The Design of Understanding

Fiona Romeo is speaking! (I got round to posting the bio!)

(Fiona's been on the bill since the start but a my recent wedding and starting a  new job distracted me from putting up the Bio - soz Fiona and folks)

Fiona Romeo

Fiona Romeo is Head of Digital Media at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Prior to that she worked at BBC, Disney and The Science Museum among others.

 

Why I asked Fiona to speak

Fiona is a technologist, writer, designer and thinker and at the moment she focuses all this on getting people to understand and engage with the subject matter of her exhibits. Her views on how to inform fickle audiences as well as curators and experts are worth hearing.

Michael Robinson - speaker confirmed

Michael is Head of Graphics at the Guardian/Observer and Guardian on line. He has been the graphic consultant for a number of papers NZZ Sunday in Switzerland, Publico in Portugal, Internazionale in Italy and the Economist in the UK.

His department have won many coveted Malofiej Society of News Design Gold medals and awards.

Why I asked Michael to speak

Many designers can talk about their craft but Michael has fantastic insights into how the business of journalism functions - and therefore how designers serve within.

Jon Hill - speaker confirmed

Jon is Design Editor at The Times in London, having overseen redesigns of the paper, Times web site and iPad edition. He also oversaw the launch of the Eureka supplement, one of the richest examples of regular visual journalism in the world.

Why I asked Jon to speak
The Eureka supplement does what many other printed vessels do not - namely - integrates all modes of communication pretty seemlessly.
Text, graphics and images all act as one. This integration of separate expertises, workflows, media is difficult and I'd like to hear about it.

Chris Heathcote - speaker confirmed

 

Chris is a User Experience Designer and former Head of Service and UI Portfolio at Nokia Design. He has just published a historical newspaper called As It Is Today and is a practicing Molecular Gastronomist.

 

http://anti-mega.com/antimega/

 

http://metaloca.com/consult/

 

Why I asked Chris to speak

Chris is a truly consilient designer and individual. His passion for understanding materials, technology, users and content leads him to the edges and overlaps in our industry.

 

Scott Byrne-Fraser - speaker confirmed

 

Scott is Creative Director of the BBC News Online Specials team. Previously he worked at Sky TV News.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/default.stm

Why I asked Scott to speak

Scott sits astride two parts of the news industry - web and TV. I'd like to know about the principles that guide each and where they differ. He is well versed in breaking news - an environment that can test the typically pensive Information Designer.

David McCandless - speaker confirmed

 

David is a London-based author, writer and designer. 

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/

http://www.davidmccandless.com/

His recent book, Information is Beautiful has done very well and deservedly so. His work can also be found on the Guardian data-blog.

He also made this - so some of you may want to come just to demand hours of your time back.

Why I asked David to speak - 

He has not come through a traditional design-college-route as such, but the book's success has propelled him to places that I'd like an outsider's view on.

Michael Agar - speaker confirmed

 

Michael is Head of Graphics at Telegraph Media Group, which includes the Daily and Sunday newspapers, and Telegraph.co.uk. In a career which has seen him lead the graphic departments at the Observer for nearly ten years and then a stint at Independent newspapers, he is also infographics and strategy consultant for the international media consultancy group "Innovation"

http://igraphicsexplained.blogspot.com/

Why I asked Michael to Speak

Michael's knowledge of the history of news graphics design is excellent. I want that perspective in the debate.

Dr. Paul Rennie - speaker confirmed

Dr. Paul Rennie is Head of Context in Graphic Design at Central St Martins, London. He also runs a 20th Century Art poster shop with his wife in Folkestone.

http://www.csm.arts.ac.uk/51955.htm

http://www.rennart.co.uk/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Festival-Britain-1951-Design-Rennie/dp/1851495339

Why I asked Paul to speak

His ideas about the place and space where design artefacts are made and consumed are mind-expanding insights into those that we create for.

Michael Blastland - speaker confirmed

 Michael is a former BBC journalist, deviser of More or Less and the Writer of The Tiger That Isn't. His work debunks statistical guff from politicians and the media, challenging what we really know about the world and how we claim to know it.

 

http://search.bbc.co.uk/search?go=toolbar&q=michael+blastland

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-That-Isnt-Through-Numbers/dp/1861978391

 

Simon Rogers - speaker confirmed

 

Simon edits the Guardian Datablog and the Datastore. His team are the trailblazers of public data-led journalism in the UK.

 

Why I asked Simon to speak

Simon understands data as a material in a way that a potter understands clay and his kiln. I want designers to hear about how data works as a material and what is the wider picture behind civic data release and availability to designers. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/simonrogers