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Information architects are a class of information designers. Information
design in about content, not necessarily text. It is certainly about
usability of content. As TWs we do information design and information
architecture as part of our jobs. Translating our experience from technical
employment to design employment is not going to be the easiest thing in the
world. Like moving from a software vendor to a dot comm is not going to be
easy either, because the culture were and are different.
We can call ourselves whatever we want. The challenge comes in proving the
label to the hiring manager, particularly when that hiring manager is from
another culture.
I involved myself in a project defining information design with people from
the design culture. They are taught that aesthetics is the absolute. They do
not see that design is a universal practice that cuts across the aesthetic
and the usable. Design is the alignment of requirements with the
implementation media. The beating of message with media, like in a radio,
fundamental frequency (carrier) with the sound. Nowhere in any of that is
aesthetics required. That aligning requires creativity, ability, and
experience.
So if you want to sell yourself as an information architect, take the target
culture as a set of requirements, then design and align yourself with that
culture. Don't talk about usability with an artist.
Very few information designers actually have portfolios that demonstrate
that they are more than graphic artists. The best published portfolio of
information design that I've seen is "Soak, Rinse, Spin." See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1568981988/qid=1093199222/sr=8
-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-4168417-2667100?v=glance&s=books&n=507846. It
contains a single page graphical resume that covers many years of work with
very little text. Almost every piece was information designed above and
beyond the typical graphics design. Reading the portfolio was overwhelming
in its delivery of great approaches.
The information architects whose blogs I've read learned it in school and
focus on Tufte (the critic) over Wurman (the practitioner). They might know
their stuff, but mostly it's an thoughtless ideology, practiced poorly. It's
a label for them. It's not just a relabeling for TWs. Most people running
around with that label are not really doing information design or
information architecture. Design ceases once the template set in, kind of
like tract homes.
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