Chapter 11, Using Graphics

• Importance of graphics
• Appropriate graphics
• Proper use of tables and charts
• Proper use of photographs and drawings

Graphics

• serve as "access points" that move readers to the written text
• break up large blocks of written text
• reinforce the argument as readers tend to trust what they can see

Graphics should - guidelines

• tell a simple story at a glance
• reinforce the written text, not replace it (never use to decorate)
• be ethical (can erode the documents credibility)
• be labeled and placed properly (can make it easy to move from the text to the graphic and back to the text)

Graphics to display information and data

• line graphs
• bar charts suggest a physical quantity
• tables are the most efficient way to display a large amount of data in a small space
• pie charts can demonstrate how a whole is cut into parts - generally use a large amount of space
• organizational charts illustrate relationships among people, companies, and divisions, usually placed in the appendix with qualifications
• Gantt charts illustrate a timeline where stages overlap
• pictures can visually reinforce claims make in the written text, photographs of people, equipment and places should include them doing something that relates to the proposal
• drawings can be used to illustrate where pictures include more detail than needed and confuse the issue
• other graphics might be, plots, maps, flowcharts, blueprints, scatterplots, pictographs, logic trees, screen shots, etc.

Is is best to create each graphic as you are writing the proposal. If you wait, you will probably run out of time. Our society is becoming increasingly visual and graphics can make the difference between success and failure.