The Space between Look and Read by Susan M. Hagan

Author:Susan M. Hagan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Communication Design; Complementary Meaning; Cross-modal; Design; Framework; Image; Interaction Design; Inter-play; Motion Design; Multimodal; Multimodality; Ties; Time-motion; Typography; Visual Rhetoric;
Publisher: MIT Press

When explicit-trails appear in longer passages of text, they can replace parentheticals such as “(See figure 10),” which does not offer a strong invitation to move from sequential to spatial processing because a parenthetical is not a strong command. Asking an audience to move from their practice of discerning intent in the text to the expectation to search for image information flies in the face of the “rule of simplicity” (Arnheim, 1974; Goldstein, 2001, 2002). We like to do the simplest thing. Moving from the structure of sequential processing to idiosyncratic looking is not just a different sequence; it’s a different system. That move is especially taxing when there is no easy way to get back to what you were reading when figure 10 cunningly invited you to look away. An explicit-trail makes the journey easier.

Explicit-trails usually pair with other Grouping Ties that act more globally. Shared-location and juxtaposed-location hold the larger-grained elements together, while explicit-trails can reinforce the smaller relationships. Unfortunately, books where looking is more critical, like biology and art history and the one you’re reading now, still maintain a “(See Figure 10)” wayfinding system.

Explicit-trails also form when bolded words invite the move from text to an image as would be the case if a command boldly stated look at the “cheese” now. Then the cheese becomes easier to consider, knowing the bolded text is there to help you back. The bolded words marked a point between reading and looking that is easier to navigate. It suggests that when the audience finishes looking, a structure is in place so that they can find the way back again.

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