Week+3+Discussion+5366

Prompt 1

When referring to a newsletter, contrast is used to differentiate between headlines, stories, and importance. It helps the reader's eyes and brain focus on the the main subject of the story, to separate one story from another, and to indicate if some piece of information in the newsletter is more important than another. Repetition is used to connect the pages of the newsletter and to set a tone or create a theme. Using repetition allows for the designer to change some aspects of the layout (like going from a 3-column page to a 2-column page) to keep the reader visually stimulated while at the same time maintaining continuity so that the reader doesn't feel that each page is not related to the others. The designer could use similar colors or banners to help tie the pages together and create unity. The alignment of the newsletter is critical for easy readability. Readers want to usually scan the contents of a newsletter for the most important details **to them**. Ensuring that the text is easy to read through quickly makes everyone happy as people with different interests will be focused on different topics. Alignment helps to organize the information in this way. Finally, proximity is important for some of the same reasons. You wouldn't want to place a headline or a photograph that goes with a story far away from it. The reader wants to organize and find the information easily. Putting relevant information close to each other on the page will help the readability of the overall product.

Prompt 2

I think a critical principle to a newsletter is its "scanability" or the way the information is organized and unified to be quickly scanned by the reader so that information specifically important to them is communicated in a matter of seconds. People are busy. They need to be able to get the information they need quickly and move on. It needs to be visually interesting without being too "complicated" to get through.

Prompt 3

I would rate the "nuts and bolts" or vitals of the newsletter at 20% of the overall grade. I think the visual elements or CRAP and Overall Organization are both equally important, with some criteria being weighted a little more or less than others. I would rate the design components as 40% of the overall grade, weighing each equally and including the use of pictures or illustrations as a dominant graphic on each page.

Logo = 2 Name of organization = 3 Purpose of newsletter (addresses audience) = 3 Contact info (to contact the editor: make suggestions, submit corrections, get more information) = 2 Sources cited = 3 Page numbers = 2 Date = 2 Grammar = 3
 * Nuts and Bolts (20 points) **

Contrast = 8 Repetition = 8 Alignment (effective use of columns) = 8 Proximity = 8 Use of pictures and /or illustrations (1 dominant on each page) = 8
 * Design Components and Visual Elements (40 points) **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Distinctive first page = 8 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Appropriate use of **headlining** text style and size = 6 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Appropriate selection of **copy** text style and size = 6 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Consistent design throughout newsletter = 10 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Overall readability (or scanability) = 10
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Overall Theme and Organization (40 points) **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">Prompt 4

I also agree that newsletters are geared towards a particular interest group. I do think the audience and purpose should be evaluated, but not given much weight because it is generally implied. We receive newsletters because we request them or someone has gotten our names off of a mailing list showing our participation in something the newsletter is addressing. I get a TRS newsletter because I am a member of the Teacher Retirement System. I also get casino newsletters from Vegas and Lake Charles because I have been there many times and filled out information to get one of those cards for the comp points. They have email and mailing addresses to specifically target a captive audience--someone who is already interested in their product and has shown a potential for purchasing or prescribing to what they are trying to "sell". The designers of the newsletter will be targeting people who have generally already shown an interest in their product or organization, so less emphasis can be placed on it as evaluation criteria.

Prompt 5

I think students should have some basic knowledge of the program, but not necessarily a pro at using the program to design an effective newsletter. They can learn a lot about the program while they are designing the newsletter. The teacher just needs to make sure enough time is given for students to be able to play and explore with the program. Because time is a factor, the use of templates could make things easier and quicker to design. As far as the overall product, the teacher does need to realize that students are just learning this software and are not professional designers. Even in the lecture notes, the best newsletter had the headline of "how the pros do it."

Prompt 6

I agree with many of my colleagues in that the main errors that must be avoided are the privacy issues, copyright laws, and making sure your principal approves anything before distributing it to the public. We have learned about a lot of laws concerning copyright and privacy, but a teacher can get into a lot of trouble if any of these laws are overlooked. Just to be safe, it is a good practice to make sure the principal approves anything that will be distributed publically and permission is given for the use of student information and all images used.