Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
What are the different types of information
design?
Information design takes many forms. We break them down into three main categor-
ies: print, interactive (including screen-based design), and environmental. These three
categories also overlap, as various types of information frequently appear in one or
more category. This is not a definitive list and some people may use other categoriz-
ations. Each category takes a different approach to the presentation of data, to which
we will draw attention.
Print-based information design
If you were asked to give an example of print-based design, what would it be? So-
mething from a textbook at school; a biological diagram of an eye, perhaps? Inform-
ation is presented to us all the time, and in a variety of ways; we often just don't con-
sider or realize it. Information design is not just the sexy pieces of data visualization
we see in graphic design topics, it is also the everyday instances that we take for gran-
ted. Consider the utility bill that tells you how much electricity you have used, or the
instructional diagrams that come with flat-pack furniture. Information is everywhere,
and we are not always aware of how much thought has gone into its visualization.
Information in print relies on a single image or sequence of images to convey com-
plex sets of data. It not only uses diagrams or charts, but can also use photography,
illustration and text to communicate, for example, a newspaper or magazine article.
It is static and the reader is passive in the transmission of the material. The user does
not interact with it in any way other than to decode the visual data presented to gain
the facts or figures more quickly than by reading long passages of explanatory text.
The complexity of the data has to be considered; an audience may struggle if too
much information is presented in one piece. Navigating the information is necessary;
unlike interactive information design, where the user can isolate particular sets of
data, print presents all the information together. This may mean that a key (sometimes
called a legend), such as colour-coding or symbolic pictograms, is required to be able
to decipher the material. An example of this is the 2010 UK election map designed by
Mark Bryson, which shows via colour-coding the number of votes cast for different
political parties across the UK.
