- Nov 2016
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techwritingf16.robinwharton.net techwritingf16.robinwharton.net
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Does the posterwork from a distance? How does it look up close?
A technical writer needs to consider how the deliverable would appear from various perspectives, and how the message it is meant to convey may be changed by a factor like distance.
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3. Grab attention - be assertive with design by using striking (but relevant) visual elements4. Hold attention - provide useful, precise information that is legible from a short distance
There are some situations where this is not a big concern. Often it is not important and even inappropriate to add garish aesthetics to a deliverable.
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italics
Italics can also be used to highlight key terms or phrases within a body of text. For example in literature if a word in dialogue is meant to be spoken with emphasis, it will often be typed in italics.
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A primary goal of graphic designers is to present content so that visual, design, andtextual content work in harmony to convey information and create the desiredeffect. That goal is one to work for, whether your material is a brochure for astudent club or program, a poster for a special event, a business card, or a researchreport that uses the visual representation of data to reinforce or extend anargument. The principles of proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast can befollowed to make sure that your visual and design content works in concert withyour verbal content so that you communicate efficiently or argue effectively.
This is the primary goal of any from of technical writing. A technical writers main concern is to ensure that the information they are providing is clear, concise, and accessible to as wide an audience as possible.
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Words have a dialectical relationship with nearby images. Words comment onimages; images help illustrate or explain verbal content. The viewer's eye tends tobe drawn to the visual, but words also shape the reader's perception.
This reminds me of the Kuleshov effect in film making wherein two unrelated images are edited together in order to create a single idea. the placements of information and other media in a single space creates a similar effect. The audience unconsciously associates two pieces of information when they are delivered in tandem. While this is a great way to organize information within a single piece of content like an infographic it can also be used disingenuously to associate two pieces of information in a way that favors a bias,
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While it's unethical tomanipulate tables to convey data inaccurately, you can make design decisions thatpresent data clearly to help readers understand what you're trying to say.
The use of a certain kind table in a situation where it wouldn't normally be used in order to better illustrate your opinion could also be considered unethical even if the information you are presenting is accurate.
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Pie charts show the relative quantities of the components of something. You coulduse a pie chart to show the makeup of a group of people, with each slice of the piehaving a size corresponding to the percentage of people in that group.
Pie charts are great for pretty much any situations where you are trying to present the composition of an entire, single entity.
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Bar graphs show comparative relationships across a data set, correlated with acommon reference point. For example, a bar graph could show how much timepeople in different fields spent writing at their jobs.
When you compare this graph to the previous graph, you see that it is not as effective when displaying changes in information over time, Graphs like this are however better for offering information for a single period. Interchanging these to graphs would be a great way of manipulating information if you were attempting to persuade your audience.
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Line graphs show relationships among types of data, such as the change in quantity(e.g., revenue) over time. Data are divided into logical unites on the vertical andhorizontal axes
Line graphs are also a great way to provide information about a single figure's growth and/or reduction over time. Stock prices, for example, are not usually compared within a single chart, however, a line graph is still the best way to display stock price's movement over time.
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■ D ire c t d ie rea d er s eye to th e m o s t Im p o rta n t Inform ation
This could possibly be considered unethical, depending on the situation. If you are delivering information on the understanding that that information is expository, and foregrounding information that favors a bias, then you are not acting ethically.
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