Designers provide ways into—and out of—the flood of words by breaking up text into pieces and offering shortcuts and alternate routes through masses of information. (...) Although many books define the purpose of typography as enhancing the readability of the written word, one of design’s most humane functions is, in actuality, to help readers avoid reading.
Interpretation
Designers help organize information to make it easier to navigate and choose what to read.
Ellen Lupton's quote emphasizes the role of design in information communication, suggesting that designers not only enhance readability but also curate content, guiding readers through vast amounts of text. This functionality of design serves a humane purpose by enabling users to avoid unnecessary reading, ultimately streamlining their experience and allowing for more efficient information consumption.
In practice
In a workshop on graphic design, I shared a quote on how typography can guide readers through content.
Design is an art of situations. Designers respond to a need, a problem, a circumstance, that arises in the world. The best work is produced in relation to interesting situations - an open-minded client, a good cause, or great content.
Great design will not sell an inferior product, but it will enable a great product to achieve its maximum potential.
It is not how much empty space there is, but rather how it is used. It is not how much information there is, but rather how effectively it is arranged.
Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information. And so the point is to find design strategies that reveal detail and complexity - rather than to fault the data for an excess of complication. Or, worse, to fault viewers for a lack of understanding.
Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role.
Design needs to be plugged into human behavior. Design dissolves in behavior.
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