Edward Tufte: iconoclast
Posted on | August 31, 2008 |
At the suggestion of a friend, I attended an Edward Tufte seminar, well, probably four years ago now. It was a real eye-opener. In the corporate world we are taught K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) which boils down to mutilating ideas until they are so simple they are supposed to get the idea across without confusion or boredom (which can cause people to NOT act on your marketing, IMB).
Edward suggests another point of view: people are smarter than you think. They also have a longer attention span and can absorb far more detail than is “commonly thought”. Data density and excellence in design of that data are his primary focus. He has written many wonderful books on this and other topics, and when you attend his seminar, they come with the day of learning and tuition.
Example: Video about the iPhone interface
He has seminars on the East and West Coasts coming in the next 3-4 months. I’ll be attending the Sept. 19th seminar in NYC - time for a refresher. Check it out if you have the time. It’s worth it.
If you’re involved in corporate life, you should get this $7 monograph, “The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within”. It’s a scathing and scary review of how the KISS method applied to an underperforming vehicle like PowerPoint can actually do harm.
Also of note is that he makes amazing sculpture and is an avid (and excellent) photographer. Quite a man.
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