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To: Prof.

Dan Jones
From: Alexandra Valerio
Date: November 1, 2016
Subject: Document Design Critique

When determining which documents I wanted to critique for this project, I


considered the variety of documents offered by the UCF University Writing
Center (UWC). This is a service on campus that offers writing help to
students. I am employed here as a writing tutor, so I interact with many of
these documents on a regular basis. The Writing Center has many
documents for many different purposes, whether they are for helping others
understand what the Writing Center is and how to use it, or resources
containing writing information for those that do want to use its services.
I was particularly interested in the online documents provided by the Writing
Center, since they were generally easier to access. I considered critiquing
the website as a whole, since several different design principles can clearly
be seen in practice. However, I ultimately decided to critique the Writing
Centers classroom PowerPoint presentation that it uses to help students and
teachers understand the services that the UWC offers. While the PowerPoint
has generally less content than the entire scope of the website, I was more
interested in doing a focused, in-depth analysis of a smaller document than a
more general critique of a larger body of work.
The design elements displayed in this document are overall successful in
providing general information and stimulating interest for students and the
rest of the UCF community to visit the Writing Center, particularly in its use
of type, graphics, and theories of design, but the specific ways in which
these principles are used could be altered to generate even more positive
results.
This memo will give a more in-depth critique of the design principles I stated
about that were used in the documentspecifically type, graphics, and
theories of designin order to assess the effectiveness of the document as a
marketing material for the Writing Center.

Analysis of Type
The Writing Center seeks to be a resource on campus that any student,
faculty member, or other UCF community member can be comfortable using.
That being said, the Writing Center tries to promote a workplace culture that
is professional but still casual. Many of the typefaces used to promote the
Writing Center and within the UWC itself are considered to be informal and
easy to read. Here is a sample page of the PowerPoint which shows the font
sustained throughout the document:

Here, you can see that the font is sans serif, which is generally regarded as
casual. The words are easy to read, and they dont overwhelm the page. The
language is rather informal as well, which contributes to the positive,
welcoming environment. This particular slide attempts to encourage readers
to use the services of the UWC, and persuades its audience that partaking in
this community is an easy and positive experience.
On some slides of the PowerPoint, such as the one above, the text does well
to not give the reader too much information at once. However, several slides
do have text that may overwhelm the reader due to how much is displayed
on the page. The following slide from the PowerPoint serves as an example:

The purpose of this slide is clearly to show readers that the Writing Center
can be a helpful place for all students with any type of writing project they
can imagine. To further illustrate this, a list is provided with a large variety of
potential writing areas that a student could need help with. This certainly
communicates to the reader that the Writing Center is knowledgeable and
prepared to assist; however, the sheer mass of text displayed on this page
can potentially overwhelm the reader. The text in the bulleted list is
displayed very close together, and a reader may feel pressured to read each
word on the slide. Such pressure can be overwhelming for a reader. While the
page addresses the work that the Writing Center can help with, and the
examples reinforce that, perhaps the design would be improved if less
examples were displayed on the page.

Analysis of Graphics
Generally speaking, the amount of graphics used in the PowerPoint
presentation are limited. Slides are usually limited to one or two images per
page, though they appear to serve distinct and overall useful purposes. The
intentions of the graphics are clear, and many times they seem to be used to
their full potential. Here is a page that shows several graphics:
This page of the Writing Center PowerPoint presentation describes the
locations on campus in which the Writing Center has a presence. These
include Colbourn Hall, which is where the main center is located; the Library,
which offers consultations on the 2nd and 4th floor; Rosen Campus, where a
tutor is available several days a week in the library; online; Academic Village,
where a tutor is located in a study room; and VARC, where a tutor is located
to assist veterans.
Most of these locations are generally well-known on campus, such as
Colbourn Hall and the UCF Library. To help students remember these
locations, the graphics are in place and used as images to show what these
locations look like. The images show the outside of the buildings rather than
the inside, which is useful for a student needing to remember what the
building looks like (they must first know how to find it before they can
navigate their way inside).
The third location displayed visually, the library in the Rosen Campus, shows
the inside of the building rather than the outside. This may be to introduce
some variety to the types of images shown on the slide, or perhaps the
intent is to help Rosen students remember where a tutor is situated in the
library. Regardless, the images serve as visual cues for students navigating
the UCF campuses trying to find where the Writing Center can be found.
As stated before, the meaning of the graphics used is usually clear and the
visuals are effectively displayed to reinforce the messages communicated by
the PowerPoint. In some instances, however, the graphics are not always
used to their full potential. When someone uses the PowerPoint as an aid for
a presentation about the Writing Center, the graphics are supposed to be
easy to understand quickly. They serve to compliment the text on the page,
not replace or complicate it. When the graphics contain too many of their
own design elements for the audience to perceive, they can be
overwhelming and distracting. The following is an example of a slide in the
PowerPoint with several graphics:

This page addresses and reminds the students and other users of the Writing
Center that it can still be helpful even if users cannot always physically make
it to the center itself. The Writing Center uses several other platforms and
channels to provide resources and information about what is going on at the
UWC, or even just general writing information that people can use when they
are not actually in a Writing Center consultation. Some of these resources
include social media pages and online resources provided on the website.
These are mentioned in the text on this page, and graphics are displayed to
further reinforce the point and give users an idea of what these resources are
like.
The three images on this page display the Writing Centers Facebook page,
its Instagram page, and a screenshot of the web page on the website which
gives the list of online resources. At first glance, users may not be able to tell
which graphic corresponds with which type of resource. The graphics are
similar in certain design aspects, such as containing both text and images in
the graphics themselves. Because the graphics all generally look the same,
they can be confusing for the reader to figure out which is which. In addition,
the pictures on the graphics are sometimes too small to see, and the text is
too small to read. In this way, these graphics are not entirely effective in
helping UWC writers to understand resources provided.

Analysis of Principles of Design


This use of color in this document is interesting. Color is presented in
different ways to send different kinds of messages to readers who are
learning about the UWC. One way in which the use of color is overall
effective is in its general uniformity. The document follows a clear color
scheme, and most pages in the document adhere to that color scheme.
There is repetition in many of the pages in its use of color, which helps to
improve the readability and usability of the document. Here are two
examples of pages from the PowerPoint that display repetition in use of color:
Both of these pages display a large black border and a gold title. These are
two elements that are displayed on every single page of the document
besides the very first slide. The black and gold remind the readers that the
Writing Center is very much a part of the UCF community already, and
supports its values and ideals. Further, the Writing Center wants to be an
institution that can support UCF students and other members in upholding
those ideals. Underneath the titles to the slides, the pages contain a white
background and black font. This is also repeated throughout the rest of the
presentation. The uniformity helps readers to be familiar and comfortable
with their process of taking in the information. The contrast between the
white text and black background makes the slides more visually appealing
and the text easier to read. The color in the images are similar, which is
appropriate since both images show various sections of the inside of the
Writing Center (namely, the lobby and the consultation area). These pictures
show gold walls, which further connects the UWC to the greater UCF
community. The colors are warm and inviting, and help to encourage the
reader to visit the center.

Closing Remarks
Overall, the document displays promise in its use of type, graphics, and color
as a way to teach readers about the University Writing Center. The type is
casual and the language is informal, which promotes the comfortable
atmosphere of the center. Sometimes too much text is displayed on a single
page which can make the reader feel overwhelmed, but the information
provided in the text is useful. The graphics supplement the text provided in
the slides, and provide the readers with visual cues for remembering what
physical and digital aspects of the UWC look like. Some graphics contain
complex elements that slightly hurt the readability of the pages, and can
serve as distractions rather than helpful tools. The colors in the document
serve to connect the Writing Center to the UCF community, and show that it
is a supporter of its work and of its students. The colors reflect those that are
actually used in the Writing Center itself, which are warm, even tones that
once again establish the inviting nature of the center.
The document on a whole serves its rhetorical purpose in promoting the
Writing Center. The design elements are smartly employed to aid the speaker
in giving their presentation. This document is not generally intended to be
used as its own tool, though if needed, enough information is there to give
users a solid understanding of the workings of the UWC. Since not everything
about the Writing Center is displayed on the PowerPoint, the information that
is there is presented for writers to read while someone is giving a
presentation, and as cues for the presenter to remember the different
components that make up the presentation. Whether I were a first-year
composition student thinking about the Writing Center as a place to get help
on my research essay, or a multilingual faculty member looking to get help
on my English grammar skills, I would find the design elements of the
presentation helpful in persuading me to use the Writing Center to get the
assistance that I need.
Critiquing a document for its effectiveness in design holds value and
importance for me as a student of technical communication. While doing this
critique, I had a chance to take a closer look at a document with which I was
currently already familiar with, in order to really analyze how well it was
doing the work it was trying to do. Because I already had a solid
understanding of the purpose of the document, I was able to pick apart the
design elements used and think about how they came together to support
the document. With this assignment, I not only thought about which
elements were used and why, but I connected their uses to the rhetorical
situation of the document. Understanding the effectiveness of the design is
nearly impossible without first having a clear understanding of what the
document is and what its being used for. This exercise expanded my
understanding of design as a series of rhetorical moves and choices.

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