Sheila Pontis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she completed a five-year BA(Hons) in Graphic Design at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA, FADU).

When she finished her BA studies, she moved to Barcelona to complete an MRes in Editorial Techniques at the University of Barcelona. She started her PhD also at the University of Barcelona, but in 2008 her PhD case study (London Underground diagram) brought her to London to complete her PhD at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.

As a professional information designer she is often been involved in the development of diagrammatic projects, however, she has always had a particularly concerned with understanding the ‘non-visual’ stages of the diagrammatic design process.

Since August 2009, this blog has been an interactive platform for sharing her PhD research progress and her information design thoughts. This space has also encouraged the participation of different professionals and academics sharing points of view, theories, comments, suggestions, and proposals around the main themes of her research: diagrams and information design.

PhD Aim
Her practice-led thesis is aimed to develop a model of analysis for enhancing the design thinking in projects dealing with visualisation and communication of complex information, such as technical diagrams. Her methodology is based on the study of Underground Diagrammatic Maps to learn about the information architecture of complex diagrams. Her project focuses on illuminating the stage of information organisation in the design thinking of experienced designers in the professional practice.

PhD Case Study
There are a number of reasons for choosing a diagram as a subject for analysis: diagrams employ a variety of means to encode information; the signs they contain are in theory intentional and clearly presented (Walker, 1979). These characteristics of knowledge are exemplified by the London Underground diagram (LUD), a two dimensional design which represents order, synthesis, contiguity, connectivity, and a huge amount of information with a ‘universal’ graphic system. Moreover, the LUD is widely recognised as a model of clarity and graphic synthesis in the graphic ad information design fields. This feature makes the LUD be considered as a iconic design for the graphic and information design history (Garland, 1994; Hollis, 1997; Meggs, 1998).

Although it is believed that there was no theory or design method behind the creation of the LUD, all design projects follow a kind of rational process (Jones, 1992; Tufte, 1998; Engelhardt, 2002) and when this process is well structured is when iconic designs result. Understanding the design process of the LUD and other key underground diagrammatic maps could improve the effectiveness of complex design projects across a range of disciplines.

- Engelhardt, von J. (2002) The Language of Graphics. Thesis (PhD). Holland: Universiteitt van Amsterdam .
- Garland, K. (1994) Mr Beck’s underground map: [a history]. London: Harrow Weald, Capital Transport.
- Garland, K. (1969) The design of the London Underground diagram. London: The Penrose Annual, Vol 62, pp 68-82.
- Hollis, R. (2001) Graphic Design : a concise history. London : Thames & Hudson
- Jones, C.J. (1992) Design methods. Second edition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold
- Meggs, P.B. (1998) Historia del diseño gráfico. Mexico: McGraw-Hill/Interamericana Editores, S.A.
- Tufte, E. (1998) Visual Explanations. Connecticut: Graphic Press, Cheshire.
- Walker, J.A. (1979) The London Underground diagram. London: Icographic 14/15, pp. 2-4