The goal of communication-oriented design of messages should always be clarity of communication. In information design the task of the sender is actually not completed until the receivers have received and understood the intended messages. Information Design – An introduction includes chapters explaining verbo-visual communication, information and message design principles, design processes, and design tools. These chapters can be seen as a general framework for production of information and learning materials. Based on theories for verbo-visual communication this book presents several practial guidelines for the use of text, symbols, visuals, typography, and layout in information and learning materials. Rune Pettersson is Professor of Information Design at the Department of Innovation, Design and Product Development (IDP) at Mälardalen University in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

This book explores the increasing altruistic impulse of the design community to address some of the world's most difficult problems including social, political, environmental, and global health causes at the local, national, and global scale. Each chapter strategically combines theory and practice to examine how to identify causes and locate accurate data, truth and integrity in information design, the information design/data visualization process, understanding audiences, crafting meaningful narratives, and measuring the impact of a design. A variety of international case studies and interviews with practitioners illustrate the challenges and impact of designing for social agendas. These range from traditional media outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian, popular science organizations like National Geographic and Scientific America, to health institutes like The World Health Organization and The Center for Disease Control. This book allows the novice information designer to create compelling human-centered information narratives which make a difference in our world.

Information Design provides citizens, business and government with a means of presenting and interacting with complex information. It embraces applications from wayfinding and map reading to forms design; from website and screen layout to instruction. Done well it can communicate across languages and cultures, convey complicated instructions, even change behaviours. Information Design offers an authoritative guide to this important multidisciplinary subject. The book weaves design theory and methods with case studies of professional practice from leading information designers across the world. The heavily illustrated text is rigorous yet readable and offers a single, must-have, reference to anyone interested in information design or any of its related disciplines such as interaction design and information architecture, information graphics, document design, universal design, service design, map-making and wayfinding.

The goal of communication-oriented design of messages should always be clarity of communication. In information design the task of the sender is actually not completed until the receivers have received and understood the intended messages. Information Design – An introduction includes chapters explaining verbo-visual communication, information and message design principles, design processes, and design tools. These chapters can be seen as a general framework for production of information and learning materials. Based on theories for verbo-visual communication this book presents several practial guidelines for the use of text, symbols, visuals, typography, and layout in information and learning materials. Rune Pettersson is Professor of Information Design at the Department of Innovation, Design and Product Development (IDP) at Mälardalen University in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

The contributors to this book are both cautionary and hopeful as they offer visions of how information design can be practiced diligently and ethically, for the benefit of information consumers as well as producers. Information design is the newest of the design disciplines. As a sign of our times, when the crafting of messages and meaning is so central to our lives, information design is not only important—it is essential. Contemporary information designers seek to edify more than to persuade, to exchange more than to foist upon. With ever more powerful technologies of communication, we have learned that the issuer of designed information is as likely as the intended recipient to be changed by it, for better or worse. The contributors to this book are both cautionary and hopeful as they offer visions of how information design can be practiced diligently and ethically, for the benefit of information consumers as well as producers. They present various methods that seem to work, such as sense-making and way-finding. They make recommendations and serve as guides to a still young but extraordinarily pervasive—and persuasive—field. Contributors Elizabeth Andersen, Judy Anderson, Simon Birrell, Mike Cooley, Brenda Dervin, Jim Gasperini, Yvonne M. Hansen, Steve Holtzman, Robert E. Horn, Robert Jacobson, John Krygier, Sheryl Macy, Romedi Passini, Jef Raskin, Chandler Screven, Nathan Shedroff, Hal Thwaites, Roger Whitehouse

The definitive guide to the graphic presentation of information. In today’s data-driven world, professionals need to know how to express themselves in the language of graphics effectively and eloquently. Yet information graphics is rarely taught in schools or is the focus of on-the-job training. Now, for the first time, Dona M. Wong, a student of the information graphics pioneer Edward Tufte, makes this material available for all of us. In this book, you will learn: to choose the best chart that fits your data; the most effective way to communicate with decision makers when you have five minutes of their time; how to chart currency fluctuations that affect global business; how to use color effectively; how to make a graphic “colorful” even if only black and white are available. The book is organized in a series of mini-workshops backed up with illustrated examples, so not only will you learn what works and what doesn’t but also you can see the dos and don’ts for yourself. This is an invaluable reference work for students and professional in all fields.

The visualization process doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it is grounded in principles and methodologies of design, cognition, perception, and human-computer-interaction that are combined to one’s personal knowledge and creative experiences. Design for Information critically examines other design solutions —current and historic— helping you gain a larger understanding of how to solve specific problems. This book is designed to help you foster the development of a repertoire of existing methods and concepts to help you overcome design problems. Learn the ins and outs of data visualization with this informative book that provides you with a series of current visualization case studies. The visualizations discussed are analyzed for their design principles and methods, giving you valuable critical and analytical tools to further develop your design process. The case study format of this book is perfect for discussing the histories, theories and best practices in the field through real-world, effective visualizations. The selection represents a fraction of effective visualizations that we encounter in this burgeoning field, allowing you the opportunity to extend your study to other solutions in your specific field(s) of practice. This book is also helpful to students in other disciplines who are involved with visualizing information, such as those in the digital humanities and most of the sciences.