Natalia Kiseleva
Diary of Emotions
The process of creating a project
In challenging times, a psychologist recommended that I record the emotions I experience throughout the day. I thought it would be interesting to look back later and see the dynamics in this data, wondering if they could be visualized somehow.

I decided to encode each emotion with a different color. The more intense the emotion, the more saturated the color.

Of course, I didn't immediately think of these records as data, and initially, they lacked systematization and regularity. For example, I didn't choose emotions from a specific list; instead, I tried to describe as clearly as possible what I was feeling. Sometimes it even resulted in describing a state rather than an emotion.
The emotions only
I decided that this complexity of data is part of the project because it's not always easy to understand what you're feeling, and it's not worth imposing additional restrictions here.
I noticed that this time was filled with events and emotions, but there were also many good moments, although the crisis periods were noticeable.

I divided the emotions into four groups, initially highlighting the Positive and Negative ones (green and red), then added calm emotions - shades of orange. I called this group Warm emotions. The color blue - Cold - is ambiguous; it represents productivity, but at the same time, it also includes anxious emotions.

When I was compiling this complex list and distributing emotions across the palette and by type, I thought, why not add a small diagram to the legend, showing the length of the bar - the frequency of this emotion per month? It turned out to be such a colorful striped diagram, which besides showing the data, also serves as a legend for the calendar itself.

At the same time as this project, I started keeping a doodle calendar - it's a challenge to draw a small picture every day on a special calendar template (Maria Buranova's project).
Only doodles
And at some point, I realized that my emotional data overlapped with these pictures - in one of the months. I wondered what would happen if I combined these two projects.
Alltogether?
Now, looking at the drawings, it's evident that even on tough days, there was an opportunity to think about something funny, draw something cute, or recall at least something positive during the day. And even the tiniest moment of creativity - already fills the day with something significant.

So, that's how the project turned out!
I believe it's essential to pay attention to our emotions, especially during challenging times. Being aware of them and exploring them can help us navigate through difficult moments in life.
During prolonged periods of negative or intense emotions, I recommend seeking support from a psychologist or psychotherapist to assess your well-being.
Take care of yourselves, and may you find strength in challenging times!
If you're interested in trying a similar project based on your emotions but lack some knowledge or skills in working with data and visualization, feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to help.

My Other Projects
Climate bracelet!
I used the Warming Stripes diagram principle to encode data on global warming in my homeland - in the Arkhangelsk region.
This data art is tangible - I wove it from beads!
2024
Check!
D&D Community Data Portrait
Here are the data portraits of our local Dungeons & Dragons community. Preferences of the players and their experiences are encoded here.
2024
Check!
'Flowers and Figures' Community!
At 2024 I created data art community 'Flowers and Figures' and our first project was based on the dataset of group members. We altogether visualized the community's portrait using various methods.
Read more about our Data-art Community!
2024
Read!
Data badges 'Moms, Folder, and Kids Stuff
Created data portraits of moms from the local parenting community based on Kimley Scott's project.
2024
Check!
The Data Ink project
My new small challenge project.
As part of my practice, I decided to draw small graphic data-arts by hand on personal data.
I draw with a black fountain pen in a cute notebook.
Check!
My travels
In this project, I gathered my travels over many years. This project, resembling the music of the winds, is done on paper, but in the process, it's a tangible version.
2023
Read!
Data-art: Mortality caused by road traffic injury
The theme of this data art is Mortality caused by road traffic injury. In the form of an ornate plant motif, data on deaths from road accidents in different European countries are encrypted, and other features of these countries are also hidden there. Details about the project can be found at the link!
2022
Read!
Data-art "Family tree. The Mezen folk painting"
The theme of this data art is my small family tree. Patterns and symbols were taken from the Northern folk painting - Mezen. Each element in this work represents one of the closest family members. For more information about the decryption and description of the work, follow the link!
2020
Read!
Friends
In this project, I gathered all my friends throughout my life up to 2020 and depicted them in these curls, trying to enrich the images with data about shared interests, frequency of communication, etc.
One of my first data arts.
2020
Check!
I love data art, I study this direction, collect a collection of world projects, and classify them. I host live streams on the topic of data art, where we analyze various interesting directions of data art with guests.
I teach courses on data art, have a Telegram channel on Data Art, and a data art practice group called 'Flowers and Figures'.
Drop by sometime!
If you want to learn more about this direction, check out my articles and videos on data art:
Lectures and Workshops


I teach data visualization, dashboard design, data art, and working with data visualization tools (BI products) Power BI, and Tableau. I give lectures and conduct workshops.


I collaborate as a lecturer and trainer with:

  • A. Kolokolov Institute of Business Analytics (2019-...).
  • Data Visualization Society (2022-2023).
  • MSU Moscow State University (2022).
  • HSE Higher School of Economics (2022).
  • MGPU Moscow City Teacher Training University (2022).
  • EU SPb European University at Saint Petersburg (2022).
If you are interested in collaboration or need a personal consultation, feel free to reach out via LinkedIn, Telegram, or by email eolay@inbox.ru.
If you interested in these and my other projects - please subscribe to my page in social networks for regular updates! I'll be glad!
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