Product Description
foreword by Richard Saul Wurman 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 informat… More >>
Tags: design, design disciplines, Information, information design, information designers, richard saul wurman
It’s a very bad sign when a book on information design is completely lacking in good design itself. With the exception of one chapter (Whitehouse, “The Uniqueness of Individual Perception”), this book is of no significance. The articles are far too academic and there is very little here that relates to the practice of information design. Skip it.
Rating: 1 / 5
many of the other reviewers have captured the problems that this book suffers from. It is a crazy www of poor design and problematic realisation. This is not information design. spend the time you would have wasted reading, thinking quietly. I have read contextual design which thinks through integrating design with users and it is much more provoking
Rating: 2 / 5
I bought this book because it was on the reading list for Sheffield Hallam University’s MA in Technical Communications. If I ever take the course I’m going to ask them why they bothered to put this book on the list, because it has very little to do with what is commonly accepted as ‘Technical Communication’.
This book is basically a collection of essays by people who are trying to answer the question “What is information design?”. Most of the articles are concerned with such things as signage and navigation in public places. This is entirely WORTHLESS for the average Technical Communicator/Writer. I was hoping to learn something about structuring written communications, or about the presentation of technical information. Instead I simply learnt not to buy a book just because it is on a University reading list. Extremely disappointing.
Rating: 1 / 5
Its like hanging out with an interesting group of people. They speak from experience, some talk too much, some don’t talk enough. Great book for getting exposed to ideas rooted in a variety of experiences (much better than a one-author book)
Rating: 4 / 5
This book questions several so-called practicing experts on information design. Although some responses are sensible, most of the book’s entries fail to stand by solid and structured ideas. Instead, most of the authors in this book ramble on about some rather horrible theories, while trying to prevent any criticism by including in their answers a lot of ifs and buts (Brenda Dervin: Chaos, Order, and Sense-Making.) While almost the entire book was a waste of time to read, the section by Romedi Passini (Sign-Posting Information Design) was enough to keep me from tossing the book. Read that section if any.
Rating: 1 / 5