The Site
Coffeespoons is my personal design blog where I showcase and discuss work in data visualisation and information design. The name comes from a line in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot:
For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
That line has always struck me—not for its melancholy, but for its precision: the idea that we can quantify our lives through our actions and events. From there it follows that the things we can measure, we can visualise. As an information designer, I have long been drawn to clear data visualisation. Coffeespoons thus serves as my observations on how we measure our lives.
Sometimes this means in-depth critiques of complex infographics; at other times, commentary on charts and datagraphics. Much of the work is online and interactive, but when possible Coffeespoons also highlights print work. And sometimes I simply share work that piques my interest—from time to time, we all need a little inspiration or a reference point.
As we rely ever more on data, and consume ever more content, the challenge facing designers is how clearly we communicate data and information to the public.
Me
My name is Brendan Barry. I believe transparency is an important element of good information design and data visualisation, so for the sake of transparency, allow me to say a little about myself.
I am a designer with a background in information design and data visualisation, brand strategy and design systems, product design, and editorial design.
Professionally, I have spent over fifteen years working with researchers, analysts, and subject-matter experts to translate complex ideas into clear, useful visual communications. Most recently, I led information design and data visualisation work—and its integration into brand and editorial design systems—within an economic research environment.
These experiences shape how I approach design: with an emphasis on rigor, context, and respect for both the data and the audience. These days, I am focused on independent and self-directed projects. While the work I share on Coffeespoons remains grounded in the broader field of information design, from time to time I also use this space to explore my own ideas, tools, and approaches for making complex data clearer, more human, and more useful.
If you’re interested in my professional work and portfolio, you can find that at
https://brendanbarry.com.
Feel free to contact me at brendan.barry@gmx.com or leave comments here.