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The Integration of
Words and Visual Elements
Throughout history words and images have occupied separate domains.
We have been forced to think of ourselves as either word people
or visual people. In this provocative and pathfinding book, Robert
Horn shows how that wide gulf is at last being bridged. He makes
a compelling case for considering visual language-the tight integration
of words and visual elements-a truly new language with the distinct
syntax and semantics expected of a language.
Synthesis of Many
Vocabularies
Horn argues that this new language growing up around us is a prelude
to far-reaching changes in the very manner in which we will communicate
in the next century. He notes that the creation of visual language
emerges from people around the world inventing components out
of necessity to communicate about the ever-increasing complexity
of our lives. Visual language is being synthesized from previously
separate vocabularies as diverse as computer flow charts, business
process diagrams, and cartoons and animation. It has grown and
spread organically and globally in ways that artificially created
international languages-like Esperanto, which was invented by
a single person-have never done. In a significant sense, it is
already an international language of technology, science, and
business.
History, Research,
Linguistics, Practical Guide
This is several books in one: a lively introduction to the basic
concepts of visual language; a splendid, concise history of some
70 major innovations that form the core history of the language;
a closely reasoned survey of the research on the emerging syntax
and semantics of the language; and an immensely practical guide
to the applications of visual language.
Written in Visual
Language
But this book is not only a pathfinding and provocative treatise,
it is the first to use visual language itself to describe and
analyze that language. By his use of visual language on every
page, Horn demonstrates that it is an immensely flexible and effective
communication tool and one that invites and delights us. Readers
will not only learn about visual language, but will have the full
experience of total immersion. They will experience what Horn
calls a new multi-modal process of reading, simultaneously demanding
and rewarding.
To Manage Complexity
Horn shows how visual language is the best tool we have for managing
the world's ever-increasing complexity and the augmented speed
at which our civilization moves. He doesn't merely make these
claims, but lays out clearly how this new language can be useful
in visualizing complex issues, exploring deeper connections and
feelings, facilitating creative problem solving, making group
process visible, presenting multiple points of view, and facilitating
cross-cultural and international communication