English 439-001
Document Design
Instr: Clark, David
Office: CRT 582; 229-4870
e-mail: dclark@uwm.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Course Information: R; 5:30-8:10pm; CRT 127
Course Description
This course provides technical communicators with a practical and theoretical overview of document design. We will begin with examinations of document design theories and conventions coming from graphic artists, usability experts, cognitive psychologists, and technical communication scholars, and then critique those theories and conventions as we apply them to the analysis and creation of technical documents. In the process, we will problematize modernist expediency and question long-held assumptions.
Topics we will cover-for both print and online documents-include typography, color, text and page layout, data displays (e.g., tables, charts, graphs), diagrams and illustrations, and overall document design. Throughout, we will focus on document usability and print and online production. Students will analyze sample documents; solve a series of problems in which we design texts for specific audiences and purposes; design, test, and produce documents for an external client; and conduct a major individual project of their choosing.
This course is appropriate for all students with an interest in document production or who see themselves producing professional documents for a future workplace. Students from all plans and majors are welcome.
