Speaking with Lee Byron

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Lee Byron on the work he's done in Data Visualization. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon, Mr. Lee has worked at the New York Times, IBM and Facebook and has produced some of the space's most celebrated installations.

I'll post more about our conversations later, but I was struck most by these points:

• I think he produces great work and it was my pleasure to let him know that.
• Coming from a design background, he holds such principles as playfulness, wonder and interactivity in his work.
  
• This sense of play has helped him build his extensive portfolio. He simply loves what he does and works on things he enjoys.
• His celebrated Olympic Medal Count Map over Time took three weeks to build.
  
• His background is rooted in Design and his programming background began with learning Actionscript in Flash.
  

Additionally

• I learned more about the Human Design and Interactivity program at Carnegie Mellon
• The cultures at IBM and New York Times and Facebook are similar and different. IBM is more academic in a corporate setting, the New York Times is rather fast paced and Facebook is growing from its classic Silicon Valley roots.
  

A complete recollection of our interview, including links to his work and other musings should be posted before I leave for Ithaca this weekend.

Musical Selection.