Visual Aids: Basic Types of Visuals

Many types of basic visuals exist, each more suited to one task than to another. The visual you choose for your document depends upon what information you are trying to convey.

There are two essential types of illustrations:

• Statistical

• • • Samples: Pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs
    • Uses: To visualize comparative data, such as increases or decreases in X over time or comparisons between A, B, C, and D.

• Illustrative

• • • Samples: Photographs, drawings, product parts breakdown, cutaways
    • Uses: To visually describe an idea, item, or concept

Let's see how those types might work. If you are writing an article about the feral cat population in downtown Blacksburg, you might find that you need to use several types of visuals, each to fulfill a different purpose:

• To illustrate the fact that there are so many feral cats in the area some storeowners have begun feeding them, you might take a photograph of Sue Jones, who runs the Clothing Pantry, as she pours dry cat food into bowls while groups of cats wait nearby.
• To show readers how dramatically the feral cat population has grown in the last 5 years, you might create a line graph based on figures provided by the local authorities:  one side represents estimated number of cats; the other, the last 5 years, year by year. The line would then chart the increase.
• To help readers visualize the reasons authorities believe that feral cat population has continued to grow, you might create a pie chart that breaks the whole down into the different reasons.  Numbers and colors would help make the chart more visually clear.

The following list provides you with the most common types of visuals you might find yourself creating for your documents. For a bit of info about and examples of each type, click on its name.

Type	Things to Know About It
Table Links to an external site.	presents facts in large sets of information not good for showing trends or comparisons (unless only a few pts. are made)
Bar Graph Links to an external site.	compares quantities of info quickly can show trends if mental lines can be drawn between relevant bars
Line Graph Links to an external site.	highlights trends & relationships among facts complex relationships are shown clearly
Pie Chart Links to an external site.	shows how a whole is divided & sizes of parts can be difficult for readers to compare “slices” accurately
Flow Chart Links to an external site.	shows progress between events can become very confusing if not well-planned & executed
Diagram Links to an external site.	can be used to explain a process, but more like a drawing at times could be distracting if it contains irrelevant material
Photograph Links to an external site.	shows easily & clearly how something is put together extremely exact
Drawing Links to an external site.	shows more detail than does photograph how something is put together must be professionally done to be truly useful (clear, readable)
Screen Shot Links to an external site.	useful in teaching computer usage can be distracting if it contains irrelevant information, or useless if it is too small
Organizational Chart Links to an external site.	uses rectangles & lines to show relationships among parts of organization works well if contained--if it doesn’t sprawl or become too big
Schedule Chart Links to an external site.	identifies the major steps in a project, including estimated dates of completion vital in progress reports aka Gantt Chart
Budget Statement Links to an external site.	table showing how money will be acquired or spent useful in proposals and progress reports