Everybody wants their message to stand out. However, messages often get lost in the fog of competing information. In December, my friend and colleague, Ryan Coleman, did a great Ignite presentation on designing for visual efficiency called “Why is Waldo so !#@%ing Hard to Find”. As with all Ignite presenations, it’s fast (just about 5 minutes) and filled with information. He does a great job of explaining how the brain processes what it sees and what that implies for designing your message. Take a look:
Ignite Toronto 2: Ryan Coleman – Designing for visual efficiency from Ignite Toronto on Vimeo.
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Does this stuff really work? Ask that question to people in the visualization space and you’ll likely get a lot of great stories about an event or meeting or personal encounter where one visualization approach or another radically improved an outcome. That’s great, but where’s the solid research? Over the last 6 months I’ve gone on an exhaustive search beyond the anecdote for any research related to visualization. I’ve talked to industry experts and professors, searched databases, and read thousands of pages of academic research. One of the most prolific and interesting researchers of our day is Martin Eppler, researcher and [...]
Some people would definitely think the process of creating a visual is some form of magic requiring some ability to conjure something from nothing. The myth of left brain/right brain reinforces the false notion that creativity is something that only belongs to a special, magical few. The reality is that, like magic, there is a science to visualization, that it can be learned, it requires practice, and anyone can do it!
Last week, I attended the presentation of Jamy Ian Swiss, magician extraordinaire, at the Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Visitor Series at the University of Michigan‘s School of Art & Design. Followers of visual [...]
