Figure 3. Gross sales by department

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Photographs
should be used to convey a specific message or to illustrate a point. For example, if you are writing a brochure about poison oak, a photograph showing the distinctive three-leaf formation would be extremely helpful. Never simply capture a photograph from the Internet and use it. Many stock photo sites such as Shutterstock.com offer low-cost or even free use of photographs, with permission. And remember that unless a photograph has high enough resolution, it will appear fuzzy and will therefore be useless to the reader. The higher the dpi value (dots per inch, the higher the resolution and the greater the clarity of the photograph.
Pie Charts
(or graphs) show data that adds up to 100 percent in wedges within a circle. They are an excellent way to help a reader visualize parts of a whole. For example, say you were creating an advertising budget fora campaign and wanted to illustrate where the funds were being spent, such as the sample in Figure 6.4. When making a pie chart, show the different sections in colors or patterns and group smaller percentages together in an other section.
Online
33%
Newspaper
34%
Magazine
33%
Figure 1. Advertising budget by media type
Figure 6.4 Sample pie chart
Infographics
differ from the more conventional visuals previously discussed. They use images to tell a story, distill information, and provide a streamlined and alternative way to understand complex ideas. They employ elements of design to communicate visually. These creative images are interesting to look at and are used in many ways presenting survey data, recruiting employees, showing how something works, and much more. But as arresting as these graphics are, they can be challenging

80 WRITING FOR THE WORKPLACE
to create. Many tools are available for creating infographics such as
Piktochart and Visual.ly.

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