There is a very good chance, in fact, that you may have noticed this column or the drawings before reading the sentences before and after it: the eye is drawn to what is inside or near spaces. This is why we have titles and subtitles on lines of their own with space before or after them: the extra space creates a noticeable break. And this is why we indent paragraphs: the extra space provides a visually noticeable break.

            For this same reason, professional reports often are organized in part by graphics: visually noticeable lists, graphs, illustration, drawings, diagrams, or pictures. Graphics draw attention to themselves more quickly than written paragraphs because of the space around them and their more visual nature. Graphics also may summarize something much more neatly and quickly than can a paragraph of normal writing. A picture, as the old newspaper saying goes, is worth a thousand words (maybe not quite so many in a term paper). In short, the visual elements of good graphics grab the eye and pull reader attention to that part of the report.

            You should be aware that the use of lists, graphics, and pictures often is not appropriate for academic reports. Always check with your instructor first. And some companies prefer no graphics or pictures. However, the overwhelming most companies now do use and even expect such spatial manipulations in reports, especially in the use of increasingly sophisticated computer technology and its complex and rich graphics programs.

            You also should have the graphic device called a "subtitle" in most professional report writing (but only in some academic reports--again, ask the instructor first). A subtitle is a small title for one of the divisions of a paper. It usually is one to four words in length, goes on a line of its own right before the division, and it acts as a title for the division. This subtitle on a line of its own sets off the division more clearly from what comes before it. In addition, you should have a summarizing sentence beginning the paragraph right under the subtitle--a sentence summarizing the topic of that division. This summarizing sentence may or may not have the words of the subtitle in it. Examples of subtitles and beginning summary sentences for divisions exist in this chapter: look at the underlined subtitles "1. Brainstorm," "2. Organize," etc., above. Be careful as you make these subtitles and summarizing sentences that you do each one for the whole division--not just that paragraph.

            Graphics utilize the parts of our brains that our kindergarten teachers appealed to: the visual and sensory parts. Using these parts of our brain can be interesting and even entertaining in the midst of reading and listening to reports and people who require us to respond logically with words. Graphics offer a rest from words, a change of pace, which most people's brains tend to appreciate. In addition, some logical information can be presented much more quickly and easily in graphic form. A photograph or map of a potential business site will say more in a quick second than might a 1000-word description of the same site.

            There are several basic principles of graphics, whether you are trying to add more or simply improve the ones you already have in your writing:

(1) Colors energize. Bright colors are dramatic; light shades are more subtly moving. Be careful: there are many business and technical writing situations in which the use of color is considered inappropriate or even tacky. Examples include using colored klpaper when white or off-white shades should be used, using colored ink for typing instead of black, and adding colorful but unnecessary borders, designs, and accompanying pictures when these graphics have nothing to do with the contents of your writing. However, colors are allowed and even encouraged for graphic situations requiring such devices as pie and bar charts, complex illustrations, and photographs. When choosing whether or not to use color, the rule of thumb you should use is to ask yourself what is normal or acceptable procedure at your place of work, or for your customers. What are your fellow employees, your boss, or your customers used to seeing in association with your kind of writing or business?

(2) Space counts. Graphic organization means not just the use of visual devices but also the proper placement of space around them--and in other parts of your writing, too. This is why we use margins on typed pages: the space around the typing makes the typing easier to read. Even the narrowest of professional writing such as pamphlets and even bookmarks have margins. Another example of the use of space is the practice of highlighting the beginning of a new paragraph with space: either an indentation at the beginning of the paragraph or an extra line space before it. A third example of the use of space occurs in how titles and subtitles are placed: often they are put on a line of their own. The extra space around them serves to highlight them. Other visual devices also should have extra space or margins placed around them.

(3) Simplicity matters. Part of the reason that graphic devices are so powerful is that they are simple. The rule of thumb to follow about simplicity and graphics is that if regular sentences would explain something more simply than an equivalent graphic device, then the graphic device is too complex. If it is too complex, then simplify it or get rid of it.

(4) Each visual should be explained. Refer to it in your written material so that it is connected to your text. Try to place each visual on the page on which you have written about it so that readers do not have to flip pages and examine two or more pages at once. You may wish to give a simple explanatory title to each graphic above, below, or to the side of it. In most reports, title/number your graphics so readers know what they are when you refer to them in your text by number or title.  Do this titling outside of any box or table you create so that the computer audio reading devices of blind people will be able to more easily read the titles.   And in longer works, you should provide a separate "Table of Illustrations" after your "Table of Contents."

(5) Place graphics within your pages.  Many people find it tempting to simply add the graphics--charts, tables, etc.--at the end.  However, the primary purpose of graphics in terms of content is to summarize information on a given page.  And the primary purpose in terms of style is to provide an attractive, eye-catching visual.  Both of these purposes are best served when you place graphics on the pages to which they refer, not at the end in an index.  

(6) Precisely drawn graphics are a must.  Your graphics will be best--at their most professional--if you can make them using software.  However, if you don't have the necessary skills, you may hand draw your own graphics on your printed copy (if only the printed copy, not email or Web copies, will be distributed).  In hand drawing, you must be very precise and professional.  It is best to start with an MS Word box or circle first, then finish with a ruler and thin, dark ink (see "Making MS Word Tables" and, for making circles, "Other Graphics in MS Word" below).  

Here is a checklist of things to consider when you are developing or revising graphics.

A. Margins: On a normal typed page, outer margins should be
about 1"--more if the page is single with a short letter
on it. Margins less than 1" usually are not used on
normal typed pages except in some academic and highly
technical writing. Other printed material will have
margins that are smaller: brochures, for example, often
will have as little as 1/4" around each column of type
(see the "Newsletters" chapter). Margins also should
appear around visual devices. The visual device should be
centered on the page from left to right; above and below,
use at least one line space and, if the visual is large,
use more. The final result should be judged by how
pleasing it is to the eye.

B. Titles & subtitles: Major titles and subtitles should be on
their own line of space and one or two spaces after them.
There also should be an extra line or two of space before
subtitles--as much space before as after, or even more
before than after.

C. Sidebars: sidebars are small, separate columns of
information, often in a different or smaller print style
or size. They should be boxed by a line at top and bottom
at the least, and preferably by a full box. The box line
should be kept simple so it is not distracting. There
should be a margin on both sides of the left box line and
the right; the top box line should have a margin above and
sometimes below it; the bottom box line should have a
margin below and sometimes above it.

D. Photographs: Photos are good but expensive and, for some
printers or Xerox machines, difficult to copy. You may
have to take your photos to a professional print shop to
get master copies which can be easily Xeroxed. Black and
white photos cost no more than a typed page to Xerox once
masters have been made; color photos, however, are very
expensive to Xerox, with or without a master, and usually
have to be Xeroxed at a professional print shop. However,
if photos are called for, if they are within your budget,
and they look sharp and clear, they can lend a powerful
presence to your written materials.

E. Charts: Bar charts, graphed charts, pie charts, and others
all can be very useful ways of conveying information.
Choose whichever method is the simplest and quickest for
conveying the information you want to show in visual form.
Sometimes showing this information in two different forms
is useful: e.g., you might show a business's income
distribution using a pie chart to show relative sizes of
the total amount, and using a bar chart to show
comparisons between different categories of distribution.
If a chart is becoming too complex, you may need to break
the information down into two or more charts. Shading or
color sometimes can be used to simplify a chart which is
in danger of becoming too complex. Three-dimensional
highlighting sometimes can enhance charts if the
highlighting is done very professionally, clearly, and
simply.