Digital Rhetoric is digital communication– that being communication through digital technology. Digital technology is any sort of tech that can be represented with binary code. Binary code is fundamental to all digital devices and technologies, regardless of how complex or rudimentary that digital tech it is. While this code is readable and accessible to computers, it isn’t that way for average human users of digital technology. When interacting with digital tech, people interact with said tech through a user interface. Which is where visual rhetoric comes in.
Visual Rhetoric refers to the art of communication with the use of images, text, and/or other things that focus on sight. Digital rhetoric relies heavily one visual rhetorical devices. Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric, by scholar Douglas Eyman, mentions how limiting it can be to understand digital rhetoric without acknowledging that significant role visuality plays in digital communication.
This visual rhetoric is communicated to users of digital devices through UI. The size, color, brightness, text font, text size, everything on the screen of a digital device plays a role. Whilst writing this article I noticed that the editing interface I’m using is bombarded with visual rhetorical techniques. Buttons that darken or lighten when my cursor hovers over them– indicating that they are live links. Eyecatchingly red notification icons. The use of typographic hierarchy— where the area in which my text is the largest and takes up the most space on screen. This is all in service of facilitating clearer communication between me and the program I’m using.
This isn’t to say that digital rhetoric isn’t solely visual. Sound (i.e. audio cues/notifications) and even touch (i.e. vibration) can play a role. But the bulk of digital communication primarily relies on sight.
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