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Major Assignments Assignment Table of Contents
All your documents must be accompanied by a project assessment memo designed to provide me with information about the context for and the design of the document, as well as a rationale for and evaluation of the use of each computer application used. Without the project assessment memo, the assignment is incomplete and will not be accepted or reviewed. Make sure this gets to me when the document is due. Please do not turn in a document and then get the memo to me days later...that defeats the purpose of this assignment. Your final portfolio will have an overall reflection that will include your revision strategies (as a whole) for your documents and your Web sites. Document #1: Business Card and Letterhead (Due 9/13) Design a business card and letterhead for an organization. The business card and letterhead should be for the same organization--anyone you choose or create using your over-active imaginations. Be creative and use the products available in the lab. Project Assessment Memo Requirements
This memo should be about 1 1/2 pages single spaced (double spaced between paragraphs). Since you're sketching today, you'll be including your efforts tonight in your memo. This memo is due with your assignment--9/13. Document #2: Flyer or Advertisement (Due 10/04) Create a flyer or advertisement. Just around the corner from class is a huge board with many flyers. I'm sure there's one or two of you who like to argue about whether there's a difference between a flyer or an advertisement. That's like arguing the difference between "reading" and "interpretation." We don't need to go there. Flyer's should be no more than 8.5" x 11" in size. Advertisements should be placed into a magazine or newspaper, so please have a source in mind and replicate that source for the final portfolio. For instance, actually paste your ad into the newspaper or magazine where the ad belongs. Your content is not as important (I didn't say NOT important, btw) as the overall design. Choose whatever you'd like as a subject, and be creative. Please use the Adobe Suite of products for this assignment. Chapter 8 of The Non-Design's Design Book has information on flyers (p. 119-122) and newspaper ads (p. 135-138). Read those sections for advice. You should have the following documents:
Your project assessment memos should included the following: Memo To: Dr. Toscano
Audience My audience is... Placement of...(Context for Advertisement of Flyer) This (ad or flyer) will most likely be placed... Estimated Cost I expect the (ad or flyer) to cost $XXX.XX. That includes the following breakdown... Style
Design Choices ***Remember that this is where you discuss the visual perception, rhetoric, and culture elements of your design. The "Style" section above is simply a listing of surface features. The "Context" section farther up is for discussing where the user might come across the document or where the document would be used.*** The (ad or flyer) communicates its message by/through/with...[think perception, rhetoric, culture and show why--don't just tell]. Software Used My creation came to life through the following computer tools.... [Make sure you tell me what area or section or component was created by which computer tool, assuming you used more than one] Questions??? Document #3: Tutorial (Due 10/25) Create a tutorial for a lay audience, an audience with no technical expertise in the subject. Using our wonderful Adobe Creative Suite, make a tutorial that shows a user how to do something. Ideally, you ought to have an actual user test for Oct. 18th's workshop, but that isn't required. However, I would like for you to have two (2) classmates comment on your tutorial (100 words). While your tutorial may be of any size, please consider something doable for the time you have (two weeks). The Vonage Tutorial I showed the class is a great example but probably a bit too involved. Consider a tutorial on any computer program, gadgets, appliance, or similarly simple device. Please avoid the following subjects:
Alternatively, as the dozen or so of you know, you may do a description of a technology or science instead of a tutorial. The goal, of course, is to deliver highly technical information to a non-technical audience--aim for a freshman reader. For instance, you might consider describing the water cycle, how volcanoes erupt, etc. Just limit your descriptions to scientific or technical arenas. You should have the following documents:
Your project assessment memos should included the following: Memo To: Dr. Toscano
Audience My audience is... Context This (tutorial or description) will most likely be found with[a product]...[in a textbook for freshman]...[on the back of a truck]... Estimated Cost I expect the (ad or flyer) to cost $XXX.XX. That includes the following breakdown... Style
Design Choices ***Remember that this is where you discuss the visual perception, rhetoric, and culture elements of your design. The "Style" section above is simply a listing of surface features. The "Context" section farther up is for discussing where the user might come across the document or where the document would be used.*** The (tutorial or description) communicates its message by/through/with...[think perception, rhetoric, culture and show why--don't just tell]. Software Used My creation came to life through the following computer tools.... [Make sure you tell me what area or section or component was created by which computer tool, assuming you used more than one. Don't worry so much about telling me every brush stroke or "stepping back" you did. You may be general.] Document #4: Brochure (Due 11/08) Inform an audience about a topic in a folded brochure--double sided. Take a look at the brochure from our midterm. Think of a company, organization, event, activity, disease, procedure, etc. that you're interested in. This assignment asks you to create a brochure that informs a lay (non-technical) audience of anything you deem important. I would like for you to have two (2) classmates comment on your brochure (100 words) during the November 3rd workshop. While your brochure may be of any size, please consider something doable for the time you have (two weeks). You should have the following documents:
Your project assessment memos should included the following: Memo To: Dr. Toscano
Audience My audience is... Context This (brochure) will most likely be [displayed, distributed, disseminated...] Estimated Cost I expect the brochure to cost $XXX.XX. That includes the following breakdown... [Tell me how you determined cost] Style
Design Choices ***Remember that this is where you discuss the visual perception, rhetoric, and culture elements of your design. The "Style" section above is simply a listing of surface features. The "Context" section farther up is for discussing where the user might come across the document or where the document would be used.*** The brochure communicates [its message] by/through/with...[think perception, rhetoric, culture and show why--don't just tell]. Software Used My creation came to life through the following computer tools.... [Make sure you tell me what area or section or component was created by which computer tool, assuming you used more than one. Don't worry so much about telling me every brush stroke or "stepping back" you did. You may be general.] Questions??? There are two parts to your "website" grade of 200 points: 1) your actual website and 2) the classwork you display on your website. Your Actual Website Your Web site is an ongoing project and is supposed to get you to create a series of Web pages that show your understanding of digital information design. While the end result is up to you, I have guidelines for this assignment:
The above are for the rest of the semester; don't think you have to incorporate them all within the first week. At the minimum, you must update the webpage weekly. *You need not use all, but I want you to maintain an engaged online presence. The classwork you display on your website Throughout the semester I'll ask you to create small documents with the various Adobe software packages. These will be in-class activities that I'll demonstrate to a point and then let you finish. When you complete them, you'll put them online and link them to your homepage. The following assignments will be part of this requirement:
The above assignments will be explained on the appropriate daily activity pages when we get to them. Leading Class Discussion (Due after the midterm) ***This assignment is for ENGL 5182 students only*** ***This assignment is for ENGL 5182 students only*** ***This assignment is for ENGL 5182 students only*** I would like you to open up discussion on a Chapter in Document Design. In order to get you acclimated to the course, this assignment won't be due until after the midterm. Those of you in ENGL 5182 should choose a chapter to begin a discussion:
I don't expect an exhaustive pontification in your discussion. Instead, I'd like you to lead the class for at least 30 minutes on a topic related to the reading. You don't need to have a formal activity for the class, but showing visuals, asking questions, and (possibly) having a web page devoted to your discussion (your notes) would be good. Consider the following goals as you prepare: Think about what you are familiar with and explain how that experience or lens gets you to think about the topic--career, education, major/discipline, etc. Make connections to other examples outside of the textbook, and explain the significance in the connections you make. Of course, you should focus much of your attention on cultural and rhetorical aspects of design as they relate to the specific chapter. Mentioning ethos, pathos, or logos would be prudent. Remember, you're leading the discussion; you don't have to finish it. It's more effective to go into greater detail about a few aspects of a reading than to skim the entire reading in 30 min. ***This assignment is for ENGL 5182 students only*** ***This assignment is for ENGL 5182 students only*** ***This assignment is for ENGL 5182 students only*** I'm offering two types of assignments to fulfill the 5182 extra "essay" requirement: This essay will be an exploration of a scholarly topic in the field of technical communication. You will summarize and discuss at least seven (7) articles concerning your topic, situating them in relation to each other and also offering your own opinions/analysis (14 pages, double spaced). If you go over, don't worry, but ask yourself the following:
Examples of topics we'll cover this semester include the following:
This assignment is similar to a literature review. There are some differences, but the assignment asks you to review a body of related literature and discuss connections among the different texts. In addition, you must do a 5-6 min presentation. You get up and speak for 5-6 minutes about the essay--you choose what's important to say. Don't go over 6 min and don't go under 5 min. See below for scoring criteria. --OR--(you choose the one above or below...not both) This essay is a bit shorter than the one above, but it comes with a 10 minute presentation. The goal is to analyze the visual rhetoric of a document or series of documents similar to the ones we're creating in this course--flyers, business cards, brochures, websites, etc. You will do a 6-page essay that provides some research on visual rhetoric and an analysis of the rhetoric of a document or series of documents. Expectations for the essay: Your essay should incorporate at least 4 sources in addition to our course textbook (Document Design), which provide the theoretical framework or support for your argument--consider it a mini-lit review. Your analysis should properly use course-specific vocabulary to convey the "rhetoric of" the text or texts you've selected. At a minimum, you ought to address the following in this rhetorical analysis essay:
Remember, texts are cultural products and, therefore, offer insight about the culture from which they come. This analysis is not about the "nuts and bolts" of the document--how it's assembled; instead, you're demonstrating how it communicates it message. Portfolio Requirements (Due 11/29) I could go into great detail about the value of portfolios, but I'm going to concentrate on the reflection that's important in portfolios. Let me get the basics down right now. Include the following items in your portfolio (these are all hard copies except the revisions):
The goal of the reflection is for you to show me that you're aware of not only your revision process, but also the perceptual, cultural, and (most importantly) rhetorical design choices you made. In order to increase your critical reflection and, therefore, thinking, I have some guidelines for you. I've decided to ask you to concentrate on specific topics for the different documents instead of having you reflect on every document the same way. For each document, I want you to reflect on how your design choices carry out your message. Do not feel the need to give me play-by-play steps; instead, you should focus on what your design choices mean. Again, do not narrate your design process. Below are questions to guide your reflections:
As you can see, this reflection is very important. Be concise and efficient, but make sure you're able to discuss rhetorical and cultural elements of your documents. Think of this as 4 summaries with a "head's up" intro and a final summary of yourself as a designer in the conclusion. I would be surprised if this went over 6 pages double spaced. Please double space the reflection. Examples I chose the script font Old English because I wanted to convey the ethos of my subject, Carolina Renaissance festival, and the font gives my document that "olde" time look that characterizes the time period. My document is green because that gives off an environmental ethos, which supports my document's goal--cleaning up the environment. The culture associates green with environmental concerns in talk of "green jobs," "going green," "green companies," etc. I chose the font Comic Sans MS because I wanted to make an appeal to pathos because my design is for kids, and the font has a vibrant, goofy, childish feeling. I used red for pathos in my document to create a sense of danger. My document warns readers to take precautions when cleaning their firearms, and the color red is associated with danger in our/mine/this culture. ***Notice how the above descriptions state a reason and then explain, specifically, why the statement is valid. Basically, the second part of each is proof of the preceeding claim. In 4-5 min, highlight the theories that guided your creation and re-vision of your portfolio documents. Here's where you should stress the rhetorical, cultural, and visual elements of your designs. This isn't a speech where you go over every change; in fact, you can do a good job just explaining how your final documents convey the message you think is conveyed. Think ethos, pathos, logos...It is your job to select the appropriate examples and not go over (or under) time. In case there was some confusion, the 5182 students are doing a 5-6 minute presentation on 11/29 before the portfolio workshop, and on 12/06 everyone will be doing 4-5 minute presentations. I will score your presentation on a scale of 1 to 5 based of the following criteria:
Although it may seem like too much extra work, you should practice your oral presentations in order to gauge how long your part will take. You can't possibly convey all the choices you made as an information designer in the time you have. Therefore, you must choose your points wisely. Whether you’re finished talking or not, I’ll cut you off if you go longer than your time limit (4-5 min. I will stop you mid sentence if need be. Again, preparation is crucial. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be prepared for all oral presentations. 1. Project assessment memo: (also known as the "assignment memo") the memo that you provide me, so I may understand the context for and the design of the document as well as a rationale for and evaluation of the use of each application employed.
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