All posts – Page 6 – IIID Perspectives

Conversation with Oliver Tomlinson, 26 April 2022 at 1300 UTC

The hidden graphics

Oliver will reflect on his experience of creating diagrams for large corporate bids and tenders. He will discuss how business ‘authors’ work with his team of information designers, creating diagrams to work alongside text in a hidden world of huge commercial contracts.

He will also reflect on the diagrams produced behind the closed doors of businesses, often created by non-designers but a key element in explaining processes, theories, research and initiatives.

Registration

Oliver Tomlinson is the CEO and founder of TDL-Creative, a design consultancy based in London that specialises in information design. TDL-Creative was set up in 2011 and is now recognised as an industry-leading agency in bid design and diagramming, producing designs for some of the largest procurement opportunities in the UK. Oliver works predominantly in Powys, Wales, dividing his time between family, diagramming, design workshops and falconry.

Summer School conversation – video trailer

Dates: 19 April – 26 May 2022

Running since 2013, the Information Design Summer School has gained a reputation as the best place to get a fast introduction to the concepts, principles and challenges of information design. It’s back online for 2022.

Fees

The cost of the online summer school is:
Regular fee: £375 (approx €445/$510)
‍Student fee: £175 (approx €205/$240).
To ensure the course is viable, there are only 3 student places available.
Cancellation policy: if you cancel after 1 April, we will not refund your fee, unless you can find someone to take your place.

More information: www.simplificationcentre.org.uk

Any questions? Please write to: info@simplificationcentre.org.uk

Conversation with Rob Waller, 7 April 2022 at 1400 UTC

Rob Waller is the speaker at the first of our new series of IIID Conversations. He will talk about the Information Design Summer School – its history, how it works, how it integrates (only useful) theory with practice, and what kind of people attend. The Summer School has been running since 2013, as a fast-track induction into how information designers think. It’s attracted people from many backgrounds – engineers, medics, lawyers, statisticians, technical writers, educators, as well as graphic designers wanting to specialise in information design. It’s usually an intensive week face-to-face, but in 2021 it went online. Most projects are set by real clients, and Rob will show some of this work.

Registration

Rob Waller is the current President of IIID and organiser of the Simplification Centre. He is semi-retired from a long career in information design, which has taken in research, teaching and practice. His clients have included many well-known names in financial services, energy, government and publishing. His personal website is www.robwaller.org

Information Design Summer School 2022

The 2022 Simplification Centre/IIID Information Design Summer school will be held online between April 19 and May 26, 2022.

Dates: 19 April – 26 May 2022

What to expect

Information design has developed as a specialist field, with a growing research literature and critical tradition. But education and training in information design is hard to find, and people who want to develop their expertise can find themselves isolated, without access to expert help, and often without like-minded colleagues.

At the summer school you will meet with experts in information design with a depth of experience in design practice, research and education, and who cover a range of different specialisms: diagramming, typography, clear writing, content structure, design education, health information design, financial information, government information, management communications and legal information design.

Time commitment

The programme comprises 3-hour sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All sessions start at 12 noon UK time.

The normal Summer School is an intensive one week experience when we hold it face to face, and the online version also requires a high degree of commitment, but spread over six weeks. We are very flexible in our approach and introduce new content in response to questions and issues that emerge during the projects.

Fees

More information: www.simplificationcentre.org.uk

Any questions? Please write to: info@simplificationcentre.org.uk

Revised edition: ‘Information design workbook’.

A revised edition of the ‘Information design workbook’ by Kim Baer has been published.

Description from the publisher: “Information Design Workbook, Revised and Updated takes a methodical, comprehensive, approach to conveying the fundamentals of effective, innovative information design.

With loads of new case studies demonstrating the latest approaches, you’ll learn about the history, theory, criticism, technology and media, process, method, and practice of information design as well as learn how to create visually compelling and meaningful graphics.

Opening with a brief history followed by an instructive breakdown of the discipline, get an intimate understanding of the complexities of crafting information designto effectively improve communication both functionally and aesthetically. You’ll learn every aspect of the discovery process, including how to work within your client’s business structure, create a project timeline, identify and prioritize possible audiences, construct a creative brief, and explore personas (user profiles) and scenarios.”

Website: www.quarto.com

International accessibility symbol design competition

The International Union of Architects (UIA) and Rehabilitation International (RI) are jointly inviting submissions for a twenty-first century symbol of accessibility to represent their core values of rights and inclusion, independence, physical and virtual accessibility for all, including people with disabilities.
The challenge is therefore to develop a new symbol of accessibility that better represents the variety of people who use buildings and other types of built environments. The competition invites professional architects and graphic designers as well as architectural and graphic design students to design a new graphic symbol of accessibility, to be proposed to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for adoption as the new international symbol of accessibility.

More information

Competition brief download

Book launch: ‘Will Burtin’s Scientific approach to Information Design’.

A recording of the book launch can be seen on Youtube.

A discussion about the new book ‘Communicating knowledge visually. Will Burtin’s Scientific approach to Information Design’ can be seen on Youtube.

The discussion was hosted by Prof Isabel Meirelles (OCAD University) and introduced by Michael Babwahsingh (Sense Information Design).

R. Roger Remington and Sheila Pontis gave short presentations. There was a question and answer session afterwards.

Job: Head of MA Information Design, Design Academy Eindhoven.

The Design Academy Eindhoven (The Netherlands) is looking for a Head of the Information Design MA course.

Information Design is one of the five Masters Departments at Design Academy Eindhoven. The future Head assembles a team of teachers and professionals who will structure the work of the department in the coming years.

Location: Eindhoven, The Netherlands. This concerns a part-time, freelance position for the duration of 8 years.

Inquiries: Raf De Keninck, Executive Board: +31 (0)40-239 39 39

Latest application date: January 26, 2022.

Link: https://welcome.designacademy.nl/vacaturebeschrijving/head-of-information-design

Book: Will Burtin’s Scientific Approach to Information Design.

In their new book, “Communicating Knowledge Visually: Will Burtin’s Scientific Approach to Information Design”, R. Roger Remington and Sheila Pontis, reveal the life, work, and mindset of Will Burtin.

This book presents a timely, in-depth examination of Will Burtin, a pioneer of information design. Using a methodical approach, the authors, R. Roger Remington and Sheila Pontis, analyze Burtin’s way of working, and nine of his seminal projects, including his exhibitions for The Upjohn Company, and diagrams for their SCOPE magazine.

Excerpts taken from Burtin’s unpublished writing offer insight into his thinking process and explain how he transformed complex scientific information into easy, accessible visual forms. Scientists, designers, educators and students will gain valuable knowledge from Burtin’s unique design approach in meeting the current challenges of communicating complexity in their respective fields.

Website: https://www.willburtin.com/

Publisher and ordering: https://www.rit.edu/press/communicating-knowledge-visually

Book launch: December 13, 2021. A recording of this launch can be seen at YouTube.

Conference: ICTVC, Thessaloniki: 5-9 July 2022

The conference theme for ICTVC 8 is ‘Beyond the obvious: Typography and Visual Communication in times of disruption’.

Conference website: https://ictvc.org/2022/en/

Call for papers: https://easychair.org/cfp/8th_ICTVC

Deadline for submissions: January 16, 2022.

‘It is obvious that the pandemic affects our daily lives and the way we operate as educators, students or practitioners in the fields of typography and visual communication. The aim of the conference is to ‘see’ beyond the obvious, discussing examples from the past, deepening into the present, and raising important issues for the future in the areas of history, theory and practice. Among the plans of the Organizing Committee of the 2022 ICTVC is to have a special section on education, the challenges and opportunities in turbulent and uncertain times like these.’

Job: Assistant professor: Information Design & Data Visualization

Northeastern University invites applications and nominations for tenure-track appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in the field of data visualization.

Ideal candidates will be accomplished designers and researchers in graphic/information design and data visualization with interest and expertise in data driven design processes.

Location: Boston Main Campus.

Dates: Applications received before January 10, 2022 will be guaranteed full review and consideration. The position will remain open until filled. Preferred start date is for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Inquiries may be directed to Professor Enrico Bertini, chair of the search committee: enrico.bertini@gmail.com.

Link: https://careers.hrm.northeastern.edu/en-us/job/508570/assistant-professor-information-design-and-data-visualization

Fall foliage is seen on Centennial Common Sept. 17, 2016. *Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University*

idj special issue Information Visualization

A special issue of the Information Design Journal with contributions by presenters of Information+ 2018 is now online under an open access license.

A special issue of the Information Design Journal with contributions by presenters of Information+ 2018 is now online under an open access license.

From the editorial by Marian Dörk & Isabel Meirelles:

We are very pleased to introduce the new Information+ Special Issue of IDJ, featuring nine peer-reviewed contributions which expand on the authors’ presenta-tions during the second Information+ conference, held on 19th–21st October 2018 at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (FH Potsdam) in Potsdam, Germany. The conference brought together 261 researchers, practitioners and students working at the intersection of information design and data visualization to discuss common questions and current challenges. Our main goal was to stimulate cross-disciplinary exchanges and knowledge sharing while nurturing research and innovation that is relevant to academia, industry and government.

idj: Information Visualization

Shi Ji: Design Education. Part 1

She Ji, the journal for Design, Economics and Innovation, has published its issue 6/1, dedicated to design education and guest-edited by Guillermina Noël.

She Ji, the journal for Design, Economics and Innovation, has published its issue 6/1, dedicated to design education and guest-edited by Guillermina Noël.

The journal is open source, you can download the whole issue or select articles of your choice under this link:

Shi Ji: Design Education. Part 1

Authors are:

Ken Friedman Tongji University, Shanghai;
Guillermina Noël University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland;
Michael Meyer and Donald Norman, University of California at San Diego, USA;
Peter Jan Stappers et al, Deft Technological University, Netherlands;
Gjoko Muratovski, Ullman School of Design, University of Cincinnati, USA;
Johan Redström, Umea Institute of Design, Sweden;
Gunnar Swanson, California State University, USA;
Jorge Frascara, Formerly University of Alberta, Canada, and now University of Applied Design and Art, Lucerne, Switzerland. He interviews Richard Buchanan, Meredith Davis, Ken Friedman, Willard McCarty, Ezio Manzini, Donald Norman, Sharon Poggenpohl, and Saskia Sassen.

Comment on Corona data quality

Comment by Andreas Schneider, Institute for Information Design Japan, on the quality of data provided by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at John Hopkins University, basis for the “Corona Navigator” featured in a previous post.

As these data are consumed more and more by non-experts without understanding inherent limitations, significant misinterpretations may happen.

The full comment is available on the IIDj website.

Announcing the 54th SDA Award

The Japan Sign Design Association Award (as known as SDA Award) was established in 1966 for the purpose of promoting and educating the public about the sign design through presentation of signature design works to the wide society.

It continues to be the only award program for sign design in Japan. Signs today are considered as an interface that connects urban space or corporate activities with consumers, or as information that is indispensable for revitalizing the environment and establishing communication, and their examples are seen with more diverse variations.

The Japan Sign Design Association invites applications for awards from signature design works with high quality.

Information, registration and more on the SCA Award website.