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- Volume 7, Issue, 1993
Information Design Journal - Volume 7, Issue 1, 1993
Volume 7, Issue 1, 1993
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Diagrammatic information: Techniques for exploring its mental repres-entation and processing
Author(s): Richard K. Lowepp.: 3–17 (15)More LessDiagrams are increasingly used to present complex and abstract information. Their ultimate success as tools for communication depends largely upon how effectively they can be processed in the mind of the viewer. The application of established principles of graphic design is a vital part of developing effective diagrams, but tends to focus upon external aspects of representation that apply at a general level across a wide range of subject domains. However, the internal (mental) representation of a specific set of subject matter is also important in influencing what sense viewers make of a diagram. The task of characterising relationships between the way a diagram is represented mentally and the effectiveness with which that diagram is processed poses novel challenges to researchers. This paper decribes some of these challenges and discusses methodologies that have been developed to explore the mental representation and processing of explanatory diagrams.
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Persistence in memory of the surface organization of simple maps as performance aids
Author(s): Ernst Z. Rothkopf, Mary E. Koether and Marjorie J. Billingtonpp.: 19–27 (9)More LessThe surface organization of performance aids such as maps or diagrams can affect decisions even when the relevant information has been mastered and decisions are made from memory. We tested this conjecture by providing three different types of maps as performance aids for routing decisions. The maps were realistic, straightened, or diagrammatic. Through extensive practice, very accurate performance was achieved even when the performance aid was no longer available. After 200 decisions made from memory, decision time was nearly stable (asymptotic), but diagrammatic map subjects were still about 500 msecs faster than those who used more realistic maps. The observed aftereffects of the structure of performance aids are congruent with the usual conceptions of mental models in that they reflect productive memorial structures. Our findings suggest that inappropriately organized informative materials may exact a toll even after their content is mastered.
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Conversation with Erik Spiekermann
Author(s): Robin Kinross and Erik Spiekermannpp.: 29–40 (12)More LessThis conversation was recorded in Berlin in April 1992, in time snatched from a hectic working day. Erik Spiekermann is a German graphic designer, who has specialized in information design and typeface design. He worked in London in the 1970s, and since 1981 has worked in Berlin, as a partner in MetaDesign. In 1989, the practice expanded to become 'MetaDesign plus'. Spiekermann is also a partner in FontShop, established in 1989 as a retailer of typeface software, with branches in Europe and North America.The main topic of this conversation is the work being undertaken by MetaDesign for the transport authority in Berlin - the BVG. Other issues discussed are recent debates over typography and legibility, and the critical discussion of typography. In the course of the exchange, the real processes of design are exposed - in a way that more formal discourse cannot do. The text given here has been transcribed from the tape-recording, with minimum editing.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 28 (2023)
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Volume 27 (2022)
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Volume 26 (2021)
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Volume 25 (2019)
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Volume 24 (2018)
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Volume 23 (2017)
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Volume 22 (2016)
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Volume 21 (2014)
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Volume 20 (2013)
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Volume 19 (2011)
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Volume 18 (2010)
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Volume 17 (2009)
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Volume 16 (2008)
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Volume 15 (2007)
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Volume 14 (2006)
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Volume 13 (2005)
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Volume 12 (2004)
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Volume 11 (2002)
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Volume 10 (2000)
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Volume 9 (1998)
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Volume 8 (1995)
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Volume 7 (1993)
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Volume 6 (1990)
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Volume 5 (1986)
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Volume 4 (1984)
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Volume 3 (1982)
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Volume 2 (1981)
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Volume 1 (1979)
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