Visuals

Philly Chapter Virtual Event, Sept 24

September 24 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm (UTC -4)

Please join the Philadelphia chapter of the IEEE Professional Communication Society for an virtual event. Everyone is welcome to attend. Traffic control is an essential part of a safe, efficient transportation system. One of three main traffic control …

Experience Design Should Not Make Users Cry

An Experience Design Review of Munich’s Altes Pinakothek Museum

By Kristin Zibell, guest author

June 2024

I thought the Albrecht Dürer masterwork painting, “Selbstbildnis imcPelzrock” would make me cry.cInstead, it was the abominable experience design of the Altes Pinakothek museum that brought me to tears.

My parents and I …

Flatten the Curve: Why certain messages catch on

When communicating about risk, the hope is to craft appropriate messaging to motivate appropriate action and understanding by the public. This is often challenging, particularly when there is so much scientific uncertainty involved in the risk. Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, many messages have been developed …

Engineering by PowerPoint

News in recent days about the process and decision making tools used by Boeing in the Boeing 737 Max case reminds us about the importance of communication tools in engineering. As reported by The Daily Herald [1], Boeing made a detailed presentation to the FAA …

Visual Rhetoric: Making Arguments Visually Using Elements of Visual Grammar

When designing visuals, we often neglect to identify a purpose beyond simply representing data. But visuals – particularly data visuals and infographics – are most effective when they are designed with a clear purpose in mind, particularly if they contribute to an argument. Melissa Clarkson’s …

Infographic Errors: How People Err in Designing Visuals

As news organizations, governments, and corporations struggle to communicate more complex information to multiple audiences, they increasingly rely on visual representations.  Quite a number of prominent failures in visual design that have played out in the media over the past few years; looking at these …

The Elements of Visual Communication, by Melissa Clarkson

Are you in the process of composing a set of slides, a handout, or some other graphical document? You may want to read Melissa Clarkson‘s new contribution to the site, on The Elements of Visual Communication, where she identifies key strategies for graphically communicate (A) hierarchy, (B) grouping and (C) sequence, three relationships that …

Elements of Visual Communication

 Melissa Clarkson
This brief tutorial introduces the foundational elements of visual communication. The emphasis is on techniques to graphically communicate (A) hierarchy, (B) grouping and (C) sequence— three concepts that are critical for designing effective figures, posters, and slides.
Here is an overview of the strategy:

Position, color, …