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Revision as of 04:54, 16 September 2007

Introduction to Information Design: Layering

The world is a layered space and it is important to be able to see things in layers and not what is on the surface. Information design requires several basic tools and the capability to apply them. This course deals with the premise that information is layered and it is important to be able to perceive and apply layering in information design.

The goal of this course is to enable you to be comfortable, informed, systematic, and smart when confronted with a design problem, to identify and articulate potential design problems, and to implement design solutions while taking into account diverse perspectives and priorities.

In this course you will encounter a number of different concepts that can help inform your perspective on layering and information design. In addition, we will implement a number of tools that will increase your flexibility.

Logistics

Instructor: Gabriel Harp

Layering meets during the 9th week for core skills (16 Sept - 07 to 22 Sept -07)

Tue Wed - half days

Thu Fri Sat - full days

Location: TBA

Website: http://editthis.info/layering/

Course Texts

Tufte, Edward R. (1986). Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Press.

Tufte, Edward R. (1990). Envisioning Information. Graphics Press.

Tufte, Edward R. (1997). Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative. Graphics Press.

Tufte, Edward R. (2006). Beautiful Evidence. Graphics Press.

Mathur, Anuradha, and Dilip da Cunha. (2006). Deccan Traverses: The Making of Banglalore's Terrain. Rupa.

Bhaskaran, Lakshmi. (2004) Size Matters: Effective Graphic Design for Large Amounts of Information. RotoVision.

Grading

Your grade will be based on; 50% Design problems 15% Participation in class 15% Journal 20% Reports (2)

demonstrate critical thinking show creativity and initiative describe and apply principles

Course Schedule

Tuesday: Categories and Naming

What do we want or need to know about each other? About other things? Information design is very much about the names that we give things and how we organize them. On the first day of our meetings, we will consider the role of names and the organization of things in the process of design. By the end of this session you should be equipped with the desire to create your own categories and methods of displaying them. We will look at some examples and you will research and create your own for class on Wednesday.

Task 1: Research different perspectives on the concept of layering. These may come from disciplinary definitions, observational analysis, or some other source. You need not be literal in your search and may need to make analogies or metaphors to connect ideas. Be sure to explain how you made these connections. You should prepare at least three sources from the library and two from the web. Describe your findings with about 300 words per perspective. Compile your finding on the research wiki.

Task 2: Using the information compiled in class, design three instances that apply your information design skills. You should attempt to organize the information so that it leads to some higher-order concept or understanding. Therefore, the ways in which you organize and arrange the information becomes of prime importance. You should use illustrator for at least one of these. Print your designs in color on A4 paper.

Tools: wikis; scholarship; illustrator

Due: Wednesday in class and online

For Thursday: Review and present a chapter from Tufte. Create a summary of the chapter and illustrate using original examples. Keep your summary to 1 page. Print your designs in color on A4 paper and bring to class Thursday.

Wednesday: Abundance and Distribution

Information design need not be constrained by our sense of sight. For Thursday you will consider how the properties of abundance, distribution, frequency and density affect the process of layering and design outcomes. You will have two tasks:

Task 1 (smell): Collect at least five different kinds of either flowers or spices (but not both). Keep track of what you collected, how much you collected, the price (if any), the location where you found it, and who you received it from. Also judge the abundance of each kind relative to the others. You will receive a bonus on this task if you can identify its original geographic source and provide some documentation for it. Arrange your collection in a pleasing manner. How you go about this is up to you, although you should take into account the considerations below. Document your creation and compile the information in your blog, and place a link to it in Student Work. Bring you creation to class to share.

Task 2 (taste): ingredients, tools, and processes

Make something to eat using at least 5 ingredients. Then, make something different using exactly the same ingredients. How was it the same? How was it different? Ask at least three people to give their impressions of your dishes. Document your creation and their responses on your blog. Address the considerations below in your documentation.

Considerations: What was it? What was in it? In what amounts? In what order? In what relationships? How was it/will it be distributed? How will it be documented?

Tools: blogs, photoshop, photography

Thursday: Scales and Interaction

Maps

landscape layering cities and scales

present tufte chapters as designed page with new examples

sound

Friday: Cycles and Contradictions

document a natural cycle

create a contradiction

tools: indesign

Saturday: Putting it All Together

First Steps

The username and password for the administrative account is admin, admin.

1. Important: Log in as admin and go to Preferences to change your password!
2. Write down your password.
3. On this page: image_logo_url put just the url for the logo that you want in the upper left corner of your wiki.

Other optional things to do

• Control the rights of anonymous and logged in users through the Control Panel (which can be found in the toolbox on the left side of this page).
• Add the url for your wiki to the Categorized wiki list. Simply edit that page and put your wiki under the appropriate category.
• To increase the amount of space you have for uploads, add links to http://editthis.info from external sites, and go to the Link Quota Page to increase your uploads quota.
• Edit MediaWiki:Sidebar to change the navigation menu
• Add this wiki to some external wiki indexes:

1. Wikipedia list of wikis
2. WikiIndex
   

• If you are feeling adventurous and know a little about web design you can edit the javascript and css to the Header to change the look of your wiki.
  • You must log as admin to do this
  • Whatever you enter in this page will be added to the html in the header after the standard style sheet, so you can override styles.
• Read the User's Guide for other usage and configuration help.
• Add your wiki to the map of wikis
• Add a message to the Feedback Page if you see anything that could be improved.