Reflection on Visual Design Concepts

After reading Chapter 18 over the weekend, I realized how little I’d considered visual design in a technical setting. So far, I’ve mainly been thinking about editing in regards to written words. I never thought about how strongly visual elements of documents could influence text and understanding. In a way, I’m surprised at how little I thought about visuals and editing due to the fact that visuals and so prevalent in our everyday lives! We probably depend on and/or utilize visuals more than we realize from day-to-day.

One aspect the chapter covered that really stood out for me involved Figures 18.2-18.5, where the same information was presented in different ways. I think that certainly helped me understand how the presentation and organization of content can be affected by visual design choices. It reminded me about how manipulative and misleading some information on the internet often seems. In my history classes last semester, my professors heavily emphasized the importance of reading carefully and critically. History is highly subjective and interpretive. My classmates and I were advised to always question what we read and establish a solid, logical argument for our perspectives. When consulting online sources, or any informational source, we must possess awareness of where we are obtaining the information from, the way the information is being said, what isn’t said, and who is providing the information. Of course, some subjects will not require as much, or any, critical approaches compared to others. My connection isn’t exactly related to visual editing, but I saw a similarity between some of the concepts of editing for visual design and determining the reliability of source material: presentation of information, organization and style, argument/main focus, language, reasoning, and motivation.