A visual thinking assignment

This is an assignment for students in the information design program at Bradley University. But anyone else is welcome to try it as well.

Your assignment is to read and synthesize two articles by Kevin Kelly, and create visual communication materials that clearly and visually communicate the key concepts in a visual form. There are two products that you will create for this assignment:

1. A 24-inch by 36-inch poster designed to be hung on the wall. This poster should not require anyone to explain it -- it should fully explain itself, including why you should read it.

2. A brief PowerPoint presentation that can be delivered in 5 minutes or less. This is designed to be presented by a speaker. In fact, you will present it and your presentation will be part of your grade.

Here is a link where you can download the files.

This assignment is due Monday November 6, or Tuesday November 7, depending on which section you are in.

If you have questions about the assignment please post them as comments on my blog, Communication Nation.

Good luck!

Update: The assignments are complete! And the project was a lot of fun. See the results.

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Greetings from San Diego!

I am in San Diego for a couple of days for a board meeting. If you are nearby and want to hook up you can text message me at +1-314-496-6129 and I will reply with my location -- if I can figure out where I am!

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A brief history of LEGO

Check out this fun read" The history of the LEGO.

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Job opening at XPLANE

We have an opening for a Senior Information Designer at XPLANE. If you're qualified and interested I encourage you to apply. Here's some more information on the opening:

XPLANE is a global leader in visual communication and we are looking a Senior Information Designer to join our creative team. You will work with top managers from Fortune 500 companies around the world to creatively visualize complex processes and technologies.

Qualified candidates will demonstrate skills in visual communication, process mapping, creative direction, people management and business technology. We will also be looking for strong organizational and interpersonal skills.

Computer skills: Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, and any capability with Web 2.0 tools a plus.

Education/Experience: College degree in visual communication, information design or journalism is preferred. Five years of real world experience is required.

Travel: You will typically spend at least 5 days out of town per month. A passport will be necessary.

Salary/Benefits: Salary is commensurate with experience and we offer a complete benefits package.

Send your resume along with 3 samples of your best work to Scott Matthews, Managing Partner, XPLANE, at smatthews@xplane.com. No phone calls.

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Beautiful sky in Toronto

Beautiful sky in Toronto, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

There were some beautiful skies in Toronto yesterday. The light reminded me of paintings by Spanish realist Antonio Lopez.

If you happen to live in or near Toronto I will be here all weekend (Sept. 9-10, 2006) and want to socialize a bit and enjoy the city. If you'd like to connect text message me at +1-314-496-6129 and I will reply with my location.

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A day in the life of Google

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Visual thinking workshop in Toronto

A while back I asked if any of you would be interested in workshops. Well thanks to your feedback, I am giving a 3-hour visual thinking workshop in Toronto on September 8, 2006. The title of the workshop will be "The Power of Pictonics: Using Visualizations to Tell Your Technology Story."

I am really looking forward to this.

There will be plenty of hands-on exercises to help you hone your visual thinking and storytelling skills. You'll also learn some of the "secret sauce" that goes into making visual explanations.

This will be a pretty special event, to be held in the beautiful and hi-tech MaRS convergence and innovation center in the downtown Discovery District. It also happens to coincide with the Toronto film festival, one of the best film festivals in North America in my opinion. So if you've been meaning to visit Toronto you couldn't pick a better time.

You can get more information on the workshop here.

The workshop is on a friday, so if you're in or near the Toronto area, join me for the workshop, then stay the weekend and enjoy some first-run films!

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Evolution of the speech balloon

"Here you can study various experiments and variations and the gradual change from bands to balloons. Even the later examples sometimes have tiny leftovers of the 'bands' on the other side of the balloon."

Thank you xblog.

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Logical paradox

Logical paradox, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

What do you think?

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Animals on the underground

Seventeen years ago, Paul Middlewick was on his way to work when he noticed an elephant staring at him from the London Underground map. Since then he has discovered birds, whales, and emu and even a wombat, not to mention the fish shown here.

Take a look.

Thanks again arno!

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Fun with index cards

Since August 8, a blogger sporting the mysterious name Old Bag has been posting a series of pretty hilarious diagrams on index cards, at a rate of several cards per day.

If you like this one there's plenty more at indexed.

Thanks to arno and Josh for the link.

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Unreasonable requests

What is an unreasonable request? According to Lisa Haneberg:

"Unreasonable requests are big requests that you are generally too chicken to make. Outrageous requests make great things happen. A well formulated request, when accepted by the person you ask, can reroute your progress and enable you to zoom to success.

Unreasonable requests that are turned down can also serve as important catalysts because often a compromise solution is offered that is still higher than you would have normally expected. Mahatma Gandhi said, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” and I believe this to be true."

Matt Homann on unreasonable requests

Curt Rosengren on unreasonable requests

Here's my unreasonable request: Watch this video. Then leave a comment with your unreasonable request.

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The resume of the future

Paul Goode just sent me my first video message.

This video thing is definitely the wave of the future. There used to be financial barriers to this kind of thing. Publishing is rapidly becoming the province of everyone who has a computer and internet access. The walls continue to crumble.

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On the road with Steve Smith

Steve Smith is a local blogger and entrepreneur here in St. Louis. Last week he took me on a drive and since I wanted an excuse to learn about iMovie I decided to videoblog the experience. If you live in or are interested in St. Louis Steve is a fascinating character. Check out his blog for more.

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Design meme: think orthogonal

Stand out from the pack, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

KAYO books in San Francisco has discovered a wonderful way to make a very ordinary storefront feel lively and inviting. A lot of good thinking and a little work makes the store stand out on a street where a lot of signs compete for your attention. The design works because the designer decided to stand out by thinking orthogonally.

Are you designing anything? If so, take a moment to think of a really simple way to make your design stand out from the pack. Is there a way your design can be "orthogonal" to its competitors?

Think orthogonal.

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