History of Information Design

Throughout history human beings have sought to communicate with each other and to record their experiences and ideas so that others may share in them. The effectiveness of the communicator to transmit their concept or idea to the receiving party has been a concern throughout time. How does one being transmit a thought, idea, or concept to another being effectively? The sender holds a concept in their thoughts and translates that concept into a symbolic representation that can be transmitted to another party in some form.

Perhaps at some early point in the development of human beings we all possessed the ability to transmit our thoughts and feelings telepathically. However, that doesn't generally seem to be the situation at present. Beginning with the earliest attempts to communicate the need to transmit an idea has generated multiple methods, processes and systems in which to achieve this goal. Systems of symbolic representation have developed all over the world. Many of these systems seem to originate from a common root. Carl Jung, the founder of Analytical Psychology, believed that many common symbols are derived from our "collective unconscious" - sort of a library of symbols that all human beings share.

The primary goal of Information Design has always been to develop methods, processes and systems to achieve effective communication. We may generally think of Information Design as a product of our modern times, but nothing could be further from the truth! We may use modern methods to achieve our communication goals now, but the underlying structure and guiding principles are as old as humanity itself. •