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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 when dealing with information and design.
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, E. R. (1986). Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Press.
Tufte, E. R. (1990). Envisioning Information. Graphics Press.
Tufte, E. R. (1997). Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative. Graphics Press.
Tufte, E. R. (2006). Beautiful Evidence. Graphics Press.
Mathur, Anuradha, and Dilip da Cunha. (2006). Deccan Traverses: The Making of Banglalore's Terrain. Rupa.
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 Wednesday.
Wednesday: Abundance and Distribution
smell: economy and avilability taste: ingredients, tools, and processes
Considerations: In what amounts? In what order? In what relationship? How will it be distributed? How will it be documented?
Tools: blogs, photoshop, photography
Thursday: Scales and Interaction
landscape layering cities and scales
present tufte chapters as designed page with new examples
sound
Friday: Cycles and Contradictions
social layering
cycles
contradictions
indesign
Saturday: Putting it All Together
First Steps
The username and password for the administrative account is admin, admin.
- Important: Log in as admin and go to Preferences to change your password!
- Write down your password.
- 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:
- 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.
