Journal Entry #7: Paul Bruski "Information Design in Context"

Paul Bruski
“Information Design in Context”

I hate to say it, but information graphics is one of the least interesting fields of graphic design that I could ever hope NOT to work in. Don’t get me wrong. I think that a wealth of knowledge needs to be supplied to the world, and the ability to do so in a timely manner that in contextual and makes sense to the viewer is jackpot. I just think of information designers as people who design forms. And that, actually, is exactly what Paul Bruski talked to us about.
Paul is an associate professor at Iowa State University, and is very experienced and has a wealth of knowledge, and I am very grateful for him to have come all the way out to AZS to talk to us about info design. I just didn’t find the example he showed to be very exciting or interesting. He used the ISU’s health center’s immunization form as his working example. It is all fine and good and I see where he was going with it, but I think of information design as exciting prospects like the design of the London Underground signage, or way finding signs in Grand Central Station. This was a far cry from either of those, but it was interesting in it’s own right.
Paul talked about the Lipton 3 layer form model, which is:
1. Look
2. Content
3. Task structure.
He claims that these are the three most important elements that a designer should consider when designing for info design. It is important that the design is aesthetically pleasing without being overbearing. It needs to have flow and fluidity in the design as well as you are usually designing something that will only be looked at briefly, or will contain a ton of text boxes for information to be organized in. People hate filling stuff out, so if you can make it as painless as possible; the better. Also, make sure that the content is organized well, and makes sense to the user. And finally, make sure that it WORKS! Use visual hierarchy to ensure that the message is being conveyed and that it’s doing so effectively. Get rid of the garbage, keep what’s needed and stick with your instincts.