Kostelnick & Roberts 3 Points and a Question

- K&R provide a definition of emphasis, "In any communication, even a single paragraph, the rhetorical situation demands that some parts are more important than others and should therefore receive more attention. This prominence or intensity of expression is what we mean by emphasis." Now I suppose we've heard this or a similar definition in the past but what stands out to me is a line in the following paragraph, "emphasis strategies are about controlling what stands out." I really like the word controlling in this context. I'm not sure if we've come across it in the past or I just didn't pick it up but I like the way that word frames the situation and gives authority to the designer.

- In the case of Fred, "rhetorical concerns push the process ahead." I was drawn to this because I recently did a summary of Brown's article about the revival of Ethos in publication management. I think that article is relevant to this situation. It talked about how when there are bottom lines to be met and organizational concerns often times the composers sense of ethics can be overlooked. I think its good that we talk about ethics and I'm glad to see that there is some recognition of how significant demands (rhetorical concerns) can be in the design process.

- Identifying relevant conventions for any design problem you're trying to solve. This point emphasizes how most any design problem will fit into a certain category with its own set of design, text and other conventions. I think this is partly common sense but what I think we might be able to take away from it is the importance of planning. To me this is something you would give thought to ahead of time and then use your conclusions to guide and reassure your design process.

Question: The conclusion summarizes by saying that among other things, a document must be tailored to an audience, enable the document to fulfill its purpose, and be suitable for the context. Now is some ways these ideas overlap, but I'm wondering, given constraints of time, budget, etc. If we must sacrifice one concern what should that one thing be?