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

Foreword
CHAPTER 1 - The importance of form
The relationship between form and context: Goodness of fit
Form and meaning
A little bit of history: Twentieth-century attitudes toward "good form"
New practices: The changing context for contemporary design
The shift in attention from artifact to experience
How this book is organized

CHAPTER 2 - Getting attention
Introduction
Contrast
Figure-Ground
Camouflage
Color
Size constancy
Scale
Proportion
Proximity
Focus
Layering
Symmetry/Asymmetry
Closure
Continuity
Series and Sequences
Pattern
Rhythm and Pacing
Motion
Summary

CHAPTER 3 - Orienting for use and interpretive behavior
Introduction
Affordances
Channel
Medium and Format
Feedback
Wayfinding
Mapping
Hierarchy
Reading Pattern
Grouping
Edge Relationships
Direction
Point of View
Summary

CHAPTER 4 - Interpreting, interacting, and experiencing
Introduction
Legibility and Readability
Denotation and Connotation
Framing
Abstraction
Icon, Index, and Symbol
Materiality
Substitution
Metaphor
Parallel Form
Appropriation
Ambiguity
Cognitive Dissonance
Summary

CHAPTER 5 - Extending and retaining meaning
Introduction
Schemas and Stereotypes
Narrative
Archetypes
Mnemonics
Chunking
Redundancy
Graphic Identity
Branding
Summary


CONCLUSION

Bibliography
Index