Martin Ashley
Research Interests
Morphing
Hierarchy & Navigation
Message-Based Design T
Information Overload/fatigue
Information anxiety
Current Research
User-centred approaches to overcoming information overload ('Datasmog')
Facts on 'Information Fatigue Syndrome' (phrase coined by psychologist Dr David Lewis):
- Statistics indicate that 'for the first time in history, the capacity for producing information is far greater than the human capacity to process it' (Shenks 1997). Consequently, it is no surprise that information anxiety is prevalent.
- According to a major Reuters survey of senior managers, 43% of respondents thought that decisions were delayed and otherwise adversely affected by 'analysis paralysis' due to over-exposure to information.
- Reuters alone produce 27,000 pages of information per second! In 2003, the Department of Trade & Industry found that employees took an average of 49 minutes a day to sort out their inboxes.
- This information overload is particularly prevalent in the City where Research Departments of Investment Banks send documents to their clients: Fund Managers who have to make decisions to ensure these contributors will have sufficient funds (pension) for when we all eventually retire.
Martin Ashley's research explores ways to extract key messages from the excess we are all exposed to, informed by his analysis of the City situation described above.
His research relates to how design is applied to sequence messages in their intended order and explores a writing system that allows information to 'collapse down' to its irreducible minimum (navigation within a document).
The Morphing of Documents from Paper to Screen Environments
The same design and writing approach is extended to allow a paper document to 'mutate' from a portrait hard copy to either PowerPoint, web or PDA (navigation between document types).
Martin's research recognises that people do not read but scan/browse a page and then read it. Many designers overlook this critical point and consequently design 'pages' on paper or screen inappropriately.
Professional Roles and Memberships
Member of the IIID (International Institute for Information Design)
Member of The Institute for Learning and Teaching, 2000
FRSA Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, 1987
MSTD Member of the Society of Typographic Designers, 1978
MCSD Member of the Chartered Society of Designers, 1978
Awards
In partnership with Martin's colleagues on the Editorial Board of Baseline (International Journal of Typography), the magazine won the Certificate of Excellence from the Type Directors Club of New York and a Gold Medal in 1997
Research Outputs
Recent research & Publications
Information student projects featured with text by Information tutor Ian Noble, 'Grafik: Journal of the best in international graphic design', May 2006 pages 42-45
Published full colour booklet about the BA (Hons) Information Design pathway with Information Design tutors. Design by Information tutor Hamish Muir AGI, 2004, ISBN 0-954 6134-1-4
Publication of A1 poster on the history of type to be available to all educational institutions at FE level and schools. Research, writing and picture research but not actual design, Book on the Wall 2003
Professional/Industrial Experience
Appointed Design Consultant to Lloyd Northover, an internationally known Design Consultancy (who evolved the identity for the University of the Arts), 2005
Appointed design consultant to the Rothschild Banking Group.
Evolved global PowerPoint design guidelines for all diagrams/tabular/text presentations for Corporate Finance Department. This required a comprehensive visual audit of all material and evolving new designs and logic system for creating diagrams. Also comprehensive guidelines (over 60 pages) for training purposes. This project occurred as a result of a branding alignment carried out by Interbrand requiring Martin to visually overall all PowerPoint presentations (both for paper & screen environments). This involved numerous presentations to directors both in London & Paris, 2002-2004
Unpaid sabbatical to undertake a major re-branding project for a Dutch-French investment bank whose documents are pitched at Government level. Also to update and refresh himself on issues relating to identity, how design consultancies function related to project management, 2001
Unpaid sabbatical to evolve and 'patent' new design system I developed called Message-Based-Design (MBD) & Message-Based-Writing (MBW). (Awaits trade marking, 2001
Evolved visual identity for B2B (Broker to Broker). Global I/T providers to Investment Banks. Both paper & screen solutions provided. 11.8.2000: Featured in Design Week, 2000
WestLB Panmure (Anglo-German Investment Bank): rationalising and evolving research brand across their pan-European product range, 2000
ING Barings: evolving a new brand and related global literature system to mark the re-launch of the oldest UK merchant bank that had gone bankrupt, 1999
Delivered paper to the Expert Finance Forum, part of IIID (International Institute for Information design). Paper entitled ('Morphing Content across Multiple Communications'), Harvard Club, Boston, USA 27th June.2005
