A New Chapter Begins: A Founder's Letter

Officially launching a new kind of data design studio, Figures & Figures.

Every day, thousands of charts are created. Reports are published. Dashboards are updated. Most will be forgotten. Some will be shared. Few will drive change.

The facts have changed, but the stories haven't.

As George Monbiot says, "A string of facts, however well-attested, will not correct or dislodge a powerful story. [...] You cannot take away someone's story without giving them a new one. It is not enough to challenge an old narrative, however outdated and discredited it may be. Change happens only when you replace one story with another."

That's where Figures & Figures begins.

At its heart, Figures & Figures isn't just another data design studio, we're a narrative design studio that harnesses data to serve larger stories of change. Because data doesn't exist in a vacuum: behind every number is a person who gathered it, a story waiting to be told, and someone who needs to hear it. Our role isn't just to make this information clear, but to weave it into narratives that help us imagine a better world.

After eight years of partnering with organizations and top creative agencies as a solopreneur striving to build a greener, more equal future, something kept me up at night – traditional information design practices rarely consider how humans actually process and remember information.

As designers, we too often trust our gut and follow industry standards without questioning if they actually work. That’s something I’ve been guilty of.

Our industry still operates on an outdated assumption: if we just present well data enough, change will follow. But clarity alone isn't enough – and there's a whole world of behavioral research waiting to inform how we communicate with data.

Our Vision

Figures & Figures is built on three foundational purposes:

• Choosing impact over profit. This studio exists to serve those working toward a better world. We partner exclusively with organizations driving positive change - whether they're fighting for climate action, social justice, or human rights. Data visualization isn't just about making information clear, it's about making change possible.

• Getting serious about how human minds actually work. Moving beyond rushed designs to thorough research. Beyond assuming impact to measuring it. By integrating evidence-based research from psychology, neuroscience, and social sciences, we create work that drives real change. As data people – shouldn't we inform our work with, you know, actual data?

• Fixing the broken parts of freelancing. This one's personal. This studio is striving to be the kind of place I wish existed when I started. where freelancers can actually take sick days without deadlines imploding, where talent gets both fair pay AND proper credit, where talents are treated as actual humans, not line items in a spreadsheet.

Where do we go from here?

Information doesn't work like it used to. It doesn't just flow from experts to audiences in a neat line anymore. It spreads more like a game of telephone mixed with a viral TikTok trend, bouncing from social media to dinner tables and back again.

We need a different way to work with data, one that gets people talking while keeping the facts straight. Because success isn't measured by dashboards viewed or PDFs downloaded, but by minds changed and actions taken.

Here's to informing the world, accurately and beautifully,

Gabrielle Merite
— Founder, Figures & Figures