2011 / Keep me informed

Keep me informed

Human beings have always wanted to know more things, but have an easier time finding them out. This is why we invented both verbal and visual languages: they help us learn from others and convey what we know. In a minutely interconnected world, crowded with signs and messages, communication requires an effort on everyone’s part: those deciding on its contents, those designing its form, those sending it out and those receiving it.

Having an unambiguous access to information can only be guaranteed by a type of design that puts man’s needs first. Information design makes a message clearer and more effective, translating it into images: the roots of this discipline are fairly deep and determine the cognitive, aesthetical, psychological and theoretical principles of communication; its best results are simplicity and completeness.
A sign in an airport is only clear if it helps visitors arrive at the boarding gate on time; a good digital interface is only so if it lets everyone access sophisticated digital information. But the fields of information design can be infinite: we have to create things that actually improve people’s lives and help them navigate complex realities, facilitating the grasp of necessary concepts and exceeding cultural barriers. The key of all of this is to be found in the universal language of images.

"If men were able to judge themselves and their environment scientifically, they could also be able to expand their collaborations in an atmosphere of peace; the more man is able to collaborate, the more modern he is".
Otto Neurath