This is the Shannon-Weaver model of the process of communication which was developed originally in 1949 and has since become one of the leading models in communication theory. It began in the context of telephone communications but since has spread through several other groups as a representation of how communication works, including fine art and design. The concept behind the model is relatively simple.
It start with the information source. This is the original party that holds the information to be transmitted. It then sends a message to the transmitter which is whatever medium the message will be transmitted through. This sends the signal through a specific channel where it is received on the other end by a receiver (and possibly decoded at the same time). The receiver then forwards the message to the destination which is whereever the message was originally intended to go by the information source.
The other key concepts are entropy, redundancy, noise and to a lesser extent channel capacity.
Entropy effectively means the amount of data being sent as a message in terms of quantity, whereas redundancy means that there is more data than necessary being sent to understand the message. Redundancy doesn't actually make a message redundant, as it is used in things like the English language. There are far more symbols in the English language than are actually needed to communicate any message, so in having more symbols we are able to understand a message quicker and communicate in more depth. Channel capacity is the amount of message data that a channel can actually transmit with and noise is any external source that interferes with the sending and delivery of the message.
All of these points by definition are mostly relevant to actual messages in terms of signals like telephone conversations, however they can easily be crossed over into a context of design.
This example below is a piece of design by Peter Crnokrak called "Everyone Ever in the World" which is a piece of information graphics based around communicating the total number of people that have ever died in a war, massacre or mass genocide. It is hugely mathematically based and scientifically precise as well as being aesthetically pleasing and impressively clean from a design point of view.
When taken into context it is easy to see how design and communication theory cross over.
It all starts with the information source, which in this case is the designer. Crnokrak is the information source and he is looking to send a message. This message is that a comparatively large percentage of the human race has died as a result of war and massacre (about 1.25% in total). The transmitter therefore is the poster itself and I suppose the channel could be the surface area of the paper (or it's potential to hold information) which has been thought about a considerable amount, as the surface area is representational of the total people to have ever lived, with the die cut areas representing those to have died.
The receiver in this instance would be the audiences eyes, as they will need to look at the poster and decode the information to comprehend it. The destination therefore is the person, having received, decoded and understood the message.
In terms of entropy, this poster contains a serious amount of data. This means that the message is not immediately clear, although there is so much information on the poster that it will always be understood when looked at in detail and given time to decode. There is also a lot of redundant data being shown on the poster. Probably a considerable amount of this data is not needed to communicate the same message, however the redundant data all comes together in an aesthetically appropriate design which makes the poster more eye catching, impressive and altogether more memorable. Some may argue that in fact all of this information is completely necessary to communicate the message to the same degree, and without any of it then the same communication would not be achieved. The channel capacity in this poster is incredibly important as it has been very precisely measured and cut to relate directly to the data figures of those killed in the wars and massacres.
As for noise, this could again be argued either way. There is a lot of type covering the poster which would take a very long time to read in total and may dissuade many people as having too much information. However, holding on to the idea that all of this information is necessary to communicate the message properly, there is actually relatively very little noise at all. The type is clear and easily legible and has a fair amount of space between each character and each line to make it easily readable. The poster is only in black and white to avoid any clashing of colour to affect visibility and achieve maximum contrast for easy reading. There is a fair amount of white space across the poster which also helps to focus the information and make it look like considerably less than it actually is.
All in all, this poster has clearly been thought out in great detail in terms of communication theory and the designer has effectively used everything he could to achieve maximum message delivery and clarity of communication.
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