Communicating Knowledge Visually

R. Roger Remington is the Vignelli Distinguished Professorof Design Emeritus and the former director of the VignelliCenter for Design Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York. He was on the faculty at RIT for fifty-seven years. As a scholar, his critical interests are in graphic design history, research, and writing. His commitment to design history and preservation led him to bring the archives of designers of the American Modernist generation to RIT. In 2010, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Vignelli Center, which houses the career archive of designers Massimo and Lella Vignelli and other designers. He has written five books on designers and design history.

In this text, Remington and Pontis break down the innovative philosophy and novel approach that brought Burtin's designs to life and secured his place as one of the great designers of the 20th century.For those who only recognize the name, have never seen his work, or have no clue of Burtin's integral role in contemporary strategic design, this book is for you.

• Foreword by Steven Heller Chapter 1: Introduction A Designer Ahead of his TimeThe Importance of Information Design TodayWill Burtin's Journey to Information DesignA Need for Understanding Chapter 2: An Overview of Will Burtin's Life Beginnings on the RhineA Graphic Designer of German PrecisionModernism in the AirAn Émigré MindA Fresh Career in America Chapter 3: A Designer with an Information Priority Understanding, the FoundationUnderstanding the Information Design ProcessInformation Design's Need for Scientific ThinkingBurtin's Scientific Approach to Visual CommunicationProposed Analytical Framework: Dimensions of Information Design Chapter 4: PurposeFacilitating UnderstandingMetabolism, the Cycle of Life Exhibition Process Box 1. Case Study 1: Metabolism, the Cycle of Life Exhibition (1963) Chapter 5: Problem Defining and FramingThe Brain ExhibitionProcess Box 2. Case Study 2: The Brain Exhibition (1960) Chapter 6: AudienceA Human-Centered ProcessGunner's Information File Project Process Box 3. Case Study 3: Gunner's Information File Project (1944) Chapter 7: Approach A Cooperative Way of WorkingThe Cell Exhibition Process Box 4. Case Study 4: The Cell Exhibition (1958) Chapter 8: OutcomeIntegration of ContentFortune and SCOPE MagazinesProcess Box 5. Case Study 5: SCOPE Magazine (1941-1957) Chapter 9: Practice Conveying the Value of Information Design Information Design Practice TodayVisual Journeys of Will Burtin's Scientific ApproachVisual Aspects of Science Exhibition (1962)The Communication of Knowledge Exhibition (1971) Chapter 10: Education Enhancing Comprehension and CommunicationRethinking Information Design Education Through a Scientific LensSkills and Knowledge for Information DesignersEducating through Information Design Chapter 11: Recommendations and Information Design ImperativesBeing an Information DesignerBringing the Past into the Present of Information Design AcknowledgmentsBibliographyList of Images, Diagrams, and TablesCreditsIndexColophon