ABSTRACT
For conveying a message, graphicacy (visual presentation) together with literacy (in written form), oracy (through articulation) and numeracy (with the help of numbers) are ‘the four aces’ in the ‘pack of education’ (Balchin and Coleman 1966, 85). Graphicacy as a form of communication brings into play some form of symbolic language or arrangement of numerals to convey information about spatial relationships that cannot be adequately or effectively conveyed by verbal means (Balchin 1972). It is synonymous with visuals, maps, diagrams, photographs, sketches, charts, cartoons, posters and tables. Graphics serve the purpose of giving a visual shape to data for illustrating and strengthening the text for a deeper and better understanding. These render simplicity to complexity and communicate difficult ideas with clarity, precision and efficiency. This requires an ability to conceptualise a spatial form of the information and represent it (Butt 2002, 83).
