Re: Hot Topics

[Paula Puffer <techwrtr -at- CEI -dot- NET>]

At 08:25 PM 3/8/97 PST, you wrote:
>Mike Markley writes:
>
>>I think "visual literacy" is a hot topic. Graphical techniques
>>for information delivery are becoming more accessible and less
>>expensive (like streamed video on the web or desktop video
>>production), and readers'/users' attention spans seem to be
>>getting shorter. As a result, a shift toward _less text_ and
>>_more graphics_ is underway in many areas of documentation.
>>We need to monitor this communication front, and prepare
>>ourselves for this shift.
>
>I don't know about video, but certainly illustration is under-used
>in most manuals.  Every writer should take a technical illustration
>course, even if you have illustrators at your beck and call, so you
>understand the field well enough to integrate illustrations into
>your document design.

I didn't have to take a technical illustration course at either of the
instutions I have attended for Prof. Comm. However, I did have to take a
visual communications class at Iowa State that has been very useful. We did
do some work with creating visual instructions and really looked at how the
layout and design affects documents.  The principles I learned in this
course  are ones that I use on a daily basis and I consider it to be one of
the best classes I have had.


Paula

>
>I usually take a "pictures first, then words" approach to documents.
>
>        -- Robert
>--
>Robert Plamondon, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
>36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
>robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139
>http://www.pioneer.net/~robertp
>
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*******************************************************************
Paula Puffer
techwrtr -at- cei -dot- net
Thesis Project: The UWC Online http://www.ualr.edu/~owl/index.html
Class Web page: RHET 1312 http://www.ualr.edu/~papuffer/comp2.html
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