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Context
I designed this conference poster as a final project in Dr. Lane’s Special Topics in Technical Writing class I took in the Fall 2019 semester. My goal was to create a conference poster that summarized and illustrated recent social justice literature in the technical communication field. All of the models presented are from research articles published in the last 4 years. I had initially wanted to more thoroughly explain and connect the models I included in the poster to practical technical communication efforts; however, I felt that there were some space restraints in the poster, so I decided to focus on the models and theories that were especially relevant to technical communication research.
The four contemporary research articles I used in the poster are varied, but all focus on social justice efforts in technical communication. The first article presents a model of temporal logics; these logics explains how the cultural concept of time influences technical communicators and the users they interact with. The second article proposes decolonial research perspectives that help technical communicators critically analyze their interactions with users, as well as understand the effects of oppression in individual, historical, and societal contexts. The third article presents a model for technical communication based on the atom; its goal is to contextualize technical communicators in their resources and stakeholders so that no single element is left out or underutilized. Finally, the fourth article proposes two models of socially just practices in technical communication; the 3 Ps and 4 Rs are crucial to helping technical communicators understand their extant privileges while they examine their own potentially problematic practices.
A strength in this conference poster is its visual icons. I put great effort in drawing these icons myself, and I did my best to ensure they represented the specific idea or concept well. Another strength is its concise definitions of terms and explanations of the models and theories being presented. I believe that I did well in developing a poster that was pragmatic in its analysis of these research articles without being overwhelmingly wordy.
A weakness I see in the poster is that the balance of shapes and colors could be improved. The text boxes are perhaps not especially appealing; perhaps with different borders or a more carefully selected typeface could help. Also, I wish that I had done more to connect the concepts and models presented in the poster; even if I could not include more information in text due to space constraints, perhaps there is a way I could have developed stronger visual unity.
Lessons Learned & Future Plans
By making this conference poster, I learned that I was able to combine my understanding of visual design, document creation, and academic research to develop one cohesive project. I know now that my competencies are not separate, but intertwined; in my future career as a technical editor, I can utilize all of these competencies to strengthen the documents and texts that I edit.
Although the poster does not necessarily contribute new information to the field of technical communication, I think that my work has emphasized existing research in such a way that technical communicators will more carefully consider the importance of social justice in the field. I also think it is necessary for visual references to be created for the field so that those who are visual learners can benefit from them.
I hope that this conference poster demonstrates that I am capable of creating a wide variety of documents. I also hope that it emphasizes my ability to use the Adobe Creative Suite effectively to communicate information. In future technical editing endeavors, I want to use this poster as an example of my skills in design and my foundational knowledge of ethical and socially just technical communication practices.