“Industrialization, the growth of cities, the increase of vehicular traffic, and the fast pace of everyday life required that advertisers compete for attention as never before. Visual complexity no longer worked.”

It makes sense that as the world is advancing, people start to value their time more and seem to be more rushed in general. Attention spans are decreasing as people like quick condensed content over detailed posters or ads. People aren’t going to stop in the middle of what they are doing to read an ad, the ad has to be brief and concise to catch the viewer’s attention and have a chance of making an impression.

Will ads continue to become simpler and simpler like GUI app logos? Or will there be a return to complexity in the future?

“Sometimes typefaces seem to have a very distinct ethnic association. You can find these ‘stereotypes’ at restaurants that want to prove how authentically Greek, Chinese, Russian, or German they are.”

I think it’s really interesting how there can be an “ethnicity” put into typefaces. The designs are used to represent a culture, and through historic use, have solidified themselves as the representations of said cultures. It just speaks to the power of their designs that it is universally recognized as a symbol, even without really being taught. 

Although commonly used and recognized, are these ethnic typefaces appropriation?

“Infographics have become more like articles or speeches than charts. Their purpose can be categorized into the same three objectives as public speaking: to inform, entertain, or persuade the audience.”

I think that it’s really cool how information design has evolved to the point where it’s not enough to just make something into a chart and show it to the audience, but it needs to draw the audience in and tell a story as well. More thought needs to be put into an infographic than just showing numbers. It’s a design in itself, and also takes a creative touch.

Will infographics get to the point where people try too hard to grab attention to the point where graphics become misleading? How can this be stopped?