Citation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian-trabold/5872037849/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Rhetorical Analysis: Caution signs normally make me laugh as they seem like common sense but how they are designed is the epitome of balance. I’ll be short on this and not try to drag this out to make it look like I wrote more on a wet floor sign than anyone should. It’s a wet floor sign it conveys the floor is wet that is all there is to it. The person who placed it doesn’t want someone to fall and sue hence there are signs like this in any place that is public and has wet floors.
Design Analysis: As for the design of a wet floor sign there are a lot of design elements at play here. The balance is key the words need to be pig enough to be read before someone reaches the wet floor. The image needs to be simplistic and easily understood but not so large it takes up space needed for text. It is also bright yellow with hard black or red text making it easy to see and read. Also, it falls back on repetition as everyone knows what the signs says before they actually read it. Everyone knows a propped up yellow sign in the middle of a floor means it’s wet. These design elements were all considered when designing the perfect way to let people know the floor is a slip and fall hazard.
I need you to go reskim the chapter on balance and use the concepts introduced there to identify how/why elements of the design of this object are in balance (not including the fact it is a sign that has to balance itself to stand up). Then, connect those specific design elements you identify as balance (or out of balance) and how/why they connect to the specific elements of the rhetorical situation. For example, using “red” to show “danger” and make it pop out from the yellow since it is a sharp contrasting color helps make this sign instantly visible to warn people. Now…I just talked about “contrast”…I need you to talk about “balance.” Please revise and resubmit for full credit (email me with a link and tell me to regrade it).