Time and time again, we strive to improvise the quality, the readability of a document so it would be interpreted accurately with no difficulties or barriers. 'It is said that conveying specific information directly and precisely is important in technical and scientific writing' (Rothman 2006).
Good document means good designs and good writings which are integrated together. According to Reep (2006, p. 134), 'readers do not read only the printed words on a page; they also "read" the visual presentation on the text ...'. Nielsen (1997) said that the people '... scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences'.
Based on Tutorial 1 slides presentation, there are a few amendments made to Assignments 1 to show the actual way of presenting a multimodal document.
This slide's subheading is changed to show a proper layout, uniform with the rest of the slides:
is changed to below in Assignment 1
According to Reep (2006, p. 154), 'Second-level headings represent major section. Center second-level headings, and use upper- and lowercase letters'.
As for text organization, Putnis and Petelin (1996, p. 238) describe how 'the rate at which readers read are determined by the kind of knowledge they need to acquire ... picking up information through headings and bullet points lists'. The former slide below:
is edited to a slide with bullet points
Other than that, balancing white space is essential in aiding the viewers to feel comfortable when looking at a design layout. 'White space makes reading easier, giving the viewers a visual break between ideas or throught while displaying an elegance and harmony in layout' (Bentley 2008).
The correction of the original slide in Tutorial 1 as below:
The position of the picture above is placed in the middle as in Assignment 1
Based on all adjustments which are done, it is concluded that design elements required in a design composition are vital for viewers to have better understanding of the message being sent across.
References
Bentley, P 2008, Typography and You Website, viewed 4 April 2009,
Nielsen, J 1997, How Users Read on the Web, viewed 4 April 2009,
Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, What Is Good Writing: Writing to Communicate, Professional Communication: Principles and Applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney.
Reep, Diana C 2006, Chapter 4: Principles of Document Design, Technical Writing, 6th edn, Pearson Education, New York.
Rothman, S 2005, What Makes Good Scientific and Technical Writing?, viewed 4 April 2009,
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/what_makes_good_scientific_and_technical.html?cat=4
