Defining Information Design

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DEFINING INFORMATION DESIGN

ACTIVITY JOURNAL

Stephanie Stobart

COMM 1600, Section 002

Dr. G Ruhl

September 30, 2011



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DISCOVERING THE DEFINITION OF INFORMATION DESIGN

I. INTRODUCTION

The act of defining a concept or series of words is the starting point of discovering

what Information Design intends to accomplish as a definition. Definition is a: the

action or the power of describing, explaining, or making definite and clear. (Oxford

Dictionary) It is through definition a person attempts to gain knowledge and context

to what is attempting to be understood. Information design, although currently not

present in common knowledge of the mainstream, is always present in everything

that is the mainstream. Therefore like definition, it attempts to attain the same goal

of achieving clarity and explanation.

Information in definition is “facts provided or learned about something or someone”

or “what is conveyed or represented by a particular arrangement or sequence of

things.” (Oxford English Dictionary) Commonly misconceived as being

synonymous with data, information retains the quality of purpose. It is the

application of meaning that shapes data into the form of information. Therefore

data must be represented in a manner that prompts the audience to partake in the

psychological process of understanding. Design in definition can take the form of a

verb or a noun. “A plan or drawing produced to show the look, function or

workings of and object before it is made” represents the former and “to do or plan

with a specific purpose in mind” the latter. (Oxford English Dictionary) Therefore

design appears to be defining the process of conversion from data to information.

Since applications of these words and their definitions can be applied to a multitude

of various disciplines and personal interpretations there was bound to be a large

variety of definitions of the term “Information Design”. This is due to the desire to

attain clarity from a broad definition of words to define a process or profession that

is relatively subjective in reality.



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In an attempt to grasp what similarities could be attained, it is necessary to

research other definitions that come from people partaking in the field of Information Design, as well as the contributing figures that identified Information

Design as a unique entity from the term „Design‟

II. PROCESS

As books could be considered one of the more primal forms of information design

I decided to begin acquiring definitions from this type of source initially. I chose

to use the textbook because it is a fairly integral part of our curriculum. Since they

are meant to act as a reference this seemed like a reliable place to get an initial

impression of what types of definitions are out in media especially in a source that

is used, and often written, by academics.

I began with the heavily text based „Information Design‟ authored by Robert

Jacobson. Although not initially appealing to me in a visual way, I have a great

appreciation for non-fiction text-based books. It was interesting to me that this

book would choose to communicate mainly through text for the representation of

a concept that commonly uses both visual and text based aspects. I was also

intrigued by the authors approach to share the experience of writing this book

with other professionals and pioneers in the field. I was informed in the preface

that different designers were asked to contribute to the text and was actually a

compilation of separate chapters written by each. I than began to research of ahandful of authors of various chapters. I chose, at random, to look up Robert E

Horn, Romedi Passini and Roger Whitehouse. After inputting each author into a

search engine and finding their personally promoted websites I proceeded to do

some exploring. After in taking various definitions directly as well as supporting

information, I was motivated to believe that this book would contain credible,



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field based representation of the definition from a wide scale of innovators in the

field of Information Design. Although tempted to gather more definitions from

this source, I noted that variation in perspective is often through gathering data

from multiple of sources.

In which case I turned to the visual and instantly attention grabbing, „Information

Design Handbook‟ authored by Jenn + Ken Visocky. This book is also used in the

curriculum of Information Design. This fact than gave me the impression, even

before opening the text, that it also had a credible background to its authoring.

Upon discovery of a chapter specifically titled “Information Design Defined” I

was prompted to read through the chapter. This book chose to represent the

definition in 1a point form approach. Each definition is displayed in a rather

graphic manner. The authors paid attention to size of font and placement on the

page. By doing this certain definitions came the forefront. I took note of the

authors of these specific quotations, as they were most likely highlighted by the

authors for a reason.

My third source was also in the form of a book. My preference seems to

consistently fall with this form of media. They hold a physical design aspect that

cannot be replicated through digital media. I recently purchased, „Information

Design Workbook‟ authored by Kim Baer. This source appears to be directed to

professionals in the field of information design, but does not imply that the

definition retains a static definition. „The term [Information Design] is relatively

recent and subject to considerable debate in the design community. There are

dozens of websites, blogs, special interest groups, and conferences all seeking to

define the term.‟1

The textbook begins with a series of quotations from everyday

1 Kim Baer, Information Design Workbook, Graphic Approaches, Solutions, and

Inspirations + 30 Case Studies, 1st Ed, (United States of America: Rockport Publisher,

Inc. 2009), 12.



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people quoting their frustrations with experiences they have had with bad

Information Design. It is through this, before even reading a definition one comes

to grasp what information design entails. An example of one of these quotations

concurs,

I‟m constantly annoyed by the total lack of standards around information

design for elevators and floor naming in the U.S. It would be so great if

someone would think about making signs outside the elevator match

inside. In Germany, for instance, every elevator in every building is the

same. Here, they sometimes indicate ground floor with a g (is that for

„ground‟ or „garage‟?). Floor one is sometimes the ground floor and

sometimes the second story up2

Through imagery I could relate to the concept information design gained through

frustration with a negative source. The fact that this text treats the definition, as a

secondary matter to purpose, provides a greater chance that the reader would

imagine information design before making an attempt to define it.

Although books are my preferred source of information, I understand the

efficiencies and benefits the World Wide Web possesses over books. Therefore

my fourth source was the Internet. Since searching “definition of Information

Design” seemed impertinent in gaining an accurate definition, I chose to search

for a definition from someone whom I respect in the field. Although out of

curiosity I did input the topic into a Google search to grasp the amount of hits the

search would impose and got a whopping 38, 000, 000 results! Nicolas Feltrons

blog happens to be my homepage. Therefore, I proceeded to do some searching

through his various blogs, features and contributions, to determine what inspires

his interpretations of information and design. He has the reputation of someone

2 Kim Baer, Information Design Workbook, Graphic Approaches, Solutions, and

Inspirations + 30 Case Studies, 1st Ed, (Beverly Massachusetts: Rockport Publisher,

Inc. 2009), 10.



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who is seen as one at the forefront of Information Design especially in an age of

social networking and instant communication. It is my thought that he would have

one the most relevant definitions. After choosing a quotation of his I was left with

a collection of definitions that I had pulled from the text and Internet. They are

not all agreeable in themselves but together they can provide insight into the

meaning.

III. DEFINITIONS

Information Design is defined as the art and science of preparing

information so that is can be used by human beings with efficiency and

effectiveness.3

“Information design is about the clear and effective presentation of

information. It involves a multi- and interdisciplinary approach to

communication, combing skills from graphic design, technical and non-

technical authoring, psychology, communication theory and cultural

studies.

4

…the translating [of] complex organized, or unstructured data into

meaningful information.5

3 Robert E Horn, Robert Jacobson, Information Design, 1st ed. (Cambridge

Massachusetts: Asco Typesetters, 2000), 154 Frank Thissen , Jenn + Ken Visocky O’ Grady, The Information Design Handbook , 1st

ed. (United States, How Books 2008), 18. 5 Society for Technical Communication (STC), Kim Baer, Information Design

Workbook, Graphic Approaches, Solutions, and Inspirations + 30 Case Studies, 1st Ed,

(Beverly Massachusetts: Rockport Publisher, Inc. 2009), 12



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„What we need is not more information but the ability to present the right

information to the right people at the right time, in the most effective and

efficient form.6

…the elimination of complicated keys and fiddly connections between

labels and items…7

IV. CONCLUSION

The selection of these definitions was partly sought out for definitions sake but

most were chosen based on their ability to make an impression through their

meaning and initial impression. It was interesting to note that some authors hadmultiple definitions scattered through different media. Although some definitions

appear to carry an over explained sense of meaning, these definitions seem to

have an encompassing trend among them. The raw form of data is present, the

converted through process and the preparation into information. Structure is

applied with the goal of communication to a user. Efficiency and effectiveness are

the objectives through the elimination of uncertainty and creation of transparency.

I prefer the definition from the Society for Technical Communications as it‟s

meaning was immediately absorbed upon reading.

After determining the premise of definition from various sources and its

application to Information and Design I was able to interpret a valid definition

that holds meaning and effectiveness for me. I have the desire to construct a

definition that represents my interpretation of Information Design while

pertaining to the commonalities.

6 Robert E. Horn, Kim Baer, Information Design Workbook, Graphic Approaches,

Solutions, and Inspirations + 30 Case Studies, 1st Ed, (Beverly Massachusetts:

Rockport Publisher, Inc. 2009), 127 Nicholas Feltron, “FAQ,” Feltron, http://feltron.com/faq.html (accessed September

29, 2011)



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V. MY DEFINITION

The conversion of data into information with the intention of effective

communication towards a user8

8 Stephanie Stobart, personal quotation, September 29 2011



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VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kim Baer, Information Design Workbook, Graphic Approaches, Solutions, and

Inspirations + 30 Case Studies, 1st

ed Beverly Massachusetts: Rockport Publisher, Inc.2009

Robert Jacobson, Information Design, 1st ed. Cambridge Massachusetts: Asco

Typesetters, 2000

Jenn + Ken Visocky O’ Grady, The Information Design Handbook, 1st ed. United States:

How Books, 2008

Nicholas Feltron, “FAQ” Feltron, http://feltron.com/faq.html, (accessed September

29, 2011)

Stephanie Stobart, personal quotation, September 29 2011



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Defining Information Design

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