From Writer To Designer

Without words, apps would be an unusable jumble of shapes and icons, while voice interfaces and chatbots wouldn't even exist. Words make software human–centered, and require just as much thought as the branding and code. This book will show you how to give your users clarity, test your words, and collaborate with your team. You'll see that writing is designing.

From product documentation to menu labels to marketing emails, writing for the web can feel challenging-even insurmountable. But it doesn't have to be that way! Whether you're new to writing or looking to hone your skills, Scott Kubie's guide will empower you to get organized and get going. Learn to scope and articulate writing assignments, build a repeatable workflow, and develop methods for productive editing, collaboration, version control, and delivery. Don't struggle with writing-get the writing done.

Grounded in multimodal theory and supported by practice in the classroom, Writer/Designer streamlines the process of composing multimodally by helping students make decisions about content across a range of modes, genres, and media from words to images to movement. Students learn by doing as they write for authentic audiences and purposes. The second edition of Writer/Designer is reimagined to clarify the multimodal process and give students the tools they need to make conscious rhetorical choices in new modes and media. Key concepts in design, rhetoric, and multimodality are illustrated with vivid, timely examples, and new Touchpoint activities for each section give students opportunities to put new skills into practice. Based on feedback from instructors and administrators who incorporate multimodality into their classroom—or want to—this brief, accessible text is designed to be flexible, supporting core writing assignments and aligning with course goals in introductory composition or any course where multimodality matters.

When you depend on users to perform specific actions—like buying tickets, playing a game, or riding public transit—well-placed words are most effective. But how do you choose the right words? And how do you know if they work? With this practical book, you’ll learn how to write strategically for UX, using tools to build foundational pieces for UI text and UX voice strategy. UX content strategist Torrey Podmajersky provides strategies for converting, engaging, supporting, and re-attracting users. You’ll use frameworks and patterns for content, methods to measure the content’s effectiveness, and processes to create the collaboration necessary for success. You’ll also structure your voice throughout so that the brand is easily recognizable to its audience. Learn how UX content works with the software development lifecycle Use a framework to align the UX content with product principles Explore content-first design to root UX text in conversation Learn how UX text patterns work with different voices Produce text that’s purposeful, concise, conversational, and clear

How do designers get ideas? Many spend their time searching for clever combinations of forms, fonts, and colors inside the design annuals and monographs of other designers' work. For those looking to challenge the cut-and-paste mentality there are few resources that are both informative and inspirational. In Graphic Design: The New Basics, Ellen Lupton, best-selling author of such books as Thinking with Type and Design It Yourself, and design educator Jennifer Cole Phillips refocus design instruction on the study of the fundamentals of form in a critical, rigorous way informed by contemporary media, theory, and software systems

This anthology turns a critical eye on advertising, newspapers, commercial photography.

For designers, writing and research skills are more necessary than ever before, from the basic business compositions to critical writing. In this competitive climate, designers are routinely called upon to make words about the images and designs they create for clients. Writing about design is not just "trade" writing, but should be accessible to everyone with an interest in design. This book is a complete, introductory guide to various forms of research and writing in design—and how they explain visuals and can be visualized. These pages address communication on various levels and to all audiences: - Designers to Designers - Designers to Clients - Designers to the Design-literate - Designers to the Design-agnostic Being able to express the issues and concerns of the design practice demands facts, data, and research. With Writing and Research for Graphic Designers, you’ll learn how to turn information into a valuable asset— one of the key talents of the design researcher.

Writer/Designer is a brief, accessible text that helps you compose multimodally across a range of modes, genres, and media. You learn by doing as you write for authentic audiences and purposes.

Good design systems can help you create digital products with efficiency and consistency. But great design systems will support and strengthen your team’s creativity at the same time. In Expressive Design Systems, Yesenia Perez-Cruz shows you how to build useful, dependable systems that not only maintain harmony across your products, but also flex to accommodate inspiration and experimentation. Learn to communicate your brand, collaborate across teams—and do so much more than standardize components.

Do you want to turn your talent for writing into a narrative design career in the games industry? It’s never been a better time to be a writer for video games. You’re tapping into an industry that was worth more than $120 billion dollars in 2019, and it’s still growing. And it’s an industry that needs great storytellers. But there's a BIG difference between a great story and a great game story. Traditional stories are told. Game stories are experienced. That's why video game narratives need a totally different design approach. So how do you apply your scriptwriting, storylining, poetic, copywriting, prose producing skills to an audience that won’t sit still and an industry that’s ever changing? That’s what this book is about! I’ve been a narrative designer for over a decade, as well as a novelist and a scriptwriter / storyliner for TV and comics. I love playing games, and even more, I love helping game developers realize their storytelling aspirations. Nothing delights me more than a game that's both fun to play and delivers a satisfying story experience. In this book, I'll share both the evergreen principles and practical techniques that I’ve learned and developed during my narrative design career so that you can position yourself for your first game writing gig. And if you’re an experienced narrative designer already, you’ll still find plenty of insights that you can apply to your trade. I’ll say it again, “the games industry needs you!” Play is what we do, but story is why we do it.