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Origins. Conventions presume a chain of rhetorical acts that must begin somewhere, but often hard to pinpoint where. We can locate moments where conventions are beginning to take shape. T.
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Origins • Conventions presume a chain of rhetorical acts that must begin somewhere, but often hard to pinpoint where
We can locate moments where conventionsare beginning to take shape
T Plot’s chart shows key features of present-day line or scatter charts, even though meteorology has developed its own modern visual conventions How we read barometric pressure now .
Visual conventions change as rhetorical purposes and production technologies evolve • Rockefeller Foundation Annual Report 1929, 1957, 1985, 2009 • Computer interfaces through the decades
New disciplines need new conventions • Depending on the type of knowledge that requires visual representation, a discipline might invent new conventions or appropriate existing conventions from another field. • As disciplines mature, conventions are likely to become more abstract, more specialized and more firmly and formally codified • Conventions unfold in 3 modes – adaptation, transplantation, codification
Adaptation • Mechanical engineering (drafting) starts with conventions from architecture
Representations of objects become more abstract and isolated from context of use as mechanical engineering becomes a more specialized and sophisticated field.
Transplantation Conventions branch off from other conventions in brand new directions http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/areas/wind.htm http://www.visifire.com/silverlight_radar_polar_charts_gallery.php
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/areas/wind.htmhttp://www.visifire.com/silverlight_radar_polar_charts_gallery.phphttp://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/areas/wind.htmhttp://www.visifire.com/silverlight_radar_polar_charts_gallery.php
Codification • Informal and indirect – imitation • Formal and direct • NISO: Information on Spines • AIA: Architectural Graphic Standards • IEEE: Visual Identity Standards • New Jersey DOP: Geologic Rock Symbols