Meeting the message

Creating Communicational Spaces 2003 - Final Papers

Ah - these weren't there the last time I looked - some of the papers from last year's Creating Communicational Spaces conference at the University of Alberta.

The conference explored the ways in which people deal with information, the role that cultural background, personal values and emotions play in its interpretation, and how designers can most effectively communicate.

To quote Jorge Frascara, who chaired the event:

It has become clear to some designers that the crafting of the message must be centered on the notion of fitness to the public being addressed. In this context, some writers have begun to talk about communication as a transaction, more than as a transmission. A negotiation takes place. The task of the designer is therefore not that of translating with a view to transmitting, but that of creating "a space," where the public meets the message, and develop their interpretation.

I had hoped to find Karel Van der Waarde's paper "Visual information about medicines for patients" (abstract here), but it doesn't seem to be there yet.

Posted by Brian 14.1.04 [ page link ]