Visual Function—An Introduction to Information Design

Visual Function: An Introduction to Information Design presents and discusses a variety of graphics used in transmitting information, analyzing signs, graphs, and charts through a method similar to that found in Edward Tufte's books (Envisioning Information and The Visual Display of Quantitative Information), which have had an enormous influence on today's graphic designers. With copious color and black-and-white illustrations, this book examines airplane safety cards, street maps, road signs, instruction booklets, corporate logos, subway guides, magazine advertisements, cookbooks, computer diagrams, and car manuals, all as a means of explaining how information can be conveyed without words.

Paul Mijksenaar is a professor at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. He is the author of numerous publications on design.