Customer Reviews

Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

People seem to either love Bob Horn's book "Visual Language" or they hate it. Look at the reviews here on Amazon! The key questions is: Why such a polarizing? To me it means that Horn has written a paradigm-busting, pathfinding, boundary-crossing, far-out book -- one that removes our blinders from a phenomenon that is happening all around us, namely a new international, auxiliary language that is emerging. No wonder it arouses controversy.

Some of the top people in interface design, technical writing, information design and web design have written 5-star reviews for Visual Language on Amazon. They praise its exploration of a whole new territory, and like its systematic treatment of the new syntax, semantics and pragmatics of this language. And they note that Horn is not only describing a trend, but pushing the envelope a bit further.

The detractors seem to be graphic artists who are threatened by Horn's deliberately provocative use of clip art. Or they are people who don't like it that Horn has moved beyond his accomplishment in single-handedly inventing the whole field Information Mapping and structured writing. They want to keep Horn in his box. But some of the best selling books of the last decade have been written in visual language. David Macaulay's "The Way Things Work" is perhaps the most famous example.

Many designers relish the new "texture" of Horn's book -- a texture that results from the dramatic change in the ratio of images to text. Horn is saying bluntly and explicitly, "your communication in visual language has got to reflect what words do best and what images do best -- when they are working together". Horn not only expounds on that message but shows us how it will look on every page. And he explains the systematics of it.

This bothers a lot of people. And it excites even more of us.

This is not a book on layout and design, so if you are in that segment you will probably not like this book. The author's intent is to develop a visual approach for conveying information. The approach itself is a combination of pictures and words structured in a format similar to a comic strip or storyboard. This approach has merit, although it breaks many layout and design rules for aesthetics. This probably accounts for the wide chasm that divides the previous reviewers.

Regardless of whether you buy into the entire approach the main value of this book lies in the education you will receive in the effective use of shapes and images to convey meaning. Prior to reading this book I used intuition, previous experience and a lot of examples when designing documents that relied heavily on graphics.

I came away from this book with the following: (1) a clear idea of how to integrate words, images and shapes to effectively communicate ideas and concepts. (2) Cogitative aspects of certain shapes and forms, singularly or in combination, as metaphors for time, speed and other qualities that you want to impart. (3) How to effectively use space in a diagram to convey information - the chapter on the vocabulary of space, including distance, placement in frames and other spatial techniques was worth the price of the book to me. (4) The ways to develop different diagrams using the same basic information served as an idea catalog for me and has greatly influenced my approach to information visualization.

An additional benefit I personally gained from this book is that it provided me with a solid foundation that makes Edward Tufte's beautifully produced and seminal books more understandable. Before reading this book I struggled with Tufte's Envisioning Information, but did not comprehend many of the subtleties. Armed with the knowledge gained from Visual Language I revisited Tufte's book and saw its beauty and genius. This has added the dimension of aesthetics to the way I produce graphics.

So, while this book breaks a plethora of rules in page layout and design, and the examples are not visually appealing, it does give an approach for effectively conveying information. If you want to understand how to effectively integrate words, images and shapes to convey highly technical concepts or information you will find some excellent ideas in this book, as well as gain an understanding of how they all fit together on a more fundamental level. I give it five stars for the profound influence it has had on my thinking and recommend it to those of us who are not graphic artists.

Visual language, combining text and images, has been around for a long time -- but only in the last two decades, with the rise of desktop publishing and design, has it become commonly accessible. Horn, a pioneer in the field (and inventor of Information Mapping), wants us to acknowledge the power inherent in this melange.

To communicate his case, Horn uses visual language. This makes the book twice as interesting: you, the reader, learn about visual language as you experience it. This book is full of discoveries and demonstrations. Begin it on a lazy weekend and you may not want to stop until you're done.

It's challenging that Horn uses clipart throughout, to make the point that one need not be an artist to write visual language. That may be so; but clipart, despite the ingenuity of its authors, has limitations, especially conceptual banality. Horn is a master; others of us might have more difficulty treating complex issues with visual language based on clipart.

No matter. One can easily envision a more subtle and sublime form of visual communication using more eloquent graphics. VISUAL LANGUAGE remains fun and informative from beginning to end. This book is both a text and a how-to. Read and apply it well!

When I first saw this book I was a bit surprised. My interest in the book came from a personal tendency to convey messages through graphical/drawing means. When I saw this book I expected a book full of descriptions of techniques that could be used to convey messages, etc. Big was my surprise when I opened the book and it was mainly "pictures". Don't get me wrong there is writing as well, but it is mainly used within the context of the graphics on the pages - a completely different ratio than usual.

At first I struggled to read the book as it appeared somewhat unstructured, but as time commenced I started to realize that this was exactly what I expected. The only difference is the author does (sort of) what he preaches. The book is in my opinion a "fair" example of the use of visual language. What better way to learn something that from good examples? Ok, not all examples are equally good, but there are certainly enough good ones.

I find that now, even after I systematically worked through the book, I continuously open it at random spots to ponder some of the ideas and concepts portrayed.

If you buy this book DON'T EXPECT AN EASY READ - it takes careful study to get the value out of the book (from there the only 3 stars), but that value at the end of it worth the effort. Be prepared to be amazed at the richness of visual language. However, it does also get the message across that using "visual language" is far from arbitrary but requires a lot of work and many,many careful considerations.

As a trained and active Information Mapping® practitioner I have come to respect Mr. Horn's genius. This book cements my respect and builds upon his impressive accomplishments in the field of verbal (and now visual) communications. The approach in the book, like Information Mapping® itself, takes some getting used to. Moreover, it can produce some visually ugly pages. In fact, I almost discarded the book based on some of the examples within, but discovered that these eyesores actually did communicate concepts and facts. What makes this book important is the equal importance placed on words, images and shapes, and the recipe for integrating them into a highly visual communications medium. It also provided me with some deep insights about the cognitive aspects of shapes, colors and symbols. If you are looking for a book on page layout and design look elsewhere. If you're an Information Mapping® practitioner, this book will nicely dovetail with the principles of information chunking and integrating graphics that are inherent in that method. I have gained much from this book and have already used the techniques to good effect in a few recent projects. It earns 5 stars in my opinion.

Robert Horn is the Samuel Johnson and the William Shakespeare of visual literacy. He teaches us the rhetoric, grammar, and syntax and then gives us example upon example of visual wisdom.

I felt like a child learning a new language; eager for every fresh term, charmed by each surprising relationship.

The literati and digerati are now joined by the visulati - visual language thinkers who have mastered the principles of visual literacy.

Playful & scholarly, innovative & practical, insightful & comprehensive, informative & provocative, historical & forward-looking -- I give Horn's book on Visual Language five twinkling red-yellow-green-blue-purple stars.

There is something drastically wrong here. I have to assume there truly is useful information hiding somewhere in this book, but the author has done such an exceptional job of disguising it using a variety of visually distressing tactics, that ... I have to assume it! Visual Language? There is not a single page in the entire book that is not screaming at the top of its lungs in deafening confusion. Every page contains a massive quantity of shrunken clipart, dominated by one particularly annoying graphic depiction of a board meeting. _Every_ page that contains that meeting graphic would be better off without it. Not only does it consume valuable visual space which should contain useful information (especially in a book about Visual Language), it lies at the bottoms of the pages, forcing the presentation of information which IS the focus of the page to be printed significantly smaller than its optimum. I physically reject this book. If you need to know how to visually present information in a manner which will not cause your clientele to bolt from the room screaming and clutching their eyes, read the Edward Tufte triumvirate.

When a truly important paradigm shift takes place it is not marked by a sharp edge, but an overlapping blurr of old forms and emerging insights. In spite of this, Horn has the guts to map the emerging phenomenon of visual language with enfettered embrace. He uses his own clip art and Powerpoint like a typewriter, and authors in full text-graphic representation. For those unaccustomed to using graphics as lexical elements, like words, this can seem cluttered and confusing. For those of us who are pioneering this new world it is like seeing visual jazz. Visual Language is sweeping, encyclopedic, experimental, and intentionally radical, in that Horn wants the reader to appreciate that the tight integration of text and graphics is a truly new way of using language, and to see its root nature. There are, of course, precedents and early exemplars. His history of this phenomenon is especially useful, as is his survey of early applications. This is NOT a how to book. It is language philosophy presented in the very medium about which he is writing. Like many pioneering works, it is wonderfully playful and uneven, allowing the reader to see through the surface to the teeming creativity that is driving this new phenomenon. Kudos for Horn!!!

In the early nineties, I have had the rare opportunity of spending almost two solid days in a boot camp on the beautiful island of Kona, Hawaii, with Jim Channon, recognised worldwide as the original pioneer of the corporate visioning process. He was one of the principal instructors & taught the group the art of creating a personal vision quest, starting with personal values & higher purpose all the way to strategic intentions & tactical objectives, using his Advanced Visual Language (AVL). [The power & beauty of AVL is this: Everything pertaining to the quest goes into one single page. Wow! That's really cool!] I was completely mesmerised by his high-speed colour marker illustrations & spell-binding story telling, against the background of soothing but energised music. I even bought a copy of his Basic Strokes Workbook (with video) to keep as a memento.

That's how I got hooked on to the applications of visual language (& visual thinking) in my work & my life.

Since then, I will always lay my hands on & browse any book that has a connection to visual language (& visual thinking) & its applications. Robert Horn's wonderful book is one of them.

To me, VL is very good compendium of tips & techniques on combining & integrating text, graphics & shapes to communicate ideas &/or arguments, despite its shortcomings in some areas. In fact, it is the first in its genre to actually use VL to describe & analyse that language for lay persons. I also like the book's plethora of varied visual examples.

In a nutshell, it covers:

- introduction to the basic concepts of VL;
- concise history of some major innovations that form the core history of the language;
- survey of research on the emerging syntactical & semantic elements of the language;
- guide to the many varied applications of VL;

From my personal perspective, the shortcomings pertain to the relatively light treatment & perfunctory emphasis on multimedia & animations.

Ever since I have learned VL from Jim Channon & further from my own personal & professional explorations with its applications, I have found VL (& visual thinking) can be useful in:

- navigating & visualising complex subjects or issues;
- facilitating brainstorming & creative problem solving;
- fostering critical thinking;
- making group processes visible;
- facilitating project planning & control;
- presenting multiple & diverse points of view;
- facilitating cross-cultural communications;
- exploring deeper personal connections, beliefs & feelings;

On the whole, the book is very well written. Presentation is crisp & concise.

I strongly recommend reading it &/or having a copy in your personal library, if you are generally keen in conveying holistic & complex ideas.

This is a terrible book. It is comically cluttered, almost like a Rube Goldberg contraption of a book! A hundred-and-one steps to do a very simple thing -- that's this book in a nutshell: basic graphic design principles stretched for pages on end...in very bad black and white clip art!!! In fact, I think most of it was quickly drawn on a tablet with a lightpen by the author himself -- that's how bad it is! I swear I think I've seen bad community college student newspapers with better visuals and layout...I can't begin to express my displeasure at having bought this book without amazon censoring my review, except to say that it makes inner-city graffiti look intelligent!!