Representing the time: the role of sequences representation in the design of visual information

In the design of visual information, one of the essential elements of the project planning is time. This concept, defined as a sequence in reading or viewing, appears today an important research key point.The main objective of this paper is to identify the graphical illustration's role in communication processes, and to highlight how the image relates and influences learning spatial skills compared to traditional verbal processes.In the field of communication through visualization, the attention is here focused on the design of instructions - such as those of the operating instructions or assembly of objects, or a path's indications in the public spaces - namely those tasks that require explanations of actions in space. In this specific type of visual communication images have to be arranged in a precise spatial-temporal configuration and require important representation and reading skills.The representation of these processes has been extensively studied under different points of view, taking into account both the structure and the spatial-temporal configuration, of course without neglecting the Gestalt and the aesthetic-graphic components.It is a vast research and experimentation field, which involves in it various disciplines: so, it was not possible to reach general definitions. However, the presence of a visual system shaped to receive the presented data has pushed to try to understand the operation of the receptive mechanism, in order to produce more useful representations and best thinking tools.