The Art of Insight

Chapter 4A Certain Inner Light

with Nadieh Bremer

Figure 4.1:“Why Do Cats and Dogs?”

https://whydocatsanddogs.com/

[There's a] difference between defining beauty and defining what beauty does in the body. The latter question belongs to the realm of aesthetics, the study of bodies in proximity to beauty.

—Chloé Cooper Jones

Nadieh Bremer's visualizations bring me joy. I can't think of better praise.

Years ago Nadieh and I collaborated on a few projects for Google. The best one is “Why Do Cats and Dogs?” (Figure 4.1). It shows the most common questions people pose to Google Search about their beloved pets.

If you are a dog person—I am—it won't be surprising that the most common dog‐related search by far is “Why is my dog licking…?” But you might not guess what comes next: “legs and feet.” “Why is my dog eating…?” is another typical search, followed by both “grass” and “poop.”

Working with Nadieh was delightful not only because I got to enjoy her beautiful sketches (Figure 4.2) before she made them public on her website, or because I was lucky to witness a brilliant mind at work—but also because we laughed a lot whenever we chatted. I've come to believe that Nadieh's intricate, colorful, and playful designs are an expression of a certain inner light she possesses.

Nadieh inhabits many worlds. She's worked for news organizations and companies, visualizing their data in straightforward ...