Meredith Davis is an award winning educator and designer. She teaches at North Carolina State University and is the author of Graphic Design in Context: Graphic Design Theory (Thames & Hudson) as well as of numerous articles. She is the former president of the American Center for Design and the Graphic Design Education Association and is part of the accreditation commission for NASAD (National Assn of Schools of Art & Design).

Jamer Hunt teaches is Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons New School of Design in NYC. He has served on the Board of Design and Culture and is on the Icograda Design Education Manifesto Steering Committee. He is the author of numerous articles.

Foreword

CHAPTER 1 – The importance of form
The relationship between form and context: Goodness of fit
Form and meaning
A little bit of history: Twentieth-century attitudes toward “good form”
New practices: The changing context for contemporary design
The shift in attention from artifact to experience
How this book is organized

CHAPTER 2 – Getting attention
Introduction
Contrast
Figure-Ground
Camouflage
Color
Size constancy
Scale
Proportion
Proximity
Focus
Layering
Symmetry/Asymmetry
Closure
Continuity
Series and Sequences
Pattern
Rhythm and Pacing
Motion
Summary

CHAPTER 3 – Orienting for use and interpretive behavior
Introduction
Affordances
Channel
Medium and Format
Feedback
Wayfinding
Mapping
Hierarchy
Reading Pattern
Grouping
Edge Relationships
Direction
Point of View
Summary

CHAPTER 4 – Interpreting, interacting, and experiencing
Introduction
Legibility and Readability
Denotation and Connotation
Framing
Abstraction
Icon, Index, and Symbol
Materiality
Substitution
Metaphor
Parallel Form
Appropriation
Ambiguity
Cognitive Dissonance
Summary

CHAPTER 5 – Extending and retaining meaning
Introduction
Schemas and Stereotypes
Narrative
Archetypes
Mnemonics
Chunking
Redundancy
Graphic Identity
Branding
Summary

CONCLUSION

Bibliography
Index