Final presentations

Final presentations last week were very good. What I found the best was the chance to see what artefacts did the rest of the class produce. Everyone showed creativity and approach.

My presentation did not go as smoothly as would have liked to. I did not know what exactly to present however I believe I said the most important information and everyone could see and touch my artefacts. It was good that I had prepared some sounds as well as this was a requirement of the assignment.

The time limit was not an issue at all as most presentations were relatively short. I guess no one was sure what the expectations are as we weren't given detailed guidelines. This, however left room for creativity in the way of presenting.

Creative Exercise - genres and text

The task of this exercise is to create different text based on a workshop leaflet for the following genres:

• Newspaper advertisement (The Australian)
• A textbox on the company webpage
• Email
• Mobile phone (SMS)
• Printed invitation (posted)

The workshop is titled How to Deal with Grumpy, Moody Co-workers?. The tile suggests that the topic is rather sensitive and it could be carefully presented to the different audiences.

Newspaper Advertisement (The Australian)

(Title) How to deal with grumpy, moody co-workers?
(body text) A CareerOne interactive workshop which will assist managers and leaders of people to best deal wth the issue amongst teams.
(two columns) Date: Tuesday May 11 2010
Time: 3.00-5.00pm
Price: $45 for members/$60 for non-members
Venue: Centre for Management Development, 180 Port Road, Hindmarsh
RSVP: by Friday May 7 2010

A textbox on the company webpage

(Title) How to deal with grumpy, moody co-workers?

(body text)Do you have grumpy or moody people in your workplace?

What causes them to be grumpy and moody?

How should you deal with these people?
Join the interactive workshop on May 11 2010 at the Centre for Management Development
(bottom of text box) Click here for more information.

E-mail

(subject line) Interactive workshop coming up soon
(body text) How to deal with grumpy, moody co-workers?

Do you have grumpy or moody people in your workplace?

What causes them to be grumpy and moody?

How should you deal with these people?

Join in the CareerOne interactive workshop to learn how to deal with such issues amongst teams.

Date/Time: May 11 2010/ 3.00-5.00pm
Venue: Centre for Management Development, 180 Port Road, Hindmarsh
Price: $45 for members/$60 for non-membersRSVP: by Friday May 7 2010

SMS

CareerOne Interactive workshop on May 11 at 3pm - How to deal wth grumpy moody co-workers?

Printed Invitation (posted)

Dear Mr. Black,

CareerOne is pleased to invite you to an interactive workshop "How to deal with grumpy moody co-workers" presented by Ian Wilson.

The workshop will take place on May 11, 2010 at 15.00 at Centre for Management Development, 180 Port Road, Hindmarsh. Price for non-members is $60 and for members $45.

Please RSVP  until May 7, 2010 by filling in the form attached to this invitation.

See you there!

Kind Regards,

CareerOne workshops organizer

+ Attachment - the RSVP form

"The era of free content is over"

Faifax's iPad app

A media issue that struck me at once was the article inthe Media section of The Australian which reads that the era of free content is over and that Fairfax would begin charging users for their online content. Will this genuis idea be embraced by online readers or will it boost newspaper sales? The company is launching an app which will be free for the first 6 months and then it will cost $8.99 for monthly subscription. There will be discount for 6 month or a 12 month subscirption.



Although the company states that they've been existing for 180 years and that content was paid for those 180 years, I am not quite sure whether people will be willing to do so once they have been introduced to the free online content. I am not used to buying newspapers and I also wouldn't pay for online content unless it is part of my job. I would say that we could get the news from somewhere else! When I am used to not paying for certain thing I wouldn't very happy to learn that suddenly in 6 months time I am supposed to pay to get the news online.

There has already been quite a lot of responses to the article saying that because of the wide range of choices people wpuldn't stay loyal to a newspaper if its content becomes paid. A comment on this article posted online reads: 

Steve Posted at 5:01 PM May 30, 2011



If their content is superior to free content then people will pay for it. Currently though, a large portion of their content is recycled from elsewhere and not the quickest source of news.

I totally agree with the abovementioned comment, usually people would pay if what they get for their money is better than what they ger fo free. I believe people would be reserved and wouldn;t jump into subscribing, probably they'd use the app for the first 6 months till it's free and then find another sorce of news which will be good enough to satisfy their needs.



Piping Shrike Poetry Poster

The brief for this task was to re-design a poster for the university poetry club. The audience is university students who can get the chance to be published in the annual UniSA piping shrike. The old poster design consists of non-attractive colors and does not stand out from the clutter. It is very plain and not catchy enough.

This is why the poster had to be re-designed. By carefully choosing fresh young colors the new design I have created looks much better not only in terms of color choice but also overall attractiveness.The poster should communicate properly its purpose - to attract students to take part in the "competition". The meaning and wording of the old poster has been kept the same in the new design. However, the words have been separated in a couple of sections. Major part of the poster takes up the question "Do you want to get published?" and it's got a primary location in the center. The stars on the background are supposed to draw the attention straight to the major question. At the bottom of the poster are placed the details such as contact e-mail and closure day for submissions. 

You can see the old and new poster compared below.

Old Poster

New Poster

Changes made in design:

• colors - light blue and yellow/orange instead of black and white, blue and red
• title - "Creative writing" instead of "Calling all poets"
• typography - sans-serif fonts instead of cursive for title and body text
• positioning of information 

CWA brochure

The task for this class is to create a brochure for the Country Women's Association which covers the requirements of the company. During the brief it was made clear the following:

• the brochure has to be modern
• provides information on what the Association offers



SACWA logo

• include the way the Association contributes to the community

The aim of the brochure is to attract new members as well as inform the public of their activities. By carefully taking the requirements into consideration I have decided to use fresh colours, which attract younger women. In this case I tried to incorporate the SACWA logo which consists of pink and white with the overall design of the brochure.

Deciding on the information that has to be included in the brochure was the next step I did. The first page of the tri-fold brochure has the name of the association, the logo, a picture of a young woman with a horse (Image 1) and the slogan of the association.

The second page of the brochure consists of an image of scones (Image 2) which are significant for the association as this is one of their major activities. The page has a text which is taken from the association's website - it is concise information which describes in brief what the association does and who they are. The inside paes of the brochure are filled with the major activities and the membership opportunity and benefits. There are two images of a home made jam (Image 3) and a woman baking (Image 4) again representing SACWA's activities. The back page has again the logo and the contact information of the CWA. 

There is a lot of space left throughout the brochure to assure separation of sections and make it easier to read. The colours of the design are chosen to match the logo and the purpose of the association. It should attract younger women - fresh colours and typography. 

Images used in the brochure 

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

SACWA Brochure

SACWA Brochure 1 side

SACWA Brochure Side 2

Media Issue - week 9

This week has brought many media issues in the spotlight, some global concerning the death of Osama Bin Laden or addressing the royal wedding of Prince William, others more locally oriented.

Source: http://goo.gl/rl2cp

The issue I chose to discuss this week can be described as a social media issue. It concerns Facebook and its security. The article addresses Symantec which has observed a security issue with Facebook and its apps.  According to the security company some Facebook apps leak private users' information. Facebook's response to that has been that there is no such evidence and that they have looked into the issue already.

An ethical issue comes to mind when talking about security and privacy of private information. First of all, exposing one's personal data without having their permission is illegal by itself. However, Facebook always asks the user when entering an app whether or not they permit this app to access the user's basic information, That basic information consists of their name, contact details, and maybe demographics. I would say for myself that I have never permitted any app to access my basic information, however I can't be 100% sure that any of my personal data has leaked since I have opened a Facebook account.

It is up to the users to take care of their profiles and information, Sharing data today is very easy and could be done everywhere. The world hasn't been more exposed than ever but users should be aware of the disadvantages of the Internet. It is up to the various website to state somewhere visible what the terms and Conditions of an entry are as those change from website to website. Creating profiles and sharing personal information all over the net could cost one his or her reputation. This is why people should be cautious when using such websites. I do not say that I don't trust Facebook, but I expect everything happening under the table. it's always a matter of time for one to investigate if anything dodgy was happening.

Exegesis Draft

Uploading the first draft of my exegesis (is not finalized yet, that's more or less just the beginning).

The four basic design principles which are the main guidelines in graphic design have been utilized for years with the only aim to help and guide the readers throughout the document. According to Reep (2006, p. 134) readers do not pay attention only to the text represented in the document but also to the visuals which play a supportive role in the composition. Many theorists like Reep, Putnis and Petelin, Schriver as well as Kress have argued in the last decade that design is very crucial for the audience in terms of perception; the way people perceive information or the message that is to be presented relies on design and layout.

This exegesis serves as a discussion of the creation and the design process of three artefacts, each including text, visual and audio mode. The abovementioned artefacts are based on specific topics chosen from the book ‘Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home’ written by Emily Post in 1922. Emily Post has expressed and described the etiquettes of life based on her knowledge and experience at that time of the century. The essay focuses on an original etiquette from Emily Post – Balls and Dances - as well as two already rewritten by previous students– Bar and Australian Manners. The artefacts listed and explained below have been designed and created in regards with the main theories in design and desktop publishing.

The first artefact that I produced is based on Emily Post’s ‘Balls and Dances’ Etiquette. It consists of a text mode that is an up-to-date version of Post’s etiquette and is titled ‘Party Etiquette’, a visual mode that is represented in the form of a cocktail napkin and an audio part that allows the audience to be indulged into the topic by listening to a party mix appropriate for the occasion.  The text for the artefact has been written taking into consideration Zinsser (cited in Miles 1990, p. 290) and his idea of ‘stripping the sentence to its cleanest components’. By leaving only the most important information in my piece of work I have assured that the reader won’t feel confusion and even ignorance after reading through the text.  Although the artefact is a multimodal text that incorporates three different types of modes – text, visuals and audio, it is designed in a way that the reader would not be distracted from the most essential information (Walsh 2006, p.24). When written simply and concisely the final product is considered to be easier to interpret and relate to. By following the theorists I have created the text for this artefact according to the principles so it fulfils its main task of sending the right information to the audience and keeping them on path with the storyline.

Defining my project’s purpose and target audience was the first step I did before even starting to create my artefacts (Parker 1990, p.2). In order to produce good and coherent design for the visual part of the first artefact titled ‘Party Etiquette’ I had to decide on the medium I was going to use and the audience which was to be exposed to my message (the text). By carefully considering those variables I made the decision to combine creativity with more practical approach. The visual mode of this artefact is in the form of cocktail napkins which will be the medium for my message. The text will be printed on the upper side of the napkins so it is visible and easy accessible for the readers.  Incorporating some graphic elements on the sides of the text together with an image and appropriate for the topic typeface will help the target group to better understand the concept. As Parker (1990, p.7) notes clarity and simplicity are critical to every design, that’s why when preparing the artefact I tried to eliminate the clutter, highlight the main information and reduce the amount of visuals. The graphics are specifically positioned on the sides and do not overlap the text so that the reader is not distracted and can focus easily.

The thought of books being judged by their covers led me throughout the design process of the second artefact with the name Australian Manners which is based on the original etiquette from Emily Post’s book – Greetings. The text that was rewritten from a previous student represents an updated version of the etiquette specifically tailored for the Australian culture. The visual mode I chose for this artefact is in the form of a handbook. The main idea behind the creation is to give one the basics of the Australian Manners when it comes to greetings. Choosing the images and the cover for the handbook was inspired by ...

Editing and its role

Editing is very crucial to one's work as any mistakes could alter the meaning of the text. Mistakes can mislead the readers who will then feel confused. All sorts of mistakes (either punctuation or grammar mistakes) could be made unintentionally. There comes the role of the editors who edit articles for newspapers, magazines, whole books and online resources.

I believe it is a very essential part of the final product (text, article, book) as the least a publisher would like is to publish an unedited book that may ruin their image and reputation. The product has to be reliable in terms of grammar as it is an official resource (sometimes used for academic purposes).

With the computer era coming in many editors have lost their jobs, however I am certain that most computers, or programmes (even Microsoft Word) can make mistakes as they cannot figure out the whole meaning behind the text; those programmes can't distinguish what the author has tried to say or to see through the context of the text. In case a new more reliable programme is developed that can replace the human being editors, I would be very sceptic in using it as I wouldn't trust the machines to know better than us.

In the second part of today's class we did two editing exercises, which I didn't find very challenging as I feel quite confident with my grammar skills. But I found a couple of words that I was doubting about in terms of definition.

Below are the exercises we did; the answers I have selected are highlighted in yellow.

Exercise 1. Insert the correct word in the sentence

1. I shall complain to the head of ........................... (personnel/personal)

2. I’m not ..................... to the idea. (adverse/averse)

3. The politician was not particularly ................. about the matter. (discrete/discreet)

4. He refused to pay his ................... rates. (council/counsel)

5. I like most vegetables, but I loathe spinach and brussel sprouts. (loath/loathe)

6. They agreed in ............... to the suggestion. (principal/principle)

7. I will ............... your letter to the chairman. (forward/foreword)

8. This wine would be a wonderful ............... to any meal. (compliment/complement)

9. To mark this ............ occasion, the Queen will give a speech. (historical/historic)

10. It’s a .................. issue, and I will not discuss it in public. (personnel/personal)

11. The newspaper article included an .................. to the PM’s scandalous past. (illusion/allusion)

12. The ................ should be written by an expert in the field. (forward/foreword)

13. Our project is divided into .................. parts. (discrete/discreet)

14. The .................. will be reworked before filming begins. (scrip/script)

15.  My music teacher told me to practise my ...................... (cords/chords)

16. This is the .......... for my thousand shares in Telstra. (script/scrip)

17. These documents are of ...................... interest. (historical/historic)

18. She will ................. the student before making any recommendations. (council/counsel)

19. It wasn’t real; it was all just an ................... (allusion/illusion)

20. Poor Bill had an .................. reaction to the flu injection. (averse/adverse)

21. He paid her an unexpected .................... (compliment/complement)

22. The school ................. spoke to the parents. (principle/principal)

23. I’m .............. to give him any more money; he will just waste it. (loathe/loath)

24. The child pulled out the telephone .............. (chord/cord)

Exercise 2. Choose the correct spelling in the following sentences

1. Please let me know if (there/their) are any reports left to edit.
2. Please wait (there/their) for your orders.
3. (They’re/their) efforts to address the inconsistencies went unnoticed.
4. She was the harder worker (of/off) the (to/two)
5. The lecturer went (of/off) to teach in Dubai.
6. They should (of/have) known better.
7. The exam was (to/too/two) difficult for the new students.
8. The students were (to/too/two) nervous to read the questions carefully.
9. She went (to/two/too) close the door and stood (too/to/two) close to the dog.
10. Most students know when (its/it’s) time to hand up their assignments.
11. The leopard cannot change (its/it’s) spots.
12. The dog knew (its/it’s) (master’s/masters) voice.
13. The group is not hungry because (it’s/its) had (its/it’s) lunch.
14. We all need to (accept/except) the things we can’t change.
15. I give all students feedback (accept/except) the (ones/one’s) who won’t (accept/except) it.
16.  Can we get your (advise/advice) on how to proceed with the proposal?
17.  The manager will be able to (advice/advise) us on which strategy is best.
18.  The CEO and the general manager (compliment/complement) each other in their approach to staff management.
19.  The guests were full of (compliments/complements) for their host.
20.  He reported the incident to the head of (personal/personnel).
21.   I agree with you in (principal/principle).
22.  The (principal/principle) feature of the building is its large staircase.
23.  Do you know (where/were) we are supposed to leave our assignments.
24.  This (semesters/semester’s) exams (were/where) very hard.

Week 7 - iPad, websites and meda issues

iPad

In today's class we discussed the iPad after viewing the iPad Demo Video on YouTube. For me the iPad is a good invention and has great design. I consider this product not as a substituition of a normal laptop but more as a supplement which can be used while travelling or in the move. I see it as a lighter version of a laptop as you can not do everything on it that you do on your laptop. The number of applications that could be installed on it is enormous which gives us more choice and freedom. There could be some flows with the iPad but I couldn't be able to tell them as I haven't used it personally. Everyone I have talked to that has it, adores it. I guess, I would love it too! 

Website

In the second part of the class, we got the chance to browse for websites and discuss whether they are good or not. The website I chose is All Recipes where you can easily browse recipes by name and other classifications. What I like about it is the images and the way the recipes are described. I find it very easy to browse for a specific information - something I am looking for. The overall laoyout of the website is very simple but in my opinion it shouldn't be very flashy as it serves as an online cookbook. On this site especially they have included some articles and blogs which make it even more interactive. You can give ratings to the recipes you have used and write comments. The main colour of the layout is orange which may not be the best colour for a recipe website but it works and it doesn't distratct or annoy the user. The structure of the website could be a bit better, although I like the sections on the left side which show different classifications of the information. 

AllRecipes Website

Media Issue 

This week is a very important week in Britain as Prince William will be marrying Kate Middleton on Friday. As far as I know in England people are having second long weekend as they have Friday off and next week's Monday as well. Here, in Australia the media companies, meaning the major TV programmes will be broadcasting various shows regarding the Royal Wedding not only on the day it happens but also before that..

The title that I chose from the Media Report for this week is Big networks go for love as SBS opts for war. The article reads that all of the major TV programmes will be screening and broadcasting the wedding on Friday however SBS is the only one that will be showing a movie for the World War II. Considering the fact that the Royal Wedding will be on every single channel this Friday except for SBS I believe that there will be annoyed people who prefer to watch anything else but not the wedding. There will be competition for the ratings during the time when the wedding is being broadcast as viewers will have many channels to choose from. There is another question will the majority of Australians sit and watch the wedding on TV or will they rather choose to go out/watch another movie/or simply ignore it. 

In my opinion, because of the media pushing their pre-wedding shows so hard there will be many people who would be interested in watching the Royal Wedding, the question is which channel will they choose. Australian TV was introduced to me only 3 months ago, which is not enough time to make up my mind which channel has the best stories covered. I have a couple of shows/series that I follow from time to time but I am not entirely sure which is the leading channel in the country. 

As of tomorrow, the day of the Royal Wedding, I will come back from school and will sit in front of the TV watching the ceremony of Prince William and Kate Middleton. 

Media Issue - Mid Term Break 2

Source: MMScene

Monday Media Topics from the Australian this week has been relatively boring and not as interesting as I expected. It may be due to the holidays coming up or just a coincidence. However, I have chosen a very up to date article from last week which caught my attention for two things: one was the name of the brand stated in the title (Burberry) and second was the goal they were trying to reach (replacing staid with cool). 

The whole title of the article reads: Burberry starts with China in global digital bid to replace staid with cool. 

Because I have studied Public Relations I was triggered to read it and share it with you. The article explains how the British clothing company Burberry is having a major goal for this year to change their image from boring to cool. However, the main focus in the piece is the way they are doing this, the way they are implementing their strategy - by engaging with China's digital world and the fact that this country is the one with the fastest technology growth and development. 

Burberry are placing touch screen displays in their stores in China and giving their staff iPhones so they can be able to give better service to their customers by showing them items online and making the shopping experience more interactive. Profiles of the company or the so called 'fan pages' have been created with the purpose of connecting to their target audience on another digital level that allows them to share experiences regarding the brand. Bringing the store in their homes, Burberry has already online shops specifically designed for China ans has hired staff speaking Chinese and Mandarin in their stores in the USA and Europe who will assist Chinese tourists.

I am not surprised about the step that the company is taking, as research shows that Chinese are one of the top nations consuming luxurious goods and products. There is no doubt that this industry will be growing and that certain needs and wants from the customer point of view should be satisfied. Burberry have made a great decision in my eyes, for going digital and targeting China as one of the biggest markets for their business. By giving Chinese people the opportunity to experience better customer service (interactive displays, online shops and blogs, fan pages on Chinese networking sites, 24 hour live chat for customer service) Burberry will most probably succeed in their plan to expand their market shares in the country as well as reach their strategic goals for changing their image from boring to cool. 

The way I see it is that nowadays technology is one of the definitions of 'cool' products and we observe how companies develop new products in no time as they feel the need to meet their customers' needs and wants as well as make sure their profits do not go down the drain. Going digital is very crucial in this digital society where everyone and everything has gone online and viral, where people spend more time with technology rather than friends and family. For a company in the luxury industry, spending money on such improvements and strategies is vital as they have to keep up with the digital era and do everything to satisfy customers. 

To access the original article, click here. 

Media Issue - Mid term Break

This is the 1st out of 2 weeks mid term break. It was supposed to be a break for this blog as well, however I decided that due to my excessive free time I could spend some fraction of it discussing the following media issue. In the Monday Media Report of the Australian (11 April 2011) there was an article regarding the net users and the time Australians spent online. For surprise to everyone according to Nielsen Australians 'have increased their time online by a record-breaking four hours a week'. What struck me was the fact included in the article which states that the average internet usage has more than tripled for a decade. Although, I am aware and used to very fast technological developments, this data is still jaw-dropping for me. Realizing that people nowadays dedicate so much time staying online purely means that they have scratched some of their previous activities out of the list! This issue is not discussed in the article, however it makes me think in this particular direction as media once more has invaded our world and the facts even prove it.

It is very interesting to see that an increase in people accessing online content related to the TV programme or ad is observed. That means that more and more advertisers reach their goals by tricking the audience to go online after watching a TV programme. It means more hits to their website and the awareness among people increases as well. I do not have anything against TV ads that make you go online if the commercial has been entertaining enough for me. Because advertising is a major subject in my degree I am used to critiquing and analyzing different sorts of commercials. From my human point of view I could say that some commercials are very irritating and makes me feel abandon the porgramme I have been watching just because I hate bein interrupted every 15 minutes. But from my let's say professional point of viewing advertising, annoying commercials can cause people to ignore the advertising clutter even more. That's why I believe that entertaining commercials are mole likely to succeed in catching the viewers attention and reach the goal of the audience going and buying the product/or service advertised.

Anyways, that's all for this week! You can access the article I have read via the following link.

Media Issue - Week 6 - Nine Newsbreak iPhone App

Image Courtesy of http://ninemsn.com.au/ 

During week 6 we discussed several issues in class from the Monday Media report of The Australian. The issue that I had printed for this class was about the Ninemsn new iPhone application which apparently was downloaded more than 100, 000 times within a week of its post launch.

The new application gives the visitors the chance to stay up to date with latest news. The issue discussed in the article is whether the viewing data from the recently launched application can be implemented in the television ratings figures. Ninemsn has estimated that according to the statistics their new application has had 10 times more downloads than an application created by Sydney Morning Herald a year ago.

iPhone app

Personally I believe that the application has attracted so many visitors mainly because it is free service. Second of all most people love staying tuned to the news and would rather have an easy access to the latest stories. Of course, most people have their personal cell phones with an Internet access. However, this particular application is for iPhones only, so the number of users will be limited to people with iPhones. Anyways I think it is a great break through for Ninemsn to launch an application that is absolutely free and for sure their ratings if possible to be estimated will increase. As stated in the article soon Ninemsn will be launching the same application especially designed for iPads - again limited to uiser of Apple only.

Introduction

This blog serves as a medium where I will express my views on media issues and such concerning publication and design. Every week I will be posting and updating the contents with the latest news from the Media report of the Australian as well as any others that I come across and find interesting to share.

Feel free to comment and ask any questions, I am always open for discussions and looking for stories!

Image Courtesy of http://www.ubalt.edu