12 Creating Graphics

Printed Page 294-295

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Graphics are the “pictures” in technical communication: drawings, maps, photographs, diagrams, charts, graphs, and tables. Graphics range from realistic, such as photographs, to highly abstract, such as organization charts. They range from decorative, such as clip art and stock photos that show people seated at a conference table, to highly informative, such as a schematic diagram of an electronic device.

Graphics are important in technical communication because they do the following:

  • catch readers’ attention and interest
  • help writers communicate information that is difficult to communicate with words
  • help writers clarify and emphasize information
  • help nonnative speakers of English understand information
  • help writers communicate information to multiple audiences with different interests, aptitudes, and reading habits