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U101 Design Thinking…
Design Space 1: Self
Design Space 2: Groups
Design Space 3: Society
Design Space 4: Global
UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
Communicating
with Graphics
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
Communicating
with Graphics
Aims:
To stimulate your interest in, and increase your
awareness of the use of graphics as universal
communication devices;
•
1.
•
2. To develop your ability to appraise critically the
use of graphics as a means of informing people;
•
3.
To develop your skills in creating appropriate and
informative graphics for universal communication.
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
What do you think this is?
What do you think it represents?
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
Here is some colour differentiation to help.
It could perhaps be a tapestry – a woven
wall hanging or carpet. Perhaps the most
easily recognised part of it is what appears
to be a simple representation of a human
being about three-quarters of the way
down it. But then what is the figure at the
bottom? A monster? A dalek from outer
space? And if these two parts of the overall
pattern are indeed representations of a
human being and some other being, what
do all the other shapes represent?
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
The patterns of dark and light, or solid and
void, or ones and zeros, are, in fact, not
‘just patterns’, but form a message. It was
a message sent out as a set of radio pulses
from Earth into space in 1974.
The radio pulses were just a set of on/off pulses (or ones and zeros). The
repeating pattern comprises 1679 such pulses. 1679 is the product of two
prime numbers, 23 x 73. If the pulses are translated or reinterpreted into a
23 x 73 grid array and represented graphically as dark/light cells in the
array, then the result is as shown. Contained within that graphic display is
indeed a representation of a human being; but the ‘being’ at the bottom is
a representation of the Arecibo radio telescope from which the message
was sent.
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
QuickTime™ and a
Graphics decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
U101 Design Thinking…
Another example of a message sent from
Earth – a metal plaque aboard the Pioneer
10 spacecraft, sent on its way out of the
solar system towards possible capture by
other beings. The plaque is engraved with
graphic images, some of them with the
same meaning as the Arecibo radio
message. Do you recognise the two human
beings? Do you think they represent
typical human beings? Do you recognise
their ‘peaceful’ body language? Do you
think other beings, somewhere in outer
space, would recognise the same things?
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
QuickTime™ and a
Graphics decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
U101 Design Thinking…
Despite the problem of shared meanings
between Earthlings and Otherlings,
graphic representations were used in both
the Arecibo message and the Pioneer
plaque in attempts to communicate with
beings who could not be expected to share
any other ‘language’ with us. Graphics
therefore seem to have a potential for
communicating across time and space and
culture.
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
But there are obvious limitations to the
complexity and subtlety of messages that
can be conveyed by graphics; that is why
we use verbal and written communication
so much more extensively than graphics.
Western forms of writing have apparently
developed from graphic means of
recording and communicating messages,
such as hieroglyphics. Some other forms
of writing, such as Chinese, are quite
closely based on underlying graphical
representations of meaning.
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
As international travel and cross-cultural
communication increases, there is an increase
in the use of graphics instead of, or as a
supplement to, writing. This is particularly
evident in places such as airports, where
graphic devices are increasingly used on
directional and other information displays, and
are increasingly becoming internationally
standardised. But cultural differences can still
lead to misunderstandings, and the meaning of
each symbol or image is still something that is
learned; experienced travellers recognise the
meaning of more of the graphic devices than do
inexperienced travellers.
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
Where it is necessary to communicate to
people who have different languages,
graphics can be used as a ‘language-free’
medium. For example, the Swedish company
IKEA uses only pictures (sometimes
including numbers, but no words) to
communicate the assembly instructions for
its furniture, sold throughout the world.
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
Observation Activity
Look around you for examples of
everyday uses of graphic devices. Are
their meanings obvious, or have you
learned the meanings?
Record some examples (draw, photo,
scan). Share with other students.
design library
my design portfolio
skills bank
design forum
design thinking game
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
U101 Design Thinking…
Highlight on Resources: There are many - especially Tufte.
Envisioning Information, Tufte
Find it on Amazon
Beautiful Evidence, Tufte
Find it on Amazon
Design Space 4
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UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATION
design library
my design portfolio
skills bank
design forum
design thinking game
U101 Design Thinking…
 Design Task
Students are asked to create graphics
as substitutes for words (e.g. converting
written instructions to graphical ones)
and data (e.g. converting tables to
graphs/charts).
Possibles:
Menu aids (starter/main course/dessert)
Slow-food restaurant
Signs for new international situations: internet cafe,
electric car recharging point, recycling - separation of
materials, child-safe area, lost baggage
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