In Persuasion and Technical Writing 2, we explored language as a means of persuasion when presenting information. However there are other elements to consider when presenting information which broadly fall under the heading “Design”. A book I constantly refer to is the “Non-Designers Design Book” by Robin Williams. The book proposes four design principles, proximity, alignment, repetition and contrast and also looks at colour and typography. Clearly stated in the introduction is the objective of this book is to help a person with no design experience “to make your pages look better”. Throughout is the theme of presenting all aspects of your content to make is attractive and easy for a person to read. Firstly and most importantly a person is more likely to read it and perhaps easier to persuade as a result. I am reminded of a quote from a T.V. programme about 20 years ago which looked at marketing: Visually attractive, emotionally compelling”. I wonder if there is an element of that quote in technical writing.
This is the final post of 3 posts around persuasion and technical writing. The word “writing” in technical writing always implied to me language only. The two words “technical writing” always implied to me a dry, factual, repetitive type of writing. However I now wonder should the term be changed as there is so much creativity, diversity (bearing in mind also, I have not covered the cultural aspect), innovation and variety involved.