[IxDA Discuss] Old guard vs new guard designers

[Peter Boersma]

Andrew wrote:
> Maybe we should distinguish between "visual design" vs  "visual 
> communication?" 

and describes the latter in Wurman terms as:
> [..] visual explanations for otherwise very difficult concepts/knowledge

For many this is called Information Design.
See for example:
- About Information Design (currently undergoing a redesign)
  http://www.design-council.org.uk/en/About-Design/Design-Disciplines/Information-Design/
- Definitions by the International Institute for Information Design (although in HTML-terms an "Untitled Document")
  http://www.iiid.net/Menu.htm

The Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_design) starts with an interesting view of how the term is used by different fields:
"Information design has its origins as a subset of, or synonym for graphic design and it is often taught as part of graphic design courses. One of the first uses of the term was by the London graphic design consultancy Pentagram, who used the term in the 1970s to mean their graphic design, as distinct from product or other kinds of design. Since that time, the term has come to be used specifically for graphic design that has the purpose of displaying information effectively, rather than just attractively, or for the purpose of self expression by the designer as artist.

During the 1980s information design broadened to include responsibility for message content and language, and a greater role for user-testing and research than had been traditional in mainstream graphic design.

Information designers who have their roots in professional writing sometimes refer to the field as 'document design', particularly in the USA. The term Information graphics tends to be used by those primarily concerned with diagramming and display of quantitative information.

In computer science and information technology, information design is sometimes a rough synonym for (but is not necessarily the same discipline as) information architecture, the design of information systems, databases, or data structures. This sense includes data modeling and process analysis."

It's interesting to see how all of these mention information architecture.

Oh, and I loved this "threat" by IIID:
"At this point of the development IIID is concerned with the design of visual information but it could in the future include the design of information other than visual one."

I foresee a battle between Information Designers and Big IAs :-)

Peter
-- 
Peter Boersma | Senior Interaction Designer | Info.nl
http://www.peterboersma.com/blog | http://www.info.nl
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