The Best Data Visualization Projects of 2010

FlowingData has picked its top 10 data visualization projects of the year. The honorees include gorgeous graphics on asteroid discovery, changing driving habits, the evolution of privacy on Facebook, and, of course, the Gulf oil spill.

And what were the major themes?

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One of the major themes for 2010 was using data not just for analysis or business intelligence, but for telling stories. People are starting to make use of the data (especially government-related) that was released in 2009, and there was a lot more data made available this year (with plenty more to come).

That trend isn't going to slow down at all. I'm predicting another bull year for infographics and data visualization in 2011.