Technical and professional writers are being hired to communicate information in virtually all businesses and with a variety of media. Good design enhances your message. Your ability to structure a document and write well, as well as prepare a document that is attractive and inviting to read, will place your skills in even greater demand. Visual design adds depth to your work.

Technical writers produce a variety of documents, including catalogs, procedure and policy manuals, instructions, brochures, and sales promotion materials. Over the past decade, new computer graphics tools have often made technical writers responsible for the layout, design, editing, and proofreading of those documents. Technical writers need to choose a design for every piece of work they do.

To enhance your marketability as a technical writer, you should be able to communicate information objectively and efficiently in a variety of media to different kinds of readers. Knowledge of desk top publishing programs (like PageMaker or InDesign), web page authoring and HTML coding, and graphic design programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, can help you create effective documents.

To help support members' understanding of design issues, the STC has two Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that offer resources in the form of newsletters, toolkits, readings, and events.

Contact your local community college for courses in layout and design, or courses that provide technical and computer expertise (such as web-based communication, web page authoring, layout software or graphic design). Of course, you can also become design conscious and start an ongoing process of self education without any formal education. Use the resources here to become more aware of design issues you encounter every day.

Of course, it helps to have a portfolio of your writing and publication samples; the more varied your work, the stronger your portfolio will be.

The collection below represents a set of ideas and information that we plan to expand over time. The San Luis Obispo STC chapter will continue to add to the definitions, resources, and articles. Please join us by contributing your favorite graphics-related sites and articles to graphics@slostc.org.