HD·ID·01 Basic
Foundations of Information Design
Making complexity legible.
Information design is the discipline of organising and presenting data, processes, and systems so they can be understood quickly and accurately. This course introduces the field's core concerns, clarity over decoration, accuracy over persuasion, and distinguishes it from graphic design's broader visual communication remit.
In Development
This course's full module content is being written. The outline below is final, subscribe for updates when it publishes.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- 01 Define information design and distinguish it from decorative graphic design
- 02 Explain why clarity and accuracy are the discipline's primary success criteria
- 03 Identify the major sub-fields of information design
- 04 Evaluate an existing information design artifact for legibility and accuracy
- 05 Apply a basic audience-and-task analysis before designing an information artifact
- Clarity and accuracy outrank decoration
- Information design is a subset of, not identical to, graphic design
- Design for the task, not just the dataset
- Different audiences need different levels of detail from the same data
- Sub-fields share purpose but differ in medium and constraints
- This course is the shared foundation for the more specialised courses that follow
- Legibility is empirical, not aesthetic judgment alone
- Constraints should shape the design brief from the outset
- Test comprehension, not just impression
- A polished-looking chart can still fail its communicative job