The importance of data visualization lies in the clarity it can bring to complex subjects. Of course, there are many steps, including research, data collection, analysis, editing and design. How do you structure complex information so that readers don't actually feel its complexity? How do you produce compelling images from data that are as evocative as they are informative? Using a variety of visualization examples, Matthew Ericson will show how The New York Times graphics department creates memorable visualizations, improves communication and helps make the complex clear so that Times readers better understand what is happening in the world around them. Matthew Ericson is the deputy graphics director at The New York Times, where he helps oversee a department of journalists, artists, cartographers and programmers who produce interactive information graphics for NYTimes.com, as well as graphics for the printed newspaper. Ericson joined The Times in 2003 as the national graphics editor; he has produced graphics on a variety of topics, including the Iraq War, three presidential elections and dozens of breaking news stories. The department has received numerous national and international awards for its visual work in helping readers understand the news, including the 2009 National Design Award for Communication Design.