ENG 201 6.W: Visual Rhetoric Crash Course

Today’s Plan:

• Report / Proposals
• Visual Rhetoric Crash Course
• Homework

Report / Proposals

I’m still working my way through.

One thing: remember that you have to send me two update memos over the course of the project. You should provide a quick summary of your resource (the theory/tutorials you have read) and a production update (what you’ve done, how you’ve put that theory into practice). Follow the format for emails and memos in the ABO.

Don’t use Canvas to do this (don’t worry if you already have).

Visual Rhetoric and Document Design Crash Course

Last Wednesday we worked with the fundamentals of HTML. I want to return to that. But before we do, I want to spend a week working on visual rhetoric and document design. Given how many of the jobs I’ve analyzed call for some form of “visual communication,” it is important that we have some fundamental principles in mind. If this stuff interests you, then sign up for my ENG 329 course on Visual Rhetoric and Document Design in the Spring of 2020!

Some fundamental categories:

• Layout
  • Rule of Thirds
  • Magic Square
  • Lines and Pathways
  • Note about images and eyes
  • Focal Point (lines, color, contrast)
• Color
  • Symbolic Value (Culture, History, Nature)
  • Hue and Saturation
• Typography
  • Font Choice/Change
  • Font Size and Weight (Change)
  • Font Color (Change)
• Interface
  • Navigation Menu
  • Mobile Optimization View
  • Translation Options
  • Accessibility
  • Does the homepage address policy? (Rhetorical)
  • Does the homepage contain any copy? (Is there a block of text/content?)
  • Contemporary Web Design

This list comes from the presentation I gave during my campus visit at UNC.

Let’s talk typography.

People geek out over font pairings.

Let’s do some practice.

Homework

Print out and read the Corder article (.pdf in Canvas files section) and post to the Canvas discussion before Friday’s class.