Re: TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY

[Michael Lewis <lewism -at- BRANDLE -dot- COM -dot- AU>]

Damien Braniff wrote:

> An extension of what was said earlier by Eric and others that it's the
> writing skills that matter.  When I started (not that long ago!!) and
> indeed up until about 10 years ago my writing tools were pencil, ruler and
> eraser (never used a typewriter).  Text was hand written (drawing also done
> by hand) and send off to be typed/drawn.  The typists/illustrators had the
> relevant tools and knew all the company formats, standard spellings etc.
> Everything then came back for checking (and the fun of cut 'n' stick with
> the artwork) before masters were created and sent to print.
>
> Now we're jack of all trades - format, graphics etc. You name it and we're
> expected to do it.  This doesn't, however, get away from the fact that the
> writing is still paramount.  If you're producing rubbish, no matter how
> good it looks it's still rubbish.

Indeed -- but good writing that looks like rubbish isn't a lot better.
We all know that we need to go beyond grammatical correctness,
conciseness, and so on: we have to aim for appropriateness and
useability. Visuals (including appropriate typography) are an important
factor in useability. In short, we're not just writers any more: we're
communicators, and while the writing is the most important factor, it's
not the only important factor. You can't hide bad writing, but you also
can't use good writing to hide bad design.
--
Michael Lewis
Brandle Pty Limited, Sydney, Australia
PO Box 1249, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012
Suite 8, The Watertower, 1 Marian St, Redfern 2016
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~lewism
Tel +61-2-9310-2224 ... Fax +61-2-9310-5056