Document Design and Data Storytelling

Professional writers are expected to be highly visually literate and to communicate about aesthetics and design with a degree of clarity and sophistication. In addition to crafting the message, writers need to consider the holistic structure and elements of design that help readers understand, use, and retain information. The Document Design and Data Storytelling course offers students a robust introduction to content presentation with a focus on layout, design, and semiotic dimensions of visual communication. Engaging in individual and group/pair projects, students focus on document creation and developing graphical displays of abstract information to create memorable products. Attention is given to understanding the affordances and challenges of composing multimodal content that incorporates data, narrative, and graphical forms. Students are able to develop and strengthen basic design skills, learning strategies for storytelling with words and images across a range of media. Students are encouraged to experiment with modality and meaning-making across static and interactive projects. In addition to discussing ethical and theoretical foundations of design, students engage in a process of critique and revision to employ current design trends and develop stronger messages.