In Charles A. Hill's "Reading the Visual in College Writing Classes," he discusses the significance of proximity between textual elements. For the title of the page, I chose a font that spaced the characters in such a fashion that they were both large and readable. Hill's focus is on proximity between words, but my choice here offers proximity between letters. Moreover, the red space represented here separates the page from the black menu space below, providing a proximity to offset the title. Thus, readability and ease of navigation are both increased. Given the issue of browser compatibility and limited font selections, a basic typeface is vital. - Helvetica, Size 24, Bold

Jeffery Keedy's "The Rules of Typography According to Experts" discusses typeface design. He suggests that many typographers will abstain from using uncreative typefaces because they fear that doing so will make their design look just that, uncreative. My choice of typeface here was plain and simple for multiple reasons. Jeopardizing the quality of my message was a thought, but I knew that the information on the site was my focus, not the innovative appeal of the typeface. Thus, my decision-making, although ultimately "uncreative," was driven by my desire to create a navigable, informative site.

As discussed in James E. Porter and Patricia A Sullivan's "Repetition and the Rhetoric of Visual Design," design consistency is an essential element of desktop publishing. In this context, consistency refers to the repetition of styles, typefaces, fonts, etc. (293). Thus, the menu headings, #FFFFFF, Size 12 Verdana font, ALL CAPS, is consistent across the black space of the header. Familiarity and simplicity in design allow page viewers to navigate the site with ease. Throughout the site, menu items will appear in this design to ensure design consistency. Clicking on this link will take visitors to a little bit of information about myself, perhaps fulfilling the ethos of my site. Visitors curious of my credibility and expertise will, hopefully, be satisfied after seeing my background in the fields of rhetoric, technology, and visual design.

I wanted to incorporate visuals into this site for a multitude of reasons. Much of what I do as a teacher and a student involves visuals in some way. Throughout my schooling, I hesitantly considered myself a visual learner, but, as I began to teach with visual techniques, I became more and more aware that images are both central to my learning and my argumentative style. In "Toward a Theory of Visual Argument" by David S. Birdsell and Leo Groarke, they hope to combat the idea put forth by David Fleming in "Can Pictures Be Arguments?" that visuals are incapable of creating an argument. Despite concerns of vagueness and ambiguity, Birdsell and Groarke indicate that these deficiencies are not great enough to prevent visual from containing and creating arguments (310). Therefore, I think an exploration of Poe's writing amidst the visual arguments of Clarke's plates is an interesting supplement to this site. By clicking this link, I hope that you will find a world that meshes digital and visual rhetorics.

The transparency of a text is a common concept in visual and digital rhetoric, but my context here was inspired by the writings of John Trimbur in "Delivering the Message: Typography and the Materiality of Writing" and Mary E. Hocks in "Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments." Hocks suggests that the transparency of a document refers to the degree to which the audience feels familiar with the elements required to navigate the site (632). Although my application of the term here is an abstraction, I felt like I could increase the transparency of the page by including biographies of the familiar, Edgar Allan Poe, and the unfamiliar, Henry Clarke. Poe is a staple of American Literature, and I theorized that including information on him with the page would increase the effectiveness of my rhetorical message and pull the audience inward to the experience of the page. Thus, the audience is able to "see through" the hypertext markup language of a webpage and recall Poe's writings in a printed form.

I wanted to incorporate a powerful image of Edgar Allan Poe on the main page for this site because I knew the connotations that accompany him: horror, suspense, thrillers, the list is expansive, but, more than likely, visitors to my site will connect one of these meanings with the image of Poe. In "Representing Macbeth" by Hanno H.J. Ehses, she explores the creation of a poster announcing the play, acknowledging that images may be "denotatively interchangeable," but designers must also take into account "the breadth and complexity of connotations" (169). Thus, I hand selected this photograph for its power and the likelihood that visitors to the site will interpret the image differently, ranging from the grotesque, the mildly thrilling, to the historic.

Anne Francis Wysocki argues in "Monitoring Order" that web design should incorporate elements borrowed from historical aspects of page design to create an environment familiar to the audience (636). Therefore, where possible, the text on my site will appear amidst white space with black font. I want my writing to mirror the appearance of what the audience may have seen in a text book or novel; thus, there exists a sort of familiarity to the entirety of the site. Also, instead of using centered text, I felt that I could appeal to transparency by maintaing a left-justified appearance. I believe that the description of the site is extremely important because it is the gateway to the page, a roadmap of sort. If the audience is confused at the beginning of their adventure on this site, then they will likely remain disoriented throughout their navigation. Through the use of familiar, transparent font and alignment style, I believe that visitors will feel comfortable on the site.

Richard Buchanan's "Rhetoric, Humanism, and Design" traces design theory from its beginnings in the ancient world to the twenty-first century. In order to provide a general framework for modern design, he proposes five themes that govern designer decision making: communication, construction, strategic planning, systematic integration, and styling. During the creation of this site, particularly when tweaking the layout, I kept these elements in mind. Communication was significant because I want the site to efficiently convey information. Moreover, the construction and strategic planning of this site were connected; specifically, the site was created in three phases - design and code integration, theory, and data entry - each of which was central to constructing a large website. Integration on this site occurs through my decision making regarding such facets as color. I chose red and black to appeal to the expectations of visiting a Poe site - horror. Moreover, most pictures were changed to black and white to fit into this scheme. Lastly, the styling of the page was one of consistency. The tooltips and roll-over images are stylistic, but they add a sense of interactivity, which is important in grabbing the attention of the audience.

The photo was central to my color choice. After obtaining the image, I knew that it needed to be "framed" by the layout. Thus, the three dominant colors in the photograph -- light grey, grey, and black -- all show up consistently through every page of the site. Originally, the color scheme was black and read, but I felt like consistency with the image created a more streamlined feel. Although there is plenty of white space present here, the background color for the site is black. I concealed the background by coloring table cells. To include another shade, light grey, I inserted a single table cell at the far right side of the main menu. The audience acknowledges the hint of color, but it does not dominate the page. The color scheme and layout do not change throughout the site, thereby maintaining a sense of consistency and navigability.