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: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/2007/data/figure_01.html.

Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed and Assaulted, Percent Distribution1 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: http://www2a.cdc.gov/drds/WorldReportData/FigureTableDetails.asp?FigureTableID=524&GroupRefNumber=F02-05.

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: http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/brochure/electricity/images/new_pie_chart.gif .

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: http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/DataStatistics/SurgeonGeneral/sgr/tables/table41.htm. Tomar, 1997.

Combined Graphic

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

U.S. Total Electricity Consumption, 1998-2010

Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/steo/pub/gifs/Fig20.gif .

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: http://www.nrel.gov/basic_sciences/images/chart_universities.gif.

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: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclehi.html. Evans.

Table without Numbers

Information in words arranged in columns and rows

Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: http://hab.hrsa.gov/tools/coinfection/images/table4.gif.

Drugs Used for HCV Treatment and Management of Side Effects

To Illustrate Instructions and ProcessesUse:• 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 Decision Operation

Diabetes Foot Exams

Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: http://www.ndep.nih.gov/resources/feet/images/foot-exams-flow-chart.gif .

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: http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v1p46.jpg .

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: http://discovery.nasa.gov/images/Moon.png.

Map

A representation of all or part of an area

Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/cia-maps-publications/maps/777768.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: http://froggy.lbl.gov/images/virtual/example1.gif.

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?