Exigency

The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text.

Visual language matters because it enhances clarity and engagement on the part of readers. In a world increasingly saturated with information, the ability to present content in a visually compelling way can mean the difference between your message being ignored or embraced. Understanding visual language enables you to design messages that captivate attention, stimulate emotions, and facilitate understanding. Whether you’re an artist, writer, designer, or a student preparing a presentation, mastering visual language equips you with the tools to articulate your ideas with more authority and impact.

Writing Prompt

There are two deliverables for this assignment:

1. Create an infographic that distinguishes between between academic and professional writing.
2. Write a 250-word narrative that explains the design choices that informed how you composed your visualization. Be sure to discuss design principles such as proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast. Use APA 7 to cite sources. Cite at least four sources. Cite the sources of the texts you visualized or the ones that informed your design thinking about the visualization.

Required Content for Visualization

Your visualization must

1. explicate the differences between professional and academic writing style, as reviewed in the following two articles:
   • Professional Writing – How to Write for the Professional World
   • Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community
2. create, at a minimum, one original chart, table, or graph – an information visualization, such as an infographic
3. use data visualization strategies to help readers understand a complicated concept and illustrate data in a way that helps the reader understand what the data means (i.e. helps reader see “the story” in the data.)
4. cite at least two sources for the information or editorial infographic. Cite all referenced articles or data sets in the footer of the infographic or some other discreet place. Use APA

Evaluative Criteria

1. Is the visualization accurate?
2. Is the visualization honest? complete?
3. Is copy on the visualization paraphrased or quoted correctly?
4. From the perspective of design principles, does the illustration make sense?

Required Content for Design Narrative

Your narrative must

1. put word count on top of page ( > 250)
2. address some of design principles/terms discussed in these two readings: 
   • Design – The Visual Language That Shapes Our World
   • Design Principles – The Big Design Principles You Need to Know to Create Compelling Messages

Composing Suggestions

1. Begin by familiarizing yourself with the genre of infographics and assignment guidelines. To see a range of visualizations, play around a little bit with Ralph Lengler and Martin J. Eppler’s Periodic Table of Visualization Method. Consider using data visualization strategy from the Periodic Table of Visualization Methods. Try a hand sketch of your infographic
2. Evaluate and select production tools that are appropriate for your skill level and the demands of your communication task. Canva is widely popular: https://www.canva.com/. Here are some other choices.
   1. Use your document design and text formatting skills to design a visual text that tells one story.
   2. Develop one original chart, table, graph, infographic
3. Keep track of the bibliographical information of the the essays or datasets you are visualizing.

Submission Guidelines

1. Provide a link to your visualization at your gdoc homepage and upload it as well to Canvas. Be sure to doublecheck that the links work — for someone else (e.g., instructor/classmates). If your visualization is behind a paywall or personal account, please take a screenshot of it infographic and paste it on to a gdoc page.
2. Upload to Canvas a 200-word memo on design choices. Explain the story of your infographic and the design principles you used to tell that story