English 420Y - Business Writing Online

This week went very well with the project. We received feedback from members of group 1 of Tirrell’s class, the Humane Society, and the instructor the week before and this week we applied those revisions to the project. The Humane Society had a lot of constructive criticism which gave the group a different perspective to look at when editing both brochures. Stephen had emailed his changes to me over the weekend because he was going out of town and would not have access to a computer. No problems came up since no one had to take over his part in the project.

We started out the week by critiquing our first draft of the project. Ryan gave Steve and I some very helpful tips on how to make the general brochure more effective. The first thing I did was tone down the shade of the colors I was using. Looking back on it now, it did seem like it was more of a cartoon than information for the humane society.

5:00 Appeal to Emotions: +
I do think the brochure design I came up with does have an emotional affect on prospects. The affect of the front cover picture does play a key role in persuading people to come by the shelter. Just the look of the dog can be very poignant especially to those who are die hard dog lovers.

4:00 Be Professional: +

Throughout the week, each member in group 1 worked on their designated part of the project. After coming up with a design for the Clinton County Humane Society, I had sent it to Steve who was I charge of coming up with the content for it. He then emailed me back the brochure which included the data that gave the history, mission statement, and ways to help out the organization. Steve also added in a website which serves as another advertising tool and directions from a couple major thoroughfares to make driving easy.

There are a lot of elements that I have incorporated in my design draft. Coming up with a unique design for a brochure was easier said than done simply because of the distinct functions they serve. Whether it is for visual interpretation, aesthetic appeal, or representing data, they all had their own complex meaning which brought the entire brochure together.

The first thing I did upon receiving the people in my group was posting my email address and AIM screen name so they would have other ways to contact me. Steve had emailed me that the group was to meet on AIM to allocate parts of the project and discuss a plan of action. I volunteered to design the Humane Society brochure because I am an artistic individual and I believe I will do a better job on this part than coming up with the content. One of our members was missing because she had to work late and because of that, she had no way of telling us.

The brochure I found has many elements of graphic design which puts emphasis on one another. Proximity is a big factor in this particular brochure. Not only is there a very distinct blue hue on the front cover, but it is rather large compared to the other components. The plain colors of the background also make it stand out more which also goes for some of the other pages as well. The element of alignment acts as a tool for the reader and by this I mean it leads the eye from one piece of information to the next with ease.

Here it is.

Open to any kind of feedback

After reading chapter 1, I grasped a better understanding of writing and rhetoric in context. On page 7 of the Thomson Handbook, the questions a writer needs to ask themselves I thought was most helpful. It put in perspective as to what exactly it is I need to focus on as I am developing context for the reader. The checklist on page 13 was also very useful because it broke down the different types of context and gave a template for the writer to shape their own framework around a specific project.