Re: The role of information design in education?

Graphic Design is such a broad subject that information design would both
fit within, but also connect with broader subject areas that traditionally
fall outside it - such as writing and science.

One of the problems with Graphic Design, as it is taught in some arts-based
faculties, is that it can emphasis what Karen Schriver refers to as the
'romantic' tradition, which is more about the expression of inner
convictions, intuition and less to do with graphic rhetoric, rigour and
external problem solving. On the other hand, many non-designers are able to
apply the rhetoric of visual communication to solving visual information
problems, but sometimes also lack the visual sensitivity and judgment to
make the solution elegant, beautiful and attractive.

Much of what underpins information design should also be taught as graphic
design - basic graphic literacy, use of positive/negative space, information
hierarchy, designing from a semiotic / semantic perspective, the usability
and meaning of formats, etc. This is all graphic rhetoric which can be
learnt and applied, as well as sometimes being intuitive.

Information Design would work as an option after this stage, where students
can develop and apply these tools to real information communication and
problem-solving concepts, where others might go towards persuasion design or
interactive design, for example.This has as much to do with a student's
aptitude and personal direction. From my experience, many graphic designers
are either secret/frustrated artists or architects! Information designers
tend to be more at the 'architecture' end of the scale (systems and
problem-solving), rather than the 'art' end (personal expression and
interpretation).

Paul Linnell
De Montfort University, Leicester, UK


On 26/04/2010 16:09, "Jasso Lamberg" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hello all
> 
> 
> I am preparing a presentation where I am comparing information design
> and more traditional fields of design, such as graphic design. This
> lead me to ponder upon the role of information design in education.
> I'd like to hear your thoughts and experiences on questions such as:
> 
> -Should information design be taught as a separate program alongside
> graphic design, photography etc?
> -Or should information design be incorporated into existing programs,
> such as graphic design?
> 
> -On what level should it be taught? Should it be available as an
> "academic major" in the undergraduate studies?
> -Or is it better to first train students as graphic designers and
> such, and leave information design for the graduate level?
> 
> 
> Perhaps these are questions that you have already discussed earlier,
> but I'd really like to get an up-to-date image of the current situation.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Jasso Lamberg
> Lahti Design Institute / Finland
> 
> 
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