Many years ago I attended a fantastic lecture on information design delivered by the author and journalist Mark Ovenden. Organised to promote his book Transit Maps of the World, Ovenden presented a deep-dive into transit maps’ common infographic ancestor, Henry (also known as Harry) Beck’s 1933 map of the London Underground.
If I told you that by the end of this article you’d be a better designer would you believe me? It’s a bold statement, but I want to share with you something that totally changed my approach to design.
Recently I was asked to deliver a talk on the best piece of advice I’ve ever been given. Thankfully, this is one of my favorite things to talk about since the experience really did change my life. In fact, I’d go as far to say you can pretty much divide my career into two halves around this piece of advice — it really was that important.