---
title: "Seeing Before Reading: Messages Encoded in the Design of Information [Visual Imagination #2]"
date: 2010-10-05
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $("
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2010/10/05/seeing-before-reading-messages-encoded-in-the-design-of-information-visual-imagination-2/
---
# Seeing Before Reading: Messages Encoded in the Design of Information [Visual Imagination #2]
> We *see *documents before we read them: this initial encouter evokes an aesthetic response but one with immediate practical consequences. Since seeing precedes reading, the reader's first glance influences the information processing that follows. The balanced arrangement of visual elements on the page, the contrast among these elements, the efficient use of space—together these create a unified visual display that predisposes the reader to respond favorably (or unfavorably) to the information in the document. (200)

Here's an example showing a variety of document designs:

![The visual design of information gives readers cues about the meaning before the reader even reads the words.](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/visualdesign.png)

What messages do you immediately infer about the design of the information based solely on the structures above? Kostelnick explains that the design functions as "macro-punctuation." Just as punctuation clarifies meaning within sentences, the way we arrange and style information visually also provides "visual cues—e.g., division, coordination, subordinations—that enhance the reader's ability to process information in the text" (190).

From the design of the information, you can make inferences about relationships, parallelism, equality, emphasis, repetition, patterns, and coherence within the information. These inferences prompt readers to understand some aspect of the information before they even read it.

In the graphic above, A has an equality about the information, as does B, C, and D. But with documents G and H, the smaller columns perhaps contain subordinate information, such as notes about the main information.