Whether it be eating, talking, walking, etc., we needed help with the most miniscule tasks as babies. As we got older, our parents introduced the concept of books. First, they gave us picture books where the entire page was filled with bright colors, vivid pictures, and may be a word or two. As we entered the next phase in our life, our books went from being one or two words to a sentence consisting of four to five words. Then, we went to two sentences, and the colors on the pages began to become more dull. Eventually, half the page became words and the pictures became black and white. Finally, the entire page became long sentences and no pictures. The question is why did we start with pictures initially if, at the end, we would be reading books filled with only words. The answer is obvious: the pictures were there to create a penchant for books and the concept of reading. They were there to visually attract us to a certain page or certain book so that we would pick it up and finish reading it.
From when we started learning our ABCs in preschool up to the last midterm we took this week, every teacher or professor has emphasized the idea “show, don’t tell”. It is often easier to understand and grasp material in a visual format as compared to its textual form. Chapter 7 of Designing Visual Language goes into the depth about data displays. It is written by Charles Kostelnick and David Roberts. Kostelnick is currently an English professor at Iowa State University where his interests include visual rhetoric in professional communication, international communication, cross-cultural communication, etc. On the other hand, Roberts is the author of several other books including An Annotated Edition of Selected Criticism.
A significant part of the visual design should be the focus on the rhetorical situation. The designer must recognize, “who your readers are, what your purpose is, and how your readers will actually use the display” (266, Designing Visual Language). This point was also mentioned in Kostelnick’s paper, The Visual Rhetoric of Data Displays: The Conundrum of Clarity. It is important to channel a graphic according to the knowledge of the audience. It may sound a bit rudimentary, but a presentation for second graders clearly has to be different than one made to the CEOs of hotels. Keeping this in mind, Kostelnick and Roberts introduce their audience to the different forms of graphs available and which would seem the perfect fit in a particular situation.
By starting off with the example of Ed, the authors grab the reader’s attention because it makes something technical seem like a story. Ed goes through pie graphs, bar graphs, etc. and sticks with the line graph as it conveys the vast information in the simplest option available. However, finding the right graph is not enough. Another essential part of graphs is the visual editing to “increase emphasis, clarity, conciseness, and ethos” (252). This can be small steps as thickening one of the lines on the graph to depict contrasts or larger ones such as removing “chartjunk” (118, The Visual Rhetoric of Data Displays: The Conundrum of Clarity).
Once the rhetorical situation is defined, it is important to focus on the six cognate strategies to develop the display. While constructing displays, the designer holds power of what points need to be emphasized. Emphasizing certain points impacts how the audience may interpret information, so this tool must be used carefully. Picking an arrangement that conveys the complex information in the simplest manner is critical because
Arrangement decisions have rhetorical effects, and these decisions can take many other forms. You should also keep in mind that culture can play a role in arrangement strategies for data displays. For instance, in cultures were reading flows from left to right, it would be natural to show data trends in that same way….In a culture that reads right-to-left, however, even given the placement of the y-axis, some readers might interpret the data trend as down rather than up….Culture plays a major role in how we design data displays as well as how we interpret them (268).
Kostelnick, in The Visual Rhetoric of Data Displays: The Conundrum of Clarity, mentioned “different readers have different interpretive frameworks that profoundly influence what they find clear and credible in data displays” (11). Certain colors or symbols may have completely unique definitions as compared to those in the rest of the world, which is why clarity is important along with the rhetorical situation. Colors can also allow one to set the tone of the data because it can make visual look lurid or it can look appealing. At the same time, being concise is key because a colorful convoluted visual may not convey the main idea.
Some other aspects to consider while making these graphs are the graphic and spatial elements to describe the data. “Organizing a data display spatially can determine largely what it looks like and how effective it is” (256, Designing Visual Language). The choice of using bars, dots, lines, pie slices, etc. can affect the aesthetics of the visual and the interpretations made by the audience. So it is important to consider the rhetorical situation, the amount of data needed to be presented, and the variations among the data.
I think it is important to spatially arrange the data in a way that is simple enough to understand. For example, the point of a pie graph is to compare information about a certain topic. If the pie consists of more than eight slices, the audience will be confused as to which one to look at first. At the end, this convoluted figure will further the conundrum instead of actually leading to an extrapolation.
In contrast, when the pie has only two or three slices, it makes it more aesthetically pleasing and interpretable for the reader. It is also important to keep in mind the elements surrounding the data such as the background shading or grid lines. Adding color or pictorial elements in reference to the topic may help to enhance the presentation depending on the rhetorical situation.
In the discussion of spatial elements, one point that particularly appealed to me was the idea of the stretching and sinking of the plot frame. When making graphs in chemistry lab or for Calculus homework, we normally do not think about presenting to the audience because these graphs have been created in order to find a mathematical solution. However, scaling the graph correctly to set the proper tone is important to convey the message clearly. If the graph is not designed properly, it can often lead to multiple interpretations of the same information. As a designer, one does not want to create more ambiguity as it will take away from the presentation.
The points Robert and Kostelnick make are valid as the thought process behind making a visual should be more than just simply throwing a graph in there to avoid writing texts. The most important point I picked up was the fact that the rhetorical situation should constantly be taken into consideration. Otherwise, the points will not be conveyed to the audience.
I saw many links between this reading and Kostelnick’s The Visual Rhetoric of Data Displays: The Conundrum of Clarity. There was less emphasis on clarity as this time Roberts and Kostelnick were talking about the data displays as a whole, however, the ideas about taking culture into consideration and getting rid of the clutter re-appeared.
The idea about rhetorical situation reminded me of Cicero because in De Oratore, Cicero says, “he ought first to find out what he should say; next, to dispose and arrange his matter, not only in a certain order, but with a sort of power and judgment”. Kostelnick and Roberts have modified what Cicero said. Rhetorical situation, according to them, means the designer should know his or her audience, figure out the purpose of the visual, and, finally, how the visual will be arranged.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a deadly virus that has been taking millions of lives every year. Scientists were interested in looking at the origin of HIV and how the virus had evolved over the years. The earliest samples scientists had of HIV in America were from the 1980s, which was too recent. They, then, obtained samples of the blood of those who had died of HIV in Africa in 1959. They took samples from 1980, 1959, etc. and were able to make a line graph of how the virus had evolved. They found that the virus in 1959 was only.065 different from the original strain of the virus. So, using a molecular clock, scientists estimated that HIV had originated in the 1930s in Africa. All this was done using line graphs and slopes. Clearly, the aid of visuals has helped the world in a variety of fields and will continue to do so for years to come.
When I read Kostelnick’s chapter on data displays, I immediately thought of the ease of which we are able to use pictures and images in communication. What I really liked about your post was that you brought up that when we are first learning to read and communicate, we do so through images. And this type of communication, through images, is just as complex and layered as is written communication. As you said, we aim to “show, not tell” with writing. Good writing should achieve the same emotional effect as a picture. Education often focuses on writing skills; maybe there needs to be a bigger emphasis on image display design since they are becoming an integral part of how we communicate.