Sustainable typography

We need to radically re-think typography for text-rich business documents & publications (not referring to books). Most designers assume people have time to read. In reality the following occurs: Observations:

1) We browse/forage (71%) then read (11%)

2) People have different time tolerances and requirements for detail i.e. the same information is required to different levels of detailing dependent on the time the reader can allocate to it (Senior directors will have less time than juniors).

3) People want choice as to whether they wish to view information on paper, i-phone, PowerPoint or via web/screen.

4) Most publications do not follow the cognitive principles of how we are Œwired‚ to interpret visual signals.

Message-based Design & Message-based Writing (MBD/MBW) is a system that addresses these 4 points and allows key messages to be understood prior to reading simply by scanning the page with its embedded Œvisual hooks‚ to draw the reader in. Thus it overcomes Œfilter failure‚ a phrase coined and first used by Clay Shirky at the Web 2.0 Expo. It collapses to a summary and exploits the way we are wired. Additionally it caters for up to 4 time tolerances of readers and morphs‚ from paper to screen effortlessly.

green ID, an exchange conference on June30/July1 2011, will focuse on "green", sustainable information design covering not only concerns of ecological production, recycling, disposal but also such of effective planning in the forefront.

greenID exchange forum sets out to discuss:
• How to plan sustainable information design strategies?
• How to adjust media-use?
• How to (re)design information channels?
• How to communicate improvements?
- in the design process?
- in individual projects and business?
• How to influence users/customers behaviour, reactions and benefits?
• How to evaluate reactions and users benefits?

Message-based Design (MBD) & Message-based Writing (MBW) reduces the need to read every part of a document and encouraging screen version to be read rather than rather than paper one, so impacting on the amount of paper used (‘Sustainable Typography’)

My research interests & activities
My research interests relate to ways of coping with information overload which has become a real issue across all sectors of industry. This has led me to evolve an approach I call Message –based Design & Writing. This essentially is a system that allows readers to obtain the essence of a page/screen by browsing/scanning and then reading. It also allows readers who have different time tolerances to obtain only what they want, hence reducing number of pages required.(it is related to Sustainable Typography). Additionally, it 'morphs' from paper to screen media.

Also evolving a 'componentized kit' for creating any type of graph, chart, table, diagram & map. This was created for Rothschild, an old French Merchant Bank based in London & Paris. (submitted in 2008 RAE).

Since economists and statisticians are the ones having to cope with data, I have always thought it sensible that they should appreciate how information design can facilitate communicating data clearly. Hence why I am doing a lunchtime presentation at the Open University conference mentioned above.