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Visual Rhetoric and the Rsum
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principles of design and how to best utilize

Introduction

them in a rsum. Lastly, readers will gain

[C]ommuniation has become more

an appreciation of the persuasive nature of

visual than ever before. Words alone are

the visual and the consequences, benefits,

not enough; we need to be able to

and dangers therein. Within the confines of

communicate visually as well.

the rsum, the world of corporate

- Campbell, 399

businesses and design, job applications and

visual rhetoric collide.

Most people consider the rsum a neutral

document. They give little thought to

Visual Rhetoric: A Definition

typeface, font size, margin placement,

Documentscommunicate with readers

alignment, information hierarchy, and the

through their design as well as through

overall layout of the document. Relying on

spell check and generic templates, job

their words, and that fact inextricably

seekers believe that as long as the

links visual and verbal rhetoric

document is legible and consistently

together.

formatted that their rsum is acceptable.

This assumption is false. In an increasingly

visually driven culture, design is an

- Brumberger, 15

Visual rhetoric is essentially persuasion using

important element in rsum construction

visuals. Yet this definition is simplistic. It is

and could mean the difference between a

not merely an expansion of classical

job offer and a rejection letter.

rhetoric, Aristotles categorization of

pathos, logos, and ethos within persuasion.

Creating a visually appealing rsum

Visual rhetoric does not follow the

requires conscious and intentional thought.

traditional model where the rhetorician uses

It doesnt come naturally like flying comes

the process of invention, arrangement,

to a bird. While many people can identify

style, memory, and delivery. Rosenquist says

between a good and a bad design, most

that visual rhetoric is more than simply

do not possess the language to describe

draping a classical framework around a

what makes for an effective or ineffective

modern form of communication (45). To

layout. This article seeks to explain the

understand visual rhetoric fully, we must

science behind the art of design, specifically

expand our definition of the visual. A visual

focusing on rsums. It explores the

expands beyond the genres we normally

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think of, like pictures, television, or film.

employers glance over a rsum for a mere

Instead, it incorporates everything humans

fifteen seconds before deciding to place the

perceive with their eyes. The other half of

paper in the acceptance or rejection pile,

the definition of visual rhetoric is rhetoric.

there is no time to waste in presenting a

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and

strong and persuasive case.

persuasion consists of the ability to form

and present an argument to a defined

Contrary to prevailing assumptions, the

audience in order to achieve specific

rsum is not a neutral document. It is

results. Putting the two together, visual

loaded with messages not stated in words.

rhetoric is defined as the process of using

The text, the margins, the layout all

what viewers eyes perceive to incite logical

contribute to the persuasive nature, the

arguments in their brains that convince

visual rhetoric, of the document. How the

them to think or act in a certain way. This

visual aspects relate to and complement one

concept of visual rhetoric is gaining ground

another can add or detract from the

in a multitude of fields, professional and

argument presented within its pages. More

otherwise. Additionally, its definition is

than ornate frill, the design of a page can

constantly evolving to embrace new areas of

make your words sing or disappear.

study. One new area of study includes the

Readability is at stake here. Readability is

rsum.

the accessibility of the text (Kristaponis,

100). First impressions are powerful. Before

the employer explores the content of the

The Rsum as an Argument

rsum, he forms a preliminaryalbeit

[M]ost contemporary designers now

subconsciousopinion of its quality as soon

approach design from the perspective

as his eyes hit the page. If the rsum

that a reader interacts with a document

writer makes him hunt for the information

with both its verbal and its visual

he desires, his patience will dissipate along

content to make meaning.

with the job offer.

- Brumberger, 14

Typography: The Foundation

At its core, the rsum is an argument. The

[T]ypography is, in a very real sense,

job hunter tries to convince an employer

the basic building block on which design

that he is the best candidate for an

of primarily verbal text relies.

advertised position. He uses relevant

experiences, impressive skills, a bold

objective, and a display of education to

support this claim. Given that most
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- Brumberger, 13

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Typography refers to the style and

font. Finally, DIN Condensed suggests a bold,

arrangement of text. The size, typeface,

headline statement, like something you

leading, spacing, ligatures, placement,

would find on a magazine cover.

alignment, arrangement, and color plays a

role in typography. It contributes in a large

These vastly different typefaces illustrate

degree to the tone of the document.

an important idea: Typography is an

Different typefaces provoke different

important agent in design and persuasion,

moods. Consider, for example, the typefaces

not a neutral component. Imagine an

below:

applicant submitting a rsum written

entirely in Chalkduster. It would no longer
be a professional, respected document but

Apple Chancery

the laughingstock of a bored HR

Avenir Next

representative.

American Typewriter
Chalkduster

A document that understands the rhetorical

situation is effective. Because the visual

DIN Condensed

elements influence how a viewer perceives

Example 1

and values information, a document

designed in a way consistent with its

purpose should enhance the communication

Each typeface has what researchers call a

value of that document (Brumberger, 15).

personality. They have the ability to evoke

In contrast, if the rhetorical situation is

certain emotions and set certain moods.

ignored, like when American Typewriter is

Additionally, they each have their own

used for a funeral program, a poorly

unique rhetorical situation. For example,

designed document may misdirect readers,

Apple Chancery is well-suited for wedding

creating dissonance that counters the

invitations. Its fancy, flowing script is

authors intent (15).

considered by most to be formal and

decorative. Contrast this to Chalkduster, the

J. Moys conducted a fascinating study on

playful font that reminds one of a board

typographic layout and first impressions. He

game box or a childrens book. American

tested to discern how different typographic

Typewriter is an iconic font which creates a

layouts affected the readers judgments

vintage or old fashioned feel. Avenir Next

concerning different documents. The results

has a professional and academic feel. This

of his research proved that patterns of

font would appear in an academic essay or

typographic differentiation do contribute to

an instruction manual. It is a functional

readers impression of documents (Moys,

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63). He divided his research according to

time Facebook changes their layout. When

three categories: Documents of high, low,

we use set a precedent for organizing

and moderate differentiation. Documents of

information, we need to be consistent in

high differentiation used large amounts of

maintaining the style or technique

color and contrast while documents of low

throughout. Our eyes like patterns and

differentiation used little contrast and

rhythms, which create unity and add visual

followed a more traditional format. He

appeal. Repeated visual elements a line, a

found that while the documents of high

logo, a color, a typeface all of these are

differentiation were viewed as fun and

pleasing to us on a page and provide

creative, the documents of low

consistency in multiple page

differentiation were more likely to be

documents, (Kristaponis, 102).

taken seriously and considered

reputable (63). While the details of this

In the rsum, consistency is key.

experiment are beyond the scope of this

An effective rsum uses the same heading

discussion, the fact remains that the layout

styles, paragraph styles, font type, dividing

attributes associated with patterns of high,

lines, and structure throughout.

rhetorical judgment (41). In other words,

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(Example)
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typographical layout cannot, by nature, be

White Space

neutral or unimportant.

White space is another seemingly

moderate, and low typographic

differentiation do influence readers

unimportant aspect of design. However, we

are beginning to see more and more that no

Principles of Design

part of design deserves to be labeled

Graphic design is what we do to words

neutral. Writing is a visual thing. We see

so that they can be read on a page, the

words. But we also see the spaces between

means by which words, images, shapes

the words, and it is in the place of letter-

and symbols convey meaning.

forms and white space that we achieve

readability and then meaning in the mind of

- Kristaponis, 100

the reader, (Kristaponis, 101). In Example

2, the following text is difficult to read:

Repetition

Humans are creatures of habit. We like to

see again and again what we expect. We

dont like to be surprised by design

Haveyoureachedtheendofthissentenceyet?

differences that cause us to relearn,

Example 2

rethink, or redo. Consider the outrage every

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Kristaponis states, Negative spaces on

shows a poor use of white space. The

pages function much like the rests in

resulting document appears overwhelming,

musical notation, which are as important as

cluttered, and daunting. Words need room

the notes themselves (101). Example 3

to breath.

Example 3

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People everyday illustrate the concept of
Alignment

proximity with their body language. When a

Designers use alignment to show

boy and a girl sit close to each other, we

connection and coherence, (Kimball, 32).

assume they are in a relationship together

Example 4 on page 7 displays a rsum with

simply based on their relative closeness. We

poor alignment. The resulting document

identify a group of friends by the cluster

looks confusing. The viewers eyes do not

they stand in. Varying degrees of

know where to look first and no sense of

relationship are determined by proximity.

order is established or maintained. Example

While people stand shoulder to shoulder

5 on page 8 shows a revised version that

with a family member, they will not with a

uses correct alignment principles. Creating a

stranger.

visually appealing document involves using

proper alignment. Giving each item a visual

Within the rsum, the creator should place

relationship with something elsewill help

together information of the same type. For

provide strength, visual pleasure, and logic

example, all information regarding

to your page, (Kristaponis, 102).

education should be set in several

Kristaponis recommends accomplishing this

consecutive lines, each line being aligned to

visual pleasantry by aligning each piece of

the previous one. White space helps viewers

information with at least one other piece of

distinguish between groups of information,

information on the page. That way,

much like the white space between words

congruency can allow for easy scanning and

helps us distinguish the groupings of letters

legibility.

which form words.

Proximity

Contrast

Proximity is used to show grouping and

Designers use contrast to show the

belonging, (Kimball, 31). In essence, when

difference between objects or add emphasis

things are close together, our brains assume

to important information (Kimball, 29).

that they belong together:

Adding bold or italics to a word can set it

apart from the rest. Calling out certain

information by using a larger font is also
effective. Contrast is about comparison,
one element noticeably different from
another, and it is one of the best ways to
attract readers to your page and feel a
visual hierarchy of the various text
element, (Kristaponis, 101).
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John Smith
!251 N. Main Street, Cedarville, OH. 45314
(616) 403-0632
name@cedarville.edu
!!
!Objective:

My objective is to obtain an accounting internship to aid in reinforcing my education and

to help my employer pursue their goals.

!Education:

Graduated from: Freedom Christian Schools

Attending: Cedarville University
Accounting major
Bible minor
Graduating year: 2018
Honors:
Served as Captain of the varsity soccer team both junior and senior year.
Received the Coaches Award for soccer
Received All Conference award for soccer

!Skills:

!Experience:
!Activities:

Great leadership
Very good work ethic
Organizational skills
Familiar with Excel and PowerPoint
Cedarville University
Maintenance Worker
In charge of cleaning and maintaing grounds
Rake leaves, landscaping, snow shoveling
Played varsity soccer all four years of high school.
Participated in several service days during the school year.

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Example 4

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John Smith
!251 N. Main Street, Cedarville, OH. 45314
(616) 403-0632 | name@cedarville.edu
!!
!Objective
My objective is to obtain an accounting internship to aid in reinforcing
my education and to help my employer pursue their goals.
!!
Education

!Honors
!Skills
!!
Experience
!Activities
!
Example 5

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Graduated from: Freedom Christian Schools

Attending: Cedarville University
Accounting major
Bible minor
Graduating year: 2018

Served as Captain of the varsity soccer team both junior and senior year.
Received the Coaches Award for soccer
Received All Conference award for soccer
Great leadership
Very good work ethic
Organizational skills
Familiar with Excel and PowerPoint
Cedarville University
Maintenance Worker
In charge of cleaning and maintaing grounds
Rake leaves, landscaping, snow shoveling
Played varsity soccer all four years of high school.
Participated in several service days during the school year.

!
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Visual hierarchy is created by contrast and is

read. Example 5 contains no contrast and is

extremely important in written documents.

therefore difficult to read. The readers eye

Take, for example, this essay. A visual

is not drawn to any visual hierarchy created

hierarchy has been created to aid readers

by contrast or similar information indicated

navigate the text. The title is a bold, serif

by the same design. Example 6, on the other

typeface, indicating its role in the

hand, provides a simple visual hierarchy

document. The section headings are a

with larger headings, bolded company

different serif typeface, slightly smaller, and

names, and italicized position titles.

blue. The subheading within the section

headings are bold. Finally, the body text is a

Order

regular sans-serif typeface. This contrast

Designers understand that readers process

creates visual hierarchy, something that tells

information in terms of importance. We do

a reader about the structure and

this subconsciously most of the time. Most

organization of a document.

readers will ignore sidebars, extra text

boxes, headers and footers, and additional

In the rsum, one creates visual hierarchy

information sections in the text. When

and contrast by using different font sizes,

creating a rsum, applicants must

typefaces, colors, bold, and italics.

remember that the information closest to

However, in order for contrast to be

the top of the document will be perceived

effective, there must also be similarity. If

as more important than the information

nothing is the same, then nothing is

placed at the bottom.

different.

In light of this, presenting information like

Similarity

the objective statement or relevant skills

Kimball instructs us to use similarity to

first makes more sense than putting an

show that design objects are alike in kind or

Activities section at the very top. In the

function, (28). For example, using all caps

same way, putting the name at the bottom

to label the company names in the

or middle of the rsum makes no sense.

experience section of the rsum visually

tells the reader that each title functions in

Enclosure

the same way. They merely give a different

Enclosure uses borders, lines, boxes, etc. to

aspect of the same information over and

group complex items together and separate

over again.

them from other information (Kimball, 35).

This essay uses enclosure to set off

When contrasting Example 5 with Example

examples which the reader should not

6, we easily see which rsum is easier to

associate with the main text.

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Conclusion
How words are arranged on the page
determines the legibility and readability
of the text. The placement and visual
attributes (typeface, color, size) of
these words also determines whether a
reader will be attracted to the page at
all.

- Kristaponis, 100

We cannot separate the dual nature of

words as both a visual and verbal means of
communication. They are equal parts of
each. Considering the rsum to be a
neutral display of important information
could not be more false. Text has visual
appeal, produces different emotional
effects, and sets the tone of a document.
The arrangement of these words determines
the ease with which an employer can
navigate the rsum and find the
information he needs. Failing to utilize the
principles of design or acknowledging the
dynamic nature of text results in a subpar
(or at best an average) rsum.

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