Customer Reviews

Visual Language for Designers: Principles for Creating Graphics that People Understand

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the best books around on applying (perceptual/cognitive/research) psychological principals to graphics and visualizations. This book really stands out for three reasons, it's concise (but not overly brief) discussion of relevant psychology (memory/cognition/perception) plus the incredible examples for graphic designers and the set of references. The closest competitors are books by Few Now You See It: Simple Visualization Techniques for Quantitative Analysis (which covers similar psych issues but is horribly wordy) or Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data (which reads well but focuses more on clean scientific graphs) or the famous books by Tufte . Relative to other books, this one has a great deal more information on how to integrate art with information. After the book you will see graphics and think about how a designer could have done a better job in guiding the reader's eye to the intended information in a poster or how to design a better handout showing a process like how part of the body works or how to put together a complicated device. The graphics in the book REALLY stand out and support the authors writing. As a researcher I hate to see people state "facts" or "hypotheses" about how people think without providing supporting evidence. This book has a very respectable set of references. So, rather than pontificating about the "right" way to do graphics there are references to relevant (experimental psych) articles.

Basically, this book is the complete package. It could be a great coffee table book or on a shelf in a scientific library.

This book provides a wide-ranging and practical understanding of how humans interpret visual information, then describes principles for applying that knowledge to the creation of compelling, memorable and informative graphics. So often, graphic designers are trained to think in terms of visual elegance, but not in terms of how people perceive graphical information. This book fills in the knowledge gap for graphic designers as well as instructional designers and other professionals wondering how to best transmit complex information in a graphical format.

The collection of hundreds of contemporary graphic and information designs from around the world is stunning, and could have made a coffee table book or inspiration book on their own. The substantive text leads the reader on a journey to better understand the human mind and learn how to create more profound and valuable graphics. Expect this book to become a classic in design circles.

This beautifully designed and printed how-to book contains hundreds of images that are organized into chapters that explain a variety of key principles of visualization, from how to manipulate a viewer's eye to simplifying data and images. Most of the graphics in the book are spectacular while others aren't as effective at visualizing their content, but each one teaches a lesson and was chosen for that purpose. As the former director of information graphics at Newsweek and now a university instructor who teaches students how to visualize information, this book is as useful for professionals as it is for people who are new to the field of visualization, even though they may not have the skills to create many of the graphics shown. The fundamental principals of visualization outlined here apply to all ranges of imagery, from the fancy 3D model to an a simple idea scribbled on a napkin.

After getting this book I was initially surprised and pleased in its presentation starting with it's cover and size, but it went downhill from there - well written but, for some reason after paging/reading through the book I only found a few of the graphic images to be above average, nothing outstanding. I cannot put my finger on it but I found that the images while somewhat supporting the text were not inspiring in them selves and in fact quite boring.

Using others work to support the ideas in the text is a good idea, but only after an original presentation by the author is made. I suspect that maybe they 'talked' and appealed to the author or why use them so they maybe reflect her sense of artistic appeal, and obviously connection to the points she is making. I'm thinking of returning it as it is not compelling. I gave it 3 stars for it's written content and attempt to provide supporting graphics associations but, for a graphics book, it is just not inspiring - I was looking for more.

That said, the cover design, book layout and presentation of the material is excellent.

After doing this review I re-read some of the other reviews as they played an important role in my purchase. I find some now suspicious IMHO.

Update - After working with the book I have lowered my rating - the graphics are outdated and not really connected to the point. I was/am looking for more original implementation of taking ideas and then by example filling in the graphical canvas - seeing how the author walks his talk so to speak. I was looking for more 'hands on help', and not hand waving on visual communication pointing to others creations. This book may be of more use to someone who is already well along (with talent too) in graphics design and implementation sense and not a beginner like me. I did purchase other books at the same time in this category and a couple of them have been outstanding.

Educational and entertaining are the two words that come to mind when considering this book. As an educator, those are two of the highest compliments I can grant a book. The graphics illustrate the author's points beautifully and are informative themselves which adds to the value. Malamed is an exceptional writer with wonderful word choices and phrasing that enhances the reading experience. I feel more competent in my ability to really look at graphic design and now consider the various aspects behind the visual representation. Employing this as a "coffee table" book will provide interest to anyone who browses through it so I suggest not hiding it on a bookshelf.

This book is very well written and easy to follow. It contains a great introduction to the principles of graphic design. It clearly outlines various principles through the use of examples and then provides practical advice for applying those principles to your work. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in creating more understandable and engaging infographics!

This is the best book on meaningful design that I have ever encountered. It's well-written, clear, and packed with a wide variety of examples of thoughtful and powerful design.

Graphic designers have the power to make sense of information in ways that transcends language, and Malamed shows them how to do it right.

Malamed's approach to the subject is uniquely holistic. She successfully guides readers through fundamental design principles, deep research into cognition, and further research into human emotion. I've never encountered a book that even attempts to juggle all of these important concepts.

What's particularly new and useful is the attention given to emotional design. Many information designers scoff at design flourishes as being distracting or unnecessary "fluff" or "junk." Malamed teaches designers to recognize the power of artistry in making designs more eye-catching, more memorable, and more emotionally resonant. There's no need to eschew beauty when it can be a powerful teaching tool.

As we continue to be inundated by data and information, I can only hope that more designers pick up and read this excellent book. At the very least, it's full of beautiful pictures!

The most striking thing about this book is the collection of images. HUNDREDS of images, incredible, eye-catching, fascinating examples of effective ways to communicate information visually. Most pages have at least 2-3 large images, with detailed captions, to illustrate the principles in the text. It looks and feels like a beautiful coffee table book (and more fun to flip through!), big and glossy, even though it has way more informative content than a coffee table book. Kudos to the author for finding so many excellent examples of the things she writes about, from both the U.S. and around the world -- if a picture is worth a thousand words, then this book is a treasure trove!

As an educational tool for students and professionals, the information in this book is a wonderful, clear summary of the smartest information in the field. Even for someone who is not a designer, the book is fascinating to browse through, and there's so much to be learned.

This book is amazing. First of all, it's large and beautifully printed, in full color, on great paper -- not very many publishers will spend that kind of money these days. It is full of lush visual design examples with explanations of the principle that each graphic is demonstrating. The author knows visual design as well as psychology and the book has a lot of depth. She explains and then demonstrates principles such as mental models, schema, proximity and grouping and much more. If you design, interpret, analyze or are just fascinated by what makes a visual well designed, this is a must get book.

First, this book is gorgeous. Your eyes will feast on the many, full-color, high-quality images from designers all over the world. But more important, the examples are organized into principles that will help you create graphics that help people understand what you are saying and remember your message as well. I go back to this book regularly and always learn something new.