This article passed across our screens on the SIGIA list and I believe it deserves mentioning again in case you aren't on the list.

Dutch information designer, Paul Mijksenaar was hired to overhaul the signage at all three of New York's major airports. The success of the changes is hinted at and the story talks a little about the systems and problem solving the designer went through for this particular exercise. Some people on the list have expressed amazement that the skills used by designers like this are akin to the skills used by an IA. These problem solving and organizational skills are one of the foundations of training in design - expecially at the graduate level. Seems like we should remember that the IA field is composed from design, library science as well as HCI and that many of the core skills are common across these multiple disciplines.

Paul Mijksenaar's books Visual Function: An Introduction to Information Design and Open Here: The Art of Instructional Design are both worth investigating. I have the first and it is a nice little overview of information design and graphics. You should still read the Tufte books for in depth analysis and theory around information design.

Other items of interest around this topic are:

Three Information Design Lessons Selected Films By Charles and Ray Eames. Definitely check out the summary page.

RIT Design Archive Online - 20th Century Information Design - site put together around a course taught by my graduate professor R. Roger Remington. The site is from 1997 so is pretty basic but the bibliography page is chock full of great resources for exploring information design from the perspective of a designer.