Graphic design practice embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, including typography, visual arts and page layout. Like other forms of design, graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated. It is usually viewed as a superset of technical illustration.
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Visual Metadiscourse: Designing the Considerate Text 
Visual metadiscourse can provide design criteria for authors when considering the needs and expectations of readers. The linguistic concept of meta-discourse is expanded from the textual realm to the visual realm, where authors have many necessary design considerations as they attempt to help readers navigate through and understand documents. These considerations, both textual and visual, also help construct the ethos of authors, as design features reveal awareness of visual literacy and of the communication context. Visual metadiscourse complements textual metadiscourse in emphasizing the necessity of rhetoric in technical communication.
Kumpf, Eric P. Technical Communication Quarterly (2000). Design>Graphic Design>Rhetoric
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We hear a lot about proofreading. And, although it is a vital part of any publication, there's another kind of proofreading that can make as much (if not more) difference in the success of your publication. Note: This is part four in a continuing series about the creative processes involved in designing a publication. I was prompted to begin this series by the discussions and questions asked by attendees of my Newsletter Design workshop recently in Dallas.
Design, Typography and Graphics (2000). Design>Graphic Design>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric
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Visual Rhetoric (and Other Visual) Resources 
Links to a variety of resources about visual rhetoric.
Wysocki, Anne Frances. Michigan Tech University (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
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Half of knowing where you're going is knowing where you are. So a fundamental part of creating a great web is to let your readers know where they are at all times. One way, of course, is to use tabs and menus that literally tell them where they are. Here at ideabook.com, for example, you know where you are by looking at the top of the page–-the tab tells you you're in the 'DESIGN PALETTES' section and the headline tells you the article title.
Chuck Green. Ideabook.com (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Branding
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InfoVis.net es un proyecto dedicado a la Visualización de la Información, entendida como el proceso de interiorización del conocimiento mediante la percepción de información, preferentemente (pero no sólo) de forma visual. A veces se confunde la Visualización de la Información con el Diseño de Información. Este último es parte de aquella.
InfoVis (2004). (Spanish) Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
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Visualizing Information: An Overview of This Special Issue
The guest editors offer a brief history of visualization, discuss the present state of the art, and explore the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead. They then discuss the contents of this special issue in terms of the trends in visualization theory and research. They conclude by observing that technical communicators must respond to the challenges presented in the content of this issue, both by using the methods presented and by performing the further research the authors call for. Additionally, researchers must incorporate the results of inquiry in the related fields.
Gribbons, William M. and Arthur G. Elser. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric>Technical Illustration
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Visually Speaking: Adult-Only Publications
Corporate photography was once the realm of adults only. Just a few years ago, it was surprising to see a picture of anybody under 40 years old in an annual report or capabilities brochure, much less someone under the age of 12. But nowadays, photos of children are showing up more and more often in all kinds of corporate publications, and as you might suspect, photographing children requires a totally different approach than shooting the CEO.
Salvo, Suzanne. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Design>Graphic Design>Photography>Visual Rhetoric
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The goal of this site is to explore the ways in which rhetoric, visual culture, and pedagogy interact with and inform each other. In keeping with this mission, the viz. blog is a forum for exploring the visual through identifying the connections between theory, rhetorical practice, popular culture, and the classroom.
University of Texas. Resources>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric>Blogs
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W3C Standard for Scalable Vector Graphics
In this installment of 'W3C Watch,' a new Intercom department dedicated to discussing the work of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and its potential impact on technical communicators, Porter introduces Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), which the W3C defines as 'a language for describing two-dimensional vector graphics and graphical applications in XML.'
Porter, Sara J. Intercom. Design>Graphic Design>Standards>SVG
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The conservative use of graphics is recommended to ensure reasonable download speeds.
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Web Graphics - From the Tried and True to the New
You've gone to a lot of trouble to put together your Web page. The graphics make it look especially effective. But what if hardly anyone sees them? After all, Web surfers are au impatieut breed with short attention spaus. They might wait about 30 secouds, and theu they're off to another site. You ueed to keep your graphics files as small as possible so they'll load quickly. What cau you do? This demoustratiou shows how to use several popular graphics packages to compress the size of your graphics, alLd where possible, make them transparent.
Randolph, Elaine F., Jeffrey A. Randolph and Mark H. Bloom. STC Proceedings (1997). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design
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If you work anywhere near a Web site, sooner or later you'll have to deal with graphics. Unfortunately, not everyone who winds up handling graphics is a professional designer, and even experienced Web designers don't always understand that graphics have to be produced in a particular way. On the Web, as with anything computer-related, there are more ways to do graphics wrong than there are to do them right.
Anderson, Paul. Builder.com (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Web Design
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Indiscriminate use of graphics, no matter how cool, will only antagonise the reader to the point that they will switch off the automatic graphics download in their browser - and all the designer's efforts will be wasted.
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Good web sites require a seamless integration of text and graphics. Here's the least you need to know about web graphics.
Bakalor, Mark. EFuse (2004). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design
#18228
The purpose of my Web Page Design for Designers site is not to teach people how to produce web pages. There is little mention of HTML or any other technical stuff except where necessary. It is assumed that the reader already has a grasp of HTML programming, or has made the decision to use a WYSIWYG Web page editor. It is aimed at people who are already involved with design and typography for conventional print and want to explore the possibilities of this new electronic medium. They are probably already using page layout tools like QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Freehand and Illustrator and have discovered that designing web pages is something quite different.
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WebCGM is the choice for implementers looking for interoperability and longevity of their web graphics. However, the standard alone does not give you an electronic parts catalog or interactive manual. This presentation will provide details on how to use WebCGM in real-world applications. This includes developing a concept for graphic navigation and how to implement it using WebCGM navigation. The presentation will also discuss the pros and cons of inline and out-of-line links. It will then provide an outlook over the latest developments around WebCGM, including stylable WebCGM and the WebCGM DOM. Lastly it will offer help for those who need to decide between SVG and WebCGM for their projects.
XML Conference (2002). Articles>Graphic Design>Standards>XML
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What Exactly is a Technical Illustration?
Is it not simply a graphic representation like any other? How does it differ from a technical drawing?
ITEDO Software (2001). Articles>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
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Although it is true that designers generally rely on clients, pleasing them is not the ultimate purpose of our work. What designers share with our clients is a public, an audience. Our clients wouldn't need us at all if we weren't helping them reach that public. Our broader responsibility is to the ultimate users of our work.
Lupton, Ellen. AIGA (2007). Careers>Graphic Design>Audience Analysis
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What Is Technical Illustration?
In basic terms, technical illustration employs a balance of informative graphics, text, and embedded data or intelligence to compose pictorial views that visually communicate and clarify critical product information.
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Use preferably a drawing, not a photo! Photos most often include too many irrelevant details. The arrow lines are often more difficult to see on a photo.
Ring, Peter. Peter Ring Consultants (1996). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
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Before & After magazine has been sharing its practical approach to graphic design since 1990.
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What's the Right Typeface for Text?
How to choose a typeface for clear, easy reading over long distances.
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When Bad Things Happen to Good Photographs
The family photos are crumpled, torn, and stained, but Photoshop can help.
Rose, Carla. Adobe Magazine (1999). Design>Graphic Design>Photography>Adobe Photoshop
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Working with large bitmap images can clog your hard disk and slow performance to a crawl. Here are some tips for staying lean.
Katz, Wendy. Adobe Magazine (1995). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing>Adobe Photoshop
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Mixing vector and photo is one of the hottest trends in the illustration industry today. We've seen this effect used in national ad campaigns from Anheuser-Busch to Hawaiian Tropic. In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at how to create this effect in Illustrator. Before you begin, keep in mind that you can download the Illustrator source fi le used in this column.
Kloskowski, Matt. Layers Magazine (2005). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
