Visual Rhetorical Analysis

As we have documented above, there are several tactics marketers can use to engage and delight an audience when dealing with sustainable buildings. Yet how should marketers implement these approaches and sell their choices to others through their professional communications? One way to address this issue would be to study a document’s visual rhetoric, or the way visual images communicate.
In Kostelnick’s article, A systematic approach to visual language in business communication, he urges technical communicators to design better documents to communicate their messages to each unique rhetorical situation. He believes that planning an entire document is a holistic approach that must balance both visual and verbal thinking. In addition, professional …show more content…
Supra-textual design refers to the visual rhetoric, which encompasses the design of the document as a whole. The initial impression readers get from a document does much to establish its credibility (Kostelnick, 1996, p. 26-27), because for persuasion to occur, readers must first believe the message Kostelnick affirms that the global visual language of a document and operates in three modes: textual, spatial and graphic. Through a careful balance of visual and verbal thinking, these elements work together to create ethos, pathos and tone to guide readers and entice them to interact with the …show more content…
The size and color of the document convey its intention for official use. The font and its color choice suggest that the document has a formal tone. The incorporation of graphics communicates clarity and carefully chosen imagery inspires awe. In it, the details are paramount to the overall look and feel of the document. Thus, the overall supra level design in an RFP helps inform readers about the values of your firm and provides hierarchies to help readers quickly filter and find information. Yet each RFP defines its specific rhetorical goals in a slightly different way, depending on the intended audience, purpose and context. Variations dictate technical communicators engage in specific rhetorical goals by strategically choosing unique supra level design elements in the document.
One potential means to address a widespread audience is to utilize heuristics, or an approach to problem solving that may not produce the exact answer but will lead you closer to the solution. Although it is near impossible to generate a definitive statement about how all audience members will respond to a certain document, it is possible to gage who your audience members, what judgments they will form that will lead them to certain

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