Week+Three+5366

=**The Newsletter**=

Contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity are all the design principles of graphic communication that we use to communicate a message. The purpose of a newsletter is to communicate a message or news of interest to a particular group of people. The use of contrast in a newsletter is important in order to allow the reader to distinguish the difference between titles and content. Repetition allows the various elements and pages of the newsletter to be connected together. Alignment gives the elements of the newsletter a sense of order by creating a visual relationship both horizontally and vertically. Proximity allows elements to be associated with one another such as a photo with the corresponding headline and story. Each of these principles, when applied correctly, make the newsletter easier and more interesting to read, thus allowing the intended message to be clearly communicated.

Something I thought about was what does the newsletter communicate about the branding of the organization? You may be trying to communicate one image but a weak use of CRAP principles in the newsletter can communicate a message that is not at all intended. If the newsletter appears to be disorganized, then the image of the organization could appear to be disorganized as well. I think the basic principles are used to create something more than just good work, or to attract readers, but to communicate an image or to reinforce the brand of the organization.

I like the point you made here Matthew. I am a bottom-line, "just the facts" type of person myself. You can tell from the discussion board that I like using bullets and I also enjoy making outlines. To me, using bold print and bullets within an article help to provide contrast and make the content more readable. I agree that the internal organization of an article is something to consider when creating a newsletter.

In addition to the basic design principles of a newsletter, I feel that an assessment would need to include the following elements: the logo or title, date, contact information, page numbering, the layout, the purpose, visual interest, use of white space, and harmony or unity. In my opinion a newsletter should answer the questions who, what, when, where, why and how. The question " Who is this organization?" should be clearly identified by the logo, title, and contact information of the newsletter. The date communicates " when " the information contained in the newsletter is pertinent. The purpose of the newsletter should answer the question " What is going on within the group?" or " What is it they want me to know or do?" If the content of the newletter does not coincide with the intended purpose then this leaves the reader confused about the organzation.

The newsletter should also create visual interest by using an appropriate layout and photos or images in order to draw the reader in to actually read the content. The layout and the images answer the question " Where can I find more info?" by attracting the reader to the articles. The use of adequate white space allows the reader to focus on what is most important and deserving of his/her attention. It answers the question " Why is this important enough for me to read?" Unity or harmony is achieved by using all of the design elements in a way that enhances the readability of the newsletter. This answers the question " How does all of this information fit together?"

When I started first grade (we didn't have kindergarten then) and was first learning to read, we had a "Weekly Reader" magazine. This was probably my first exposure to a newsletter format of any kind in the classroom. Students always looked forward to getting these. Of course, our eyes were first drawn to the pictures and the teacher would have a supplemental lesson to help us process the information we were seeing there. I remember there also being some sort of word game or puzzle of some sort. Maybe it was one of those "find what is missing" type games. Anyway, every time we got the Weekly Reader we couldn't wait to find that section and complete it. We looked forward to it. My point is .... I think it's important that a newsletter have enough pictures that the reader can quickly determine what they want to read first.

I feel that the majority of the weight should be given to the layout, title and headline components of a newsletter. I feel that these are the first things that a person sees when they first pick up a newsletter. These elements will determine whether or not a person decides if he/she is interested in going further to read the information contained within the newsletter. Most readers will overlook a misspelled word here or there, but a misspelling in the title is very obvious and can cause the audience to discount the whole message.

Maybe the 80/20 rule would apply here. Twenty percent of the people usually do eighty percent of the work. The layout, title, and headline, may not take as much time and effort as the content but they do 80% of the communicating for the newsletter so maybe more time and attention should be focused on these areas.

I took the following quote from About.com. "A newsletter isn't of much use if it doesn't have content." It also says that "No newsletter can survive without good content". Since it's the articles that make up the newsletter content, then I would also agree that the writing and the design elements could be linked when evaluating the various design components of a newsletter. You used the illustration of evaluating a music composition. The melody and the lyrics could be evaluated separately or lumped together, but either way they are separate components of the same piece. Together they create the song, but each part brings something unique to the whole.

I feel that the purpose and the audience are critical elements to consider in the creation of a newletter. In Public Speaking courses one of the first things you learn about preparing a speech is to consider who your audience is and prepare accordingly. You also learn that there are various types of speeches and you must adjust your communication to the type of speech (informative, persuasive, motivational, etc.). Anytime we are communicating something, either verbally or in written form, we should be considering how the person hearing or reading it will perceive and interpret the information.

In describing the evaluation criteria for these elements I would ask the following questions:

Did the newsletter clearly communicate the intended purpose? Did the content of the newsletter correspond with the intended purpose? Did the newsletter identify who is the intended audience? Did the content of the newsletter relate to the interests of the intended audience?

The weight I would assign to these two elements would be about twenty percent.

Since my educational background is in psychology, what I see here is a Nature versus Nurture argument. Is it the child's nature that makes him behave the way he does or is it the environment he grew up in? The question we have here is: Is it the Design or the Content that is most critical in the creation of a newsletter? My answer would be both, but not at the same time. Both are critical, but like nature / nurture, each has a role to play and each interacts with the other in the process. It's sort of like the age old question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? You cannot have one without the other.

Students who will have to learn to use software will be somewhat at a disadvantage in completing this newsletter project. It will not only require additional time due to working in a new environment, but they also will not have an opportunity to practice their skills since it is a one time project. For this reason, the criteria used to evaluate the project should be based solely on the course content. In my opinion, students should be evaluated based on how effectively they incorporate the CRAP principles, include the "vital" required information, and follow the instruction guideline provided in lecture 3.3. This would allow all students work to be fairly evaluated by the instructor. These criteria possibly could be evaluated by awarding points based on a scale of 1-20 in 5 point increments, with the vital and required information counting for 20 points and the CRAP principles counting for 20 points for a total of 40 points toward the final grade.

I know that I have already learned a lot in a very short amount of time. I have been creating newsletters for over 15 years, but I am already seeing things that I can improve upon and ideas that can be implemented. I think alot of the same skills and techniques that we are learning about in creating business cards and newsletters could also be applied in the area of web design. I can see how mastering these skills is also going to enhance our communication skills with those we serve.

Most of my experience working with newsletters has been trial and error. I barely recall what my first attempts were like because it's probably been 20 years, but I think I started out using WordPerfect, a word processing program that was never intended for desktop publishing. I think because I learned by trial and error that most of the planning occurs in my head versus on paper. As with any software, it would be helpful to have some practice on the program you are using prior to starting to work on the actual project. I tried yesterday to see what I could come up with without using a ready-made format. It definitely takes a little more time and planning when you have to start from scratch.

Some key errors to avoid in creating a newsletter for a classroom project would be:

1. Not following the specific instructions from the syllabus for what to include in the newsletter, 2. Trying to use too many pictures, 3. Distorting photos when resizing and adjusting images, 4. Using too many different fonts, 5. Failing to proof read and use spell checker, 6. Failing to consider the needs and interests of your audience, 7. Using 2 columns on a page divided down the middle.

I feel that the same would be true for public distribution beyond the classroom, with the exception of number one above.

I agree that spelling and grammar are so important. I try to catch and correct errors as I write, but always find something I missed when I go back and proofread my own work. That's why I think it is wise to have another set of eyes doing the proofing before submitting the final work or publishing it for the public view.

Matthew, since you mentioned inaccurate information ... the URL that we received for the web conference last night was evidently incorrect. It appears now that it was off by one number. I spent about one hour of time trying to access the web conference plus sending numerous emails trying to find out what I was doing wrong. In my mind, I was thinking that the whole class was there at the web conference and I was the only one who couldn't quite figure out the procedure. It was quite frustrating although I responded by just taking it in stride. I almost wondered if it was all planned that way to teach us a lesson about the importance of verifying the information we put out in printed form.

Being a teacher, you read the discussion question differently than I did. You saw the words "classroom project" and immediately thought of a group or class project. When I read "classroom project", I thought of a project I am doing for a class. This is an example of how readers can interpret the same text very differently. This is another element that when we are proofreading we have to watch out for. The words may be spelled correctly, free of errors, and full of reliable information, but a sentence could have totally different meanings depending on how it is interpreted by the reader. Am I making sense?


 * The Rubric**