign

February 26, 2019, 5:21 pm

Why should you consider using an infographic in your next marketing campaign What do you think of when someone says, “marketing campaign”? The photo of a smiling, diverse group of people under a cliché ad headline? Sure, we’ve seen that… a million times. And hey, the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #161

February 22, 2019, 1:55 pm

The Nerdy Charm of Artisanal, Hand-Drawn Infographics | "When sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois crafted his brilliant and colorful data visualizations for the World’s Fair in 1900, he didn’t have the help of a computer. Neither did Florence Nightingale when she...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #160

February 8, 2019, 5:47 pm

Ug, sorry just 5 links again this week. "The Fabulous Five?" How Bauhaus Redefined What Design Could Do for Society | "A century after its founding, the German school of art and architecture remains one of the most transcendent — and frustrating — movements of the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #159

February 1, 2019, 7:55 pm

Only five this time... "Closeness Lines" Print | "8x10 print on matte cardstock, signed, dated, & numbered." If you put together a $1, $2, $5 and $10 pesos coins | "...you would get the Aztec calendar." This Is Your Brain Off Facebook | "Planning on quitting...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #158

January 25, 2019, 9:10 pm

The Art of Noticing | "When Tim and I first started the Noticing newsletter, I got a note from Rob Walker, a design and technology journalist whose work I’ve followed for some years. He said he was working on a book about paying attention and that the book and an...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #157

January 11, 2019, 3:12 pm

A Simple Way to Better Remember Things: Draw a Picture | "Activating more parts of your brain helps stuff stick." Working From Home Makes Employees More Productive | "Having a job and having an office — or a cubicle, or a desk in an open-plan workspace — are widely...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #156

January 4, 2019, 5:13 pm

2018: The Year in Visual Stories and Graphics | "Selected Times graphics, visualizations and multimedia stories from the year." The 45 Best — And Weirdest — Charts We Made In 2018 | "Another year, another few hundred charts and maps on FiveThirtyEight... To celebrate...

Happy Holidays from Tremendousness!

December 21, 2018, 3:25 pm

Hello everyone! We'll keep it short and sweet: we just want to wish you a happy holidays from all of us at Tremendousness. Be safe, be kind, be creative. With gratitude,Bill, Brian, Chris, Darrick, Drew, Heidi, Katie, Lisa, Scott G., Scott M., Ted (and...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #155

December 14, 2018, 3:05 pm

5 Ways Your Presentation Visuals Are Failing You | "You can be the best public speaker in the world, but if you don't incorporate visuals wisely, your presentations are likely to flop--again and again." Information is Beautiful Awards 2018: The Winners | "Let's raise...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #154

November 16, 2018, 5:22 pm

W.E.B. Du Bois’ Visionary Infographics Come Together for the First Time in Full Color | "His pioneering team of black sociologists created data visualizations that explained institutionalized racism to the world." Indonesian Caves Hold Oldest Figurative Painting Ever...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #153

November 9, 2018, 1:48 pm

John Maeda's 4 Rules | "My 4 Rules (1999) 1. Don’t speak ill of others. 2. Avoid passive aggressive behavior. 3. Listen broadly, but don’t waffle on decisions. 4. When in error — admit, apologize, move forward." Drawing Is the Fastest, Most Effective Way to Learn,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #152

October 26, 2018, 1:25 pm

The Harvard Color Detectives | "Inside the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University, below a vast glass roof and above a neoclassical series of gray stone columns, hangs a fake painting. It’s a Mark Rothko—or, rather, a replica of a Rothko." The “Design...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #151

October 19, 2018, 1:30 pm

The Typographic Ticket Book | "By special issue from the 100% totally real Typographic Violations Division, the Uniform Ticket Book is standard equipment for the modern design enforcer. Lists thirty-two common design infractions, each with an appropriate penalty, with...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #150

October 12, 2018, 12:50 pm

Principal of Design: Rams | “Rams is a documentary portrait of Dieter Rams, one of the most influential designers alive, and a rumination on consumerism, sustainability, and the future of design." DRAWING IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN, EVEN IF YOU’RE NO LEONARDO DA VINCI |...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #149

October 5, 2018, 11:45 am

Aaaaaannnnnnndddd... we're back. It's the return of The Tremendous 10. The simple genius of a good graphic | "In a talk that's part history lesson, part love letter to graphics, information designer Tommy McCall traces the centuries-long evolution of charts and...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #148

April 27, 2018, 12:52 pm

A Modest Guide to Productivity | “Hello, zonked Frank! It’s me! That ideal Frank you wish you could more regularly be! I’ve taken a moment away from my self-actualized, perfect state to jot down some advice that you may find handy as you trudge through your...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #147

April 20, 2018, 11:50 am

Ad Legend George Lois: Magazine Covers Are “Trash Today” | “The iconic designer didn’t mince words in a recent interview, arguing that technology is ‘helping to destroy creativity in advertising.'” Mind the gap | “How to spend your time when there’s nothing...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #146

April 6, 2018, 2:53 pm

100 days celebrating Herb Lubalin’s centenary | “100 things over 100 days to celebrate Lubalin’s Centenary. Items selected from the Lubalin archive that surprise and delight, stories from past collaborators and current appreciators, all to celebrate the legacy he left...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #145

March 23, 2018, 10:00 am

Netflix Created a Clean, Custom Font That Could Save the Company Millions | "Designer Noah Nathan explains Netflix Sans." 12 Things Everyone Should Understand About Tech | "Tech is more important than ever, deeply affecting culture, politics and society. Given all the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #144

March 16, 2018, 12:03 pm

This Font Makes Graphics Out Of Numbers In Seconds | "Inspired by Edward Tufte’s “sparklines,” the typeface turns typed numerals into inline data visualizations." Can we save DataViz? Or is it just dashboards now? | "The demand for infographics, and data visualization...

What our office is for

March 2, 2018, 7:15 pm

Our office, at least the one in St. Louis, can be quiet. Sometimes it's too quiet. But sometimes it feels very loud. Sometimes some of us are here early. Other times others of us are here late. Or we all just have a normal day in the office. Our office has desks. Our...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #143

March 2, 2018, 4:12 pm

Irony Doesn’t Scale | "Last week my co-founder Rich Ziade wrote about what he’s learned and experienced over the last two years of running our product studio, Postlight. Which made me wonder: What have I learned working alongside him?" Do You Need To Be a Dick To Be a...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #142

February 23, 2018, 1:43 pm

Design Museum to exhibit politically charged graphic design from past 10 years | "An exhibition at London's Design Museum will present the most poignant political graphic iconography from the past decade, created in the wakes of events such as the Charlie Hebdo...

The story of the peace sign (and other iconic symbols)

February 22, 2018, 3:37 pm

Sixty years ago this month, British artist Gerald Holtom—on behalf of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament—designed the peace symbol. It's a well-known secret (if you're a designer) that the symbol actually has meaning embedded in it. Enclosed within a circle are two...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #141

February 16, 2018, 11:05 am

28 Days of Black Designers | "The 28 Days of Black Designers project is a design project that focuses on the stories and work of African American / Black designers. The black community lack stories and accomplishments of black artists. To help facilitate this need...

Are visuals in your blind spot?

February 13, 2018, 3:30 pm

Last week there was a big controversy on Twitter. But it wasn't about politics—it was about pictures. Journalism. Visual storytelling. The Poynter Institute, an established global resource for journalists, posted this article: "These tools will help you find the right...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #140

February 9, 2018, 4:06 pm

Feliks Konczakowski’s animated Droste-effect labels | "In some of these GIFs, he takes a dizzying dive into the recursive imaginary spaces that we call “Droste effect” packages. In some cases, he’s made both color and black & white versions which I’ve enjoyed...

The essential components of information design* (as I see it)

February 8, 2018, 3:35 pm

When you've been doing something for a long time, you tend to not always think about what you're doing. A flow just happens. In our case, you learn, you sketch, you think, you repeat. Ideas come and solutions materialize. Inputs become outputs. Requirements get...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #139

February 2, 2018, 12:01 pm

Take a Rare Look Inside FDR’s WWII Information Center: The Map Room | "Long before Google Earth, this was how the president saw the world." Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking | "Visualizing user attitudes and behaviors in an empathy map helps UX teams...

(More) app-solutely essential iOS apps

January 31, 2018, 8:38 pm

A few years ago I posted a list of iPhone & iPad apps that we find especially useful. Without repeating anything from last time, here's an updated list (just search for them on the App Store). Creativity & GTD Adobe Draw | Vector illustration on iOS Bear...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #138

January 26, 2018, 2:00 pm

Lessons from 30 Years of Bootstrapped Success: Nancy Duarte Talks Silicon Valley, Leadership, and the Future | "Nancy Duarte is an expert in presentation design and principal of Duarte, where she has served as CEO for 21 years. Nancy speaks around the world, seeking...

Introducing the ‘Icebreakers Card Deck’ by Tremendousness

January 24, 2018, 5:49 pm

If you run lots of meetings and sessions, a good icebreaker can really get things started—especially when not everyone knows each other. At the end of 2015 we designed and printed a card deck as our year-end holiday gift for clients and FotA (Friends of the Agency)....

5 ways visual stories help organizations grow and thrive

January 23, 2018, 4:45 pm

We'll just come right out and say it: visual stories—whether infographics, animations, illustrations, maps, or charts—are critical to any strategic communication plan. Of course we say that, right? We design visual stories for a living. But this is true whether you...

The garden of hidden delights (Easter Eggs in design)

January 19, 2018, 5:59 pm

The Easter Egg. However you define it: inside joke, hidden message, or secret feature, Easter Eggs are a fun part of design. Some are meant to be obvious to everyone. A couple great examples are the FedEx and Amazon logos. There's an arrow embedded in the carrier's...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #137

January 19, 2018, 2:53 pm

Want to be more creative? Go for a walk | "When trying to come up with a new idea, we all have times when we get stuck. But according to research by behavioral and learning scientist Marily Oppezzo, getting up and going for a walk might be all it takes to get your...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #136

January 12, 2018, 3:23 pm

Two Very Different Kinds of Illustration | "In late December The New York Times published “The Year in Illustration,” a round-up of the dozens of commissioned illustrations that adorned their pages in 2017. Most of the work is really great and a little of it is not so...

Wishing you a new year full of Tremendousness*

January 9, 2018, 2:25 pm

Conference calls, calendar conflicts, connecting flights, cross-country collaboration, critiques, constant emails... It’s shocking that what seems so simple—just doing your job—can be so complicated. So as 2018 begins we’d like to share a few of our favorite things,...

It’s a new year. Let’s get visual.

January 5, 2018, 4:11 pm

Our days are full of conversations. And phone calls. And emails. Words, words, and more words. No one would argue that words aren't at the core of how we communicate with each other. But there’s incredible power in visual thinking. Visuals help people communicate and...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #135

December 22, 2017, 4:05 pm

ZINES HAD IT RIGHT ALL ALONG | “Zines have an enormous variety. They’re experimental and diverse. This gives them a freshness and surprise. They’re anti-formalist. They’re relatable.” The “True Size” Maps Shows You the Real Size of Every Country (and Will Change Your...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #134

December 8, 2017, 8:52 pm

52 things I learned in 2017 | "Between projects at Fluxx, and editing a book, I learned several learnings." 100+ Must-Listen-To Podcasts Of 2017 | "When you take a good look at the word ‘Future’ you will see there are two U’s in it. One represents the old U. And one...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #133

November 17, 2017, 5:06 pm

How to Get People to Care About a Cause? Turn Your Tiny Data Points Into Big Visual Stories | "Data editor + illustrator Mona Chalabi takes a break from her Vagina Dispatches to show us how it’s done." In Search of… The Best Design Bookstores | "From an...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #132

November 10, 2017, 5:19 pm

How about an all-visual Tremendous 10 this week? OK, let's do it. 1. Via @chopeh 2. By @dorrismccomics 3. By Dave Gray 4. Via Yves Deligne 5. By Austin Kleon 6. Via @AngusGrigg 7. Via Brain Pickings 8. By Jessica Hagy 9. Via Colossal 10. Via...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #131

November 3, 2017, 6:54 pm

10 things I wish every design student knew | "This week I had the privilege of speaking to design students at two universities about my career. Here are some of the things I shared, most of which were answers to their questions." Design Census 2017 | "Understanding...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #130

October 28, 2017, 2:25 am

Why You Can Focus in a Coffee Shop but Not in Your Open Office | "A few years ago, during a media interview for one of my books, my interviewer said something I still ponder often. Ranting about the level of distraction in his open office, he said, 'That’s why I have...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #129

October 20, 2017, 12:22 pm

Adobe tease data visualization storytelling with no coding required | "The unveiling of Project Lincoln at Adobe Max reveals a unique approach and concept straight from its design lab. An antidote to rigid templates, Kerr demonstrated how easy it was to create a 14...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #128

October 13, 2017, 3:41 pm

Sketchnotes 101: The Basics of Visual Note-taking | "So you say you're ready to start sketchnoting. Maybe you're not much of a sketcher but you take a lot of notes, and are interested in making them more meaningful and interesting, but you're afraid your drawings are...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #127

October 6, 2017, 1:57 pm

Hey, we are looking for a project manager and a junior project manager/administrative assistant! Band uses video delay to create “a mesmerizing visual loop sampler” | "A band called The Academic cleverly took advantage of the slight broadcast delay in Facebook...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #126

September 29, 2017, 3:46 pm

How to solve problems like a designer | "IDEO’s Tim Brown explains design thinking." A Science-Backed Guide to Taking Truly Restful Breaks | "We know, this sounds made up. But stick with us, because not just any kind of break will do." How Designers Turn Into Design...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #125

September 22, 2017, 10:25 am

A Wikipedia For Data Visualizations Is Here | "You have one dataset, and countless ways to visualize it. Bar chart? Tree graph? The dreadful pie chart? Now all your options are in one beautifully designed location: the Data Viz Project, which has more than 150 types...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #124

September 8, 2017, 3:51 pm

After 46 Years, Mattel Redesigned Uno For Color-Blind People | "The classic game is now playable for 350 million more people around the globe." The pattern for color names from around the world | "If you look at the basic colors from a variety of cultures &...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #123

September 1, 2017, 8:45 pm

Nobody Cares How Hard You Work | "Will we ever decouple perceived effort and long hours with our rewards system?" The Floor Plans Of Famous TV Offices, From Sterling Cooper To Dunder Mifflin | "'We wanted to pick businesses that everyone would know and love but...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #122

August 25, 2017, 5:58 pm

The State of Design | Click to read. Above the fold | "It's not 1997 anymore." The Web Site “Centuries of Sound” is Making a Mixtape for Every Year of Recorded Sound from 1860 to Present | "The vibrations of the Metropolitan Elevated Railroad in Manhattan, a...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #121

August 18, 2017, 1:41 pm

Just five links this week. Still recovering from summer break! An Eclipse Chaser’s Guide to Your First Eclipse | "The United States has not seen a total solar eclipse sail from sea to shining sea in nearly a century. That means that next Monday, when the moon engulfs...

A new video: Understanding Empathy

August 1, 2017, 1:30 pm

There's a lot of anger and aggression swirling around the world these days. Whether in politics, race, or religion, people tend to build walls to block out anyone they disagree with. Or worse. But here's a way to enable conversations and interactions that lead to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #120

July 28, 2017, 3:33 pm

The noun and the verb | "Lots of people want to be the noun without doing the verb. They want the job title without the work. 'Forget about being a Writer,” says novelist Ann Packer. “Follow the impulse to write.'" Flash & The Future of Interactive Content | "But...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #119

July 21, 2017, 3:16 pm

Total Eclipse of the Heartland: The 2017 Solar Eclipse | We’re quite excited about this, so we decided to make an infographic just for our fellow St. Louisans. Updated Empathy Map Canvas | "We designed the Empathy Map at XPLANE many years ago, as part of a...

Total Eclipse of the Heartland: The 2017 Solar Eclipse

July 18, 2017, 12:29 pm

St. Louis, the 2017 solar eclipse, and you. In a little more than a month, on August 21, 2017, the United States will experience a total solar eclipse. It’s gonna be awesome. A solar eclipse occurs as the moon moves between Earth and the sun. The alignment of these...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #118

July 14, 2017, 8:49 pm

How to Organize Your Information for Better Decision-Making | "Here’s some good news for anyone else out there who’s always got a zillion browser tabs open at once: We’re doing something right, you guys. Sure, it makes your screen look crazy cluttered and stresses out...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #117

July 7, 2017, 11:05 am

‘Mountain’ at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital | "A permanent installation inspired by Thomas Mann’s ‘The Magic Mountain’ at a newly opened cancer care centre." Silicon Valley Title Sequence Breakdown | "HBO has the best titles sequences on TV and Silicon Valley is no...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #116

June 30, 2017, 1:54 pm

Why cartoon characters wear gloves | "Yes, simplifying the features of characters made the process easier and faster. However, it made it more difficult for the audience to see characters’ black hands against their black bodies. Enter those crisp white gloves." Want...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #115

June 16, 2017, 2:16 pm

35 Books Every Designer Should Read | "We asked some of the world’s top design schools to share their favorite books. Here’s what they recommend for your reading list." Master the Struggle of Working with Executives on Presentations | "Executives are b-u-s-y. Their...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #114

June 9, 2017, 1:45 pm

New York Stories | "The magazine’s first-ever all-comics issue, with 12 tales of the city based on stories from The Times’s Metro desk." Featuring STL artist Kevin Huizenga! Sparing the Designer’s Ego | I would define the designer’s ego a mindset that believes...

The Tremendousness reel

June 6, 2017, 10:29 am

One minute of pure awesome. I don't think we posted this to our blog last year, so here's the Tremendousness reel from 2016! Learn more about how we make complex things understandable and engaging at https://tremendo.us.

Launching www.tremendo.us 3.0

June 2, 2017, 7:11 pm

We are (again) tremendously happy, proud, excited, and relieved to hit “Publish” on our new site redesign—one that better showcases our work, our people, and our beliefs. Here’s a quick tour: Home | Smarter, simpler, less chaotic, better organized. About |...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #113

June 2, 2017, 1:12 pm

Chart Junk Considered Useful After All | "There is almost universal agreement that any extraneous elements in a chart or visualization, elements that do not represent numbers, are detrimental to understanding the data. A paper that was presented at CHI recently...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #112

May 19, 2017, 12:39 pm

The Life of ¶: The History of the Paragraph | "If we start by designing one great paragraph, down to every fine detail and nuance, as our content builds out, so will our typographic system, giving us a flexible, robust and considered foundation for the entirety of our...

May 18 is International Museum Day—here’s “how to use a museum”

May 16, 2017, 2:16 pm

By Ishaba Haque Thursday, May 18 marks International Museum Day, a day to celebrate the role museums play in the development of society. The theme this year is “Museums and contested histories: saying the unspeakable in museums.” This theme resonates with us because...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #111

May 5, 2017, 12:34 pm

We just posted this: "A Tremendous experience—We want everyone at Tremendousness to feel safe, creative, focused, appreciated, and rewarded. Here’s how we work toward that." The history of looking at data visualizations | "One of the interesting things about...

A Tremendous experience

May 3, 2017, 12:42 pm

Last year we shared our "core values" poster—a look at what we expect from our people and our clients. The flip side is what our people can expect from Tremendousness. Here's our employee experience. Sure, a big part of the employee experience derives from those core...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #110

April 29, 2017, 11:12 am

OK, here's another link roundup that's just one important post: Heineken | Worlds Apart | #OpenYourWorld | "Can two strangers with opposing views prove that there’s more that unites than divides us?" Image: screenshot from the video in link #1.

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #109

April 14, 2017, 1:52 pm

Future of Privacy Forum" Shedding Light on Smart City Privacy | "Cities and communities generate data through a vast and growing network of connected technologies that power new and innovative services ranging from apps that can help drivers find parking spots to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #108

March 24, 2017, 10:27 am

Ethics can’t be a side hustle | "In the last few months I’ve had a lot of designers ask me “Where can I do good work?”And they don’t mean “good” as in quality. They mean good as in “on the side of the angels.” They look at the world, they see a garbage fire, and they...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #107

March 17, 2017, 12:51 pm

Calling Bullshit | "The world is awash in bullshit. Politicians are unconstrained by facts. Science is conducted by press release. Higher education rewards bullshit over analytic thought. Startup culture elevates bullshit to high art. Advertisers wink conspiratorially...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #106

March 10, 2017, 7:04 pm

Woman=Human. And not just on International Women’s Day. | "Yes, woman = human, but for years they have been deprived of many rights. But that didn’t stop us from climbing mountains, becoming world leaders, revolutionizing the music industry, making scientific...

Woman=Human. And not just on International Women’s Day.

March 8, 2017, 4:18 pm

By Ishaba Haque Yes, woman = human, but for years they have been deprived of many rights. But that didn’t stop us from climbing mountains, becoming world leaders, revolutionizing the music industry, making scientific discoveries, and changing the course...

A new video and infographic: What is gaslighting?

March 7, 2017, 6:52 pm

We know that everything is hyper-political these days—tense, uncomfortable, even hateful. Half the country (or world!) tiptoes around the situation, keeping quiet… while the other half yells loudly, rocked by every tiny tweet or or super-sized scandal. And that half...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #105

March 3, 2017, 3:28 pm

Adobe Illustrator is 30 years old | "My favorite application is Adobe Illustrator, which turned 30 this week. I have used it for decades and still learn new things about it almost evert week. Here's a great video series about the beginnings of Adobe Illustrator. In...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #104

February 24, 2017, 2:46 pm

Pixar & Khan Academy Offer a Free Online Course on Storytelling | "The Pixar directors and story artists drafted to serve as instructors for this course are as deft at encouragement as they are at their craft. They’ll help you move that rubber tree plant… for...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #103

February 17, 2017, 2:33 pm

Learn what PDFs are | Tremendousness helped Adobe explain, in the most basic and clear way, exactly what PDFs are. Take a minute and fifteen seconds to check out the animated video. W.E.B. Du Bois’ hand-drawn infographics from “The Exhibit of American Negroes” |...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #102

February 10, 2017, 8:22 pm

Just one link this week. One is all we needed. A Powerful Danish Ad Showing That People From All Walks of Life Have More in Common Than Not | "In “All That We Share“, a truly powerful ad for Danish television station TV 2, people from varying backgrounds...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #101

February 3, 2017, 10:11 pm

Book Covers Are Watching You: A Selection of 1984 Cover Designs | "Increasing tensions between the current U.S. President’s administration and major news sources have jettisoned sales of George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984 through the roof. Whether you’re an Orwell...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #100

January 27, 2017, 2:35 pm

Stunning 23-foot wall chart of human history from 1881 | "Sebastian C. Adams's Synchronological Chart from the late 19th century presents 5,885 years of history (4004 BCE - 1881 AD) on a magnificent 27 inch x 23 foot illustrated and annotated timeline. What a...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #99

January 20, 2017, 5:34 pm

Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful | "Around 2003 I came across Charlie Munger’s 1995 speech, The Psychology of Human Misjudgment, which introduced me to how behavioral economics can be applied in business and investing. More profoundly, though, it opened my mind...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #98

January 13, 2017, 4:53 pm

The Benefits of a Lunch Hour Walk | "To combat afternoon slumps in enthusiasm and focus, take a walk during the lunch hour. A new study finds that even gentle lunchtime strolls can perceptibly — and immediately — buoy people’s moods and ability to handle stress at...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #97

January 6, 2017, 6:36 pm

100 things that made my year | From Austin Kleon. John Berger, Provocative Art Critic, Dies at 90 | "John Berger, the British critic, novelist and screenwriter whose groundbreaking 1972 television series and book, Ways of Seeing, declared war on traditional ways of...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #96

December 16, 2016, 3:20 pm

Jessica’s Client Email Helper | "negotiating incoming project terms over email is difficult for even the well-seasoned professional. I’ve created this handy tool to help you say “no” to free and low-budget work and to help ask for more favorable contract terms before...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #95

December 9, 2016, 4:41 pm

How to have an honest one-on-one with an employee | "Here are six ways to get employees talking about what they really feel (and not what they think you want to hear)…" Portland proposes a special tax on companies where CEOs make 100X more than median employee |...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #94

December 2, 2016, 3:17 pm

Design and Visual Thinking reading list | "I’ve had a lot of people ask me for book recommendations so I am putting together this list of suggested reading on various topics. I will add to this as I have time." The Surprisingly Complex Principles of a Successful...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #93

November 18, 2016, 9:09 pm

What Designers Should Do Now | "We spoke with more than a dozen design leaders. The consensus? Designing for social reform will be more important than ever under Trump." Eight steps reporters should take before Trump assumes office | "With the two houses of Congress...

Is it a playful perpetual calendar…

November 7, 2016, 11:03 am

...or a practical package of postcards? You get to decide! Well, you get to decide only if you were lucky enough to receive the care package we recently sent to some of our favorite publications. In addition to being both a calendar and a postcard set, it's a fun...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #92

November 4, 2016, 11:34 am

The Mission to Save Vanishing Internet Art | "In the early days of the web, art was frequently a cause and the internet was an alternate universe in which to pursue it. Two decades later, preserving this work has become a mission. As web browsers and computer...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #91

October 21, 2016, 12:33 pm

Frere-Jones Finishes Retina, the Font He’s Been Designing for 15 Years | "From the pages of the Wall Street Journal to MoMA’s collection to you." If you could get everybody to read one book, what would it be? | "Anil Dash recently asked his Twitter followers: 'If you...

Being Tremendous

October 17, 2016, 11:05 am

It's easy to be dismissive—even cynical—when a company talks about its "mission," its "beliefs," or its "core values." Because no matter what the U.S. Supreme Court says, corporations are not people. They are, however, made of people (but not in a Soylent Green kind...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #90

October 14, 2016, 10:42 am

The Elements of Value | "We have identified 30 'elements of value'—fundamental attributes in their most essential and discrete forms. These elements fall into four categories: functional, emotional, life changing, and social impact." How to recruit great people | "A...

THEY SAID / HE SAID / SHE SAID / YOU SAID

October 10, 2016, 6:16 pm

Here's our take on last night's U.S. presidential debate. The debate happened just a mile from our St. Louis office. This is all in the candidates' own words. And the moderators'. And the citizens'. Everyone take a deep breath. Here's the full PDF version so...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #89

October 7, 2016, 3:42 pm

The Science of Gratitude | We're very excited to share our latest passion project. It's a short (just 2 minutes!) video about the health benefits of practicing gratitude—as well as simple steps to help you get started. Enjoy! Epoch Artwork Lineage | "I’ve been very...

Finding gratitude

October 6, 2016, 3:51 pm

The idea of practicing gratitude can be a fluffy topic, but it’s finally leaving the yoga mat and entering the mainstream. Here at Tremendousness we thought it was important to help add to that momentum. Part of what’s stoking gratitude's recent popularity is the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #88

September 30, 2016, 2:40 pm

The Digital Evangelist Leading Google's Storytelling Movement | "'Storytelling rocks.' Two words I never thought I’d hear from an expert in data analytics. But Avinash Kaushik isn’t like most data experts, and the lessons he offers can help professionals in any...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #87

September 23, 2016, 12:47 pm

St. Louis Is The New Startup Frontier | "In 2013, when I was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, I flew to St. Louis to learn about the city’s budding startup scene. The city, like the rest of the U.S., was stuck in a decades-long entrepreneurial slump that had...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #86

September 9, 2016, 2:23 pm

How My Friends Described Some Colors To Me When I Couldn't See | "When I was a kid, I was legally blind due to the improper development of neurological connections as well as underdeveloped muscles. After a great doctor and a lot of work, I can see just fine now but...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #85

September 2, 2016, 12:59 pm

You Don’t Need New Ideas, You Need a New Perspective | "The unexpected creative benefits of a "beginner’s mind.'" Printed by Somerset | Wonderfully skeuomorphic web design for a paper company. With No Mailing Address, a Letter Gets Delivered Via Hand Drawn Map | "It...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #84

August 26, 2016, 10:13 am

Holy shit! I co-wrote a book. You can read it right now! | "Org Design for Design Orgs, the book I co-wrote with Kristin Skinner, is now available as an ebook. You can order it from Amazon or O’Reilly." The Next Wave: Organizational Mindfulness | "Organizational...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #83

August 19, 2016, 3:29 pm

Advance praise for 'Liminal Thinking' by Dave Gray | “Liminal Thinking is a book about how to be mentally healthy, how to be present, and how to be a positive force in the world. But more simply, and more importantly, it’s a book about how to be.” –Daniel H....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #82

July 29, 2016, 10:45 am

A Checklist for Everyday. | "We (as a studio, a couple, two individuals) have historically struggled with measuring our success by our levels of productivity. Hours billed, projects finished, lists checked, dollars earned = better/more accomplished people. This...

Three more new case studies? OK.

July 27, 2016, 2:19 pm

The first half of this year we've our heads down, cranking out new work with great clients—but it's time to start sharing these projects. Last week we posted three new case studies, and this week we've got three more. A series of fun, retro video game-inspired...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #81

July 22, 2016, 3:18 pm

StyLit | "Illumination-Guided Example-Based Stylization of 3D Renderings | "We present an approach to example-based stylization of 3D renderings that better preserves the rich expressiveness of hand-created artwork. Unlike previous techniques, which are mainly guided...

Three new case studies? Done.

July 19, 2016, 1:54 pm

We feel very lucky to be able to work with a variety of clients doing interesting and important things: Finding meaningful work? Done. Best practices for agricultural sustainability? Done. How data improves education? Done. Ensuring that radiology patients...

Visual Exercises for a Better Future: A Workshop at Admerica 2016

July 8, 2016, 1:10 pm

By Heidi Harper Every year the American Advertising Federation hosts an annual conference to explore innovations made in the fields of advertising, marketing, and communications. This summer conference brings together nearly 800 members from across the AAF...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #80

July 8, 2016, 12:55 pm

Data Mining Reveals the Six Basic Emotional Arcs of Storytelling | "Scientists at the Computational Story Laboratory have analyzed novels to identify the building blocks of all stories." The secret to success: take risks, work hard, and get lucky | "Tech investor Fred...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #79

July 1, 2016, 10:01 am

The Surprising History of the Infographic | "Early iterations saved soldiers' lives, debunked myths about slavery and helped Americans settle the frontier." Good Charts: The Book I Wish I’d Written | "It isn’t often that a book comes out and I say “I wish I’d written...

Two Tremendousness projects selected for the AIGA STL 21 Show

June 24, 2016, 1:26 pm

Earlier this month we attended the AIGA Saint Louis Design Show 21 and claimed two winner's spots... One for our Gateway Arch 50th Anniversary poster: And one for our work on last year's AIGA 20 Show: Read more about each project here: Gateway Arch | AIGA 20...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #78

June 24, 2016, 10:20 am

The Founder of the Boy Scouts Hid Maps in Insect Drawings | "This may look like an innocent drawing of a butterfly. But look closer. It's actually a map. In fact, the area around the butterfly's body contains secret military information about the whereabouts of an...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #77

June 17, 2016, 11:43 am

Learning Lab: Visual Exercises for a Better Future | "Learning Lab at ADMERICA centered on drawing and free form thought. They call it Visual Thinking, and it’s a process, which gives collaborators the tools needed to structure and generate ideas. The Learning Lab...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #76

June 10, 2016, 12:46 pm

The Creative World’s Bullshit Industrial Complex | "Don’t fall into the trap of being an expert before you’re ready. We have enough of those." Has Design Become Too Hard? | "Consider responsive web design, proposed six years ago (video) by Ethan Marcotte at An Event...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #75

June 3, 2016, 10:39 am

Don't Be Surprised If Google’s New Animated Short Wins An Oscar | "The best way to watch Pearl is the way it wasn’t intended to be seen: in VR. Ironically, that version won’t be Academy-eligible." Fascinating App Shows You How Misleading Maps Can Be | "Greenland is...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #74

May 27, 2016, 6:39 pm

Let’s stop trivializing design work | "This week, Instagram updated their logo, and right on cue, the Internet exploded about it. This is not a post about that. Rather, this is a post about how we all critique design in public. For example, this tweet got a lot of...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #73

May 13, 2016, 10:16 am

Al Jaffee, the Longest Working Cartoonist in History, Shows How He Invented the Iconic “Folds-Ins” for Mad Magazine | "Conceived of as the satirical inverse of the expensive-to-produce, 4-color centerfolds that were a staple of glossier mags, the first Fold-In spoofed...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #72

May 6, 2016, 12:18 pm

Schlafly Walking Tree Wheat | Dan Zettwoch: "I helped out with this new beer from my local brewery Schlafly called Walking Tree Wheat. I drew the label, gift box, and a 12 page full-color comic book that comes inside. Here's a bunch of the research, sketches and final...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #71

April 29, 2016, 2:54 pm

Artist Asks Strangers to Draw a Bicycle From Memory… Then 3D Renders The Results | "Do you know what a bicycle looks like? Of course you do. At least you think you do. You’re pretty sure; there’s a couple of wheels, a couple of tubes, some handlebars… But do you...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #70

April 15, 2016, 10:34 am

How A Color Designer Creates The Perfect Backdrop For Famous Art | "At major museums around the world, the color experts at Farrow & Ball train their discerning eye on the walls behind the artwork." Tobias Frere-Jones: On North Carolina’s HB2 | "Education has been...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #69

April 8, 2016, 6:38 pm

Website Seeks to Make Government Data Easier to Sift Through | "A project coming out of the M.I.T. Media Lab on Monday seeks to ease that challenge and to make the value of government data available to a wider audience. The project, called Data USA, bills itself as...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #68

April 1, 2016, 10:30 am

Lingo | "Lingo is the best way to organize, share and use all your visual assets in one place – all on your desktop." Via Chris Glass 50 Signs of Hope for Culture in 2016 | "Everything is terrible. Or, at least, sometimes it feels that way — the presidential election...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #67

March 25, 2016, 10:26 am

Type Scan Alphabet | "Tony Ziebetzki is a graphic designer from Berlin who had the great idea of composing a script by scanning various carvings, creating many different reports that letters of the alphabet. Work visually impressive and very inspiring to discover...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #66

March 18, 2016, 10:34 am

How Designers Can Get More Comfortable with Data | "One day soon, a client with a core product that relies on innovative AI software will come knocking on your studio door. Or you may be brought in on the ground floor of an early-stage start-up that believes it has...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #65

March 4, 2016, 3:07 pm

Stop Learning. Start Applying. | "Stop searching. You already have what you are looking for. You are reading books, blogs, and how-to guides. Watching youtube videos, & listening to podcasts looking for that one golden piece of information that is going to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #64

February 19, 2016, 8:11 pm

Reading Design | "Reading Design is an online archive of critical writing about design. The idea is to embrace the whole of design, from architecture and urbanism to product, fashion, graphics and beyond. The texts featured here date from the nineteenth century right...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #63

February 12, 2016, 2:54 pm

OK GO'S 'UPSIDE DOWN & INSIDE OUT' FAQ & CREDITS | "This video was shot in an airplane that flies parabolic maneuvers to provide brief periods of weightlessness, sometimes referred to as or “zero gravity” or “zero g.”... The video is a single take, but there...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #62

February 5, 2016, 4:36 pm

28 to Make | "It takes 28 days to make or break a habit. Sometimes, we lapse into unproductive habits because we don’t know what else to do. That's why we worked with some of the best creators we know to bring these 28 daily creative project ideas to your inbox...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #61

January 29, 2016, 8:21 pm

These 10 cities have the fastest-growing startup scenes — and neither New York nor Silicon Valley made the cut | Number 1? "St. Louis, MO: 342.70% deal growth in 2015, 33.02% average growth since 2012. So how about the San Francisco Bay Area? It was No. 1 in...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #60

January 15, 2016, 12:26 pm

The Periodic Table of Storytelling | "The basic building blocks of storytelling. Which elements will you recognize?" Don’t Fuck Up the Culture | "On Monday, October 21, 2013, I sent this letter to our entire team at Airbnb. I have decided to publish this in the event...

A poster for Forest Park Forever!

January 13, 2016, 6:06 pm

St. Louis' Forest Park Forever wanted an information-filled graphic to compel supporters to donate or to become a full member. Because of our love for (and proximity to—we're just a block away) Forest Park, we didn't want to address this in a typical,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #59

January 8, 2016, 4:03 pm

We took the month off but are back! What Killed The Infographic? | "If you've seen fewer experimental data visualizations lately, it's only because the medium has grown up and gotten a job." HOW TO WRITE by David Ogilvy | "On September 7th, 1982, Ogilvy...

Happy holidays from Tremendousness

December 23, 2015, 3:16 pm

Tremendous things are in store for you! And many wonderful surprises await you! Thank you for an amazing 2015. Here’s to making 2016 great. Happy holidays from everyone at Tremendousness.

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #58

December 11, 2015, 6:02 pm

The 9 guidelines for the design of London Tube stations | "Transport for London recently released a document called the London Underground Station Design Idiom, a guide to the design aesthetic of Tube stations. After an introductory chapter called "A manifesto for...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #57

December 4, 2015, 3:42 pm

The Life of ¶: The History of the Paragraph | "How can we build a better web experience? By unboxing the fascinating history of the paragraph, and figuring out how to best apply it in our interactive work today." Maybe Your Team Doesn’t Need to Be More Creative |...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #56

November 20, 2015, 2:35 pm

Why is so much of design school a waste of time? "Q: My teacher hates everything I make, even though I spend all this time working on it, and gets mad even when I follow his advice. Sometimes designers who are working come to talk to us, but they never get what I’m...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #55

November 14, 2015, 3:57 am

Theft, Lies, and Facebook Video | "Facebook says it’s now streaming more video than YouTube. To be able to make that claim, all they had to do was cheat, lie, and steal." Acumin | "Acumin is a versatile sans-serif typeface family designed by Robert Slimbach, intended...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #54

November 6, 2015, 3:14 pm

How French Artists in 1899 Envisioned Life in the Year 2000: Drawing the Future | "One of the first things that stands out scanning through these prints, now hosted at The Public Domain Review, is a complete absence of space travel..." A Dire Evolutionary Timeline by...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #53

October 30, 2015, 2:16 pm

The /now page movement | "People often ask me what I’m doing now. Each time I would type out a reply, describing where I’m at, what I’m focused on, and what I’m not. So earlier this year I added a /now page to my site: sivers.org/now A simple link. Easy...

Get your Arch posters here, folks!

October 27, 2015, 5:54 pm

We've been working on this for a while and it's finally ready—and just in time. Posters are temporarily unavailable, sorry! Gateway Arch 50th anniversary poster 50 YEARS / 50 FACTS Love the Arch? Know someone who loves the Arch? You're going to want this 2x3'...

From start to finish—Part 5: The flightcheck

October 26, 2015, 8:28 pm

Part V of V: The flightcheck It takes a lot of sweat, a lot of time, often a lot of money, and possibly some blood and tears, but most every project eventually reaches that home stretch where you’re just about ready to deliver the final to the customer / printer...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #52

October 23, 2015, 2:03 pm

Covers – A series of 55 animated vintage book graphics | "How would these great book covers from the past look like when set in motion? Here we go…" Saul Bass On His Approach To Designing Movie Title Sequences | "Graphic designer and Oscar-winning director Saul Bass...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #51

October 16, 2015, 1:37 pm

Computer Show | "Time to share: we made a show, it’s a technology talk show set in 1983. And it’s called Computer Show." The Passable Designer | "Breathtakingly honest coverage of the world’s least self-absorbed industry." Someone just uploaded their complete...

Tremendousness ❤ STL (The Tremendous 10 link roundup #50)

October 9, 2015, 2:39 pm

While Tremendousness is a St. Louis-based company with an office in Washington, D.C., almost all of our clients are spread out across the United States, and many are international. But we love STL. We love The Gateway Arch. In fact, we've been working on an...

From start to finish—Part 4: The illustration

October 6, 2015, 12:04 pm

Being a side project, we fit the work for our tribute to the Gateway Arch in whenever we could. We'd started at the end of last year, so weeks and even months would pass with no progress. But back the spring Bill brought a pile of sketches to a...

From start to finish—Part 3: The blueprint

October 2, 2015, 1:35 pm

Part III of V: The blueprint So what's a blueprint? It's basically the design without the design. Well, to be specific, it's the design without the final illustration and typography. That means we've got the content, the visual concepts, and the layout....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #49

October 2, 2015, 11:15 am

Constrained by the Limitations of Soviet-Era Architecture, Brodsky & Utkin Imagined Fantastical Structures on Paper | "To be an architect with vision in the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 80s, was to witness a near complete loss of Moscow’s historical...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #48

September 25, 2015, 1:44 pm

And we're back after a two week vacation! Sample: instagram.com/p/7Ycf4SNXm7 The making of FiftyThree's beloved Paper app for the iPhone | "Three years in the making, the new app dares to rethink how people have worked with words on screens for decades." What...

Who we are & what we do

September 22, 2015, 1:31 pm

Hugmonster Sound interviewed co-founder W. Scott Matthews as part of this year's AIGA St. Louis Design Week activities. Here's a super-quick overview of what Tremendousness does and why we do it.

From start to finish—Part 2: The concept

September 21, 2015, 1:18 pm

Part II of V: The concept With a general idea of what we wanted to say—and specifically to get a good deal of discrete, lesser-known Arch facts into the piece—I began doing rough napkin sketches. This is usually the first visual phase of any project. You've...

Survivors of domestic violence speak out: #WhyIStayed #WhyILeft

September 8, 2015, 10:00 am

It was one year ago today that TMZ published the now infamous “Ray Rice elevator video” in which when the world witnessed the tragic images of professional football player Ray Rice abusing his then-fiancée in an elevator at an Atlantic City hotel....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #47

September 4, 2015, 2:55 pm

First picture drawn in space to appear in cosmonauts show in London | "Sunrise sketch by Alexei Leonov, the first man to walk in space, is part of ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Science Museum exhibition on [the] Russian space programme." The Data Visualisation Catalogue | "The...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #46

August 28, 2015, 10:55 am

How QuarkXPress became a mere afterthought in publishing | "In the early '90s, Quark boasted 95% market share. In '99, InDesign arrived..." Why Creating a Meaningful Morning Routine Will Make You More Successful | "I’ve learned so much about how creating good habits...

From start to finish—Part 1: The research

August 25, 2015, 12:33 pm

Every week the Tremendousness creative team meets to share ideas, seek help, and get feedback. Sometimes we shows works-in-progress, sometimes we talk about interesting side projects or links we've come across. Often, we discuss possible passion projects. 95% of the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #45

August 22, 2015, 12:37 am

Pixar’s 22 rules of storytelling adapted for UX | "In 2011 Emma Coats, a former storyboard artist at Pixar, tweeted the “22 rules of storytelling”. The post has become well known and was recently re-done as image macros. As I was reading each of the 22 rules, I felt...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #44

August 14, 2015, 11:39 am

Yes, Mr. President, We Remade Our Atlas to Reflect Shrinking Ice | "While discussing his new plan to combat global warming, the President referenced one of the most striking shifts in the history of National Geographic maps." Toru Iwatani shows his original drafts for...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #43

August 8, 2015, 2:41 am

Kurt Vonnegut Diagrams the Shape of All Stories in a Master’s Thesis Rejected by U. Chicago | "'What has been my prettiest contribution to the culture?' asked Kurt Vonnegut in his autobiography Palm Sunday. His answer? His master’s thesis in anthropology for the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #42

August 1, 2015, 2:18 am

The sounds of Voyager's Golden Record | "When they were launched in 1977, the two Voyager spacecraft each carried with them a 12-inch gold-plated copper record containing images and sounds of Earth for the viewing pleasure of whichever aliens happened across them....

From start to finish—designing a poster to celebrate The Gateway Arch’s 50th birthday

July 29, 2015, 11:06 am

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the "topping out" of Saint Louis's incredible Gateway Arch. On a warm, sunny day in October 1965, a custom-built climbing derrick placed a final 10-ton triangle of stainless steel at the top of a huge,...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #41

July 24, 2015, 10:53 am

After Pixar | "In the studio with an Oscar-nominated startup." The Disapproval Matrix | "In my ongoing quest for the perfect framework for understanding haters, I created The Disapproval Matrix... This is one way to separate haterade from productive feedback." Web...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #40

July 17, 2015, 11:06 am

4 historical heroes who loved charts | "The explosion of charts and graphs in the internet era makes it easy to believe they're a new phenomenon. But chart fans have been around for hundreds of years — ever since early pioneers like Joseph Priestley and others..."...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #39

July 10, 2015, 2:20 pm

What's The Best Medium For A Storyteller In 2015 And Beyond? | "It's a weird time right now. That's true in general. It's fascinating watching sci-fi authors like Charlie sprinting increasingly fast to keep ahead of the Bear Of Social And Technological Change....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #38

June 26, 2015, 3:10 pm

What's Really Warming the World? | "Climate deniers blame natural factors; NASA data proves otherwise." Preparing Our Kids for Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet | "Childhood passions that seem like fads, sometimes even totally unproductive, could be mediums for experiencing...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #37

June 19, 2015, 10:35 am

How Designers and Non-Designers can get along | "To designers, it can seem no one else sees the value in your work. You're an expert, but you aren't respected like one. Too often, your recommendations get ignored. Chances to do your best work feel rare. To...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #36

June 12, 2015, 12:43 pm

I have no idea what the hell I am doing | "Thank you. How’s it going New York? It’s good to be back. Like Oliver said, my name is Brad Frost, and I have absolutely no idea what the hell I am doing." It’s OK not to start your y-axis at zero | "Charts should convey...

Revisiting Keynote.app for video

June 10, 2015, 5:55 pm

A few days ago Linda Dong posted this fantastic overview (seen via Swiss Miss) that rekindled my interest in exploring Apple's Keynote software for motion graphics. Her video is fun, clever, eye-catching, and expressive, and is an exciting exercise not just in what's...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #35

June 5, 2015, 10:57 am

The Subtraction.com Design Tools Survey | "TL;DR: Today I’m launching a survey of the tools that digital designers are using in their work. It will run for a week and the results will be made public." What makes a great Creative Director? | A short video (via The St....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #34

May 29, 2015, 11:18 am

How I taught my 2 year old daughter to make her own video game | Our very own Ashley Rath's husband, Robin, has a new Kickstarter: "...we kept seeing kids as young as five very quickly understanding the concepts and the ideas behind what needed to be done to make a...

The road less traveled: A life in information design

May 22, 2015, 12:46 pm

When I graduated college with my degree in graphic design, I figured I was steaming headlong into a world of logos, posters, and tri-fold brochures. Whether that work would be for local bands, an ad agency, or an industrial manufacturer, I had no idea. I...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #33

May 22, 2015, 12:10 pm

Cheat Sheets I: The Art of Commentary With BBC's Nick Barnes | "Behind every great football match is a great commentator, and in front of every commentator is a set of notes. BBC Radio Newcastle’s Nick Barnes and NBC Sports’ Arlo White have some of the best—and most...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #32

May 15, 2015, 10:12 am

A Pixel Artist Renounces Pixel Art | "Our team has been debating this for a long time, because we all unanimously love the aesthetic. The debate arose from the occasional anxiety we would get from the “HD this, HD that” fetishism that began in the early 2000s." R....

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #31

May 8, 2015, 10:36 am

The Incredible Creative Power of One-Minute Sketches | "If you want your colleagues to see what you mean, take one minute to sketch it out." What Killed The Infographic? | "If you've seen fewer experimental data visualizations lately, it's only because the medium has...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #30

May 1, 2015, 8:47 pm

9 Squares | "An international collaboration of 9 different designer/animators. Each designer creates an abstract, 350px, 3 second animated square to make up a single GIF loop, from a 4-colour palette." Picking up Slack at Panic | "Before the legendary Panic found...

Infographics in the real world

April 30, 2015, 12:39 pm

Quite a while back I started a Flickr Group I called "Infographics in the real world." I wanted a place for myself and others to capture photos of informational graphics found in public places (basically, anything not paper- or screen-based). I was looking...

Yes! Tremendousness wins three awards in the AIGA STL 20 Show

April 29, 2015, 11:00 am

Yes, it's true that Tremendousness designed the identity for this year's milestone AIGA Saint Louis Design Show. And yes, there was in fact a record breaking number of entries submitted. So... yes, we are especially happy and proud that the...

Great books by good people (that we actually know)

April 27, 2015, 3:44 pm

Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable. —Louisa May Alcott Even more so in our fast-paced, FoMO, digital age, it's nice to grab a book, sit back, and enjoy (and/or learn). It's especially satisfying when you...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #29

April 24, 2015, 2:51 pm

Paula Scher | Ephemeral or Indelible? | "Paula Scher takes us through different types of ink she’s worked in and the way she feels about them." Pitney Bowes — Corporate Icons | Such nice iconography and animations by Forma & Co (via Chris Glass) NO DICKHEADS!...

Appsolutely essential iOS apps

April 23, 2015, 10:41 am

Everyone's got their favorite apps. Some are just fun, some are good 'n' useful—and some are absolutely essential. As a living, breathing human being and an owner of a creative business, here are some iOS apps I'd rather not live without. And I ain't grabbing links...

Four movies I can always rely on for inspiration

April 22, 2015, 11:58 am

I feel a vague sense of dread when people ask me what books I look to for creative inspiration. It's a tough question to answer. Why? Well... because I don't read that much. There, I said it. But ask me about movies, and it's a whole different story. I love watching...

SESSION #004: Information design basics (Part 1: frameworks)

April 20, 2015, 5:43 pm

We held our 4th SESSION meetup last week and took a deep dive into frameworks—a term we use for the overall architecture of a visual, story-based design. More on that in a minute. First, we did a quick review of our work-in-progress outline of The Essential...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #28

April 17, 2015, 10:31 am

TMI Is The Future Of Branding | "You cannot get away with bullshit anymore," says Landor Chief Strategy Officer Thomas Ordahl. Enter TMI." Gone in a Flash: The Race to Save the Internet's Least Favorite Tool | "Flash has been dying for years—what happens to all the...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #27

April 10, 2015, 3:01 pm

First, let's get this out of the way—we've got a special set of super-important links this week: Introducing tremendo.us 2.0! | We've got a shiny new Web site. We're hiring | Designers, animators, illustrators, and more... And speaking of hiring... | A few...

He/she applied for a design job. You won’t believe what happened next!

April 9, 2015, 11:25 am

Nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. Of course we sent a 'thank you' after we got your résumé, and a follow-up email after we made our decision. But the decision was that you weren't the right designer for us. Here's why—in a short, honest, convenient list (with a...

Presenting tremendo.us 2.0

April 6, 2015, 5:40 pm

We are tremendously happy, proud, excited, and relieved to hit "Publish" on our new site—one that better showcases our work, our people, and our beliefs. Here's a quick tour: The home page | Now exclusively dedicated to the work we do—all projects, all the time. Who...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #26

April 3, 2015, 9:54 am

Creative Value of Staying Loose | "MacArthur Geniuses on the Art of “Connected Irrelevance.” Wow, that's my new favorite phrase. Should Designers Plunder the Past? | "In the Spring 2015 issue of Print, Rick Poynor addresses the problems associated with...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #25

March 27, 2015, 7:32 pm

How To Balance Client Work With Passion Projects | "Matt Owens, cofounder of design studio Athletics, reveals how he manages to take self-started work as seriously as paid client work." Dear Design Student | "Advice on design from people who work for a living." The...

Desgn.it Tahoe 2015 recap

March 23, 2015, 12:09 pm

I’ve spent countless “vacations” racing my bike and often have returned to work exhausted from what I'd refer to as “the hardest vacation ever.” A few weekends ago I traveled to Tahoe for Desgn.it 2015 and basically camped out in a rustic living room hunched over...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #24

March 20, 2015, 11:39 am

EXPLORABLE EXPLANATIONS | "In all these wide and varied examples, the reader is active. The reader asks questions, and finds answers. The reader proves lessons to themselves. The reader gains an intuitive understanding of complex systems. The reader creates...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #23

March 13, 2015, 10:03 am

The End of Creativity | "The word “creativity” was made up less than a hundred years ago. It is time to stop using it." Gurafiku: Japanese Graphic Design | "A collection of visual research surveying the history of graphic design in Japan." TYPEWRITER DRAWINGS |...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #22

March 6, 2015, 12:20 pm

Google’s Material Design Video Recreated in Keynote | "Many people underestimate the capability of Keynote (now free with OS X Mavericks), and reduce it as Apple’s alternative to PowerPoint." (See also this post I wrote while at XPLANE: Apple Keynote for video?...

SESSION #003: Life hacks

March 5, 2015, 3:19 pm

Tremendousness is starting a monthly gathering called SESSION.IS and our first public event was on life hacks. Big thanks to everyone who came out. Your brilliant ideas were captured visually on the whiteboard and the incredible overflow of sticky notes is partially...

TED-Ed finalé: How does the thyroid manage your metabolism?

March 2, 2015, 8:39 pm

TED-Ed just released the final video Tremendousness created in collaboration with educator Emma Bryce. It's time to say, "Thanks, thyroid." Nestled in the tissues of your neck is a small, unassuming organ that wields enormous power over your body: the thyroid. Emma...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #21

February 27, 2015, 4:21 pm

Out of the Ordinary Emails | "Exceptional newsletters about creative obsessions." This French Creative Agency Counts Everything It Does In Its Office. EVERYTHING. | "Right down to the number of times the toilets flush, sid lee goes full tmi with this...

Off to desgn.it!

February 26, 2015, 4:14 pm

I'm on a plane, heading to a Desgn.it Tahoe 2015. Never heard of it? I found out about it serendipitously and was immediately compelled to apply. I have little idea what to expect, but it sounds like a fantastic way to spend a few days—and for a good cause. A bunch of...

Hey Saint Louis—it’s time for the AIGA STL 20 Show

February 23, 2015, 12:06 pm

In September, we were honored to be asked to create the identity for the upcoming AIGA STL Design Show. This happened around the same time as STL Design Week 2014—and I had palpable desire to keep the momentum going that I felt happening in the design community. Maybe...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #20

February 20, 2015, 12:10 pm

Recovering the Doves Type | "In 1916, the Doves Type was seemingly lost forever after it was thrown into the River Thames. Almost 100 years later, and after spending three years making a digital version, designer Robert Green has recovered 150 pieces from their watery...

What does your pancreas do? Our latest video for TED-Ed.

February 19, 2015, 3:17 pm

Today TED-Ed released our second video created in collaboration with educator Emma Bryce. Prepare to meet your pancreas. There is an organ inside you that takes on the role of a health coach, watches over the nutrients that enter your body, and reigns in sugar's...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #19

February 13, 2015, 8:56 pm

Why Getting Your Story Right Matters So Much When You're in Front of an Audience | "According to scientists, language shapes our thinking and our experience in the world. To help you persuade and influence, choose words that paint the right picture in your listeners'...

New TED-Ed video: How do your kidneys work?

February 10, 2015, 12:27 pm

Tremendousness continues our collaboration with TED-Ed. Here's the first in a series of health video projects with educator Emma Bryce focused on our internal organs. Say hello to your kidneys. After drinking a few glasses of water on a hot day, you might be struck...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #18

February 6, 2015, 11:44 am

Nicholas Felton Will Teach You Data Viz In A $10 Online Class | "Want to learn data visualization from the best? Now you can." Small Is Bountiful | "Over all, since 1990, small businesses (with, generally, fewer than five hundred employees or less than $7.5 million in...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #17

January 23, 2015, 12:14 pm

Mood Lines: Setting the Tone of Your Design | "Through repeated use, certain patterns and lines have gained universally recognized meanings." (via Chris Glass) Some of Today’s Most Prominent Artists on Courage, Creativity, Criticism, Success, and What It Means to...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #16

January 16, 2015, 12:07 pm

Responsive Logos | "An exploration into scalable logos for the modern web. Resize your browser (or rotate your device) to see the reductions based on screen size." No more “put a skirt on it” | "I gave a lightning talk at Double Union a couple weeks ago. It addresses...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #15

January 9, 2015, 5:12 pm

A brief history of web design for designers | "...instead of debating whether designers should learn code or developers should learn design, let's set some common ground on how design for the web evolved and how we could bridge the gap between code and design." 2014...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #14

January 2, 2015, 1:13 pm

David Lynch on Where Ideas Come From and the Fragmentary Nature of Creativity | "How to throw bait in the river of ideation." The Authenticity Paradox | "Authenticity has become the gold standard for leadership. But a simplistic understanding of what it means can...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #13

December 26, 2014, 1:23 pm

The Body as Factory: Anatomy of an Image | "Kahn’s most famous and unforgettable creation, proliferating across the Internet as I write, is Der Mensch als Industriepalast (Man as Industrial Palace), which exists in two similar versions produced in 1926 and c. 1928."...

Here’s a classic recipe for tremendous egg nog

December 24, 2014, 2:39 pm

It's a common misconception that visual thinking means you communicate in a 100% visual way—all picture, no words. This is absolutely untrue. The best and most effective visual thinking is a combination of words and pictures. Visuals help make abstract and...

With gratitude

December 20, 2014, 5:48 pm

In all honesty, and with great gratitude, I can say that Tremendousness had a tremendous year. We truly are thankful to be working together and to be able to collaborate with such great people and companies. As a small but sincere thank you, we designed a set of...

The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #12

December 19, 2014, 7:06 pm

Font Awesome Icons | "The complete set of 479 icons in Font Awesome 4.2.0." Spectacular Historic Infographics Now Available As Posters | "These Library of Congress maps and visualizations are the perfect gift for the data-viz obsessive in your life." Computers...

The tremendous 10 link roundup, #11

December 12, 2014, 11:51 pm

Entire Screen of One Game | "You can't win the game. It exists only to destroy your mind." The Science Of Menu Design | "How Restaurants Can Make You Choose A Salad Over A Cheeseburger." Sony's Embarrassing Powerpoints Are Even Worse Than Their Shitty Movies |...

The Internet of Things…for Advertising

December 5, 2014, 2:09 pm

Tremendousness is very honored to have been asked by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) to create the identity for their upcoming ADMERICA conference. ADMERICA is AAF's annual gathering for education, inspiration, innovation, collaboration and celebration...

The Tremendous 10, #10

December 4, 2014, 4:10 pm

Here's the 10th edition of The Tremendous Ten. Next week we'll go to a weekly Friday link roundup. Infographic Designers' Sketchbooks | "Get an inside look at different designers’ creative processes for making quality infographics with Infographic Designers’...

The elements of a powerful presentation

December 1, 2014, 3:10 pm

Describing your big vision or telling your company’s story might seem simple—but don’t be fooled, grabbing and holding people’s attention requires a solid balance of research, storytelling, and design. Slack on any of these and you might be wasting a valuable...

The Tremendous 10, #9

November 12, 2014, 2:31 pm

The power of illustration: "11 drawings that altered history." Amazing Photo Shows the Moment the Guns Fell Silent on Armistice Day: "By 1918, the British were using microphones to help pinpoint German guns. Signals were recorded on film. This image of what the...

Famous Fictional exhibit, 2014

November 7, 2014, 4:38 pm

St. Louis friends of Tremendousness, Tonight is the opening of the 8th annual Famous Fictional exhibit at Mad Art, organized by Dan Zettwoch (with great help this year from Ron Weaver). Three of us Tremendos have pieces in the show and we'd love to see you there! The...

The Tremendous 10, #8

November 5, 2014, 11:34 am

3 Rules for Better Design Critique | "A cheatsheet for the whole team." Help! My Portfolio Sucks | "What if a lot of your past work reflects times when you satisfied the client, but couldn’t sell them on your best ideas? How do you build a portfolio out of choices you...

The Origin of Mathematics—another explanatory video for TED-Ed

October 27, 2014, 11:21 am

Man, I am not good at math. In fact, my nine-year-old daughter recently asked me to help her with her homework and when I said sure, she replied, "Oh, I was just kidding. You're not good at math." So, yeah. But I was completely thrilled to work on this video about the...

The Tremendous 10, #7

October 24, 2014, 11:42 am

Papa's Maze | "While going through her papa's old belongings, a young girl discovered something incredible—a mind-bogglingly intricate maze that her father had drawn by hand 30 years ago." Free space sounds from NASA | "Space is the place. Again. And SoundCloud...

The Tremendous 10, #6

October 17, 2014, 12:23 pm

Beautiful Maps | Nothing else need be said (via kottke). Spawn of Gerrymander | Visually (and artistically) representing the plague of re-districting along partisan lines. Archive Today | Useful tool for saving web pages online. 29 Eye-Tracking Heatmaps Reveal Where...

The Tremendous 10, #5

October 9, 2014, 12:25 pm

The return of The Tremendous 10, a weekly link roundup that is not very weekly. A Refresher on Storytelling 101: "a seven-part formula for storytelling success in presentations and business meetings" 15 Common Inaccuracies Found In Science Illustrations: "This was...

Infographic: OK, so what the heck is kombucha?

September 24, 2014, 5:52 pm

An eyebrow raises skeptically... "What. Are. You. Drinking?" Kombucha! It's fizzy and a bit sour, but I find it very tasty. I don't know why it gets such a bad and mysterious rap. I mean, it does have stuff floating in it. But hey, that's part of the...

The Cannes Lions, 2013

June 13, 2014, 2:54 am

The 61st Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity is happening right now, and that reminded me that I never wrote up my experience there last year. Here's the short version: I was asked to create an exhibit with the theme of "A Collection of Collections." I flew over there...

Who uses student data?

June 11, 2014, 1:22 pm

We've been working with an organization called Data Quality Campaign to help them teach the world how data can improve education. In their words: Education data are simply information that can help parents, teachers, policymakers, and other stakeholders make...

Eating Well—Feed Your Gut

June 9, 2014, 1:15 pm

For the July/August 2014 issue of Eating Well Magazine, Tremendousness was asked to illustrate a feature story called "The Wild World Within," which focuses on the research of Jeff Leach and his efforts to understand the connection between...

Working Mothers meet Rube Goldberg

June 5, 2014, 2:09 pm

For the June/July issue of Working Mother magazine, Tremendousness was asked to design and illustrate a feature spread to show the multistep process by which companies recruit, hire, retain, prepare, and promote multicultural women. The magazines's...

New explanatory video about sugar for TED-Ed

March 31, 2014, 1:28 pm

Hey, hey! We just finished a collaboration with Ted Ed and Dr. Robert Lustig. The piece is another video about the health dangers of added sugars. While sugar is easy to spot in candy, soft drinks and ice cream, it also hides out in foods you might not...

Finding Lochfoot

January 5, 2014, 4:29 pm

In August of 2010 I was hanging out with my youngest son Zach when he showed me a Google image of Bigfoot riding the Loch Ness Monster. He’s always loved cryptids—popular creatures whose existence has never been proven—and he thought this image was hilarious. I joked...

We wish you a Merry Keefmas

December 16, 2013, 2:30 pm

Merry Keefmas! In the spirit of debauched inclusivity, this holiday season Tremendousness have decided to celebrate something everyone can believe in—something all of us can look at with a wide-eyed sense of wonder and awe—Keith Richards’ 70th birthday,...

The Tremendous 10, #4

November 21, 2013, 5:18 pm

A Mother Lets Her 4-Year-Old Finish Her Drawings | "At first, artist Mica Angela Hendricks didn’t want her four-year-old daughter near her new sketchbook. She is serious about her art, and she knew little Myla would want to scribble all over the pages. Then, her...

The Tremendous 10, #3

October 11, 2013, 2:24 pm

Here are 10 more interesting links from the last week. Webstock '13: Mike Monteiro - How Designers Destroyed the World | "You are directly responsible for what you put into the world. Yet every day designers all over the world work on projects without giving any...

The Tremendous 10, #2

October 4, 2013, 3:36 pm

After an accidental hiatus... Massimo Vignelli on the Secret of Great Book Design | A short documentary by Pentagram. All The Great Mad Men Era Volkswagen Ads | A collection of 50 classic, and amazingly consistent, print advertisements. Logo, Bullshit & Co., Inc....

Discovered

September 30, 2013, 5:53 pm

Last Friday night STL DesignWeek wrapped a great run of events with AIGA St Louis' annual charity art auction Discovered. The event was held downtown at the newly renovated St. Louis Central Library, with proceeds going to the St Louis Public Library Foundation....

Creativity is a muscle

September 19, 2013, 12:08 pm

I’m more often than not labeled as a “creative” (yes, the noun version). Being an illustrator and designer and storyboard writer (to name a few roles I) I’m expected to bring a consistent level of creativity to my work. Early in my career that expectation stirred...

St Louis’ favorite backyard games

August 9, 2013, 5:45 pm

When people come to visit Saint Louis in the summer, a few things stand out... The humidity and the heat. Wham! And it seems like all the buildings are made of brick — which doesn't really help with the hot weather. Then there's the cacophony of cicadas, or whatever...

Here’s “The Sugary Infographic”

July 25, 2013, 12:54 pm

Creating "The Sugary Truth" explanation video was a fun learning experience for us. Not only about the topic -- added sugars in our foods -- but also about our process, the result, and the response. We really enjoy doing explanation videos. We've done a few as...

Hitting restart

July 6, 2013, 1:23 am

You’ve seen the signs. Memory is running low, actions seem sluggish, and simple requests are taking far longer than they should. Usually it’s a simple fix. Power down and restart. 99% of the time that does the trick. Well that’s great if you’re having problems with...

Here’s “The Sugary Truth”

July 5, 2013, 2:47 pm

First off, let's get this straight. I love sugar. Always have. It’s been a big part of my life since well, the beginning. My mom’s a great cook and is quite the pastry chef. Growing up, I remember my dad, brother, and I wouldn’t even be halfway through our chicken...

Ask-O-Matic: The Decision Maker App!

February 21, 2013, 10:35 am

Here's our first app. Should you or shouldn’t you? Ask-O-Matic is here to help. Ask-O-Matic is an advice app that’s kind of like the offspring of an obnoxious Magic 8-Ball™ & an insane Dear Abby™. When you need to make a decision, ask Ask-O-Matic a yes/no question...

The Tremendous 10, #1

January 29, 2013, 3:19 pm

Remember xBlog? Starting back in 1999 I used to post daily design/etc. links. Did it for about 13 years or so. This is the next iteration of that, but weekly (or so). Enjoy. Foldify is a brilliant app from Poland's Pixle that allows you to create 3D paper art on your...

The shift to video explanations helps explain shifts in the world

January 25, 2013, 2:20 pm

Explanation videos. Hidden here and there on YouTube between FAIL vids and runaway viral silliness there is a growing category of smart, useful videos that help people and businesses understand how the world is changing. Lee Lefever at Common Craft recently said: It’s...

Greg Rutter’s Definitive List of The Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet In 2012 Unless You’re a Loser or Old or Something

January 5, 2013, 11:18 am

How many of these 66 links showed as visited for you?

2013 is going to be Tremendous

January 1, 2013, 7:53 am

Hi. Tremendousness is a small but mighty visual storytelling firm that blends the art of information design with the science of communication. We craft highly visual experiences that focus on storytelling, entertainment, and understanding. We have a pretty good...

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