News for January 2006

One tends to think of information design as a new profession. Yet Paul Kahn gets his inspiration from visual designs as old as the Romans. According to Kahn, the Peutinger Table, a 12th century reproduction of an ancient Roman roadmap, was not drawn to scale and the north-south axis was flattened. Nonetheless, this odd-looking "squashed" map folded away neatly and communicated vital information to travellers including the location of towns, the distance between towns and the best route to take. Kahn suggests that good design focuses on the essential information and may simplify or distort it if doing so improves communication or convenience.