Hey! 👋
Welcome to Kawan—our vibrant community of data heads and storytellers. We’re all about improving data literacy and sharing nuanced stories about Asia. Come hang!
back to basics: learning from my roots— issue #67
In design school, I was taught very western-centric design theories. This made me think about other design conventions, especially ones that speak to my heritage.
The cost of mining Asia’s transition minerals
In this article, we detail the thought process behind our latest story about the world’s reliance on Asia’s transition minerals. We go through the reasoning behind how we designed and presented the piece, in a way that would be accessible and educational for the layperson audience.
Open for a surprise! — issue #20
Here at notes from the equator, we "see" each other more than once a year, but...have you noticed something different about us? 😗 That's right, we've had a facelift! Our newsletter has changed quite a bit since it began in September 2019. We started
Introducing our community section on Medium—and call for submissions! 🎉
At the recent Outlier conference hosted by Data Visualisation Society, Kontinentalist hosted an informal video call (an “unconference”)…
Humans of Kontinentalist: Amanda Teo (again!)
Amanda was our design intern in 2018, and we welcomed her back two years later as a UX Architect! Fun fact, the animation you see on our…
Filling our tummies and enriching our minds at Spice Zi
When you create something, the reaction to your creation is often hard to anticipate. Upon release of our story on chilli sauces in Asia…
Are you prepared for the new year? — issue #19
As 2020 rolled out (at last!), I did something I'd never done before—I paid for a tarot card reading. I'd never been one for the supernatural, but I found it a useful way to check in about where things are and how one might look
Faces of Indonesia’s LGBT people — seen through four films
In 2019, Garin Nugroho made waves with Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku, a coming-of-age film that portrays a boy’s exploration of his gender and…
Transitioning from journalism to data storytelling: Telling human-centric stories
Let’s be real — it was tough. During my first few months at Kontinentalist, I can now admit with less shame (since I’ve accepted it’s all…
Droppin' by to say thanks — issue #18
Fellow explorers, The year 2020 is coming to an end, and boy, what an adventure it has been. We started the year barely aware of COVID-19's existence, and now we have vaccines for it. Along the way, we've done our best to provide you with informative
Our favourite projects of 2020
We made it! What better time to reflect and give thanks to the end of this dastardly year than to look back at some of our favourite…
Creating my first data vis story: a process
In which I detail my experience with my first data vis story on spicy food in Asia and hope it helps someone else in a similar place.
A cause for celebration — issue #17
As pictures of Thanksgiving meals filled my social media, I found it hard to believe that we're almost at the year's end. No one would have ever foreseen that the world would spend 2020—a new decade—in chaos, confusion, and with only a glimmer of
How can a data visualisation be racist?
Halloween fell on a rainy Saturday this year, and I was feeling restless and bored. But instead of doomscrolling through Twitter and…