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Published by MacroVU Press in support of the Visual Language Project at Stanford University, which is directed by Robert E. Horn, author of "Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century."

The UPDATE summarizes the research and applications of visual language and information design.
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In this issue
1. Article -- What Is Information Design?
2. Links -- How To Find Out About Information Design
3. Discussion Group -- Infodesign Cafe
4. The Web -- Amazon.com Picks "Visual Language" As "Featured Book"
5. Two Book Reviews -- "Information Design" and "Open Here: The Art of Information Design"
6. Information Design Murals -- A New Genre Of Fine And Practical Art
7. Website Review -- Cybergeography
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1. ARTICLE: WHAT IS INFORMATION DESIGN?

The theme of this issue of UPDATE is Information Design. First, a definition, from our chapter in Robert Jacobson's recent book, "Information Design" (MIT Press):

"Information design is ... the art and science of preparing information so that it can be used by human beings with efficiency and effectiveness. Its primary objectives are:

--To develop documents that are comprehensible, rapidly and accurately retrievable, and easy to translate into effective action.
--To design interactions with equipment that are easy, natural, and as pleasant as possible. This involves solving many of the problems in the design of the human-computer interface.
--To enable people to find their way around in three-dimensional space with comfort and ease--especially urban space, but also, given recent developments, virtual space.

The values that distinguish information design from other kinds of design are efficiency and effectiveness at accomplishing the communicative purpose."

This chapter emphasizes that Information Design is a new, emerging profession, breaking off from graphic design with broad boundaries that might overlap with other emerging professions such as web design and information architecture. Our project at Stanford focuses on visual information design, while recognizing that other genres of information design such as airport signage and design of forms also exist. Our project also emphasizes that the disciplines of writing and design are tightly integrated into new communication units which we regard as a new language.

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2. LINKS--HOW TO FIND OUT ABOUT INFORMATION DESIGN

The World Wide Web is already a rich source of contacts for information design. Four good sources on the web are:

INFORMATION DESIGN NETWORK
A coalition of 10 or so universites and private consulting and research organizations in Britain. Self-description: "We hope to become a valuable resource for the theory and practice of information design, by collecting, collating, publishing and promoting knowledge about the discipline to education and industry in the UK."
Web URL: <http://www.csad.coventry.ac.uk/IDN/partners.html>

SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION'S SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP ON INFORMATION DESIGN
STC's Information Design Special Interest Group has about 2,000 members. Publishes a newsletter, Design Matters.
Web URL: <http://stc.org/pics/idsig/>

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION DESIGN (IIID)
The IIID runs the Vision 1, 2, 3, ... conferences each year in Vienna and sometimes in other cities (e.g. Tokyo). Has an occasional newsletter.
Web URL: <http://members.magnet.at/simlinger-iiid/>

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3. DISCUSSION GROUP -- INFODESIGN CAFE

One of the most interesting and literate discussion groups on information design is the InfoDesign-Cafe. Here you'll find intelligent and sometimes heated discussions about a wide range of topics and issues in information design. One thing we like about the group is its international participation. Important information designers and theorists, such as Rob Waller, Jane Teather, Conrad Taylor, James Soutar, Karel van der Waarde and many others participate in the discussions.

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the web, visit <http://list.design-inst.nl/mailman/listinfo/infodesign-cafe>
Or via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to <infodesign-cafe-request@list.design-inst.nl>
You can reach the person managing the list at <infodesign-cafe-admin@list.design-inst.nl>

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4. THE WEB--AMAZON.COM PICKS "VISUAL LANGUAGE' AS "FEATURED BOOK"

Our Project Director's book, "Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century," has been selected by Amazon.com as one of the featured books in the month of July on its Computers and Internet page. The editorial reviewer at Amazon.com, Rob Lightner , said about the book:

"Uh-oh, McLuhan was right. As our information stream meets a confluence of new media, our language has changed accordingly. Stanford scholar, Robert E. Horn, lays it all out for us in Visual Language, incorporating visual elements with writing to show and tell simultaneously... the book thoroughly explains how we recognize and interpret this new language; rather than teaching us how to read or write, it lays the groundwork for better use of the still-evolving communication too ... Complex issues and wide ranges of opinion can be grasped quickly and particular problems can be highlighted for greater scrutiny. (It's no accident that Horn is best known as a pioneer of hypertext.)

Sections cover the basic units and form, semantics, and pragmatics, exploring all elements of advertising, comics, static multimedia, and other uses of visual language. Anyone who is involved in advertising or uses PowerPoint professionally--or just wants insight into the new directions our language is taking--should read Visual Language carefully for clues to the future of communication."

For further information: <http://www.macrovu.com/VLBkAboutTheBook.html>
For more reviews or to order: <http://www.amazon.com>
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5. TWO BOOK REVIEWS: "INFORMATION DESIGN" and "OPEN HERE"

A new book, "Information Design," edited by Robert Jacobson was recently published by MIT Press. It brings together a significant group of designers and theorists who are articulating the nature of this new discipline. They include Brenda Dervin (on "sense-making", Romedi Passini (on "sign-posting") and Nathan Shedroff (with a"unified field theory of design"). One of our favorite chapters is C.G. Screven's work on "Information Design in Informal Settings: Museums and Other Public Spaces." The book is a good introduction to various approaches.

Another new book is "Open Here" by Paul Mijksenaar and Piet Westendorp. Its subtitle tells a lot about the book : "The Art of Instructional Design." While the Jacobson book is full of theory, this book is replete with examples. Colorful, from every conceivable kind of device, the illustrations on literally every page show us the cleverness of designers in helping us through our practical day-to-day tasks. The book highlights the complexity of our world and how information design provides the visual guidance. There's some good humor here too. Published by Joost Elffers Books, New York.
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6. INFORMATION DESIGN MURALS -- A NEW GENRE OF FINE AND PRACTICAL ART

A new genre of mural-making has captured the patronage of top leaders in industry because it provides a communication breakthrough for organizations, our project director, Robert E. Horn, told an audience at the Stroom Center for the Visual Arts in the Hague in April, 2000. The information design murals are a new genre because they use the tight integration of words and visual elements, images and diagrammatic shapes to create mural-size artistic creations.

Unlike the muralists of the past, these murals contain significantly more text and diagrammatic elements, in addition to their visual components. They need textual elements because they are portraying narratives with which the average viewer is unacquainted. For example, Horn showed a mural of the history of General Motors corporation commissioned by the President of GM for the lectures and classes he gives to his executives and managers. The 4 x 19 ft. mural, designed by David Sibbet, contains several hundred words, phrases, and sentences tightly interwoven with hundreds of visual icons which are visually integrated overall with a diagram in the form of metaphoric superhighways.

Horn also used these murals to illustrate how some contemporary artists are responding to the strong contemporary "yearning" for meaning-making.

Full text of the speech (html)

THE EXHIBIT
Horn's speech was given in connection with the exhibition of "Mapping Great Debates: Can Computers Think?", a mural consisting of seven panels (altogether 28 feet long) at the Stroom Center's gallery. The mural -- which were created by our project -- charts the entire intellectual history of the arguments put forth since 1950 by more than 380 scientists and philosophers on the debate started by the great British mathematician Alan Turing about whether computers will ever be able to think. The mural panels contain several hundred icons, illustrations, and over 60 photographs to help the reader navigate through the debates.

The murals are also printed as seven 3 x 4 foot paper maps. To see what the maps look like, how they work or to order, check out the publisher's website: <http://www.macrovu.com/CCTGeneralInfo.html>

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7. WEBSITE REVIEW--CYBERGEOGRAPHY

The complexity and romance of cyberspace and the internet has produced a new discipline of study--cybergeography. And, of course, it has its own website, produced by a young British geographer, Martin Dodge. The site has over a hundred different visual ways of looking at the web and the internet created by geographers around the world. They are practical, fanciful, and artistic. They give us a whole new way of looking at the virtual world.

For more information: <http://www.cybergeography.org/>

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The VISUAL LANGUAGE UPDATE is free.
Feature articles in international journals such as "New Scientist" have focused attention on our visual language project. As a result, we've been asked a lot of questions about this new field, so we've launched this newsletter. Our goal is to keep you up-to-date on developments in the field of visual language and visual information design. We will summarize the projects we're working on, both research and applications. We'll review important books and articles in the field and present brief critiques of important issues in the field. We thank our publisher, MacroVU Press for its support of this newsletter.
---Bob Horn, Project Director

To subscribe/unsubscribe, contact <info@macrovu.com>
Apologies for any multiple recipients of this issue.

Editor: Robert E. Horn, visiting scholar, Stanford University
Email: <hornbob@earthlink.net>

Please share the Visual Language Update with your friends and colleagues; we ask only that you keep the following attached:
Entire contents copyright 2000 R. E. Horn