Hello Terry and Fil,
I would agree with Fil and said 'yes' and 'no' - it really depends on what
you mean by 'visual'...we are fast becoming a 'visual' society as we witness
ipad, organizational sense-making tools and visual methods being explored in
many design research fields helping us 'make sense' of visual and non-visual
types of information and situations.
The 'traditional' visual tools you cite and as Fil allude to are part of
what I think increasingly are becoming dated, part of a old school of
thinking about the 'absolute truth' of what constitutes visual thinking as
something 2d or 3d and based on concepts of 'beauty' and appearance and
surface application....
From my perspective, visual thinking is more important than ever, and has
gone well beyond these ideas and are more relevant than ever, but from the
more broad, complex, and dynamic perspective of visualization, making sense
of information, as useful dialogue and meaning-making tools, etc.,
etc.....and that the forms of expression are varied and many.
However, making 'scientific' this type of thinking requires another
discussion entirely...
This is not my intent here with my comments.
Best regards to all,
Tiiu
Tiiu Poldma, Ph.D.
Faculty of environmental design
Faculté de l'aménagement
Université de Montréal
Montreal, Canada
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From Fil Salustri
Sent: April-08-10 8:10 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Terry,
I'd have to answer both 'yes' and 'no'. :)
You seem to be suggesting visualizing in terms of shape & appearance. In
that sense, I would say visualizing is a hindrance because it biases one to
certain features of a design and not to others.
However, taken more broadly - visualizing /information/ and not just shape
or appearance, I would say that visualization is fundamentally important as
an alternative to text-based descriptions. My experience is that
visualization of information (not just a design's shape or appearance) can
be incredibly useful to designers.
Of course, all this relates also to the nature of the design. Some designs
are fundamentally about visual appearance. Others are not.
Cheers.
Fil
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