Visual.ly Wants To Make It Easy to Hire Infographic Genius

Visual.ly Wants To Make It Easy to Hire Infographic Genius

Did ya hear? Infographics are the rage these days. But the downside is that the quality of infographics out there is generally horrible. Visual.ly, a startup, is hoping to solve that problem for anyone that wants to hire a good infographic designer. By providing a data warehouse, a reporting and editing team, and skilled designers, the hope is to provide one-stop shopping for anyone in need of infographics. As Stew Langille, Visual.ly's founding CEO, tells Co.Design, "We want to give what The New York Times has to anyone who wants it."

Infographic of the Day

Infographic Of The Day: Are U.S. Cities Like Detroit Really Dying?

Infographic Of The Day: Are U.S. Cities Like Detroit Really Dying?

Flight to the suburbs, urban decay, ruin porn--we've all become yawningly familiar with these tropes of modern migration. But a set of fascinating new maps based on data from the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census shows that, if you look really closely, those ho-hum trends aren't as simple as they seem. Would you believe that buried in the downtown heart of supposedly dead Detroit, there's actually been an influx of residents? Well, here's the proof in black and white--or rather, blue and red (the blue areas have seen population growth over the past decade; red areas have declined):

Wanted: A Planter for Growing Vertical Gardens Indoors

Wanted: A Planter for Growing Vertical Gardens Indoors

One of the crappy things about living in a small apartment is that you never have the room or the means to grow a garden -- unless, of course, you're willing to share a bed with your cacti.

A smarter (and safer) alternative comes courtesy of Enlisted Design and Volare Studio in the Bay Area. Their idea: If you can't put plants in the ground, you might as well throw 'em up on something apartments have in spades, the walls.

Five Ways That Apps Can Keep America From Getting Fatter

Five Ways That Apps Can Keep America From Getting Fatter

While the politicians, insurance companies, and health care providers debate the social and economic problems of health care, ripe opportunities for improvement are going unnoticed. What's lacking in this process is a strong shot of creativity and a dose of good design.

With this in mind I caught up with Dave Cronin, Smart Design's new Director of Interaction Design to discuss the possibilities. Dave's extensive background in designing medical products and services has helped Smart fortify our health care design practice.