Visual Communication Design

Meredith Davis and Jamer Hunt

Where do design principles come from? Are they abstract "rules" established by professionals or do they have roots in human experience? And if we encounter these visual phenomena in our everyday lives, how do designers use them to attract our attention, orient our behavior, and create compelling and memorable communication that stands out among the thousands of messages we confront each day? Today's work in visual communication design shifts emphasis from simply designing objects to designing experiences; to crafting form that acknowledges cognitive and cultural influences on interpretation. In response, Meredith Davis and Jamer Hunt provide a new slant on design basics from the perspective of audiences and users. Chapters break down our interactions with communication as a sequence of meaningful episodes, each with related visual concepts that shape the interpretive experience. Explanatory illustrations and professional design examples support definitions of visual concepts and discussions of context. Work spans print, screen, and environmental applications from around the world. This introduction to visual communication design demystifies the foundational concepts that underpin professional design decisions and shape our experiences in a complex visual world.

Uses the organisational framework of audience/user experience giving students a better understanding of the purpose of design

ForewordCHAPTER 1 - The importance of formThe relationship between form and context: Goodness of fitForm and meaningA little bit of history: Twentieth-century attitudes toward "good form"New practices: The changing context for contemporary designThe shift in attention from artifact to experienceHow this book is organizedCHAPTER 2 - Getting attentionIntroductionContrastFigure-GroundCamouflageColorSize constancyScaleProportionProximityFocusLayeringSymmetry/AsymmetryClosureContinuitySeries and SequencesPatternRhythm and PacingMotionSummaryCHAPTER 3 - Orienting for use and interpretive behaviorIntroductionAffordancesChannelMedium and FormatFeedbackWayfindingMappingHierarchyReading PatternGroupingEdge RelationshipsDirectionPoint of ViewSummaryCHAPTER 4 - Interpreting, interacting, and experiencingIntroductionLegibility and ReadabilityDenotation and ConnotationFramingAbstractionIcon, Index, and SymbolMaterialitySubstitutionMetaphorParallel FormAppropriationAmbiguityCognitive DissonanceSummaryCHAPTER 5 - Extending and retaining meaningIntroductionSchemas and StereotypesNarrativeArchetypesMnemonicsChunkingRedundancyGraphic IdentityBrandingSummaryCONCLUSIONBibliographyIndex