Meeting the visual demands of the audience: the graphics package approach

The authors present a new concept for illustrating technical documents. The concept, referred to as the graphics package approach, calls for authors to include a visual image (a figure) for every major point made in the document. The visuals should capture every major point made in the text in such a way that the visuals and accompanying captions flow with the general outline of the report. In this way, the visuals act to either lead the reader through the text or simply to reinforce the text. For those individuals who chose only to browse through the report, a graphics package provides a quick and complete overview of the document. A five-step process used to develop a graphics package is presented. The authors conclude with a call for communication specialists to take the lead in convincing authors to try this new approach