Words. Colors. Sounds.
Images. Motion.
These are the raw materials that technical communicators
shape into purposeful communication.
From rhetoric,
you adapt the art of fitting language to specific purposes, audiences and situations.
From graphic
design, you apply the grammar
of space, shape, and color. From science,
you integrate the visual and verbal maps of the physical world. From information
science, you borrow network
systems of data. From engineering,
you use human-material interfaces. From literature,
you employ the nuances of metaphor and narrative. From
linguistics, you
adopt the deep structures of style. From philosophy,
you take the frameworks of thought. From history,
you incorporate the contexts of intellectual movements. From within yourself,
you draw the motivation and ingenuity to craft communication for the information
age.