Text in Visuals: Words As Images
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Words help accomplish many visual rhetoric tasks, such as PowerPoint, Prezi, and poster presentations. Sometimes words clarify, sometimes they aid the design itself; they always have the potential for visual effect.
Wording
Printed and on-screen words are visual objects. This leads into our first principle: If words are necessary, use them. If not, don’t.
Not every visual assignment will need words to aid the images. For example, if you are speaking over the images, and can say everything that is necessary to know about the image, then you don’t need words on the image.
If too many words are used nobody will read them. So, the second principle: be as concise as possible. In addition, fewer words give you more room for visual design options.
How exactly does one avoid wordiness?
- Get rid of anything unnecessary. In general, if it can be said in fewer words, say it that way.
- Writing in the active voice will help eliminate the number of words you use (this only applies when writing clauses, so maybe put this advice further down the list).
- Spreading out the words, whether on one portion of the presentation or throughout the entire presentation, is a simple strategy that can be used to avoid wordiness. This is particularly helpful with PowerPoint or similar software.
- Imagine you were assigned a visually aided speech. You decide to use a PowerPoint. Take a look at these two presentations of the same information. The first is cluttered, ugly, and tiring to read. The second gives the viewer a space to breathe and does not rush.
Depending on the rhetorical situation of the visual, complete sentences can be either unnecessary or critical. This is where it’s important to consider the audience. The audience may need or expect words to appear in a certain way. example, in a visually aided speech, it would be unnecessary to have multiple complete sentences on a slide to describe each image because the visuals aid the speech.
On the other hand, at a poster presentation for scientific research it would be inappropriate to have sentence fragments (or no words at all) to go along with every visual because the audience wants to know “why is this there” and “what does the image mean.” Unlike a speech, in a poster presentation, often times, the presenter will just be standing by his/her work while others come and go.
Even if your assignment is mostly visual, carefully consider your use of words.
Fonts
Your font choices affect your entire rhetorical message. For example: A font can make a poster or image seem fun and energetic, such as the font Toysans in the Veggietales logo. On the other hand, a font can make a poster seem orderly and somber, such as the font Constantia in the Calvin College nameplate.
While for most written rhetoric assignments, the choice may seem obvious (12pt Times New Roman), visual assignments allow for more creativity and liberty with font choices. But don’t give in to the temptation to pick a font simply because it’s creative and stands out just for being unusual. There is one foundational principle in picking fonts: readability. If it cannot be easily read, don’t use it.
Before we continue, two definitions may be useful: typeface and font. A typeface is a particular design. And a font is a design with a particular size and weight. In other words, Helvetica is the typeface, but Helvetica 12pt italicized is the font. Sometime the terms are used interchangeably; we will use “font(s)” for both.
What font options exist?
The first thing to understand when picking a font are the three major categories of fonts: serif, sans serif, and decorative. This YouTube video will break down the differences and basic functions of the three categories. Watch from 0:00 until 3:31. Pay close attention to the key visual differences between serif and sans serif fonts.
With that basic understanding of the distinctions and functions of the major groups, use the tips from Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) to guide your specific choices when you’re considering a font to use.
If you’re in a rush, here is a quick summary:
- Don’t be afraid of common fonts; they’re commonly used for a reason: they’re not distracting.
- If you mix fonts, make the distinctions drastic. It would be unwise to use a serif heading with a serif body.
- On paper, there is little difference in the readability of serif and sans serif fonts. However, electronically, sans serif fonts tend to be easier to read, especially when scanning text quickly, which is how most readers read text in visuals.
- Vibrant fonts, or the use of too many fonts, can distract from what you’re trying to communicate.
Picking a font
Need a little help picking out a specific font? If so, Tips 1 and 3 in Dan Mayer's Smashing Magazine article “What Font Should I Use? 5 Principles for Choosing and Using Typefaces,” will be helpful.
The Smashing Magazine article covers the major font families (Geometric, Humanist sans, Old Style, Transitional and Modern, and Slab Serif) in depth and highlights a few safe choices within each family. It also analyzes each font family, giving a brief explanation for how they are grouped, examining the positives and negatives of each font, and even gives classic examples within each family. It’s excellent for finding specific fonts within a font family you already know you want.
To summarize and extend some of Mayer’s key points when choosing a font:
- Not every font is appropriate for every scenario; use what is appropriate. If you are turning in a resume, the goofy Comic Sans would be unwise. Instead, go with a more sophisticated font, such as Garamond.
- A font can look very different when the sized is changed or when typographical emphasis, like italics, is added.
- If the audience can’t read the font (think about how far away from the screen or poster your audience is likely to be), it probably isn’t what you want.
- Different fonts excel at different things.
- If you’re going to use two different fonts, use fonts that are strongly contrasted, perhaps even from different families. (Side note: don’t just pick two fonts because they are different. Make sure that the two fonts you choose actually go well together. Sadly, there is no real explanation for why any two fonts go well together, they just do.)
- Fonts with plenty of personality should only be used in doses.
Next time you are doing a PowerPoint, poster, or any other visual assignment, don’t forget to consider the impact that fonts can have!
Extra material
For additional resources related to the appearance of text in a visual:
And after all this, if you still don’t find yourself convinced of the power of fonts, watch this TedX Talk by Christian Boer, who created a font to counter the negative consequences of dyslexia.