Module 5 - The Tools of Information Design II

Some of the most simplest of tactics and changes that we make to documents, websites, pictures, brochures, and other forms of physical media are tools used in Information Design. The first tool that is shown in the picture to your right is Type Styling. 

"The styling of type is another key way to differentiate types of information and establish a sense of hierarchy (Baer 94)."

Through the utilization of different fonts and type styles, one can use this as a tool to differentiate information provided. I have used this as an example above by adjusting the font used to quote Baer's book, instead of using the font for my own blog information.



A second tool that can be and has been utilized in most every day information creation is Weight and Scale. Notice how by adjusting the weight or boldness of the font and the scale, or size of the font, I have drawn your eyes directly to those three words. This is how this tool of information design is implemented and utilized to grab attention of the target audience. 

A third Information Design tool is the use of grouping. By grouping or clustering information, this allows the target audience to quickly locate the information they are looking for (106). Take for example the grouping on the periodic table of elements to the left. They have been grouped into different categories (Alkali, Alkali-Earth, Transition,  Rare Earth, etc) which allows you to easily find the element you're looking for based on the group it is in. However, this table has unbeknownst to many utilized another tool of information design, Color.

 


Color is an extremely important tool for an information designer because how effective it is to convey differentiation as show above in the periodic table. Color also provides a sense of wayfinding which allows audiences to scan text quickly and isolate important data such as subheadings and bullet points (90).








These are just a few of the many basic elements in design creation that are known as Information Design Tools. Without the use of these basic modifications of data and information, people would get lost in the sea of text and words and find themselves spending way too much time trying to decipher the message in the text. Nowadays everyone's time is precious and clocked by the second, so it pays to make meaningful graphics and use these tools to efficiently convey the message required. 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, be safe and enjoy !

-AP

Baer, Kim, and Jill Vacarra. Information Design Workbook: Graphic Approaches, Solutions, and Inspiration 30 Case Studies. Beverly, MA: Rockport, 2008. Print