Beautiful Evidence

Average customer rating:

Good But Content Diluted, Concept-Elucidation Blurred?

Just incredible.

Tufte B-sides?

What was I thinking?

Beautiful Evidence

Beautiful Evidence
Edward R. Tufte
Manufacturer: Graphics Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition

Envisioning Information

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Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data

Visual & Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Decision Making

ASIN: 0961392177

Customer Reviews:

Good But Content Diluted, Concept-Elucidation Blurred?.......2007-08-15

Yes it is indeed a sad enterprise when an author--runs out of steam. Begins to repeat; begins to dilute. A near-universal in visual art, also in literature. Mark Twain's early travel books ran dynamic, rich--but then at least one later work slowed to show results of fatigue and the end of inspiration. We can call it an issue of Specific Gravity. What is the amount of material compared to the word-count? One speaks of "op-ed books" today, full-length treatments whose gist and essence could have been presented in, say, 1000 words.

Edward Tufte's invaluable first three books show this proportionate packing with material. Just possibly, this fourth and latest book--shows dilution, watering-down, inappropriate repetition. At least one other reviewer has made this point; I suspect so.

But let's accentuate the positives of Tufte's vision--even if imperfectly presented here. New here (among good stuff such as "sparklines") is the indispensable attempt at explicating universal principles of design. Above the Concrete Particulars, the flux of graphs, charts, pictures, etc., what Conceptual Principles can guide us? And the half-dozen issues he identifies, are helpful.

However, the presentation of them is not. Tufte employs Menard's famous graphic of Napoleon's 1811 Russian campaign to illustrate the principles. However, in terms of sheer Information Elucidation, two errors seem to occur.

First, number of examples. To convey difficult concept, more than one example, illustration, instance is needed. We lack a "rounded ensemble" (in my system's terminology) of several and varied instances to better cinch the point. Example: someone trying to convey the idea of a map as more than just an image of the earth's surface, of presenting knowledge, referenced chromosome maps in genetics, weather maps in meteorology, animal range maps in zoology, magnetic field maps in geology, and wiring diagrams in engineering. [Geographer Peter Gould is even better in elucidating how maps are not terrestrial but conceptual, representing relationships between things. He references "maps" of emotional states of married couples, South Pacific geobotanically, New Zealand "in changing aircost space," intellectual winds blowing through psychology journals, my gosh, world journalism, Shakespeare, influenza...] Bravo, a rounded ensemble cinches the concept with polypod footings. Too bad Tufte fell short here as the multiple instances ploy is actually similar to Tufte's own excellent tactic of "Small Multiples."

Second, comparison/contrast, or rather,Tufte's non-use of this keystone principle of thinking-writing-communicating. Only the excellent Menard graphic is shown; he should have either shown a bad attempt by another of the same subject, or created a "ruined" version also of Menard's, given a flawed example. This dualism for each of his universal principles. One thinks of Tufte's own dictum, statistics always asks, "compared to what?" Or, "He who knows not a foreign country knows nothing of his own." Or, to teach freshmen students good qualities of poetry, give a first draft or inferior poem on the same subject as well as Yeats' excellent final-draft "The Old Pensioner." Or give even a triad: as in, a too-lightly- inked graphic, a just-right density, and then an over-inked graphic.

So much for better elucidation of Key Principles. This is more important than the issue of irrelevant items, such as the issues of introductions and of sculptures. A little charity here; it's hard to exclude one's own enthusiasms. But Convergence to Point is also a principle of good communication.

"At least a quintet [of books] is projected," states Tufte. But let him await the wellspring re-filling itself with Heavy Water, not diluted dew. And please use comparison-contrast and multiple examples to cinch point.

Just incredible........2007-07-18

As always Professor Tufte's work in this area just continues to astound me. I have read- and re-read - the other works and this is arguably the most succinct and tight one yet. It operates equally well from 30,000 feet as it does through a macro lens....very well laid out, beautifully executed and remarkable approachable for a wide range of professionals outside the design and graphics industry.

Tufte B-sides?.......2007-07-01

This fourth book in Tufte's series on visual information resembles a disappointing B-sides/greatest hits collection instead of an essential new work. It includes a full reprint of Tufte's recent PowerPoint pamphlet and frequent discussion of topics from earlier books (for example Minard's chart of Napoleon's march into Russia). The final chapter on Tufte's sculptures seems especially misplaced. New material includes exploration of Sparklines, word-sized graphs interspersed among normal text. In the Graphics Press tradition of superior aesthetics, this book contains richly printed images and text on thick paper.
I'd strongly recommend the previous three books in the series, esp. the first one 'The Visual Display of Quantitative Information'. Those who already own those three works can probably skip this new volume.

What was I thinking?.......2007-06-08

If I had gone into a brick and mortar store and thumbed through the pages of this book I would never have purchased it. I'm sorry I just don't get all this artsy type fluff that everyone seems to be so "Tufte-Gong-Ho" about. I was expecting a book from a professional business perspective on insights on how to represent various types of data in the correct visual format. One look at the table of contents gives you the impression that's exactly what this book is. However, when you look at the actual contents, you have pictures and artwork that would never make it in a professional boardroom. The examples are just plain terrible and you would think someone as good as Tufte would be able to represent and communicate concepts in a better format instead of getting nostalgic with historical artwork. Do I really care about David Smith's Cubi XXVI (1965) sculptural volumes! Oh and the slave trade ship pictures on pages 22-23 are a nice touch. Give me a break; I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out what the point of those pictures were in explaining a concept. I just hope I can resell this book and try to recover half the price I paid for it. If you are in corporate America trying to make a living adding value to your company's bottom line, skip this book.

Beautiful Evidence.......2007-05-07

This book should be reviewed by anyone who writes reports or gives presentations. I especially like the author's views on corruption of data and facts.

Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data

Average customer rating:

Buy this Book!
Over-raed approach to stern looking dashboards
Another Tech Book Killed by Frills and Filler
Excellent Treatment of the Material
Great design principles

Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data
Stephen Few
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition

ASIN: 0596100167

Book Description

Dashboards have become popular in recent years as uniquely powerful tools for communicating important information at a glance. Although dashboards are potentially powerful, this potential is rarely realized. The greatest display technology in the world won't solve this if you fail to use effective visual design. And if a dashboard fails to tell you precisely what you need to know in an instant, you'll never use it, even if it's filled with cute gauges, meters, and traffic lights. Don't let your investment in dashboard technology go to waste.

This book will teach you the visual design skills you need to create dashboards that communicate clearly, rapidly, and compellingly. Information Dashboard Design will explain how to:

Avoid the thirteen mistakes common to dashboard design
Provide viewers with the information they need quickly and clearly
Apply what we now know about visual perception to the visual presentation of information
Minimize distractions, cliches, and unnecessary embellishments that create confusion
Organize business information to support meaning and usability
Create an aesthetically pleasing viewing experience
Maintain consistency of design to provide accurate interpretation
Optimize the power of dashboard technology by pairing it with visual effectiveness

Stephen Few has over 20 years of experience as an IT innovator, consultant, and educator. As Principal of the consultancy Perceptual Edge, Stephen focuses on data visualization for analyzing and communicating quantitative business information. He provides consulting and training services, speaks frequently at conferences, and teaches in the MBA program at the University of California in Berkeley. He is also the author of Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten. Visit his website at www.perceptualedge.com.

Customer Reviews:

Buy this Book!.......2007-09-12

This book is great, it gets to the point, tells you what you need to know, provides many examples and is entertaining at the same time. The people who are still fascinated by all the colors in their kids Crayola boxes probably would object to some of Few's points.

Over-raed approach to stern looking dashboards.......2007-09-03

The key elements of dashboard design (avoid clutter, focus and limit visual cues, beware of rainbow colors, carefully chose when to show numbers, tables or (appropriate) graphs), converted in a very lengthy and expensive piece of litterature. And the results is by all accounts debatable in terms of look and feel, in particular as very little attention is given to who your audience is...
I would not recommend this book.

Another Tech Book Killed by Frills and Filler .......2007-09-02

There can be no doubt that the pages of this book contain some of the most original and decisive ideas about dashboard design of any book to come out on the market. Yet this strength cannot quite redeem it. This book is mostly pictures, figures, and graphs, many of which are not needed. The same could be said of dashboards in general. The prose is watered down and childlike, as if the author would spoon feed his ideas, one per chapter, to an infant audience. In the end I am forced to conclude that, like many tech books in HCI, a hard core text filled with complex ideas, lean, well-written chapters, and something like wit is both outside the reach of its authors and outside the bounds of contemporary techie marketing. This book may sell, but it does nothing to promote a sophisticated, confident HCI core at a time when awareness of the profession is still patchy. It will be a great day for HCI when its "Gurus" stop condescending to their audience.

Excellent Treatment of the Material.......2007-08-17

This is an easy to read book which does a fantastic job of conveying the topic material. I strongly agree with Few's perspective and think that you wouldn't go wrong with a design that's in alignment with this book.

Great design principles.......2007-08-08

This manual is a great resource for best practices and principles for designing dashboards. It doesn't matter if you buy or build, the material is golden.

Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture

Average customer rating:

one of the best books about visual culture
excellent!
Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture
Review of Chapter Nine
Brief on Practices of Looking (with emphasis on Chapter 8)

Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture
Marita Sturken , and Lisa Cartwright
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0198742711

Book Description

This comprehensive and engaging introduction to visual culture provides an overview of a range of theories about how we understand visual media and how we use images to express ourselves, to communicate, to experience pleasure, and to learn. Using over 175 illustrations, Professors Sturken and Cartwright examine how images - paintings, prints, photographs, film, television, video, advertisements, news images, the Internet, digital images, and science images - gain meaning in different cultural arenas, from art and commerce to science and the law, how they travel globally and in distinct cultures, and how they are an integral and important aspect of our lives. These images are analyzed in relation to a range of cultural and representational issues (desire, power, the gaze, bodies, sexuality, ethnicity) and methodologies (semiotics, marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonial theory). Practices of Looking provides an explanation of the fundamentals of these theories while presenting visual examples of how they function. Central concepts such as ideology, the concept of the spectator, the role of reproduction in visual culture, the mass media and the public sphere, consumer culture, and postmodernism, among others, are explained in depth and in accessible, informative language. Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright provide the best introductory book for students coming to the study of visual culture for the first time. Truly interdisciplinary, this book aims to be the key text for courses across a range of disciplines including media and film studies, art history, photography, and communication media.

Customer Reviews:

one of the best books about visual culture.......2007-09-21

The authors of this book very clearly articulate the considerable factors of the visual culture in mass media and visual art. Not only the pictures cited in the texts are also quite helpful to better understand the details of description, but also more importantly this book provides knowledgeable contents and information enabling readers to be aware of the significant roles of visual culture and how it is embedded in our lives, influencing the whole culture, society, industry and other many impacts of social forces.

excellent!.......2007-02-26

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in media studies. The language is simple and articulate. The authors provide plenty of visual evidence in each chapter. If you enjoy reading about popular culture, even advertising strategies- this is the book for you.

Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.......2006-03-25

I actually returned this book after leafing through it. It was a little disappointing and did not have much information other than common sense kind of info. Where was the meat?

Review of Chapter Nine.......2003-09-30

As a class assignment, I closely studied chapter nine of Practices of Looking, and researched several of the listed source materials. This chapter is entitled "The Global Flow of Visual Culture" and deals with the globalization of Western media, primarily in the form of television and the internet. The authors explore such topics as the history of media globalization, its effects on non-western cultures, pros and cons of the internet, and possibilities that new global technologies afford us.
This chapter was well-presented, persuasive, and useful. It offered a cohesive and informative discussion of a broad variety of topics, dealing with each one in satisfactory depth and detail. After researching a few of the listed sources, I found that while some of them seemed to be surplus to the actual chapter content, those that were used were, on the whole, represented accurately and fairly.
I recommend this book to anyone studying visual culture, due to its detailed and informative treatment of this broad and varied topic.

Brief on Practices of Looking (with emphasis on Chapter 8).......2003-04-26

In Practices of Looking, imagery in culture is shown to play on the way we perceive, initiate, and direct ourselves in our daily life. This book, indicates that we rely on imagery to guide us daily. This book explains how imagery is the most relied upon role model of today; basically, due to the fact that it is the most direct measure for a humans consumption of information. It provides input on how imagery sells goods through advertising, how images evoke personal memories, and how images can provide us with scientific data. In Society, Imagery can be found in all areas of the social arena. Influence of imagery is never counted alone in any arena. It is quoted in Practices of Looking "That images are never singular, discrete events, but are informed by a broader set of conditions and factors. The identity of science in correlation with imagery is explained in a wide spectrum of social engagements. Anything in the fine arts, film, television, and advertising, to visual data, can provide insight into the way we see things.

Amazon.com

A remarkable range of examples for the idea of visual thinking, with beautifully printed pages. A real treat for all who reason and learn by means of images. -- Rudolf Arnheim

Customer Reviews:

Amazing book for information design.......2007-07-15

I am the type of person who dabbles in all kinds of design, and I think of the ideal designer as one who knows a little about everything. Designers design ways of output, whether it be lemon juice from a lemon or ways to fit all vital components in a laptop in the most efficient way. This book is about the output of information from our multidimensional world to the flat paper space, and he does it brilliantly.
It's even worth mentioning the book itself as a good piece of design. All the images are vivid, the pages feel crisp and durable, even the color of the pages I bet was an attention of detail (it's slightly offwhite, but in an extremely good way). It's like good ol' fashioned timeless design.
He covers the subject wide and far, dips into everything from visual illusions to hardcore information displays. Sometimes you wonder where the heck he gets all these wonderful images, they span from the stoneage till today and show the vast variety of ways to display information, both simple and complex.
It is a beautiful book and an absolute must for people interested in the design of information. Actually, I'd say it's a must for anyone interested in information at all, be it for powerpoint or for magazine layout. This will be one of the most intelligent books on my shelf.

An Obsolete Glance At A Classic Problem.......2007-06-28

This is a short book, 126 pages. An interesting cursory exploration of the subject. However, it feels like it predates information technology (1990 predates the web by 5 years), and seems to have more in common with how to communicate elements of a hand-drawn map atlas if you were living in the 1700s than it has with using Adobe Illustrator to convey an idea for the web. I bought this book to see if it would help me as a web developer, and instead when it arrived I realized I got a weird coffee table book that feels like it was written in the 1960s, at the latest, to summarize that you can use different icons or pictographs of small size to communicate important ideas without words. (Sorry, I already gave away the story of the book.)

I know this review isn't going to get very popular marks, but, put simply, this book is probably good for professional or student pure designers, but it's useless for me. I honestly don't think the book targets web designers, but somebody here reviewed that it was "great" for web designers, so because of that remark I bought it. Sorry, but I don't see the applicability. But then, I only skimmed over the book before I put it back on Amazon Marketplace.

While one should normally never judge a book by its cover, in this case I think you should.

one of three or four.......2007-01-10

this is part of a series from tufte. he uses examples to describe techniques of visualization. if you do presentations to others or write reports that present complex data, several of his books should be in your library.

A wonderful book!.......2006-11-04

No designer should be without this book. I especially enjoy the historical accounts of information design. Of course hind sight is 20/20 so his redesigns seem obvious from our perspective.

An outstanding addition to my library.......2006-06-23

An outstanding addition to my library, Edward systematically explores the presentation of data showing the value of data rich content when it is properly displayed. After reading half the book, I couldn't sit through a presentation without coming up with at least 3 ways to improve it. The illustrations in the book are beautifully rendered and cover a diverse set of subject matter each as interesting as the next. The only topic concerning this book that I struggled with is whether or not to mark it up. In the end, as I do with all of my books I intend to refer back to, I did.

Say It With Charts: The Executive's Guide to Visual Communication

Average customer rating:

Say It with charts
Getting the point across
Consider it part of a broad business education
Say It With Charts: The Executive's Guide to Visual Communication
helpful - nothing more need be said

Say It With Charts: The Executive's Guide to Visual Communication
Gene Zelazny
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Say It with Charts Workbook

ASIN: 007136997X

Book Description

Step-by-step guide to creating compelling, memorable presentations

A chart that once took ten hours to prepare can now be produced by anyone with ten minutes and a computer keyboard. What hasn't changed, however, are the basics behind creating a powerful visual - what to say, why to say it, and how to say it for the most impact. In Say It With Charts, Fourth Edition --the latest, cutting-edge edition of his best-selling presentation guide -- Gene Zelazny reveals time-tested tips for preparing effective presentations. Then, this presentation guru shows you how to combine those tips with today's hottest technologies for sharper, stronger visuals. Look to this comprehensive presentation encyclopedia for information on:

* How to prepare different types of charts -- pie, bar, column, line, or dot -- and when to use each
* Lettering size, color choice, appropriate chart types, and more
* Techniques for producing dramatic eVisuals using animation, scanned images, sound, video, and links to pertinent websites

Customer Reviews:

Say It with charts.......2007-08-27

Very good as a quick guide for building presentations based on data and charts, but a little more information about when to use it type of chart would be very usefull

Getting the point across.......2006-03-02

As an equity analyst, consultant, and communication specialist, I saw - and made - dozens of colorful presentations with the best charts that excel can draw that simply didn't work.

After the failed presentation, a consultant or analyst who knows how to get his point across will draw a simple diagram or chart on a white board that will be far more convincing and effective than the entire PowerPoint presentation.

This book is for the person who wants to get point across.

Consider it part of a broad business education.......2005-10-25

When one considers the amount of time/money they spend on improving their job skills, it would seem obvious that a high-value read like 'Say it with Charts' would be worth some consideration. It provides a framework for using charts to your advantage- and not just within oral presentations. If anything, this book will increase your willingness to use charts to your advantage when selling an opinion. It forces the user to think about exactly what it is they are trying to say - and then produce a professional looking chart to relay that message.

Any edition will do - the content will not change with the times. The underlying principles can be quite powerful and can be the difference between a simple presentation and one which elicites praise.

Say It With Charts: The Executive's Guide to Visual Communication .......2005-10-24

The book is tremendous for anybody who wants to a make a presentation effective by making it easy to understand.

helpful - nothing more need be said.......2004-05-04

Full disclosure - I used to work at IBM and as an entry level consultant with an MBA there the first thing you are is the .ppt whipping post. That being said, the IBM training program covers many of the concepts from this book. Why?? Simple, they work. Is it the be all and end all? No. The only thing that can help you assemble good content is practice, practice, practice - with a healthy dose of constructive criticism from someone that knows what they are talking about. I just got through a days worth of presentations last Friday to one of the most senior technology people at a major government agency. All I can say is that I really, really, really wish that the people presenting before and after me had taken 5 mintues to review this book before getting in front of that crowd - it would have prevented some spectacular flamouts.

Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative

Average customer rating:

Many good examples of illustrations
What a gem - but not your first design book
Not a text book but a knowledgeable friend
A must-read for anybody with something to tell
Explaining Quality Visual Information

Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative
Edward R. Tufte
Manufacturer: Graphics Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition
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ASIN: 0961392126

Amazon.com

With Visual Explanations, Edward R. Tufte adds a third volume to his indispensable series on information display. The first, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, which focuses on charts and graphs that display numerical information, virtually defined the field. The second, Envisioning Information, explores similar territory but with an emphasis on maps and cartography. Visual Explanations centers on dynamic data--information that changes over time. (Tufte has described the three books as being about, respectively, "pictures of numbers, pictures of nouns, and pictures of verbs.")

Like its predecessors, Visual Explanations is both intellectually stimulating and beautiful to behold. Tufte, a self-publisher, takes extraordinary pains with design and production. The book ranges through a variety of topics, including the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger (which could have been prevented, Tufte argues, by better information display on the part of the rocket's engineers), magic tricks, a cholera epidemic in 19th-century London, and the principle of using "the smallest effective difference" to display distinctions in data. Throughout, Tufte presents ideas with crystalline clarity and illustrates them in exquisitely rendered samples.

Customer Reviews:

Many good examples of illustrations.......2007-08-20

Many excellent examples on conveying many types of quantitative data across a wide variety of subjects. The only problem is that, to create most of these, one must be a graphic artist. If one needs to convey highly technical quantitative information, especially to layman, this gives the reader a good idea/perspective of how to explain to graphic artists hired along what general lines an illustration should be made.

What a gem - but not your first design book.......2007-02-15

Tufte's series on visualization will surely go down as classics. He's readable, he's right, and he's engaging.

The only thing is, as pretty and as well-founded the book is in certain principles, it's my opinion that... that the average reader doesn't understand design problems enough that this book will present anything new.

Meaning, the book is so intuitive, that, it seems pointless anyone would ever have to write a beautiful book like this -- *UNLESS* you have been stymied over and over again by mudglobs of creative ad hoc-kery and ad-hoc functionality, or, if you have been victimized by the unfunctional sheen of superglossy animated 3-d search engines (data visualizations, etc).

Here's maybe the test -- if the price tag of this book seems excessive, you haven't been slogging through enough terrible textbooks to see what a light and airy gem of fresh... >sigh < air this book is.

Otherwise - buy the Tufte series all at once, and see if you can't save bucks on the group discount.

Not a text book but a knowledgeable friend.......2005-08-28

Visual Explanations is not a usual book. It is like a knowledgeable friend walking with you through a museum: pointing out good design and bad ideas; linking various domains (graphic design, usability, psychology) together. You learn things slowly, almost by symbiosis. Visual Explanations will be enchanting for people who have the time to read it in that way. It will be frustrating for people looking for a practical guide: This is not a textbook. The book itself is beautifully produced.
Topics covered include: clarity and purpose of information, color scheme choice, and composition of images.

A must-read for anybody with something to tell.......2005-07-25

In this book, an expert of visual explanations uses visual explanations to tell us his ideas how to use visual cues to explain concepts, quantities, timelines etc. Tufte, with his eternal self-confidence and succinct prose gives good examples and shows how a good image can be better; gives bad examples and has no hesitation to call something (even authorities' products) 'ghastly' or 'nightmare'. I think this book is a must for anybody who wants to use visual cues and examples for the ideas they want to convey. That is, everybody, in this time and age of information.

Explaining Quality Visual Information.......2004-09-26

Edward Tufte's book "Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative" is a 157 page exercise in critical thinking. The author discusses and analyzes visual information, pointing out flaws and strengths of various visual depictions. One becomes more aware of visual information and what constitutes ideal pictorial information.

"Visual Explanations" covers the topics of images and quantities, displaying evidence, pictorial instructions and disinformation, the smallest visual effective difference, repetition and change, multiples, and visual confections. Although the book has little to do with charts and graphs, reading the book makes one aware of all visual information and its ideal presentation. Anyone that works with or uses charts, illustrations, and any visual data will probably find this book useful. The book is richly illustrated with examples.

This book would be great for people that use statistics in their work or make presentations. It teaches people to be a critical thinkers concerning visual information and presentation. Even if you do not agree with Tufte, "Visual Explanations" will make you think about things you otherwise might not have.

Visual Strategies for Improving Communication : Practical Supports for School & Home

Average customer rating:

Just what I ordered!
Got a visual learner with special needs? This is for you!
Overflowing with useful and practical ideas!
Must resource for working & living with children with autism
Wonderful ideas that assist children with autism

Visual Strategies for Improving Communication : Practical Supports for School & Home
Linda A. Hodgdon
Manufacturer: Quirk Roberts Publishing
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Do-Watch-Listen-Say: Social and Communication Intervention for Children with Autism
Activity Schedules for Children With Autism: Teaching Independent Behavior (Topics in Autism) (Topics in Autism)
A Picture's Worth: PECS and Other Visual Communication Strategies in Autism (Topics in Autism)
A Treasure Chest of Behavioral Strategies for Individuals with Autism

ASIN: 0961678615

Book Description

This bestseller is the most comprehensive book to explain the use of visual strategies to improve communication for students with autism spectrum disorders and other students who experience moderate to severe communication impairments. It is full of easy to use techniques and strategies that will help these students participate more effectively in social interactions and life routines.

What is it?
a ground-breaking resource.
contains dozens of visual supports that are beautifully illustrated and described.
an exceptional collection of practical ideas and techniques
filled with creative strategies for improving the behavior and communication of students with autism, ADHD, cognitive impairments, language and learning disabilities and more...
a "how to" book designed to assist teachers, SLP's and parents in devising solutions to the communication and self-management challenges that are common in these students.

Who is this book for? Teachers, parents, Speech Therapists and other people who work and live with students with autism spectrum disorders or other communication challenges. The strategies in this book have application for students with a variety of disability labels and special needs.

What is the book about? One of the major areas of difficulty for students with autism spectrum disorders is the development of social and communication skills. Communication breakdowns can be a "root" cause of problems in social interaction, educational performance, and behavior. While it is common for educational programming to focus on developing communication skills, that focus in most settings tends to be directed toward developing the student's expressive communication. Comparatively little attention is directed toward increasing the student's ability to understand the communication in his life. This book demonstrates why an inability to effectively take in and understand information can be a significant factor in these student's performance. Visual Strategies for Improving Communication contains numerous easy to use systems and strategies that have proven to help these students significantly improve their ability to understand, express themselves, participate in home and school routines and improve overall behavior.

Tell me more. . . . It is commonly recognized that communication is one of the primary areas of difficulty for persons who experience autism. Understanding the communication of others, trying to figure out what is happening or not happening, handling changes and transitions, and interpreting cues and signals in the environment can all be areas of difficulty for this population. Organizing, sequencing, and remembering what to do or when to do it can all cause problems. Stepping out of familiar environments and routines increases stress. The frustration of not understanding can lead students to ritual and rigidity and a lack of flexibility with change. In the midst of these areas of difficulty, it is recognized that most individuals who experience autism display a relative strength in visual skills. Capitalizing on that strength, the use of visual strategies to support communication has provided the structure necessary to substantially alter many problem situations.

How are the students helped? The first goal when working with these students is to create an environment that will support communication and make communication breakdowns less likely to occur. This is accomplished in part by developing a system of visual tools and aids to increase communication effectiveness. Schedules, aids to give directions, and aids to give information, and aids to establish and communicate rules are tools designed to increase the student's understanding of what is happening around him. A second goal, improving student independence and participation, is met with the presence of visual tools.

What is in the book? This book offers a comprehensive collection of visual tools that have proven successful with students of varying ages and ability levels. It contains:
lots of samples and examples of visual tools and how to use them
tons of ideas for improving communication in school and home environments
assessment for community participation
guide for planning communication tools
plenty of ideas for integrating visual strategies into the student's lives
and lots more. . . . . .

Customer Reviews:

Just what I ordered!.......2005-09-24

The book was exactly what I ordered and it was sent promptly! Great Price! Thanks!

Got a visual learner with special needs? This is for you!.......2003-10-03

My autistic son is a visual learner. He watches TV, computer and other children and will learn from them. In addition - abstract concepts and teaching basic academics can be done with a lot of visual support vs. auditory presentations alone.

This is a strong book to identify the issues for special needs kids and using visual strategies to solving them. I highly recommend this book.

Overflowing with useful and practical ideas!.......2001-10-03

I have read a lot of books on autism and I would highly recommend this one! The author details, in a very clear way, why
"visual supports" work well for everyone, but especially for those who have communication related disorders. Then she goes beyond the explanations to give you real examples you can use and directions on how to implement them. She has a very practical approach and acknowledges the differences and similarites needed between school and home programs.

I think this book would be invaluable to a teacher of special needs children and also the "regular ed" teacher who has a wide range of children and their individual needs to consider. Parents and caregivers will also benefit greatly from this book as it has many examples that go beyond the school experience.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is "Imagine being on one of those whirlwind package tours of Europe; sixteen cities in 7 days. You discover the tour agent forgot to give you an itinerary. Every day you don't know where you are goin, what you are going to see or when you are going to eat. Frustrating? That is how many of our students feel about life on a daily basis. It is one of the reasons we see students cling to ritual and routine."

This book is literally packed with ideas and is well worth the cover price. ....

Must resource for working & living with children with autism.......1999-07-08

When I first started working with students with autistic characteristics this became an incredible tool. I continue to use this tool with these students and other students for whom a more visual learning approach helps build success!

Wonderful ideas that assist children with autism.......1998-08-01

My youngest daughter has autism. Last summer my wife and I brought her to a summer camp. We could not tell our daughter that she was going to spend 5 nights and 6 days at camp because we have no communication system with her. We brought her to camp, left her there with the counselor and she cried. Every morning she packed her bag, lugged it to her counselor and said, Bye Camp". How would you behave if you were in my daughter's situation?

Linda Hodgdon's book, "Visual Strategies for Improving Communication", shows parents, educators and other professionals how to use picture schedules, calandars, visual bridges and other visual tools that help my daughter become more aware of what is happening in the world around her.

"Visual Stategies for Improving Communication" is a wonderful book written in an easy to read format showing many examples on how to implement visual tools for children with autism and many other communication and behavior diso! rders

Advertising by Design: Creating Visual Communications with Graphic Impact
Average customer rating:

Great starter for aspiring art directors.

So helpful!

Great info on designing ads

Advertising by Design: Creating Visual Communications with Graphic Impact
Robin Landa
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Commercial | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads, Second Edition

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Creative Advertising: Ideas and Techniques from the World's Best Campaigns

Designing Brand Identity: A Complete Guide to Creating, Building, and Maintaining Strong Brands

ASIN: 0471428973

Book Description

A complete guide to the process behind effective advertising design
Advertising by Design is a brilliantly accessible approach to the creative process behind effective, memorable advertising. This full-color text provides a highly illustrative, behind-the-scenes look at developing successful ads for a variety of media-including print, television, online, and guerrilla advertisements-empowering students to find creative solutions.
Advertising by Design encourages students to push past the obvious design choices to find the big idea! Dozens of celebrated ad campaigns demonstrate such concepts as the visual and verbal relationship, visual metaphors, creating unified campaigns, and many others. Fully supplemented with interviews from esteemed creative directors and chapters on developing imaginative ideas, copywriting, and advertising history, Advertising by Design is a perfect text for beginning and intermediate advertising design courses and core courses in all visual communications programs that incorporate advertising concepts and design strategies.

Customer Reviews:

Great starter for aspiring art directors........2007-06-10

I'm an advertising professor, and I've used Landa's "Advertising by Design" for three different classes when teaching an Introduction to Advertising Design course.

The book is clearly written, organized well and rich in contemporary examples. Landa does a good job of discussing the problem-solving aspects of the art director's daily grind. And she very quickly establishes that there is a significant difference between graphic design and advertising design.

In her next edition, I'd like to see a section dedicated to ideation, perhaps talking about SCAMPER, non-linear brainstorming and other tools to help the student develop a good conceptual foundation. But, overall, I would recommend this book without reservation.

So helpful!.......2006-03-20

Finally a book about advertising that helps the reader understand how to develop relevant concepts as well as design! There are so many great examples of concept categories and so much excellent info on how-to create a cohesive campaign. The info on guerilla advertising and TV is very helpful.

Great info on designing ads.......2004-06-04

Fantastic guide for idea generation, designing unified ad campaigns and creative approaches. Very valuable information and great examples of award-winning ads and ad campaigns. Really interesting info about ad history that I didn't learn in college!

The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within, Second Edition

Average customer rating:

Tufte Should Stick to What He Knows
Tufte rails against PowerPoint (templates that is)
Funny and eye-opening, but very short
Force feed this to your "management team"
Tufte has it right when it comes to the drawbacks of PowerPoint.

The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within, Second Edition
Edward R. Tufte
Manufacturer: Graphics Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition
Visual & Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Decision Making
Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative
Envisioning Information
Beautiful Evidence

ASIN: 0961392169

Customer Reviews:

Tufte Should Stick to What He Knows.......2007-08-22

I was first introduced to Tufte in Beautiful Evidence, which I stumbled upon in a B&N in Seattle on a business trip. I'm a software architect and developer; hence, I'm very familiar with the software world, particularly Microsoft technologies, which is where most of my development experience lies.

(I should say that I read this as part of the Beautiful Evidence book, which was good, but this part irritated me, so I'm glad it's separate here so I can review it separately.)

Certainly, Tufte has some good points about showing how PowerPoint can be limiting, and certainly PowerPoint has been abused. But that's no grounds to indict it as a useful tool, and in particular, 2007 gets a lot better in terms of empowering presenters to have more effective and visually interesting slides.

The point of PPT slides is simply to supplement a presentation by providing visual reinforcement of what is being said audibly. They shouldn't be used as a substitute for other means of communicating, which would include the possibility of a handout (interestingly enough, you can print out slides w/ space for notes to use as a handout, so it isn't an either-or option) or using some other software or even your hands to draw up and scan in visualizations that can't be done with PPT.

I think what bothered me more than anything was the ignorant indictment of the software industry as a whole. Tufte goes way out on a limb trying to extrapolate how we software creators must think based on the capabilities of PPT. There are plenty of other tools that provide other ways of visualizing information, and every year (or more often) we see advancements in tooling to help folks more effectively express data and ideas in digital format.

His rambling about the "hierarchical" structure of the corporate software world driving the development of software is simply ludicrous. More than any other industry, I'd say that software dev tends to be more open and more fluid in terms of both organization and methodology. We're a bunch of brainiacs, inventors, and artisans, and it comes naturally for us to try out new ideas and ways of doing even the most mundane of things.

So to sum up, as long as Tufte stays within his realm of expertise (which seems to be visualization of information/graphic design), he has a lot of quality ideas to offer. However, when he strays from that as he's done with his essay on PowerPoint, the value of his thoughts diminish exponentially. Stick with reading his other books that are in his area of expertise.

Tufte rails against PowerPoint (templates that is).......2007-06-26

This pdf is now part of the book Beautiful Evidence. Tufte goes after the bullet text methodology and templates that starve the audience for information. There is a lot that you may do with PowerPoint that can be effective forms of communication. Tufte shows what to avoid.

Funny and eye-opening, but very short.......2007-06-04

Very informative reading, and quite entertaining. For me, it's preaching to the converted, but it makes the point quite powerfully. The only downside is that it's a very thin pamphlet, not a real book. Get The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition for a larger and more satisfying dose.

Force feed this to your "management team".......2007-01-14

I have a friend whose ten-year-old daughter is required to give Powerpoint "reports" in class. Even before I read this pamphlet, the idea of the public schools positioning rhetoric as a Microsoft product struck me as revolting. After reading Tufte's brilliant and accurate dissection of how Powerpoint forces us into a kind of imitation of thinking, I am horrified.

I work on the fringe of the tech world, and I've had more than one boss demand that I reduce a coherent argument to bulletpoints "so it can be understood." Well, Powerpoint is to persuasion as comic books are to fiction -- the audience that demands it is simply entrenched in its own illiteracy. Tufte demonstrates persuasively that the Challenger disaster may have been caused -- yes, caused -- by the fact that the engineers discussed the project in the diction of "presentations." It's a large claim, and Tufte has the posthumous support of Richard Feynmann to back him up. Feynmann pointed to the facts that created the disaster; Tufte finds the core of bad thinking that let those facts control events.

If you use Powerpoint, you should read this pamphlet, also available as a chapter of Tufte's book, Beautiful Evidence. No tool should be allowed to control the nature of discourse the way Powerpoint does, and certainly no tool concieved, created, and used, with such willful lack of imagination and ignorance of the nature of communication.

Tufte has it right when it comes to the drawbacks of PowerPoint........2007-01-13

Edward Tufte gives a brief, excellent examination of how using Microsoft PowerPoint can easily lead to miscommunication and lazy thinking. The example of the infamous "Review of Test Data Indicates Conservatism for Tile Penetration" (Space Shuttle Columbia) slide alone makes this monograph worth purchasing.

Visual Communication: Images with Messages (with InfoTrac®)

Average customer rating:

Review of Visual Communication
Images with messages
It makes you appreciate things you didn't notice before

Visual Communication: Images with Messages (with InfoTrac®)
Paul Martin Lester
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Communications | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0534637205

Book Description

Visual communication is just as important as verbal communication, if not more important. VISUAL COMMUNICATION: IMAGES WITH MESSAGES shows you how visual perception is used in all forms of communication, whether it's graphic design, photography, television, video, or interactive media. And because it's packed with study and review tools, this communications textbook not only clearly explains the theories you need to know, it helps you prepare for tests and will help you succeed in the class.

Customer Reviews:

Review of Visual Communication.......2006-11-07

This is a great book. I am thoroughly enjoying reading it. Its easy reading helps when studying for a test.

Images with messages.......2003-08-17

Lester's text offers the most comprehensive overview of visual communication I have come across. His preferred framework is clearly semiotic, but he offers a fair treatment of other theories as well. Section one covers the biological functions of seeing, including the role of the brain, the retina and the eye. He favors the active version of visual processing over the passive version.

Section two covers what we see which can be summarized with four basic visual perception cues; color, form, depth and movement. Lester discusses how the brain divides and sorts visual messages and explains that how we see helps to explain why we see. Also in section two he introduces the theories of visual communication which he divides into two subdivisions, sensual and perceptual. Sensual theories are based on the physical senses and boil down to the idea that direct or mediated images are composed of light and little else. A visual sensation is a stimulus from the outside that activates nerve cells within your sense organs. These produce raw data and include such theories as gestalt, constructivism and ecological. Gestalt theories conclude that perception is a result of a combination of sensations, and not individual sensual elements (p 52). According to Gestalt laws, there are five factors that identify whether objects in a visual field can be recognized as being in the foreground (positive space) or background (negative space); symmetry, convexity, meaning, area, orientation and attention to visual forms that make up pictures (p 56). Perceptual theories are concerned with the meaning that humans associate with the images they see. In other words these theories have to do with what is done in the brain after combining all the information from your sensual organs. Lester categorizes semiotic and cognitive theories as the perceptual theories (p 67-68). Semiology is a complex system of analysis and the author's overview is quite helpful. Cognitive theories postulate that visual perception is a function of meanings that we associate with objects through learned behavior or intelligent assumptions. Key theorists are Irving Biederman who determined that only 36 geons (geometric ions) are needed to make all objects, Richard Gregory, and Carolyn bloomer who suggests that perception is not stable, rather activities such as habituation, dissonance, projection, expectation, memory selectivity, culture and words can affect visual perception.

In section three, Lester covers visual ethics; visual persuasion in advertising, PR and journalism, and pictorial stereotyping. Section four offers six perspectives for analyzing any image; personal, historical, technical, ethical, cultural and critical, using all of these perspectives he goes on to analyze examples of typography (chapter 8), graphic design (chapter 9), informational graphics (chapter 10), cartoons (chapter 11), photography (chapter 12), motion pictures (chapter 13), television/video (chapter 14), computers (chapter 15), and interactive media (chapter 16). Lester's perspective choices for visual analysis are somewhat unique to him, although there are similarities within or across categories to other perspectives for example his technical analysis is similar to a compositional analysis one might see described in an art history text. This book is an excellent jumping off point for further research into the emerging visual communication field.

It makes you appreciate things you didn't notice before.......2000-05-08

This book was a eye opening experience that allows you to appreciate something most of us take for granted -- SIGHT. It encourages you to look beyond the physicality of sight and to become acutely aware of the images you see from day-to-day.

Dr. Lester has performed a service for myself and anyone else who reads this book. It drives you to absorb more of the world that we "see" everyday.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in graphical design, imagery, or to those who want a deeped appreciation for the power that images play in our lives!

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