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2014 28: 249Journal of Business and Technical CommunicationAimée Knight

Book Review: Designing Texts: Teaching Visual Communication  

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Book Review

Book Review

Book Review Editor: Christa Teston, Ohio State UniversityBrumberger, Eva R., & Northcut, Kathryn M. (Eds.). (2013). Designing Texts: TeachingVisual Communication. Amityville, NY: Baywood, 332 pp. $69.95. ISBN: 978-0-89503-785-5.

Reviewed by: Aimee Knight, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, USADOI: 10.1177/1050651913513876

Stephen Bernhardt first argued for the importance of helping students to

‘‘see’’ texts in his 1986 landmark article, ‘‘Seeing the Text,’’ published in

College Composition and Communication. While his article was quickly

accepted for publication, it took over 5 years to bring it to print due to a lack

of companion pieces. Bernhardt recalled that ‘‘as a field, we were not quite

ready to map visual rhetoric to our practice’’ (p. 303). Almost 30 years later,

visual rhetoric is increasingly part of the teaching practice for instructors of

technical and professional communication. Multimedia and multimodal

platforms are transforming modes of writing; word-based communication

increasingly shares space with image, sound, video, interaction, and various

other means of representation. Teaching designed communication now

encompasses an array of possibilities that include visual rhetoric, graphic

design, multimodal composition, Web design, presentation design, sound

design, video production, animation, 3-D rendering, and information

visualization.

To prepare students for this changing landscape of communication,

instructors are challenged to engage with a wide variety of writing situations

and experiment with a range of available technologies in order to help stu-

dents read, write, view, interact, and otherwise make meaning through visual

texts. The edited collection Designing Texts: Teaching Visual Communica-

tion brings together a diversity of theoretical and practical approaches to

teaching visual communication. Editors Brumberger and Northcut claim that

‘‘until now, professional communication and composition have not had a

Journal of Business and TechnicalCommunication

2014, Vol. 28(2) 249-253ª The Author(s) 2013

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book aimed at instructors and focused exclusively on the challenges of teach-

ing visual communication in postsecondary classrooms’’ (p. 6). Organized

into five sections, this book is pragmatic at heart—chock-full of sample

assignments, heuristics, and rubrics for the visual communication instructor.

The interested reader will also find a timely survey of the rich and varied state

of the field, featuring theorists, pedagogies, and practices that are currently

employed in visual communication classrooms.

Part 1, ‘‘Visual Thinking and Problem Solving,’’ brings together the

voices of practitioners who emphasize visual thinking in their teaching.

Seen together, these introductory chapters highlight the move toward more

informed practice, using theory to inform teaching. In the first chapter, Lisa

Meloncon speaks to the challenge of teaching visual texts, attesting that

‘‘what is missing from the field are best practices and specific pedagogical

strategies to integrate visual communication into the classroom’’ (p. 13). To

extend ‘‘ways of seeing’’ in the teaching of visual communication, Melon-

con introduces students to landscape theory, particularly the work of cul-

tural geographer Pierce Lewis. Meloncon claims that it is important to

help students acquire a shared vocabulary ‘‘as a way to order and explain

the world they see’’ (p. 20). In the next chapter, Teena Carnegie approaches

the teaching of visual design through problem solving. ‘‘When we teach the

grammar and vocabulary of design,’’ she suggests, ‘‘we emphasize that

design is rhetorical. We teach students about the rhetoric of design, asking

them to consider audience, purpose, and context . . . although we recognize

design as a problem solving activity, we often do not explicitly teach prob-

lem solving’’ (p. 47). Carnegie discusses four theories of problem solving—

traditional, associationist, information processing, and Gestalt. According

to Carnegie, ‘‘as design is a problem to be solved, a means for providing

enabling solutions, and a problem solving process, it cannot be readily

explained through any one theory or approach’’ (p. 47). Seen together, these

approaches represent a pedagogical turn to design thinking, the act of apply-

ing a designer’s sensibility and methods to creative problem solving.

The final two chapters in this section further emphasize the pedagogical

trend toward empirical observation and experience. In her teaching, Linda

Driskill turns to argumentation theory in order to help students understand

how conclusions can be reached through logic. She helps students put the-

ory into practice by analyzing flyers, slides, and commercial advertise-

ments—kinds of designed communication that students encounter in their

everyday lives. She explains that ‘‘sometimes students don’t recognize

these commercials as arguments, as persuasive claims that should stand

up to tests for logic, evidence, and assumptions’’ (p. 49). In the last chapter

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in this section, Nicole Amare and Alan Manning also call for instructors to

produce empirically sound approaches to the teaching of designed commu-

nication based on real-world evidence and observation. The authors present

their own research on color and emotional response, which, they claim, pro-

vide a framework for teaching color with the end goal of providing an

‘‘evidence-based approach to pedagogy that moves beyond prescriptions

and lore’’ (p. 94).

By Part 2, ‘‘Contexts for Teaching and Learning,’’ some consensus is

apparent about the process of teaching visual communication as a contex-

tually situated activity. This section features three different methods for

context-focused instruction. To begin, Eva Brumberger discusses partner-

ing with community-based organizations in a service-learning course in

order for students to gain a real-world audience for their work. She notes

that ‘‘for too many of our students, design experience is slim, and a

community-based project may be their only opportunity for professional

development in a given semester’’ (p. 114). Working with a community

partner provides the student not only with a working knowledge of visual

design principles but also with a more complex understanding of situated

practice that extends beyond the classroom.

Next, Claire Lauer also moves the conversation beyond the classroom

walls and into an asynchronous online class setting. According to Lauer,

teaching visual communication in digital environments presents unique chal-

lenges. In an online setting, for example, access to design software such as

Adobe Creative Suite presents a real obstacle for some students, which (along

with the more learner-centered environment) may compel instructors to

experiment with different tools and techniques to deliver their lessons. Teach-

ing visual communication in an online setting forces Lauer ‘‘to assess what

learning outcomes are important’’ and how she is going to facilitate those out-

comes in ways that she may not consider in a traditional face-to-face class-

room (p. 120). Finally, Lee Odell also calls for new strategies to teach the

critique and creation of texts. He develops a versatile heuristic that can aid

students working in a variety of mediums and contexts, from print to video.

The heuristic features four processes: moving from given to new, selecting

and encoding information, creating and fulfilling reader–viewer expectations,

and establishing logical and perceptual relationships. Guiding the reader

through an analysis of technical instructions and then applying the heuristic

to a student’s video project, Odell demonstrates the flexibility of such a

framework in teaching designed communication.

Part 3, ‘‘Evaluation and Assessment,’’ focuses on outcomes, goals, and

objectives for teaching visual communication. This section discusses

Book Reviews 251

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assessment in relation to course projects as well as how this assessment

could inform the broader course curriculum. The editors note that ‘‘as visual

communication assumes a more prominent role in pedagogy, it must also

become more central to evaluation and assessment’’ (p. 177). Kathryn

Northcut’s chapter leads this section by reporting on three studies of visual

communication practices featuring a focus group, a survey, and a roundta-

ble discussion. As Northcut reports, ‘‘published scholarship suggests that

the teaching and evaluation of visual communication are characterized by

a broad spectrum of practices—too varied, ill-defined, and nontransferable

to be sustainable’’ (p. 183). Her findings indicate that assessments in visual

communication courses should not only highlight the formal and technical

aspects of student work (such as Gestalt principles of contrast, repetition,

alignment, and proximity) but also pay attention to issues of aesthetics and

creativity.

Suguru Ishizaki’s chapter offers pragmatic advice for identifying and

developing learning outcomes for a course. Ishizaki provides concrete

examples of course objectives and a variety of assessment activities, includ-

ing the use of critiques and portfolio-based assessment. He stresses the

development of learning objectives within the cognitive domain (under-

standing and thinking), the affective domain (feelings and attitudes), and

the psychomotor domain (physical skills). He invites instructors of visual

communication to embrace the value of assessments as a way to help our

students ‘‘develop a high level of competency in visual communication

design’’ (p. 216). In the next chapter, Danielle Nicole DeVoss extends the

argument for assessment by demonstrating the value of working from a

framework of alignment. She establishes the importance of mapping the

goals and objectives of an individual course assignment onto a large-

scale course project and then finally onto the larger curricular framework

within the writing program at her university.

In Part 4, ‘‘Tools and Technologies,’’ authors find common ground in

their call for rhetorical, audience-centered approaches to technology.

Jennifer Sheppard discusses the need to balance the technical, ‘‘how-

to’’ instruction of tools and software with more rhetorical approaches

to visual communication, including a focus on intended audience, pur-

pose, and context. In the next chapter, Charles Kostelnick warns that

technology can sometimes impede ‘‘the student’s inclination to think

creatively and flexibly about design solutions’’ (p. 266). He offers

‘‘low-tech’’ strategies and project ideas, such as the hand-drawn produc-

tion of logos and comics to develop students’ awareness of the rhetori-

cal situation as well as to enhance students’ aptitude for creativity and

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invention. Finally, Mike Markel examines the strengths and weaknesses

of Microsoft’s SmartArt. Markel notes that while SmartArt software

might be technically easy for students to use, thinking through rhetori-

cal issues of audience and purpose presents a challenge for students. He

argues that visual communication instructors must help students under-

stand not only how to use software but how to ‘‘achieve particular

rhetorical effects that will further their communicative intentions’’ (p.

296). Through their rhetorical instruction, then, teachers of visual com-

munication play important roles in helping students become more crea-

tive with and critical of the technology that they use.

Stephen Bernhardt ends this collection by reflecting on the book as a

whole. He concludes that ‘‘this collection offers rich insight into how

instructors in a variety of settings pursue the task of teaching a visual rheto-

ric’’ (p. 303). Indeed, throughout the collection, authors often reach for the-

ories and practices outside the discipline in order to achieve their intended

pedagogical goals and outcomes. Thus, it is not surprising that Northcut

generalizes that ‘‘teachers of visual communication do not have a shared

understanding of terminology and concepts, and further have difficulty

evaluating visual artifacts consistently’’ (p. 185). One reason for this frag-

mentation in the field comes from the simple fact that many instructors have

not received formal training in visual communication and design. In the

years to come, tendencies to stray outside the discipline may contribute

to further diversification of approaches and methods to teaching visual

communication.

Nonetheless, Designing Texts reveals many common practices and

shared calls to action. While there is no single approach to teaching

designed communication, the authors appear to agree on some strategies.

Mainly, these shared strategies include (a) joining theory with practice,

(b) using heuristics, (c) developing a shared vocabulary, (d) emphasizing

Gestalt design principles, and (e) teaching design as a problem-solving

activity. Perhaps most important, the authors continuously turn to rhetoric

in teaching designed communication in order to accommodate the needs

of students who work within a variety of modes, media, and contexts. In

fact, recognizing the changing landscape of communication, many authors

in the collection extend their purview beyond visual communication to dis-

cuss sound, user interaction, and more cinematic means of communication.

These shared strategies create an opportunity to develop a common vocabu-

lary for students and instructors who come from diverse backgrounds so that

they can communicate meaningfully about the role of designed communi-

cation in today’s teaching and learning.

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