This past Wednesday, we
looked at prose styles and technical marketing documents. Today, we address images within technical
marketing documents. As I’ve mentioned a
number of times this semester, images function in pretty much the same way as
does text – to communicate information to a target audience in ways that
reflect the topic, the immediate writing situation, and the individual, team,
or company/organization sponsoring the document.

So we can rather easily
adapt the issues covered on Wednesday to fit a discussion of images within
technical marketing documents. The
easiest way to do that is to address each type of visual that a technical
marketing document might contain:

• Images
  of the product
• Images
  of users
• Graphics
  communicating product or user data
• Graphics
  representing product or manufacturer logos, or product or manufacturer
  identities
• Graphics
  representing endorsements and/or recognitions
• Art
  work designed to enhance overall presentation within the document

Images of the product. These
identify the product, its color, its physical or virtual measurements, and its
uses. Some products are placed in
“showroom” settings; others are placed according to where and how they’re
used. In some cases, products are shown
with those who are using them.

Images of users. These identify the apparent
target audience of the product and/or the document. Some users are photographed in posed shots
without the product; others are shown holding, touching, standing next to, or
using the product.

Graphics communicating product or user data. These consist
of charts, graphs, diagrams, cut-away diagrams, and flowcharts.

Graphics representing product or manufacturer logos. Manufacturers
generally have company logos, but often you’ll see logos for specific products
or product lines. Sometimes, you’ll also
see images that seek to communicate a product’s or manufacturer’s identity.

Graphics representing endorsements and/or
recognitions. How often have you seen the Energy Star logo
on appliances, doors, windows, even computers and TVs?

Finally, I would suggest that you keep in mind the product being pitched, as well as the document's intended target audience(s). Showroom-style presentation of a luxury car is quite appropriate, while similar presentation style for a tractor would be quite silly. Why? We're more accustomed to thinking about tractors in relation to what they do, as opposed to what they look like and how shiny they are. On the other hand, displaying the dashboard for each vehicle is very appropriate. It's just as good to know that tractor seats have ample, high-quality cushioning as it is to know the same for a Cadillac, given the demographics for each vehicle: hard-working farmers and health-conscious seniors.