KAREN O’HARA

MARCH, 2015

USING VISUALS

USING GRAPHICS & VISUALS

BEGIN WITH PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

•Balance•Contrast•Consistency (Repetition)

•Alignment•Grouping (Proximity)

Gerson, S. J., & Gerson, S. M. (2010). Workplace writing: Planning, packaging, and perfecting communication. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.

Name that graphic!

Name that graphic!

Name that graphic!

Name that graphic!

Name that graphic!

Name that graphic!

They should…

• tell a simple story

• reinforce written text (not replace it)

• be labeled & placed properly

• be ethical

FOUR GUIDELINES FOR VISUALS

What story does this graphic tell?

How to Zombie-Proof Your Shed

TELLING A SIMPLE STORY

REINFORCING WRITTEN TEXT

LABELED AND PLACED PROPERLY

ETHICAL

MISLEADING REALISTIC

Hollywood Trump Showboat Empress Hammond

Majestic Star

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 94.4 93.9 93.4 93.1 92.8

http://gizmodo.com/how-to-lie-with-data-visualization-1563576606

Cumulative graphs (number of visitors, revenue, etc.)

OTHER WAYS TO “LIE WITH DATA VISUALIZATION”

http://gizmodo.com/how-to-lie-with-data-visualization-1563576606

Ignoring conventions

OTHER WAYS TO “LIE WITH DATA VISUALIZATION”

FUN WITH DATA VISUALIZATION

Tomas Nilsson’s Little Red Riding Hood: http://vimeo.com/3514904

https://s3.amazonaws.com/m.helpscout.net/blog/2013/jul/color-emotion.jpgA WORD ABOUT COLOR

INFOGRAPHICS

PHOTOGRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS, & SCREENSHOTS

• Tell a story

• Include people when possible

• Use the Rule of Thirds (focal point touches top third of scene)

• Minimize background clutter

Pros/cons of using photos?

TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHS

Used to simplify, create focus, enable labeling, create symbols/signposts

Types:

• Line drawings• Maps• Icons, clip art

Pros/cons of using illustrations?

ILLUSTRATIONS

Many browsers & OS have screenshot utilities built in (example: Win7 Snipping Tool)

The old-school way to take screenshots:

PC: Press Print Screen to copy entire screen to clipboard (or ALT + Print Screen for active window.) Then paste into a doc or image editing program. Crop to suit your needs.

Mac: Press Command-Shift-3 at same time. Picture appears on desktop. Edit as needed.

SCREENSHOTS (SCREEN CAPTURES)

http://cdn.morguefile.com/imageData/public/files/s/Schick/10/l/1349749654wg5sz.jpg

Flickr Creative Commons (http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/)

FreeImages (http://www.freeimages.com)

Stokpic (http://www.stokpic.com)

IconsPedia (http://www.iconspedia.com/)

Note: PowerPoint or Word clip art is free to use and DOES NOT need citation unless itis used outside of the program.

SOME FREE IMAGE RESOURCES(LICENSE & USAGE RESTRICTIONS APPLY)

Follow me on Twitter

Visit my Workplace Writing Blog

PICTURE THIS!