Creating Visual Information
Creating Visual
Information
C H A P T E R 11
Presentation Overview
• 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?
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
Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed and Assaulted,
Percent Distribution 1 by Time of Incident, 1998–2007
Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/2007/data/figure_01.html.
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
Drugs Used for HCV Treatment and Management of Side Effects
Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: http://hab.hrsa.gov/tools/coinfection/images/table4.gif.
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
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
Afghanistan-Pakistan Administrative Divisions
Source: Downloaded from the World Wide Web, May 14, 2009: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/ciamaps-publications/maps/777768.JPG.
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.
