In Edward Tufte's book Envisioning Information, a new style of organizing information is defined. By layering and separation, tons of information what would have been much too overwhelming previously have suddenly become readable and intuitive. Similar elements are grouped by color, size, column or many other techniques so that readability becomes the first and foremost concern. He also defines a display rule called 1+1=3. This means that negative space can become a problem when using bold foreground items.

Phillip Meggs, in his article "Type and Image," analyzes a book by El Lissitzky in which information and graphics were presented in clear, precise grid structures. While not apparent at first, each page was created according to a rigid rule system and could be analyzed the overlying grid theme could be identified. These rules for display operate intuitively, sometimes clearly visible and most often more subtle, working on a hidden level, and provide a good basis for the design project.

In 1970, Johannes Itten finally put down on paper a variety of rules of art that had previously been undefined, but present in art for centuries. In his book, The Art of Color, we are introduced to to the subjective timbre, that of the color combinations that appear pleasant to the eye. Each person can produce a different palette based on this concept. Along with many other concepts, he defined a set of seven color contrasts, including contrast of hue, extension, saturation, light-dark contrast, warm-cold contrast, simultaneous contrast, and complementary contrast.

It is Ted Nelson to whom we owe the word "hypertext." In studying Vanevar Bush's concepts, he created a way for people to break away from the standard linear way of viewing information and conceptualized using computers to present information in a new, more intuitive way. Instead of running through history from beginning to end, information could now be analized. Similar occurences, no matter the time period, were at the user's fingertips. This network of information worked the way our brain does, creating relationships between objects intuitively, rather than simply by subject. From this concept have sprung the information highways of the world wide web.

A pioneer of his time, Vanevar Bush created a conceptual machine that, for the time, was decades ahead of the curve. This machine was called the Memex and served as an early browser that linked information by association, rather than subject. These links were called trails and were created by people called trailblazers. Today, we use this concept on the world wide web by linking information by association.

Jorge Luis Borges' short story "The Garden of Forking Paths" from his collection Labyrinths takes the standards of chronological time and tosses them out the window. This labyrinthine work tells the story of a Chinese spy working for Germany during World War II. Upon fleeing his nemesis, he stumbled across a temple devoted to his illustrious and misunderstood ancestor. Receiving an education about his ancestor's work, we, the reader, are presented with an metaphorical presentation of modern hypertext. Borges creates the concept of cyclic events in which all possibilities exist at the same time. Thus, any and all paths can be taken to reach the desired situation.

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp rocked the intellectual world by introducing the concept of the "found object." His Fountain was declared obscene and was not exhibited because the heads of the show did not consider it art. His list of work includes dozens of other unaltered objects, including a wine rack. Today his influence has inspired countless dreamers to view objects out of context. Found object creations range as wide as dinosaur sculptures to garden decorations.

In 1983, Jean Baudrillard wrote The Ecstasy of Communication, in which he coined the word hyperreal. In this, he was describing an emerging social phenomenon in which people were giving up their physical senses for electronic ones. His main complaint was concerning how young people are simply watching too much television, rather than going out to experience the places themselves. However, this concept can now be applied to so much more. Computers have taken over a huge portion of the market and MMORPGs (Massive Muliplayer Online Role Playing Games) such as the popular Everquest. Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash was one of the first popular media icons to make wide use of this concept.

Mayan heiroglyphs represent sounds, much like the Egyptian heiroglyphs, rather than letters. Each glyph relies on a grid structure to represent the emphasis on each syllable. One main syllable can be followed by several lesser syllables, depicted by a standard glyph with a large central image and several small portions attached around the primary. In this way, each glyph makes up a single word. Given the dozens of available syllables for creating glyphs, a rather small written language becomes infinite given the various combinations that can be created.

In order to document an event, or a person in Maya culture, the Mayas would create elaborate stone stelae to which we owe much of our understanding of the ancient language of the Mayas. Following rigid rules of display, these massive tablets usually show a large, central figure surrounded by glyphic writing of his deed. These massive stone tablets range from smaller five foot tall, two foot wide panels to huge 65 ton mammoths at over 35 feet high. Some of the most elaborate and best well known stelae can be found at Copan and depict the egoist Waxaklahun Ubah K'awil, usually known as 18 Rabbit. He was later captured and beheaded by a neighboring city.

Also known as the "white roads," the sak be ob are vast stretches of highway systems that stretch across the Yucatan. Built perfectly straight, the ancient Mayas lined these roads with crushed limestone, and boulder "curbs" that created a seemingly endless stretch of white through the verdant jungle, hence the name "white roads." These roads served much, much more than simple directions for transportation however. Through the movement of people, goods and information, the sak be ob can be taken out of context to be viewed as information highways, linking dozens of cities together along their reaches. These roads were also built at ninety degree angles facing the cardinal directions, creating a vast grid structure through the Yucantan on which the Mayas built their hubs.

Even today, vivid depictions of Maya life can be found on the walls of many structures, but most predominantely temples. These panels depict everything from gods, kings and slaves being sacrificed. Depicted with vibrant, intense hues, Maya murals always seem to exhibit a preferred palette. Some argue that the artists were limited by their available dyes, but as exhibited by the modern Maya, I believe they simply loved the vibrant colors.

All heavenly bodies played important roles in both the Maya culture and their religion. The sun was the source of all life and was affiliated with many gods, instead of just one, and was carefully monitored using the famous sunstone. Shamans carefully tracked the movement of the stars through the sky, fortelling events based upon their motion.

The vast, stepped pyramids of central America represented a religious and artistic height amoung Maya culture. Highly decorated, these constructions reached up to 230 feet in height and over 25 acres at their base! The Mayas used their temples in everything from affairs of the state to worshipping their gods and tracking the heavenly bodies in their trails across the sky.

The Maya pantheon consists of dozens of gods and goddesses, many of which are known by several names, creating a shifting panorama of powers and elements that changes from region to region. Several central figures are identifiable however.

• Itzamna: Supreme god, the heavenly dragon and son of Hunab Ku.
• Hunab Ku: The dual creator god that lives at the top of the cosmic mountain.
• Au Puch & Chaac: Lords of the watery underworld.
• Kinich Ahau: The sun god.
• Kukulkan: The feathered serpent cultural hero, credited with creating mankind, providing corn and being the originator of time.
• Tezcatlipoca: Nemesis of Kukulkan, another god associated with the underworld and typically represented by a jaguar.

Mayas preformed many ceremonies by throwing offerings into cenotes around the Yucatan, as these water portals were seen as doorways to the underworld. Communication between the cosmic levels was provided by five trees that grew that the center of a pyramid world. The trunks of these acted as channels through which moved vast amounts of information, including time. Priests of the Maya religion often communed with their gods through altered states of consciousness, using copious amounts of mind altering drugs until they lost all sense of time and had the visions they sought. I have a feeling this is why most of their gods seem to be based off of observed objects in their world.

The Maya calendar was based on a cyclic year of 260 days, consisting of 13 months of 20 days each. The calendar covered the entire cycle of religious events and was mostly used by priests to determine when a good time to hold a certain festival would be. The famous sunstone tracks the sun's path across the sky, helping determine the exact time of year.