Reading Response 5
The brochure I choose is from the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Department of Agriculture. It breaks down the different parts of the nutritional values on the back of food products. It can be found at:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~acrobat/nutfacts.pdf
First, I really like the design of this brochure. I think they did a great job with the alignment and visual aids. The first and second pages of the pamphlet include repetition of similar pictures which I found very effective. I also think they do a good job of color contrast and font choice. They have “Nutrition Facts Label” in blue and use a Serif font. They also make this title larger than the rest of the page allowing your eye to easily be drawn to it. Then on the second page, they move into a sans serif font. They have the title of this page a different color, then the important information about this brochure in the center when you open up the first flap. They then keep this same format on the back of the brochure where they list important contact and department information.
Now lets look at the meat and potatoes of the brochure; the center tri-fold. I think they did a great job on this area. Even though there are colors going over the alley space, they were able to keep all the information in the correct three columns. Again, I think repetition and color scheme work very well in this portion of the brochure. Not only do the colors go well together, they play a practical role in explaining the nutritional facts. Overall, I think the authors were able to effectively explain this information very well.
After analyzing the Nutritional Facts brochure I choose, I think I can take some very good ideas from it for my own project. First, I now see how important sticking to a specific color scheme is. Also, we will need to make sure we rhetorically place our information so it flows the best. I think by analyzing this and other brochures, I will be able to have very good ideas four our project.
Comments
Reply
I agree that this is an effective brochure that helps you read nutrition facts labels. I like how the similar pictures on the first two pages causes some repetition even though its not the exact same picture. They do a good job with the explanation of the different parts of the label with good headings in serif fonts and aligning all the info in a left justification. The spatial relation between the colors on the chart and the info they represent are pretty close so it is easy to associate one with the other. The headings for the info are in larger point fonts which make a break between sections which is good. Overall this is a helpful brochure for your project.
Reply
I like how you commented about the importance of the placement of words and the way sentences flow. i think this is a very important thing, yet is not always noticed. It would be very easy for us to put together this brochure without actually looking at the flow of words from one section to another. This is something that I had not yet thought of, so I am glad that you brought it up. i also think color is a very important thing. If the brochure isn't eye catching, there is no way that it will be very good. One thing that I also think is important is to make sure the layout is eye catching as well. It's good to have good color and good words, but the layout also is very important. Keep that in mind also when you are putting together your brochure.
Comment
I think this is a very effective brochure. I agree that the use of repitition of the pictures really helps pull the entire brochure together. Also, I think the particular colors used for the pictures were very eye-catching and effective. I liked how you pointed out the center tri-fold. I especially liked how the tips of the boxes on the left and right pages carried over into the middle page, while keeping the separation. I agree that sticking to a specific color scheme and the use of repitition are going to be very useful to our brochure. This brochure should be a good example for us!