Superdot are driven by the conviction to surprise people with innovative, profound solutions and to enable them to make their own decisions. Nicole Lachenmeier is the co-founder of Superdot and head of design. She is creative lead and specializes in design strategy, data experience design, design systems and typography. She holds an MA in visual communication and iconic research. Darjan Hil is the co-founder and CEO of Superdot. Expert in analytics, data visualization, storytelling, consulting and data curation. He holds an MSc in business informatics and an MA in visual communication and iconic research.
Ich freue mich sehr, auch im 9. Jahr im #BA_Digital_Ideation der Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts zu unterrichten – gemeinsam mit Nicole Lachenmeier.
In den kommenden drei Wochen entwickeln die Studierenden mit #Modular_Information_Design neuartige Diagramme auf Basis von Länderdaten. Den Abschluss bilden Plakate, in denen die #visuelle_Grammatik zusammengeführt wird.
Besonders schön ist es, dies am neuen Standort im lichtdurchfluteten Atelier in Rotkreuz zu tun. 🤩
In February, @nicole_lachenmeier and I had the chance to be at the @learningmorefestival in #Modena — an event by @futureducationmodena dedicated to training, learning and enhancement of human capital.
We shared our #ModularInformationDesign (#MID) approach: a systematic method for working with visual modular “ingredients” — 80 fundamental elements — to create visualizations that don’t just show data, but build understanding during the process.
What made this context special: the audience wasn’t designers. They were educators, researchers, and learners asking how visualization can serve teaching — not just communication.
We talked about why our analog-first approach resonates so strongly in educational settings — slowing down and enjoying the process of visual thinking before going digital or going AI. We also talked about the importance of systematic variation: building multiple versions of the same content is how you develop judgment. And about literacy — you can’t read a chart well if you’ve never tried to build one. And many more 😎
We also shared a first public glimpse of something we’ve been developing quietly: a Modular Thinking approach that goes beyond visualization — why? because we discovered with our teaching of Modular Information Design, that the approach goes much deeper than we thought into critical thinking and problem solving, but more on that later this year 😎
Beyond the sessions: we explored Modena with @fra_gri_ as our guide — a wonderful host and information designer. We visited the atelier of friends and designers. We stood in front of the BlurM3Not installation by our dear friend @matteomoretti ( @sheldon.studio ) — a beautiful example of data gamification.
And yes — a proper Italian 🇮🇹 espresso in the Modena sun ☀️ was non-negotiable.
Grateful for the conversations, the city, and everyone who made this possible.
#informationdesign #MID #ModularThinking #VisualLiteracy #datavisualization
"Modular thinking offers a different relationship to complexity. Not mastery, but navigation. Not the answer, but a process for understanding what the question actually is. Elements become comparable only when they share a common language. You can only see the difference between two approaches when you have a system that makes them legible side by side. This is as true for data visualization as it is for knowledge visualization: the method shapes what becomes visible.
And something else happens in this process that is harder to explain but important: new combinations are genuinely surprising. There is a particular pleasure in discovering that two elements you had never placed together produce something neither could alone. This is not a trivial observation. In a world of overwhelming complexity, the ability to find delight in systematic experimentation — to treat a difficult problem as an invitation to explore rather than a burden to resolve — may be one of the most valuable capacities a designer can bring to the room."
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Superdot Studio Darjan Hil Nicole Lachenmeier
cc/ Societal Design Master at Elisava Elisava School of Design and Engineering Dark Matter Labs
New year, new energy. Working with newspaper archives.
We’re starting the year with #Stadtgedächtnis, a new project with @tsri.ch , supported by the Innovation Fund for Multimedia Journalism. 🗞️ a shared Initiative of Ernst Göhner Stiftung, fondation Aventinus, Fondation Leenaards and Gebert Rüf Stiftung
Let’s go 🙌
INGRAPHICS magazine is back – and we’re proud to be part of it with «Out of Balance».
For this new edition of INGRAPHICS, we further developed the Superdot Scissors Diagram – expanding the project to focus on purchasing power, professions and gender differences.
The new INGRAPHICS is edited by @JanSchwochow .
👉 Get your copy here:
👉 https://schwochow.shop/
INGRAPHICS is a magazine for visual thinkers. It is published in English once a year and presents sophisticated topics from politics, economics, culture, and entertainment on 92 pages – exclusively in the form of infographics. Here, the world’s best infographic designers showcase their skills. The contributions are created specifically for this issue or are taken from previously published works. The magazine is published by Jan Schwochow and his publishing house, Schwochow Visual Stories.
We’re very honored that our first Superdot Edition book, ComeVivi – Visualizing the Complexity of Life in Venice, is now available at @stampa.galerie.basel , the internationally renowned gallery and bookstore in Basel — and even featured in their shop window.
🎄 Natale a Venezia
We’re closing the year with a gift: 24% off the awarded edition ComeViVi book until 24 December. Use the code «NataleAVenezia» to turn CHF 65 into → CHF 49.40. The book is a limited edition and signed. And yes, we ship to the USA again!
✨Here’s the fun part: Do you want a free ComeViVi Tote Bag?
Be among the first five to purchase the book and share our latest ComeViVi post on Instagram or LinkedIn (add a short personal message + tag @superdot so we can see it).
We’ll slip the tote bag into your parcel as an extra gift under your tree.
👉 This book is for city planners, architects, people who like design research or simply people who want a nice coffee table book limited and signed from superdot studio.
🎁 Shop now 🔗 Link in bio
As a jury member, I had the pleasure of presenting the Public Lens category at this year’s #SwissViz award ceremony in Zürich. I really enjoyed the event. It’s a wonderful opportunity to connect informally with the data visualization community, and a place where diverse perspectives come together. Moments like these give me confidence and optimism in turbulent times.
Every Thursday morning, @darjanhil lectures 150 #MApsychology students at the @unibasel on #scienceCommunication together with Rui Mata and @nicole_lachenmeier .
Teaching these sessions has become a crucial testing ground for #ModularInformationDesign as a universal framework in various fields.
This regular engagement with academic minds reinforces our conviction that information design isn’t just about design — it’s a fundamental approach to organizing and solving problems – a way of thinking – a mindset.
