Jason Kaufman's Importance of Visuals

What is the importance of a visual? A visual could be important with anything from an idea for a client to invest in a building by showing pictures of a floor plan, to enhancing a presentation to a prospective buyer interested in property by showing pictures of the surrounding scenery. Regardless the purpose for using visuals, if used correctly and appropriately in relation to the purpose, a visual can add credibility, clarity and professionalism.

The first two pictures were taken on the back porch of my own North Carolina house. They are perfect examples of how a visual can be used in describing the scenery of a property. You can see some of the wood porch I was standing on when I took the picture, I don’t think it effects the integrity of the visual, in fact I think it actually makes it more authentic because you get an Idea of where I was when I took the picture. The first picture was taking on the lower balcony and the second picture was taken on the second balcony. The last visual is a floor plan of our very own FGCU everglades building.

How do you know which visual to use? First, according to Technical Communication in the Twenty First Century, You must first decide whether you need a photograph, an illustration, a diagram, or some other type of visual(pg.144). Next, you’re going to want to consider what you are trying to accomplish with the use of the visual. After these two questions are answered, it should narrow down the search to find the best visual. Finally, you will want to come up with the appropriate search term. When searching for a visual, I have found it very useful to use the most specific term or terms if possible. After this step, you should be able to distinguish from others the best visual for you.

Some visuals are free, although the most professional visuals with better quality tend to require a fee. So consider the importance of the visual, If you are trying to put together a presentation for multi-millionaire investors. I would pay for a exclusive high resolution colored photographs, depending on your funds. On the other hand, if you were creating a short memo for your peers, I would not feel by any means necessary to pay for visuals.

Where to get a visual? I usually just go to google images and search, I have found this to be very effective in the past. This is an example of a Free web resource. Although there are many different sources(electronic) to find the right visual like a:

· Licensed database(databases most universities and some businesses subscribe to, good quality)
· Free web resources(visuals that can be found for free online, usually low quality)
· Commercial database(professional high quality visuals you must pay for, most images are watermarked until paid for)(pg.145)

Whatever your sources are, after you have found the best visual, it is important to incorporate that visual into the appropriate location in your document or presentation.

Reference:

Dobrin, S.I., Keller C.J., & Weisser C.R. (2002).. Technical Communications in the Twenty First Century Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Custom Publishing. pg. 144-145