Presents a model of visual coding for analyzing how visual elements affect the readability and rhetoric of business documents. Asserts that this type of systematic approach is needed for visual language to take a functional, rhetorical role in the communication process. (MM)

Presents an overview of the shift from handwritten to typewritten to laser-printed text, examining three areas central to this development: the development of visual rhetoric, the rediscovery of aesthetics, and the use of empirical research. (NH)

Suggests that text and information design are rooted in the visual aesthetics of modernism as articulated by the Bauhaus. Explores four key ideas affecting visual design: unity of text and form; emphasis on economy and simplicity; search for a universal, objective style; and faith in individual and collective intuition. (KEH)