ABSTRACT
It’s ironic that at the same time, our eyes drift to the thought bubble riding above this paragraph. The oval graphic and its caption pull a reader away from these regulated words. It’s out of place, out of space, from another dimension. The natural visual attraction of a comic bubble suggests a way to shift the promise of multidimensional information systems off of a one dimensional page. In fact, the ability of graphic and visual explanations to support and clarify complex ideas is well known (Tufte). They are nonlinear forms of visual information that have been recognized to add a deeper understanding of complex systems (Guindi). Furthermore, diagrams and illustrations are known to be medium of construction communications from the earliest beginnings of human settlements (Tringham). As a practice, the construction industry has a long tradition of using illustrations and diagrams for communications.
