Creating Visual Information C H A P T E R 11

Why Use Graphics? How Do You Plan for Using Graphics in a Document? How Do You Select the Most Appropriate Graphic? How Do You Give Your Graphics a Professional Appearance? Presentation Overview

Why Use Graphics? Graphics can support and supplement the text. Graphics can summarize information in the text and present this information in a different way to help readers understand it. Graphics can help readers understand how something works or how to do something. Graphics can present some types of information more quickly and efficiently than words.

How Do You Plan for Using Graphics in a Document? Ask: Will graphics help you to achieve your purpose? Who are my readers and will they need or expect information to be presented visually? What types of graphics are appropriate for the information and the readers?

How Do You Select the Most Appropriate Graphic? Consider your purpose: To illustrate quantitative information To show relationships To illustrate instructions and processes To show what something looks like

To Illustrate Quantitative Information Use: Bar graphs Line graphs Pictographs Pie charts Tables Combined graphics

Bar Graph Graph containing horizontal or vertical bars that represent different values according to their length

Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed and Assaulted, Percent Distribution 1 by Time of Incident, 1998–2007

Line Graph Graph containing points representing successive changes in value plotted on a grid and connected by lines. More precise than a bar graph

Percentage of Examined Miners with Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis (Category 1/0+) by Tenure in Mining, 1970–2006 Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009:

Pictograph Pictures or drawings that present statistical information like a bar graph but in a more visually interesting way

Percentage of Population Living within One Kilometer from a Source Likely to Provide 20 liters of Safe Drinking Water Per Person Per Day, 2004 Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitory Programme for Water Supply & Sanitation.

Pie Chart A circle divided into wedges, with each wedge representing a percentage of the whole

Percentage of Total U.S. Residential Electricity, 2001 Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009:

Table Qualitative (numerical) information arranged in columns and rows

Five States with the Highest and Lowest Percentages of Edentulous Persons Aged 65 and Older Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: Tomar, 1997.

Combined Graphic Combination of two types of graphics that have some commonality but serve different purposes

U.S. Total Electricity Consumption, Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009:

To Show Relationships Use: Organizational charts Diagrams Tables (without numbers)

Organizational Chart A chart that shows how something is organized or how a system is divided

Experts Coordinating the Activities of the DOE Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009:

Diagram A drawing showing relationships or a sequence of actions or events

The Water Cycle Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2008: Evans.

Table without Numbers Information in words arranged in columns and rows

Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: Drugs Used for HCV Treatment and Management of Side Effects

To Illustrate Instructions and Processes Use: Flow charts Line drawings Tables (already covered) Diagrams (already covered)

Flow Chart A visual representation of a complex process or event. Different symbols are sometimes used to present different steps in a process Start or End DecisionOperation

Diabetes Foot Exams Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009:

Line Drawing Drawing that enables readers to see details or parts not apparent in a photograph. Sometimes small parts are enlarged to make them easier to see

Space Shuttle Orbiter Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009:

To Show What Something Looks Like Use: Photographs Maps Screenshots Line drawings (already covered)

Photograph A picture that shows what something is like, shows where something is located, or shows how something is done

A View of the Moon Taken by the Galileo Spacecraft in 1992 Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009:

Map A representation of all or part of an area

Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: maps-publications/maps/ JPG. Afghanistan-Pakistan Administrative Divisions

Screen Shot A picture—“snapshot”—of what appears on a computer monitor (screen)

Screenshot of the Virtual Frog Dissection Kit Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009:

How Do You Give Your Graphics a Professional Appearance? Use simple, uncluttered graphics. Integrate the graphics into the text. Use software and downloadable graphics when possible and appropriate. Apply color selectively to enhance and clarify your graphics.

Questions?