Who Is...

Richard Saul Wurman
Richard Saul Wurman is a designer famous for his information design, or as he likes to call it "information architecture." He created that word back in 1976 as a way to differentiate the work he created in comparison to other branches of design like interior and industrial design. He chose the word "architecture" as he felt it "was a clearer word that had to do with systems that worked and performed." He also felt like the art of displaying information was a form of architecture because the process of accurately creating visual information from data precisely needed a series of systems and systematic design. It takes a whole different kind of thinking from traditional graphic design. Though both have the main focus of visually communicating a message, Wurman's information architecture takes an insane amount of precision, concentration and accuracy to be legitimate.

To sum up his whole theory on information design, he states "The only way to communicate is to understand what it is like not to understand. It is at that moment that you can make something understandable."

http://www.informationdesign.org/special/wurman_interview.htm


Nigel Holmes

Nigel Holmes is an explanation designer from England. He began is career as a freelance designer and eventually got a job as a graphic artist for Time magazine and specialized in his explanation graphics. After 16 years at Time, Holmes again became a freelance graphic artist as well as a lecturer and an author of books on the various areas of informational design. He later started his own company and has since created images for clients such as Nike, Apple, Sony and Visa, as well as with publications like Harper's and The New York Times.


www.nigelholmes.com


Edward Tufte

Called the "Leonardo di Vinci of data" by the New York Times, Edward Tufte really is a renaissance man of the informational design and data analysis world. Currently a professor at Yale, Tufte began his career at Princeton as a political economy and data analysis instructor. It was there that he developed his work and understanding of compiling data into effective visual information. He created the word "chartjunk" to describe useless and ineffective displays of quantitative information. He argues that every element and drop of ink used in a graphic must be in someway informative. It otherwise distorts the actual data that it is meant to display. Viewers trying to interpret huge amounts of statistics and numerical data can be either confusing or simply boring and Tufte is very serious about creating captivating images.


www.edwardtufte.com