Influence of Burke and Lessing on the Semiotic Theory of Document Design: Ideologies and Good Visual Images of Documents

Abstract

The syntactic aspect of semiotic theory, especially its “aesthetic principle,” is very influential in document design theories and practices. It has its roots in Burke's and Lessing's gender-related theories of images. Thus, it is laden with ideologies: it embodies our patriarchal attitudes and our iconophobia. Employing the semiotic theory in document design, we are making choices to reinforce the gender-related ideology in Burke's and Lessing's theories. It is time for us to re-conceive the “aesthetic principle” by de-emphasizing it and to adopt the reconciliation approach to design effective documents targeted at various rhetorical situations.

The Roles of Technical Communication Researchers in Design Scholarship

“…Not surprisingly, rather than providing a list of prescriptive tenets of good design, they problematize common or long-held beliefs about the role of the technical communicator in regard to design in order to raise awareness of hidden issues. Space and time constraints prohibit me from engaging in a long discussion of each of these articles but when put into conversation with one another, broader topics with implications for technical communication and design become evident in these articles; for example, the place of functionality in document design looks very different from Ding’s (2000) frame of reference than from Williams’s (2010). The former traces the emphasis on aesthetics to patriarchal values, which associate beautifully designed documents with aesthetically pleasing (women’s) bodies.…”

“…Given the latest move toward UX as a design and development component of the technical communicator’s work then, it becomes necessary to review and revisit how design continues to be an important part of our field, in ways that include and even move beyond direct user testing. Evident in the technical communication research on design are terms, ranging from (to name a few) “document design” (Ding, 2000; Johnson, 2006; Lauer & Sanchez, 2011; Longo, Wienert, & Fountain, 2007), to “visual design,” (Brumberger, 2007; Kimball, 2013; Lauer, 2012; Rude, 2004; Varpio, Spafford, Schryer, & Lingard, 2007), to “participatory design” (Salvo, 2001; Spinuzzi, 2002), to “user-centered-design” (Schneider, 2005; Scott, 2008), to “design studies” (Wickman, 2014), to “information design,” (Ward, 2010; Williams, 2010; Willerton & Hereford, 2011) which is itself comprised of “fields such as architecture, advertising, cognitive psychology, computer science, graphic design, mass communication, information science, and rhetoric” (Cooke, 2003, p. 155). Some of these terms seem to coincide well.…”

Illustrating Beauty and Utility

“…In advocating for a pedagogy that includes the consideration of visual elements, Stephen Bernhardt (1986) suggests that document design should satisfy functional considerations and at the same time be attractive. Daniel Ding (2000) also suggests that the aesthetics of document design need to connect with utility. Through experiments, Noam Tractinsky and his colleagues have repeatedly supported the high positive correlation between aesthetically pleasing objects and their perceived usability (Tractinsky, 1997; Tractinsky, Shoval-Katz, & Ikar, 2000).…”

“…Declaring that images represent identifiable ideologies and cultural values, Carlos Salinas (2002) encourages communicators to be “technical rhetoricians” who know “how to read images as configurations processing cultural significance” (p. 167). Daniel Ding (2000) suggests that current document design practices have their roots in gender-related, patriarchal theories of images . Even something seemingly as universal as visual conventions, suggest Charles Kostelnick and Michael Hassett (2003), are shaped by social and communal influences).…”

Charles Morris's Semiotic Model and Analytical Studies of Visual and Verbal Representations in Technical Communication

“…Carol David [3] was also able to use a similar semiotic approach to read the portrait of professional women into the cultural reflections of different time periods. Daniel Ding [18] was able to challenge the conventional document design formula by using this model to inquire into its gender-related concept. All these examples illustrate that Morris's semiotic model provides a good point of inquiry.…”