IIID Conversations is a new series of informal events. As the name suggests, they are conversations as much as talks. The speakers make short presentations of their work or ideas, then we interview them and the conversation opens out to include everyone.
They are organised by the International Institute for Information Design (IIID). The first three are run in partnership with the Simplification Centre in the UK, which is organising the Information Design Summer School in April and May 2022.
The speaker on 26 April is Oliver Tomlinson, who has pioneered information design and diagramming for bids and tenders – in construction, healthcare and other sectors where making your processes clear is key to success. His company, TDL Creative, are based in the UK.
What does it cost? The event is free for IIID members and for people attending the 2022 Information Design Summer School. For everyone else it is 5 euros.
When converting the start time to your time zone please note the time is 1300 UTC, not 1300 UK. The UK is on summer time, so this will be 1400 in the UK.
The hidden graphics
Oliver will reflect on his experience of creating diagrams for large corporate bids and tenders. He will discuss how business 'authors' work with his team of information designers, creating diagrams to work alongside text in a hidden world of huge commercial contracts.
He will also reflect on the diagrams produced behind the closed doors of businesses, often created by non-designers but a key element in explaining processes, theories, research and initiatives.
Questions for Oliver
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Why put so much effort into a bid document?
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What's the secret to surviving and growing as a company for more than 10 years?
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What is most important for the reader: the words or the diagram?
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Do you find that business people are good visualisers?
About Oliver
Oliver Tomlinson is the CEO and founder of TDL-Creative, a design consultancy based in London that specialises in information design. TDL-Creative was set up in 2011 and is now recognised as an industry-leading agency in bid design and diagramming, producing designs for some of the largest procurement opportunities in the UK. Oliver works predominantly in Powys, Wales, dividing his time between family, diagramming, design workshops and falconry.