1. Original Form Redesigned Form...5 III. Designs Created Using Supplied Text & Information. 1. Business Card STC Flyer...

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1 Table of Contents I. Introduction A. Foreword B. Conceptual Model II. Designs Based on an Existing Work A. Images 1. Scanning & Editing Embellishments...4 B. F o r m M a k e o v e r 1. Original Form Redesigned Form...5 III. Designs Created Using Supplied Text & Information A. A d v e r t i s e m e n t s 1. Business Card STC Flyer...6 B. N e w s l e t t e r s 1. In-Class Assignment Newsletter Project IV. Designs Based on Original Content & Research A. I n d i v i d u a l Wo r k 1. Personal Logo Quotation...10 B. G r o u p Wo r k 1. Flyer...11 IV. Conclusion A. Reflective Essay...12 B. Contact Information

2 Foreword I have created this Personal Development Portfolio as a way to illustrate the knowledge of design principles I have gained during this semester in Document Design, Writing 251. Each of the artifacts included in this portfolio was carefully planned and designed to meet specific goals and objectives. Individually, and as a whole, they represent my thoroughness, creativity, critical thinking, and clarity in the areas of design and document production. My thoroughness can be seen in my attention to detail whether in the planning and brainstorming phases or in the various stages of revision. Critical thinking is also e v i d e n t i n m y p l a n n i n g a n d e x e c u t i o n o f d e s i g n e l e m e n t s. E x a m p l e s o f c r e a t i v i t y c a n b e s e e n i n t h e v a r i o u s d e s i g n e l e m e n t s i n c l u d e d i n e a c h c o v e r, l a y o u t, a n d s p r e a d i n t e r m s o f p l a c e m e n t, c o l o r s c h e m e s a n d a p p r o a c h t o e a c h aspect. My clarity is evident in the captions and explanations for each section and artifact as well as within each design. P l e a s e e n j o y t h e f o l l o w i n g c o l l e c t i o n o f m y w o r k. I t i s, b y f a r, i s j u s t a selection of the numerous assignments I have completed for this class over the last 14 weeks. Rather, it is a snippet, intended to represent my abilities and skills as a student and a designer. 2

3 Conceptual Model T h i s p e r s o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t p o r t f o l i o i s a d i r e c t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of my personality through my design work this semester. It w i l l s h o w c a s e m y a c a d e m i c i n t e g r i t y a s w e l l a s m y p e r s o n- ality. My main objective is to create a cohesive and organized group of the designs I have created in order to illustrate what I have learned and what my talents are. Audience Analysis The primary audiences for this portfolio are my fellow students and my professor. The portfolio will be viewed academically, as an indicator of the time and effort I put forth over the semester. These viewers will most likely examine my portfolio in a peer review session or a more isolated office environment. Even though these readers will be somewhat focused on my portfolio as a whole, I need to incorporate a concise, yet engaging tone. In the future, this portfolio could also find a secondary audience during job interviews with potential employers. These viewers would probably be looking over my designs in an office setting, whether individually or as a group. In this situation I would be trying to sell myself, my designs and my skills. The layout and content of such a career related portfolio would also need to be clear and competitive in order to be noticed and selected over other candidates. Objectives of the Design My design object for this portfolio is to outline and demonstrate my hallmarks, thoroughness, creativity critical thinking, and clarity. I want my viewers to be engaged and impressed by each of my designs and the way in which I have chosen to unite them in a single document. By the end of the portfolio, I also want viewers to recognize and appreciate all the hard work that was put into this project. The bottom line is I want to impress not only the viewers, but myself as well. Creative Concept In order to create an interesting and unique portfolio, I will avoid being too predictable or static. I plan to vary the placement of artifacts on each page in order create a flowing, changeable feel to each spread. To engage the reader, I will create brief and to the point descriptions for each element of the portfolio along with easy to identify captions, which explain the context and importance of each artifact. I have decided on a lime green and purples color scheme, as found in my personal logo, because they are my two favorite colors. With this assignment, I feel the lost free to experiment and tweak different aspects of the layout and content until I find the right combination of colors, text and images. I will allow myself extra time and energy to find a creative state of mind and see where it takes me. 3

4 Designs Based O n Images Some of the assignments I created in class were based on a p r e existing work. My assignment was to revise or edit each p i e c e based on specific criteria in order to make the design my o w n and demonstrate my growing knowledge of design princ i p l e s. I h a v e i n c l u d ed two types of image artifacts below. The first type was cr e a t e d d u r i n g a n a s s i g nment in which we were instructed to find an existing image, s c a n i t a n d t h e n e d i t i t as we saw fit. The second pair is from an in-class assignmen t t h a t d i r e c t e d u s b r i ng in a digital photo and then embellish the image using Firework s M X. This is the original image that I found and scanned. Here is the scanned and edited image I created, demonstrating creativity and experimentation by presenting the image in a new and interesting way. 4 This is the digital photo I began with. The same photo after some cropping, adding a border and a caption, also demonstrating creativity, in addition to clarity. I have eliminated the unneccesary portions of the photo and added a title mimicking the border to describe the time and setting

5 A n Existi ng Work Form Makeover T h e a r t i f acts below are from the form makeover project. I found a n e x i s t i ng form and complet ely overhauled it to make it more u s a b l e a n d eye pleasing. This is the original form, currently used by the Allegan Public School District, with numerous organizational and functional errors. This is the form I completely redesigned, demonstrating my critical thinking, organization and revision skills by making the new form more attractive, easier to use and more efficient. 5

6 Designs Created Using Many of the assignments for the class were created u s i n g supplied text and information. After being provided w i t h specific data and graphics to include we were allowed fr e e range to create the spreads based on the design principles w e d i s c u s s e d. T h e following artifacts are my designs based around the supp l i e d i n f o r m a t i o n, g i ving me more time to focus on the layout and design principles ra t h e r t h a n t h e b o d y t ext and content. Advertisements This business card utilizes line and contrast in order to be eye catching and effective, demonstrating my creativity and revision skills. This flyer created for the Society for Technical Communications, demonstrates my organization and critical thinking skills by enticing viewer s eyes and thoroughly explaining the group s event. 6

7 Supplied Text & Info Newsletters D u r i n g t he semester, we created two different newsletter spreads u s i n g s u pplied body text. In each case the choice of graphics, p u l l q u o t es and overall appearance of the page was left up to me. This sp r e a d w a s created a s a n i n class a s s i g n m e n t. It de m o n s t r a t e s creativit y a n d c r i tical thi n k i n g, e specially c o n s i d e ring this a s s i g n m e n t was crea t e d i n l e s s than 45 m i n u t e s. 7

8 Designs Created Using This newsletter spread went through various revisions before reaching this point. It represents thoroughness, critical thinking and revision skills on my part, in order to make the overall spread attractive, organized and informative. 8

9 Supplied Text & Info I have organized the major points of the article in time line form below the body text, each with a image to signify its importance, and selected a pull quote that represents the basic theme of the article as a whole. 9

10 Designs Based On A few of the assignments this semester were entirely created based on original content and research. With these designs, I was responsible for creating the body text, content and layout. These designs were the most daunting, and yet, the most rewarding. By being responsible for not only the design and layout of the artifacts below, but the content as well, there was much more work and time involved in each design. These examples exemplify all of my hallmarks; creativity, thoroughness and clarity. The first two designs are examples of my individual work, while the flyer on the next page was created with a partner. Individual Work This design is my personal logo. It represents my creative side with the curly letters of my initials, my personable side with the script lettering of my first and middle n a m e s a n d m y d e t a i l o r i e n t e d n a t u r e w i t h t h e b l o c k l e t t e r s u s e d f o r m y l a s t n a m e. This design is based on my favorite quote by author Aldous Huxley. It demonstrates my creative nature by presenting the quote in an unusual and interesting way that transmits the message of the text through typographic choices. 10

11 Original Content & Research Group Work This group design was created for Professor Losey, on behalf of the Writing 360 class, to advertise for the class magazine. Nicole Litkovitz and I went through numerous drafts, conducted usability testing and conducted an audience analysis to determine what the best design was for the intended use. This design represents critical thinking, clarity, thoroughness and creativity, in addition to the people skills needed to make group work and client based designs effective. 11

12 Reflective Essay First off, I have to admit something. I was initially apprehensive about taking this course, especially once I saw all of the assignments required over the semester and the time schedule. I had never taken a design class before and didn t feel prepared to tackle assignments like the newsletter project and the group design project for a real life client. As the semester w e n t o n I g a i n e d m o r e c o n f i d e n c e i n m y s k i l l s a n d m y g r o w i n g u n d e r- standing of design principles and related layout ideas. For me, the biggest thing I had to learn was to be flexible and allow myself to experiment with different layout and typographic elements of the page. After a few weeks, the combination of line, contrast, emphasis, alignment, and so on, just seemed to come naturally. At times I couldn t say why elements laid out on a page worked in combination, but I could tell that they matched and worked well as a whole. Eventually, I was able to articulate reasons why a design worked or didn t work, as well as identify specific parts of the design with confidence though. By no means, is this portfolio a finished product. Instead it is a work in progress. Even with everything I have learned this semester, I know that I have a long way to go in the areas of design and document production. I plan to continue working with InDesign in my free time to further my knowledge of layout and design. If I have time, I also hope to take further design classes. As a professional writing major, any and all design knowledge will be helpful to me in the professional world. The use of InDesign and my new knowledge of design principles have also helped me in my other classes this semester. I have them to create more professional and impressive portfolios for my other classes as well. I look forward to applying the knowledge and experience I have gained as a result of taking this course in the real world after graduation as well. 12

13 Contact Information Sara Marie Chappell 228 North Street Allegan, MI

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