News

Content Becomes Data: Towards Semantic Design

Fresh off last week’s internal retreat, we have energized our commitment to creating new possibilities within digital information architecture, and we are evolving a new perspective on how we design online experiences: Semantic Design. Semantic Design surfaces the building blocks of content to create a more thoughtful, connected, and adaptive digital landscape. Read Christian Marc Schmidt’s Medium article to learn more!

Illustration by Ben Schaefer.

New Work: 2020 PEFA Report on Global Financial Management

The 2020 PEFA Report on Global Financial Management is now live! PEFA, a branch of the World Bank, provides a framework for developing nations to assess their economic health and identify areas for improvement. This interactive report assembles PEFA's ever-growing assessment dataset into interactive reports that are more agile, efficient, and accessible. Schema created unique chart types and a number of other interactive chart templates for use throughout this and subsequent reports. Explore the report here.

German Design Awards 2021- Special Mention for Excellent Communications Design

Schema is honored to have received a Special Mention for Excellent Communications Design from the 2021 German Design Awards, for our project “The Lifespan of News Stories.” In the words of the jury, this project is “an extremely inspiring initiative by Schema, Google News, Alberto Cairo and Axios.”

Physical Objects and Pandemic Anxiety

In August 2020, Schema principal and founder Christian Marc Schmidt joined Chun-wo Pat (founder and owner, Whitespace Integrated Design) to facilitate the M+ Online Hackathon- City of Objects, produced by M+ Museum in Hong Kong. Here is article 1 of 2 documenting the post-Hackathon roundtable discussion. The conversation interweaves the significance of objects, the impact of physical versus virtual, and the pandemic flavor of anxiety that we are all bringing to the artistic table. Read the full article here.

Gist Is Now Open Source

Gist is now open-source! Operating under a GPL v3 license and available to run on your own servers, Gist is a free, intuitive way for you to explore and communicate your data online.

New Work: Rebuilding U.S.- China Climate Collaboration

Starting in 2014, the U.S. and China have made a number of joint announcements proclaiming their intentions to work together to address climate change, and it has become increasingly apparent that this cooperation is imperative to the international community. The Asia Society partnered with Schema to create a website and corresponding data visualizations that underscore and communicate not only the importance and impact of this collaborative climate approach, but also the data driving it. View the full site.


Schema Design Receives Special Mention by the 2021 German Design Awards

"The Lifespan of News Stories" (a collaboration between Schema, Google News Initiative, Alberto Cairo, and Axios) received Special Mention for Excellent Communications Design Web at the 2021 German Design Awards.

"Beyond the Bubble: Data Driven Design for Connecting Global Audiences"

Schema principal and founder Christian Marc Schmidt's presentation "Beyond the Bubble: Data Driven Design for Connecting Global Audiences", presented October 22, 2020 at The Future of Function global virtual conference, hosted by GlobalSaké and Global:SF. Watch the presentation.

New Work: Driveline Baseball Reports

Driveline uses data-driven assessments to help baseball players improve their performance, and Schema updated the design of their reports.


New Work: Ekata Microsite

The Ekata website provides a clear visual narrative that explains the company’s data-powered software. Explore the Visualization.