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Tech Comm Week Four
WEEK FOUR
Introducing The Manual
Definitions & Descriptions
& Document Design
Audience Analysis
Audience Analysis
How did that go?
Any questions?
Anything I can do to improve assignment format/structure?
Graphic Design
Defined.
An Overview
Graphic Design is - "The art and craft of bringing organized structure to a group of diverse elements."
It's the strategic and deliberate use of words, pictures, and sounds in print, motion pictures, television, and in virtual modes (read on screen).
It is usually for a specific audience, and to fulfill a specific purpose.
Features.
Components
Continued...
Contrast - Differences in color, size, space, time, and sound.
High contrast - busy and youthful.
Low contrast - No nonsense & conservative.
Balance - Placement of elements within your frame.
Balance (formal) vs. Assymetry (attracts attention)
Unity - In relation to content (stylistically) is significant.
"Tone" should match with message.
Examples.
Examples
Let's find some!
Work with a partner to find a logo or design that you think is creative, unique, or clever.
Please share ONLY the logo in the google doc (titled Week Four Google Doc, in weekly content, week four), and be prepared to chat about why you selected it, and what you like about it.
Specific to Tech Comm.
Usability
How a document looks can have a direct impact on how USABLE it is.
Take a look at p. 127 of your text (Mold document).
And compare that to p. 129 (also Mold document).
What do we see that makes these documents different?
Remember our PIZZA example?
Usability
As our text suggests...
As our text suggests...
Document design is like creating a road map.
We want our audience to reach their destination via a certain path.
Informational Graphics
Any graphic that is meant to inform:
- Maps
- Charts
- Graphs
- Diagrams
- Fact Boxes
- Timelines
- Cloud Tags
- And MANY more...
How do we view a page?
Skimming, scanning, studying
Visual Hierarchy
- Doc as whole
- Heading and titles
- Tables, Charts, Graphics
- The rest...
Note: No more than three levels of headings
Electronic Documents
- Different than printed resources.
- How?
- What does this mean to us?
- See p. 128 for further reading.
Visuals
Must be well-chosen and relevant.
Different visuals for different audiences.
Remember that visuals are more than pictures.
Visuals
Grids & White Space
Grids & White Space
Grids - Horizontal, vertical, or combo.
White Space is our friend.
Lists and Headings
- Choose plain bullets or numbers
- Headings are the first step towards chunking
- Keep formatting consistent
- Heading tips - yellow box on p. 136
Lists and Headings
Further Reading...
Checklist for Document Design - p. 147
Checklist for Visuals - p. 178
Typography
Typography
"Typography is to writing
as
soundtracks are to movies"
Typeface Families
6 Main Categories
Blackletter
- Gothic, old english
- Ornate and decorative
- Can be difficult to read
Roman
- Most commonly used typeface
- Familiar to readers
- Used for print typically
Script
- Cursive writing
- Promote high quality
- Used commonly on things like wedding invitations
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
- Novelty or display text
- Purposefully draws attention to itself
- Only usually used in LARGE size
Square Serif
- Typically referred to as slab, or egyptian
- Least used today because of rigid look
- Strongly linked to the "wild west"
Square Serif
Sans Serif
- No-nonsense, practical approach to lettering
- No distractions, easy to read
- Used for STOP, WARNING, etc.
Sans Serif
Also consider...
Bold, italics, CAPITALS
for emphaiss
Spacing
Spacing
- Kerning: Space between letters
- Leading (ledding): Space between lines
- Alley: Space between two coloumns
- Gutter: Space between pages of a document
Expanded/Extended Definitions
Extended Definition
Must consider audience and their previous knoweldge & experinece
Explain a concept that is specialized, unfamiliar or reliant on context
Used when audiences need more detail
Let's Try it!
- Groups of 3-4.
- Each members write down 3 everyday items on a piece of paper.
- Each member chooses a piece of paper and describes their item without using images or gestures.
- If you get stuck, consider similarly grouped items and descrive similarities and differences.
Strategies
Etmology
A word's origin, breaking it down can help people understand and remember.
Example – Noon – Derived from the Latin for ninth. The word Noon originally meant the ninth hour after sunrise, or 3:00 p.m.--generally the hottest part of the day and the time when most people in the Roman Empire would break for lunch.
History & Background
- Can be helpful, but can be overkill.
- Be careful with this one.
- Good idea - explaining why something was created.
- Bad idea - explaining full production and evolution of it.
Operating Principle
Providing an overview of the basics, how something works.
Example: Snowblower: runs on gas, requires user to push it, and snow is thrown out of the chimney.
Comparisons
Things that are related or opposite
Comparisons
Categories
Which categories would this term belong to?
Categories
Usability
Usability
- Appropriate terminology (consider audience)
- Length and placement
- Visuals (accessibility and retention)
- Clear, concise lanugage
- Organization (spatial, chronological, functional)
Contrasted with Descriptions
Descriptions or object descriptions
- Similar to expanded definitions as they help to provide more info and clarify what something is/is not.
- Combo of physical, quantifiable details with part-by-part organization.
- Definition explains what something does
- Description explains how it works
For Further Reading...
- Checklist for Definitions and Descriptions p. 264
- Definition and Description of "Lasagna Process" p. 254
- Description of Standard Stethoscope p. 255 - 256
The Manual
The Manual
Let's get into it!
- The Manual
- The Definition
- Readings from text for Week 6 (pp. 77-97)