iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 03/04/2026

And the comment about user personas made me remember of this classic.

An image of two UX user personas, both with the exact same text in bullet points: male, born in 1948, raised in the UK, married twice, lives in a castle, wealthy and famous. The top picture is of Prince Charles and the bottom picture is of Ozzy Osbourne.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 20/02/2026

Early 40th birthday gift. I'm a very happy kid ☺️

Cover of a book named Feathers of Aotearoa: an illustrated journal by author Niels Meyer-Westfield. The cover shows several hand drawn illustrations of feather from New Zealand birds.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 17/02/2026

Fun little game! Also, one of the colours was an unfair advantage as it was very similar to my logo's background colour, which I stared at for hours tweaking before. dialed.gg

Image from the game https://dialed.gg/
Score at the top is 48.90 out of 50.

Underneath there are 5 colour swatches, the ones guessed in-game.

Under the swatches there's the sentence: "Perfect Score. Congratulations. You've peaked. It's all downhill from here."

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 16/02/2026

Drop an album that was important to you when you were 19.

A close-up of a woman in a car's passanger seat, while a man drives. The woman has a defiant frowny expression.

Cover of the album Uh-huh-her by artist PJ Harvey.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 07/02/2026

If Data Rocks NZ was a band, this would be the album cover.

Two cats by an open window. First cat is black and fluffy, in the foreground, on the inside of the window, with his tongue out, second cat is a calico, also with her tongue out, but climbing the window glass, from the outside, in the background.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 04/01/2026

"What do you mean you're 'back to work' today??" Inquires the Chief Purring Officer.

A pouty, fluffy black cat defiantly sitting on top of keyboard, mouse, pen and notebook of his human, who is just trying to get on with the 2026 work. His face seems to say "what is this work shenanigans about? No work, just pets!"

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 04/11/2025

Silly thing, but I'm very happy with my new socks.

Picture of feet wearing a pair of socks with artwork inspired by Wassily Kandinsky.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 04/10/2025

6 years ago, I decided that I could probably make a living out of this #dataviz design thing. And it worked! Thanks to everyone who's been part of this journey so far! 💜

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 21/09/2025

I did a thing! Today is Data Rocks Chief Purring Officer's first adoption anniversary, so I made a silly little poster to celebrate, because why not! www.behance.net/gallery/2350...

Poster celebrating the 1 year adoption anniversary of a black cat named Ozymandias (Ozzy). The poster has a textured background with multiple polaroid-style photos. Header: "OZYMANDIAS" is written in large handwritten letters on the left, with "Adoption Anniversary 1 year" in smaller text on the right.
Top left photo: "First Pic!": Shows a small black kitten in a carrier. Text: "Ozzy was adopted on 21st September 2024, with 9 months. He weighted 3.2kg"
Second photo labeled "First Vet Visit": Shows hands holding the small black kitten at the vet table. Text: "He went to the vet four times. Two of those were poop related"
Top right photo: Shows him investigating a fluffy yellow duck toy. Caption: "If this poor duck could talk..." Text: "His favourite toy is a yellow fluffy duck that moves and quacks."
Right photo labeled "Catio!": Shows the cat in an outdoor enclosed area. Text: "Ozzy's favourite place is his catio, no matter the weather."
Middle left photo: Caption: "A very scary vet trip". Shows Ozzy lying on his bed. Text: "Ozzy is afraid of heavy rains and strong winds, but when he hugs his ESPie (Emotional Support Plushie), everything seems less scary."
Middle right photo labeled "First backyard walk": Shows him outdoors climbing a tree. Text reads: "He's a very smart boy. He knows how to walk on a leash, high-five, sit, spin and lay down on command. He also knows 'out' means getting out of the counter, but he often chooses to ignore it."
Bottom left photo labeled "Baaah!": Shows two sheep in a field. Text: "He was once visited by two sheep"
Center large photo: The main image shows Ozzy as a fully grown black cat with bright green eyes sitting in a red and white striped box looking up and to the left.
Bottom right photos: Two close-up shots of Ozzy's funny faces with captions "What?!" and "weeee!!!" Text nearby reads: "Ozzy is very chatty and expressive"

Bottom text: "He has grown up to be a big fluffy boy, at 5.2kg!"
Footer: Created with love by @datarocksnz

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 27/08/2025

Without downloading any new images, where are you mentally?

Tom Scott, YouTuber, at an unidentified location, raising his hand, looking at the camera saying "I am at... my fucking limit".

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 21/07/2025

Mr. CPO hasn't met his new team member just yet, but he is wondering why it seems like there are more treats in the cupboard, but he's only getting his usual share.

A black cat named Ozymandias, or Ozzy for the friends. He is also known as Mr. Coffee Beans, and occasionally referred to as the Pharaoh of Darkness, because it is a damn cool badass nickname. He is sitting in a 12/10 cat loaf form, perched on his favourite cat scratcher spot. He is very fluffy.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 21/07/2025

Mr. Ozzy, The Chief Purring Officer at Data Rocks and I, would like to welcome the newest team member, Ms. Spot, to the role of Executive Director of Toy Chasing Operations.

A female calico cat, named Spot, sitting in her new home after a delicious welcome meal, cheek scratches, and lots of treats.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 11/07/2025

If you see this, quote post with a robot that isn’t from Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr Who and Transformers

The robot Bender, from Futurama, connecting a purple cable into his head.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 31/01/2025

If you see this post, quote with a bridge from your gallery.

Manganui Gorge suspension bridge, Taranaki Maunga, NZ.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 25/01/2025

Speak for yourself!! Me and Mr. Chief Purring Officer are all about the viz and design books!

Ozzy, Data Rocks' Chief Purring Officer (a black cat) ready to jump head first into some dataviz books.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 23/01/2025

I looked into all I could find and traced back the hatred for round shapes to a Stephen Few quote. It's in his "Show me the Numbers" book. Chapter 12 is called "Silly Graphs that are best Foresaken" and he goes on a tirade against round shapes, with very cherry-picked examples. This is page 271.

Page 271 of Stephen Few's Show me the Numbers book. It starts the chapter named 12. Silly Charts that are best foresaken".

Quote about Donut Charts: "a donut chart is a pie chart with a hole in the middle. Both pie and donut charts attempt to display parts of a whole. If pie charts are graphical pastries filled with empty calories, donut charts are the same and more."

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 16/01/2025

One of my favourite Tableau #dataviz of all time. By Judit Bekker. public.tableau.com/views/64hour...

Data Visualization in Tableau Public about the work of multi-artist David Lynch. It depicts Lynch's face in a Mondrian-inspired montage, with colourful squares overlapping his image. Squares are blue and red with white and black accents, colours often prominent in his movies and art.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 08/10/2024

And here's a rare image of the person behind the logo. How cool is this T-Shirt?!! #dataviz created as a shape hexbin map of NZ in Tableau, and tweaked in Illustrator to add text and to look cool when printed. :)

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 07/10/2024

Thank you @genetis.bsky.social for the awesome swag pack! And thanks everyone who voted in the Auckland TUG T-Shirt Design Contest! It is awesome to see it printed and in person!! Chief Purring Officer approves it too. #datafam #AucklandTUG #tableauusergroups #tableau

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 30/09/2024

Great idea! Some of them quickly put together on a whim:

18 alternatives to traffic light red-green colour palettes containing three colours each. One to signify "positive", 1 to signify "neutral", and another one to signify "negative". The title reads: Some Traffic Light Options - You Don't Have to Go Green-red!

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 21/09/2024

Hello. My name is Ozzy. I'm Data Rocks' new Chief Purring Officer.

Ozymandias, Data Rocks' new Chief Purring Officer.
Picture of a long-haired black cat, with big expressive green eyes, sitting on his owner's lap, making biscuits.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 11/09/2024

Hey friends! I'm reposting my previous newsletter articles on Medium and my blog for wider reach. This week, it's about typography. Basic concepts and how you can leverage a good font in your data displays. Medium: medium.com/@datarocksnz... Blog: www.datarocks.co.nz/post/design-... 📊

An abstract illustration of a lower-case letter 'a' moving in a diagonal path and leaving a trail behind. There are 4 text elements which read: (Dataviz) Design Matters; #8; 01 September 2023; www.datarocks.co.nz

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 03/09/2024

Hey (old and new) #dataviz friends! I'm reposting my previous newsletter articles on Medium and my blog, for wider reach. This week, my second most-read article of all time. And it's part 2 of last week's repost. Medium: medium.com/@datarocksnz... Blog: www.datarocks.co.nz/post/design-... 📊

"A graphic titled 'dataviz design matters #7' dated 26 August 2024. The design consists of elongated isometric rectangles with shadows, forming a diagonal pattern across a dark background. The rectangles overlap and create a sense of depth and movement in the composition."

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 18/07/2024

Here's the quote and the example he uses. I actually kinda love how silly this is:

Picture of a page from chapter 12 of Show Me The Numbers by Stephen Few. It reads: "The Donut chart is definitely one that people are tempted to use because it's cute. Software vendors sometimes make donut charts enticing to eat (see below), but they'll still leave you empty". It shows a depiction of a poorly designed 3D tilted Donut Chart, with 4 almost identical slices in different colours.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 01/02/2024

📊 Design Matters #10 has just gone out to subscribers, talking about the evolution of Graphic User Interfaces, skeuomorphism and how visual analogies can enhance data displays. You can subscribe here: buttondown.email/datarocksnz #dataviz #datavisualization #datavisualisation

Illustration of a floppy disk wearing glasses and walking with a cane, because he’s so old. Source: https://uxdesign.cc/the-floppy-disk-save-icon-visual-language-of-an-era-long-gone-93f74efc9f9

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 26/01/2024

Provide**. Here's a pic with a rather difficult image to interpret.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 21/12/2023

The last newsletter of 2023 is just out! Thank you to everyone who's followed me this year! It's been awesome to share dataviz joy with all of you. Read the latest newsletter issue here: buttondown.email/datarocksnz/...

Infographic about how much and what I wrote in 2023.

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Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 08/12/2023

📚 The Data Viz Bookshelf is back! In this last book review of 2023, I learned about a narrative technique called AND-BUT-THEREFORE, which helps us structure data stories. 👉 Go read the full review on the blog to see my silly attempt at using it! www.datarocks.co.nz/post/data-vi...

Book cover of The Data Storyteller's Handbook by Kat Greenbrook

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