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Section 0101
Heavilon 227
T-Th, 10:30 -11:45 a.m.
Dr. David Blakesley
Office: Heavilon 302c
Hours: T-Th, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. and by appt.
Ph: 765.494.3772
Fax: 765.494.3780
blakesle@purdue.edu

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Project Overview

In this project, we'll learn how to design and print "first-impression" and informative documents, including business cards, letterhead, envelopes, fax cover sheets, mailing labels, a PowerPoint template, and both a print- and Web-based resume. You will have the option of producing everything but the resume for a real client. The software we'll use includes Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat and Pagemaker, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Fireworks, and web-based design solutions. We'll also discuss printing issues, with a goal of finding low-cost, high quality solutions. (Individual; 20% of course grade.)

Prompt

Prepare a complete set of professional business documents (see deliverables). Your resume will be your own, but for the remaining set of deliverables, you may prepare them for yourself or work with clients to design their first impression documents. Possible clients include the PW Club, the PW Program, the Center for Digital Publishing, The Writing Instructor, or another client that you find. (For each of these clients, see me for contact information.)

Project Goals

Perhaps the most important set of documents for any organization are those routine first-impression documents that represent it. For professional organizations, the rhetorical aim is to convey professionalism while also representing its mission and style. With that in mind,the goals for this project are closely related to overall course goals, with emphasis on these in particular:

• Learn strategies for planning, writing, and revising the content and design of documents that you can flexibly apply to future writing and publishing challenges

• Improve your management of the digital tools that are often used in the workplace and publishing industry

• Learn the principles of effective design and how to use them in creative and liberating ways, as well as when to be conservative

• Develop a critical eye for design

• Learn what computers can do design- and publishing-wise and how to make them do it

Deliverables

All final drafts of deliverables are due when the project is due, but there are intermediate deadlines that you will need to meet if you want to benefit from peer feedback and class discussion. Looking Good in Print (Chapter 10, "Business Communication") will serve as your major reference source for the deliverables. All deliverables should be saved in their program-specific format (e.g., TIF, DOC) so that you can continue to revise them as needed. You will turn in only the printed and PDF versions of all the deliverables at the end. You should make every effort to make sure that the printed versions are Proof quality and in color (if relevant).

For each of the deliverables, you'll take notes on printing solutions and include them on a "Protocol Sheet" that you'll submit as a summary of options for publishing each of the deliverables (see below for details on that step).

1. Resume

Draft and design a professional print-based resume that can also be re-purposed as a downloadable PDF document. You will need to spend some time generating the content of your resume, so please study the ample resources on Resumes available at Purdue's OWL. We will spend time discussing format and design, but it will be your responsibility to generate the content. For format and design guidance, see page 208 (Resumes) in Looking Good in Print. Your printed resume can be composed in Word, Pagemaker, or Dreamweaver. (For an example of a Web-based resume, look at mine here.)

• Dates for Class Discussion and Review: Sept. 2 and 4
  Turn-In Folder: PDF version the printed resume.
  Print: 1 printed version of the resume
  Technologies: Word, Pagemaker or InDesign, Acrobat

2. Business Card

Design a business card using Word, Pagemaker, InDesign, Avery DesignPro (free on the Web) or an online service and that includes important contact information and represents you or client impressively. For the final product, you may print the business card from Acrobat in proof form (use all the printer's marks). You'll be shown how to do this in class. See p. 204, "Business Cards," in Looking Good in Print.

• Dates for Class Discussion and Review: Sept. 4
  Turn-In Folder: PDF file of 1 business card
  Print: 1 sample business card, printed on business card paper or on an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper with printer's marks
  Technologies: Word, Pagemaker or InDesign, Acrobat, Avery DesignPro, Online Design Resource (e.g., Vista Printing)

3. Letterhead, Envelopes, Fax Cover Sheets, Mailing Labels

It's important to represent yourself consistently and professionally (as well as for organizations to do so). You'll need to develop a logo that can be used across each of these media and that can be resized depending on the particular media. (Some clients will already have a logo that can be adapted for this purpose.)  You should prepare one sample of a page of letterhead, one envelope with return address printed on it, a fax cover sheet, and a mailing label, each of which will need to contain vital information. One goal is to be consistent across all the media in terms of design, so try to develop a theme and stick with it. For guidance on preparing these documents see "Letterhead" (198) and "Fax Cover Sheets" (207) in Looking Good in Print. Each of your deliverables for this step should be neatly printed and converted to PDF format for submission.

• Dates for Class Discussion and Review: Sept. 9
  Turn-In Folder: PDF files of letterhead, envelope, fax cover sheet and label.
  Print: Printed copies of each document as a sample.
  Technologies: Word, Pagemaker or InDesign, Acrobat, Avery DesignPro, Online Design Resource (e.g., Vista Printing)

4. PowerPoint Template

Organizations or indviduals will find it convenient to have a PowerPoint template (two slides, one for the cover and one for inside slides) that they can use to convey their logo or other information while also presenting new information. Working with the visual theme you developed for Deliverables in #3, design two PowerPoint slide templates that accomplish this purpose. For some examples of a such a template slide, look at Purdue's Marketing Communications site (the site also includes logos and other useful information). 

• Dates for Class Discussion and Review: Sept. 11
  Turn-In Folder: PDF and PPT files.
  Print: Printed copies of both slides
  Technologies: PowerPoint, Acrobat.

Protocol Sheet

You should also prepare a one-page Protocol Sheet that includes, where applicable, important information about how to print each of the deliverables, media to use, contact information, recommended commercial sources, and other specs. You should have entries for each of the deliverables.

In addition to applying the design criteria discussed in class and in Looking Good in Print, I'll look to see that you have developed a consistent them across your deliverables, that your content is accurate, and that all of your documents are professional-looking.

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