Tutorial #23

Designing Icons and Visual Symbols

William Horton, William Horton Consulting

Monday, April 15, full-day

Benefits

You will learn proven human factors principles for designing icons and visual symbols.

Origins

This tutorial is an update of one of the highest rated tutorials at CHI '95.

Features

where and when to use icons, words, or both
how to represent conceptual and non-visual concepts with icons
techniques for systematically designing large numbers of icons
how to draw icons -- limitations of size and colors
how to design icons for an international product

Audience

This tutorial is for anyone -- graphic artist, user interface designer, human factors specialist, technical writer, product designer -- who designs icons and visual symbols for use in computer displays, technical documents, and other media where a concept or idea must be communicated in a restricted area or to an international audience.

Presentation

Lecture, interactive discussion, and individual and group exercises.

Instructors

William Horton, author of "The Icon Book," is an internationally recognized consultant specializing in applying ergonomics to communication media. A registered professional engineer and graduate of MIT, he conducts public and in-house seminars on subjects ranging from on-line documentation to visual communication. His many international awards include the "IF-Industrieform Seal of Quality" and the Joseph T. Rigo Award from ACM's SIGDOC for significant ongoing contributions in promoting excellence in software documentation.