TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Icons in a Document From:BladnMan <bladnman -at- NETDOOR -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 26 Feb 1996 10:46:32 -0600
Susan Seifert wrote:
> 3. It will make your company look amateurish and unprofessional.
> You have my sympathy.
Well, graphics incorporated in a technical document can go either way.
You run the risk of looking like you are playing with a new thing if you
are not consistant -- like Susan seems to indicate. But, you can
obviously make things more approachable with some sort of graphical
layout.
If your company produces clean copy already, there is little harm in
beginning to think about a graphical presentation. After all, look how
popular the sub-standard USA Today newspaper became.
If you are clean and consistant the graphics actually add to the
document. Beware, however, you do not want to use anything too silly.
While that may be fun in the beginning, you eventually run the risk of
looking amateurish.
Bottom Line: Use them, but take a month and a lot of time to decide on a
layout.
-M
--
~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of
a good example"
-- Mark Twain
You have been graced by:
BladnMan -at- Netdoor -dot- Com http://www2.netdoor.com/~bladnman
________________________________________
________________________________________
