From Pen to Print: The New Visual Landscape of Professional Communication
http://jbt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/1/91
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  peer-reviewed

Kostelnick, Charles
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
1994

Abstract:

Visual design has played an important role in the historical development of professional communication. The technology of laser printing has reestablished the importance of visual language in functional communication, transforming contemporary document design and redefining its relation to the traditions of handwritten, typewritten, and printed text. During this period of transition, three factors will shape the new visual language: (a) the development of a visual rhetoric that represents design as an integral part of the message rather than merely as external "dress," (b) the rediscovery of aesthetics as a legitimate factor in text design, and (c) the use of empirical research--particularly context-specific research--to guide the document design process.