A beautiful visualization is the perfect blend of data, story, and design. But make no mistake – it isn’t easy to effectively combine emotion with cutting-edge technology. Sometimes you need a little inspiration. The works of art on this list are fun to look at and demonstrate how to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Take some time out this holiday season to enjoy the best data visualizations of 2018:

8,000 of Picasso’s Works

By National Geographic

Figures in the Sky

By Nadieh Bremer

500,000 Coins at the Münzkabinett Berlin

By University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

Reimagine the Game

By Signal Noise + Siemens

Lessons From Those We’ve Lost

By James Round

A Night Under the Stars at US National Parks

By Jordan Vincent

How America Uses Its Land

By Dave Merrill and Lauren Leatherby – Bloomberg

Casting Shakespeare

By Eric William Lin

Women’s Pockets

By Jan Diehm + Amber Thomas – The Pudding

What Happens to the Plastic We Throw Out?

By National Geographic

Bussed Out: How America Moves Its Homeless

By Nadieh Bremer – The Guardian

The Thai Cave Rescue Mission

By South China Morning Post

Climate Change: Warming Stripes

By Ed Hawkins – Climate Lab Book

TasteAtlas

By TasteAtlas

Space Debris

By Axios

Galaxy of Covers

By Interactive Things

How Love Works

By Totaljobs

Who’s Who Guide to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

By Billy Ker, Chee Wei Xian, and Denise Chong – The Straits Times

Searching for the ‘Correct’ Mascara

By Sonja Kuijpers – Studio Terp

History of Bruce Springsteen

By Adam McCann

BONUS: The Ultimate World Cup Infographic

By Infogram

This year, we introduced scrolling animations, engagement analytics, real-time collaboration, powerful integrations, premium templates, and so much more. Keep up with us in 2019 and get a head start on your next visualization project.

Do you want to win your audience’s attention? Learn how visual storytelling can help you to create engaging images and powerful presentations.

Start visualizing!