Information Design

Information Design is the practice of gathering, filtering, and presenting information in accordance with effective design principles in order to understand --- and communicate to others --- the essence, the meaning of that information. Here are links to resources that can help you explore and practice meaningful and effective information design. 'Information designers are very special people who must muster all the skills and talents of a designer, combine it with the rigor and problem solving ability of a scientist or mathematician and bring the curiosity, research skills and doggedness of a scholar to their work. I think they're the unsung and often unnoticed heroes of our profession.' Terry Irwin, 'Information design: what is it and who does it',

Key Links

Informationdesign.org/.
Information Design Bibliography.
Definitions of Information Design.
Information Design Articles.
Information Design Resources.
International Institute of Information Design.
BogieLand: Information Design & Information Architecture.
Models, Processes, & Techniques of Information Design.
AIGA Information Design Forum.
EyeArchitect. Information architecture.
Online Information Design.
Information Design: Understanding the Discipline. by Dirk Neymeyer.
Seven Deadly Sins of Information Design. by Drue Miller.		 Information Design & Architecture SIG.
Information Design Journal.
Information Design Weblog.
Information Design: An Introduction. by Clark MacLeod.
Usability Resources.
IBM - Design Basics.
E-Server Library: Information Design.
Fast Company: Masters of Design.
Lessons from the Masters.
Welcome to the Design Revolution.
Ideo.
User-Centered Information Design Workbook.
Design Writings Links.
Communication Nation.
Newseum.
Design Observer.

Interactive Design
Information Interaction Design: A Unified Theory.
Peterme Interface Design.
A Quiet Revolution in Design.
Virtual Worlds and Interactive Design Bibliography.
Boxes and Arrows.
USC Interactive Media Division.
PC Webopaedia
Open Architecture Community.
Virtual Computer Library. 
Information-Rich Virtual Environments: Challenges and Outlook.
Interaction Design Hub.

Experience Design
Experience Design Glossary.
AIGA Experience Design.
Nathan.com: Experience Design Resources.
The State of Experience.
BRC Imagination Arts.
Themed Entertainment Association (TEA).
Designeducation.org - Experience Design.
The Experience Economy.
Experience Economy: Wikipedia.
Frontiers of the Experience Economy.
European Centre for the Experience Economy.

A Framework of Interaction and Experience.
IBM: What is User Experience Design?.
User Experience Design.
User Experience Refined.
Wikipedia: Experience Design.
Experience Design and the Design of Experience.
User Experience Network.
User Experience Network Blog.
Usability Views.
Virtual Museum of Canada: Experience Design.
Putting People First. Blog about experience design, user experience & innovation.

Web Design Design
The Information Design Approach to Web Development.
Efuse: Web Design Basics.
Website Design for Designers.
Webstyle Guide.
Web Accessibility Initiative.
Web Credibility Project.
Creating Passionate Users. Blog.
Eyetracker II.
Design Observer. Blog.
Stop Design. Blog.
Matt Jones.
The World Wide Web Consortium. 
Web Pages that Suck.
Useit.com.
Lynda.com.
Webmonkey/. 

Graphic Information Design
Edward Tufte.
Graphic Design.
Understanding Identity.
BagNewsNotes. Analysis of images in the news .

Color

Generating Colors in HTML.
Color Matters.
Color Research.
Color Design Rules.
Web Page Design for Designers: Color. 		No dither palette for 16 color systems.
Color Design Tutorial.
Design Notes: Color.
Web Color Theory.

Perception and Visual Thinking
The Joy of Visual Perception.
Visual Thinking Tools. 		Art, Design, and Visual Thinking.
xBlog: The visual thinking weblog.

Visualization

Visualization of Remote Sensing Data.
USGS Global Visualization Viewer.
NASA Advanced Supercomputing Visualization.
Online Library of Information Visualization Environments.
Scientific Computing & Visualization.
Java Applets for Visualization of Statistical Concepts. 		Information Visualization Journal.
Visualization Toolkit.
Terrain Visualization & Flyby Software.
The Geography of Cyberspace.
Atlas of Cyberspace.
Mapnet: Macroscopic Internet Visualization and Measurement.

Maps

Yahoo Maps.
Google Maps.		 Map Design Process.

Typography
Planet Typography.
All Good Things Typography.
Type Classification Guide.
Logo Type Guide.
Webmonkey Web Typography Tutorial.
Yahoo Directory: Typography. 		Web Page Design for Designers:Typography.
A List Apart: Typography Matters.
Typecasting. Film Typography.
Webstyle Guide: Typography.
Cyber-North Type and Typography.
Evertype.
Arabic Typography.

Narrative Information Design

Nathan - Narrative Examples.
Customer Storytelling at the Heart of Business Success.
Usability through Storytelling. 		Digital Storytelling Cookbook.
The Elements of Digital Storytelling.

Comics and Animation

Scott McCloud - Comics.
Scott McCloud Interview.
Edward Tufte on Cartooning.
Origins of American Animation.
Animation Nation.
Animato.
ASIFA-Hollywood.
Frames Per Second Magazine.
High-End 3D.
Animation Guild Links.
Animation History Forum . 		American Splendor - Movie Website.
The Comics Journal.
Calvin and Hobbes.
The Animation Podcast.
Toon Tracker: Home of Lost Cartoons.
Big Cartoon Database.
Digicel Flipbook.
Cartoon Brew.
Animation Academy.
Time Lapse Stock Footage.

People

Richard Saul Wurman.
Clement Mok.
John Grimwade.
Nigel Holmes.
David Macaulay.
David Macaulay: Teacher Resource File.
David Macaulay: On Point Radio Interview.
Robin Williams.
Ben Shneiderman.
Erik Spiekermann.

Will Harris.
Joe Clark.
Jodi Forlizzi.
Abbe Don.
Bill Buxton.
Dana Atchley.
Gitta Salomon.
Maria Giudice.
Burt Rutan.
J Mays.
Douglas Rushkoff.

Organizations
European Association for Computer Graphics.
Premsala Design Institute .
Swiss Usability Center...
NextDesign Leadership Institute.

Search Engines

Google. Search Engine.
Teoma. Search Engine.
Accoona. Search Engine. 
 AnyWho. Search for People. 
Technorati Search Engine. Search engine for blogs.
States Writes: Guide to News & Blogs by State.

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Language Resources

Online Dictionaries.
Wikipedia.   
Quick Reference.  
Tagline Guru. 		Babelfish Translator. 
Rhetorical Figures. 
Reference Desk. 

Media Resources

Podcast Directory. 
Movie Trailers. (Quicktime)
Creative Commons.
Lyricsfreak. 		Whatis. Guide to technology terms.
I-Tools. 
Masternewmedia.org.
Interactive Media Resources. Great links.

 

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? T.S. Elliot

Data are facts: Information is the meaning that human beings assign to these facts. Individual elements of data, by themselves, have little meaning; it's only when these facts are in some way put together or processed that the meaning begins to become clear. Davis and McCormack (1979), The Information Age

What is to be sought in designs for the display of information is the clear portrayal of complexity. Not the complication of the simple; rather the task of the designer is to give visual access to the subtle and the difficult --- that is, the revelation of the complex. Edward Tufte

The media table holds a rich feast, but the meal is larded with cheap data calories and informational cholesterol. It's frequently filling but often unsatisfying. It can make you fat or sick. It isn't as good for you as it should be. Too much of one medium or not enough of another causes cognitive malnutrition. Information that is consumed isn't necessarily digested. In reality, many media dishes are recipes for misunderstanding and confusion no matter how prettily they're served. Michael Schrage