The successful interchange of complex information is critical to modern knowledge societies. In recent years, the struggle with COVID-19 and the challenge of climate change have underscored the importance of scientific insights. Yet, society’s reliance on—and trust in—science cannot be taken for granted. To play a role in societal decision making, science depends on effective communication. Scientists need to put their insights into perspective, making them comprehensible and plausible to the general public. The rise of research in the field of science communication documents this increasing importance.1 However, researchers are only beginning to take a distinctly design-oriented perspective on science and (more broadly) knowledge communication.2 This delayed attention may come as a surprise because when we examine the practices of science communication, we find they are influenced by almost all areas of design: exhibits in science centers, learning games and materials, stages and spaces for science communication events, as well as online platforms and interfaces of all kinds. Moreover, graphic design plays a critical role in almost all areas of science communication—whether professionally executed or created by non-specialists.3 Science communication is—to our mind—fundamentally interwoven with design, and the two areas would mutually profit from exchange with regard to theory, method, and criticism. Hence, by the term, knowledge design, we refer to a general design-oriented approach to the communication of knowledge and, particularly, of scientific insights. We tend to think that science communication’s main job is to get all the facts right and to make science intelligible to nonexperts. However, to play a role in societal decision making, effective science communication needs to connect scientific research to non-specialists, making its insights plausible and underscoring its relevance to people’s lives. Further, science’s authority and credibility—its ethos, so to say—must be regularly re-instantiated through communication. For this reason, this special issue also pursues a rhetorical approach to design and science communication— and by the same token, we take knowledge design to be fundamentally informed by rhetoric.

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简介：知识设计——科学传播中的视觉修辞

复杂信息的成功交换对现代知识社会至关重要。近年来，与 COVID-19 的斗争和气候变化的挑战凸显了科学见解的重要性。然而，社会对科学的依赖和信任不能被认为是理所当然的。为了在社会决策中发挥作用，科学依赖于有效的沟通。科学家们需要将他们的见解放在正确的角度，使它们对公众来说是可以理解和合理的。科学传播领域研究的兴起证明了这一日益重要的重要性。1 然而，研究人员才刚刚开始对科学和（更广泛的）知识传播采取明显的面向设计的观点。2 这种延迟关注可能会让人感到意外，因为当我们审视科学传播实践时，我们发现它们几乎受到所有设计领域的影响：科学中心的展品、学习游戏和材料、科学传播活动的舞台和空间，以及以及各种在线平台和界面。此外，图形设计在科学传播的几乎所有领域都发挥着至关重要的作用——无论是专业执行还是由非专业人士创造。3 在我们看来，科学传播与设计从根本上交织在一起，这两个领域将互惠互利。关于理论、方法和批评。因此，通过术语知识设计，我们指的是一种面向设计的通用方法，用于知识交流，特别是科学见解的交流。我们倾向于认为科学传播的主要工作是让所有事实正确，并使非专家能够理解科学。然而，要在社会决策中发挥作用，有效的科学传播需要将科学研究与非专业人士联系起来，使其见解合理并强调其与人们生活的相关性。此外，科学的权威和可信度——可以说是它的精神气质——必须通过交流定期重新实例化。出于这个原因，本期特刊也追求设计和科学传播的修辞方法——同样的，我们认为知识设计从根本上是由修辞来指导的。有效的科学传播需要将科学研究与非专业人士联系起来，使其见解合理并强调其与人们生活的相关性。此外，科学的权威和可信度——可以说是它的精神气质——必须通过交流定期重新实例化。出于这个原因，本期特刊也追求设计和科学传播的修辞方法——同样的，我们认为知识设计从根本上是由修辞来指导的。有效的科学传播需要将科学研究与非专业人士联系起来，使其见解合理并强调其与人们生活的相关性。此外，科学的权威和可信度——可以说是它的精神气质——必须通过交流定期重新实例化。出于这个原因，本期特刊也追求设计和科学传播的修辞方法——同样的，我们认为知识设计从根本上是由修辞来指导的。