Richard Saul Wurman
About Richard Saul Wurman
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How the scrappy TED conference became a juggernaut worth ...
When designer and architect Richard Saul Wurman launched TED in 1984, he called it the dinner party he always wanted to have but couldn't. Wurman united ...
Meet the Man Who Launched TED
Richard Saul Wurman is the man behind the series of TED conferences, which have impacted innovation since its inception.
Books by Richard Saul Wurman
“UnderstandingUnderstanding” (2017)
This is a book for people to dip into, as they would walk in and out of the room of a dinner party and embrace their interests. Before Information Architecture, before the rules on how to organize information, before you learn grammar, before you work hard at expanding your vocabulary and go through the exercises of parallel meanings of things as using a Thesaurus and as one writes papers in class, before any learning one must understand. Understanding Understanding precedes the whole process of learning, of giving yourself permission to understand the formations of facts, data, stories, pictures, words, conversations that allow you to understand. This book could be called A Celebration of Conversation or Musings with my Mentors. It is about the fantasy of being the dumbest person in the room and being able to identify all the myriad connections of how others think, talk, explain and visualize. The following is a collection of many of the most interesting idiosyncratic paths of understanding that lead to creation.
“33: Understanding Change & the Change in Understanding” (2009)
You might describe Richard Saul Wurman as a provocateur, a pioneer, a creative genius. Inspirational, innovative, larger-than-life ... legendary, even. Others have. But the most apt description of this singular individual -- this architect, designer, creator of the celebrated TED Conference, and prolific author -- is storyteller. Springing to life from the mind of the world's original information architect is 33: Understanding Change & the Change in Understanding. A book that breaks out of any traditional (dare we say even rational) story-telling framework, 33 invites readers to journey through its pages as they will. A fable re-imagined three decades after its original telling as a conference keynote address, 33 chronicles the adventures and musings of an eccentric (yet oddly familiar) character: the Commissioner of Curiosity and Imagination. This bemused, amused, and roundish imp waddles through the city of What-If in the land of Could-Be, trying to make sense of the myriad changes that have transpired in the past 33 years. The story is presented in an ingenious, multi-layered format -- information upon information, as the Commissioner himself might say -- with the original fable at its core. Surrounding this is an updated tale as presented through 33 episodes and accompanying graphics.
“Information Architects” (1997)
This groundbreaking book, now available in paperback, reports on an explosive new design field: the design of information to improve, clarify, and facilitate processes of communication and learning.As the world responds to a burgeoning information superhighway, the structure and design of data becomes increasingly important. This book shows how the presentation of information can make complex material clear and accessible. To illustrate, the book presents projects by 20 world-class designers, including David Macaulay, Clement Mok, Nigel Holmes, Peter Bradford, and Krzysztof Lenk. Each contributor has provided an essay describing his or her project and the process involved in its development.
“Information Anxiety” (1989)
Information Anxiety offers a cure for the uneasiness most people feel daily as they're overwhelmed with facts and data pretending to be useful information. With simple, creative guidance, this book teaches readers how to learn what they want to learn from the media and other communication sources.
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