One important term used in George’s text is design. This is a word that gets used a lot, but it has an important meaning in this context. Most simply, design is the visual look of the text. Though it’s easy to overlook, things like margins, fonts, size, color, etc. have a huge impact on the interpretation of the text itself. A good design can encourage a reader to finish a text and help them understand it better. A bad design can make reading counter intuitive and understanding difficult. It is important for a writer to be well acquainted with design because all texts, regardless of format, carry some element of design. Knowing how to utilize that to make a better text is a great skill for any writer to have.

Another phrase to understand is visual literacy. This is a complicated term with a variety of definitions, but it can be boiled down to the ability to gain knowledge from and interpret information via image. Though this seems simply, the form of image are vast and complex. And, the connotations of traditional literacy add to the complexity of the term. It is important for writers to know this concept because writing is not always done in the written form, and messages are often better communicated in visual forms. The ability to communicate through a visual medium is just as essential to communicating through written words, especially in the modern era.

Lastly, all of these terms can be better understood with a firm grounding in what exactly a visual is. A visual is just something that is seen and composed of images. Anything from a movie to a meme is a visual. Visual is a true umbrella term that includes a massive variety of forms. Knowing the term visual and all that it includes is necessary for writers because much of the writing done today is done with visuals. We see millions of visuals a day. If a writer hopes to communicate effectively in 2020, they need to have a firm grasp on visuals, what they are, and how they can be used.