From the course: Layout and Composition: Marketing Material/Collateral

Making information accessible

From the course: Layout and Composition: Marketing Material/Collateral

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Making information accessible

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- At ArtCenter we have one entire term dedicated to information design. Subsequently, every assignment includes information requiring legible and lucid solutions. Yes, I know, info design sounds like it can't be that complicated. After all, how many ways can one design a train or bus schedule? Isn't it just rows of train stations and times? But like all types of graphic design, there are countless ways to do this. Some are legible and others are impossible to understand. Most websites and printed materials exist to present a message and information. Whether the content is about the product or service, a timetable, costs, styles, or lists, the reader needs to access the information clearly and quickly. The number one culprit of illegible information is small type. I know it looks nice and leaves beautiful negative space, but it fails if the reader can't see it without a magnifying glass. I worked with a designer once who designed the safety information for a cruise ship cabin with six point type. It was beautiful, but when a boat is sinking passengers need to find the lifeboats. The second culprit is an unintelligible hierarchy. The designer treats every type of information with the same priority and the viewer can't discern the headlines from the captions or find the dates. I'm a firm believer in making information as straightforward as possible. Why make life more complex and stressful? First, work with a consistent grid. It's a great help to organize content and create consistency and balance. Second, maintain a simple type of graphic system. Headlines are always the same. Type set the dates and times consistently and manage places differently. Third, provide enough white space for the viewer to read. If the page is overflowing top to bottom with dense copy, most people will just give up. Images are another way to convey information. When I need the images to explain something, I use images that are clear and specific. Unless one is communicating a dark and somber tone, muddy and hard to read photos don't work. The viewer wants to understand what they are seeing. At times, the words and images may not be enough to clarify the information. In these cases, add a diagram or chart. If so, design the chart to be legible and easy to comprehend with the same typographic and colors used elsewhere. How many times have you tried to put together a bookcase based on a confusing brochure of vague diagrams? Information design is a vast and exciting subject. Regardless of the complexity or novelty of a solution, the need is always the same. Make something unclear clear, and you can never have too much clarity.

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