Apologies to everyone for the lack of recent posts – I’ve been alternately crushed by work and vacations the past few weeks. The good news is that I have a large pile of high quality stuff to satiate you in the coming days. So, without further ado, we  now return you to a more regular and balanced diet of Chart Porn.

Much to my annoyance, Chartporn is experiencing some technical problems today. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please stand by.

Update: 3/12 — Everything should be working fine now. Let me know if anyone encounters problems.

I created Chart Porn because I love graphics. I love data. I love visualizations.  I love sharing with other people the information, perspective, and inspiration that I gain from all these works of data art.

I maintain Chart Porn because it’s fun. I have enjoyed watching it evolve over time, and I am regularly entertained by the emails I get behind the scenes from designers, news outlets, researchers, students, and other bloggers. One of my favorites from last year asked very politely if I could please mirror the blog under a different name so they could forward it to their family without embarrassment. (Ummmm… No.)

A friend asked me recently if I was making any money from the site now that it has a bit of a following. To be honest, I hadn’t thought seriously about it. I have a full time job. Hosting Chart Porn doesn’t cost all that much (though I did just upgrade to a bigger server), and I’ve always thought of it as a gift. I love the minimalist design of the site and don’t want to mar it with advertisements – so that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

After giving it some thought, I have decided to add a donation box to the sidebar of the website. I’ve read that some people view blog tip jars as cheesy panhandling. I don’t see it that way. It’s a tip – a sign of appreciation for doing good work.

If Chart Porn makes you laugh or think on a regularly basis and you want to show your thanks, then feel free to click on the donation box. If not, that’s fine too. I’ll keep posting cool charts either way.

Thanks!

Ok, that was easy. FYI, I recommend Innohosting.com for all your hosting needs; they smooth over any bumps quickly and are always patient with (stupid) questions. We now return you to your regularly scheduled chart porn.

Hey everyone, I’m upgrading the site to expand capacity, so things may be a little wonky for the next few days. Hang in there and I’ll post new stuff soon.

Chartporn made it onto InspiredMag‘s list of “20 Essential Infographics and Data Visualization Blogs“.  Lots of good company on that list. Thanks!

Smashing Magazine has included ChartPorn in their list of 25 Data Visualization and Infographics Resources. Besides checking out the list, I’d recommend looking over Smashing Magazine’s entire website. They really maintain a treasure trove of graphic design resources over there (in fact, IIRC I found Chartporn’s original WordPress theme over there).

In related news, Chartporn is now up over 1000 RSS subscribers. Not much by blog standards, I suppose, but it makes me happy to know people are enjoying this collection.

FYI: I will be on vacation for the next few weeks. There will be no new posts until my return. Stop staring at your computer, go outside, and enjoy the rest of your summer.