Blogs in review

Throughout the process of creating the weblogs, I gained a lot of skill and knowledge within different areas of design, documentation, writing for an audience and weblogs. With this knowledge I was able to apply fundamental design principles and writing styles to the assignments within and beyond this course.

  It was because of the blogs that I learnt about the four key design principles, being balance, proportion, sequence and contrast. Reading into these factors provided me with the basic, yet necessary guidance to create a webpage, magazine article and fact sheet for assignment two of this course.

  When writing documents such as a series of blogs, you have to know, target and respect your audience. Throughout my own blogs, I kept the language formal as my desired audience would be those that are studying or within ambition to learn about design and documentation. It is ideal to stick to your style as this makes it easier for the readers to understand your message.

   I believe blogs today are targeted more towards women. I do not read or write blogs of any topic as there are far more blogs about women’s fashion, food, lifestyle and health, none of which I am interested in. However, there is a great market for blogs as technology progresses and our lifestyles change. 

Must do's before for putting pen to paper

 According to Putnis (1996), there are many reasons why we write, some being to express one’s thoughts, feelings or ideas, to communicate, to learn, to persuade and to understand.

  When you write, whether it is for academic, professional or personal reasons, there are things to consider before you put in to paper. It is essential that you know why you’re writing, who your audience is and what your audience wants to read.  When you know the purpose for your writing, this will improve both your writing process and the written product, benefiting both you as the writer and also the reader as the message will be clear and easy to understand as well as being efficient.

   Once the audience and subject has been established, other considerations to achieve best results must be taken. Considerations such as where to get the appropriate information, how to structure the document, how to design the document for the audience and how to edit and proofread the document are needed for best results.

  Once you have taken in these considerations before and on paper, you will be well on the way to creating a piece of writing with a clear message for your desired audience.  

Putnis, P 1996, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, Australia

Six helpful tips for those documenting

Below are six professional links to websites that will help many people that are new to writing documents, uni students and people that work in a wide range of professions.

  Document design by Karinya Kreations

http://www.kkreations.com.au/docdesign.html

   Tips to improve your professional writing

http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2013/07/08/10-ways-to-improve-your-professional-writing/

  Effective web typography

http://webdesignledger.com/tips/20-dos-and-donts-of-effective-web-typography

  Editing documents

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/pro-tip-combine-good-editing-practices-with-word-features-for-the-best-results/

  Documentation style guide

http://docs.basho.com/riak/latest/community/style-guide/

  Blogging tips

http://www.bloggingtips.com

Other Blogs

Rebecca Judd Blog

  Rebecca Judd Loves is a blog, written by Rebecca Judd, targeting women, which discusses topics such as beauty, fashion, travel, house, food and drink along with kids and pregnancy. The blogs are written about Rebecca’s own experiences of travel, having kids as well as her own fashion and interior design tips and opinions.

The blog is well designed and is set out in an easy and understandable way. The webpage uses white space to great effect, as well as having a sans-serif font, making it is easier to read online. The pages are well balanced throughout the site with effective use of pictures, text and white space. Repetition is evident on the site, making it easy for the audience to use and to navigate. A simple design of using black and white gives the blog an elegant look whilst keeping the usability efficient.

  http://www.rebeccajuddloves.com

    Sarah Wilson Blog

  Sarah Wilson, a contestant on Masterchef Australia, has her own blog that features topics such as homely tips, autoimmune disease and food, in particular her tips and guidelines on how to eliminate sugar from your diet, named "I Quit Sugar". Since starting the I Quit Sugar posts, Wilson has gained a huge following on social media.

  The website is designed well, making it easy to navigate throughout the site. All blogs are on the home page and are presented as you scroll down. This makes for easy reading as well as being user-friendly as this saves time that would otherwise be spent navigating through topics. The four key design principles, being balance, proportion, sequence and consistency are evident throughout this website.

http://www.sarahwilson.com

Media Issue: Qantas now flying with Sky

One of Australia's most iconic brands, Qantas, is dropping Channel 9’s news bulletins from its in-flight service and replacing it with Sky News as a revamp of its entertainment. As the 767 fleet is being phased out and the A330s are being refurbished, personalised entertainment units will be installed in each seat.

  The new deal will see the latest Sky News bulletin shown prior to takeoff on every flight, as opposed to Channel 9's news bulletin being shown three times a day. Foxtel and Fox Sports are also set to benefit with additional programming on the service, along with any increase in new release movies and popular TV programmes being added.

  The way in which people receive the news is very personal. From switching from Channel 9 to Sky News will suit some passengers and annoy others. The benefit of having individual entertainment screens is a step in the right direction to keeping passengers happy and comfortable.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/channel-9-news-bulletins-are-being-dropped-from-qantas-flights-replaced-by-sky-news-2014-7

Media Issue: Billion-Dollar Bids for AFL Rights

AFL is one of, if not the most popular sport in Australia, and has been so for more than a century. With a rich history spanning 156 years, the game's popularity doesn't seem to be slowing down, and neither does the records.

  Recently published in The Australian about the future television rights for the game, another record is set to be smashed. It is reported that the opening bid for the next contract for the television rights is set to be in the vicinity of $1.5 billion- $1.6bn, beating the current record of $1.258 billion.

  The race to secure the TV rights is between Channel 7, Channel 9 and Channel 10. However with Channel 9 having major NRL commitments, their interest may be limited. Channel 10 has a genuine interest although their financial situation may force them to cut a deal with Channel 7.

  The rivalry to secure a major sporting television deal is healthy, not only for the AFL but also for the viewers as well as it ensures sport stays on free to air television.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/broadcast/afl-eyes-as-much-as-16bn-for-television-rights-deal/story-fna045gd-1227102863828

Media Issue: Reinhart quits 10

In an article published in 3 November 2014 by The Guardian, tells that Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, has quit the board of Channel 10 after a four-year stint, claiming an increased workload at her company Hancock Prospecting as the reason.

  The article details that Rinehart did not attend any of the 11 schedule board meetings during the last financial year, instead being represented by Jack Cowin and chief development officer at Hancock Prospecting, John Klepec, who has since replaced her on the board of Channel 10.

  Although Rinehart has quit the board, she retains her 10% share in the company.

  In recent times and during Rinehart’s tenure on the board, Channel 10 has suffered financial woes, falling ratings and failed programs.

  When Rinehart bought shares in 2010, Andrew Bolt stated that she was keen to improve the media industry, which was dominated by anti-mining executives.

  Although Rinehart has quit, it is a benefit to Channel 10 and Australia as a whole to have her retain her shares and be replaced by her right hand man, as seeing an iconic Australian television station go down would be tragic.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/03/gina-rinehart-quits-channel-ten-board

Media Issue: Facebook reminding US to vote

In recent times, Facebook, the world's largest social media site, has changed its look, introduced advertising and altered its instant messaging. Facebook is great for reminding us about things like birthdays and upcoming events, but Americans of voting age can expect a reminder to vote in this coming Election Day.

  An article in the New York Times explains how the reminder, which is expected to reach 100 million users, is hoping to encourage the public to vote. A similar tactic was used in 2010 by Facebook, which resulted in an additional 340,000 voters.

  The reminder hasn't come without scrutiny due to the company's potential to urge voters in certain areas more than other areas.

  I believe this is a good move by Facebook, considering Americas relaxed rules on voting where it is not compulsory. By having more people vote, it gives a more accurate understanding of what the population want.

  http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/facebook-has-its-own-get-out-the-vote-message/?ref=technology&_r=0

Online News Designed Differently

As technology continues to progress, it is becoming easily available and cheaper for the common person. Our phones are getting bigger, our tablets are getting thinner, more apps to suit these are becoming available, and everyone seems to be getting on-board in one way or another - including media outlets.

  Gone are the days where every household would wake up in the morning with the day’s newspaper on their doorstep, delivered by the 14-year-old boy on his own bike with a basket on the front, tassels on the handlebars and spokey dokes on the wheels.

  Nowadays, the latest news is in our pockets, and with just a press, swipe and tap away as we unlock our phones and open an app, we are updated with local, national and international news by our favourite journalist or news outlet.

  There is no need to stress if the whole story will fit on page 5 of the newspaper or not, or if you're worried that the editor won’t include the picture of the accident scene because there is not enough page space. When viewing the news on a tablet or phone, there is always room for a photo and the story has no space limit.

  With news being delivered in this format, the design features and ease of access is what makes users come back daily, hourly and by the minute. 

Designing for the Web

Whether you're designing a document for print or web, each genre has certain rules and guidelines about design layout. With so many advances in technology and everything becoming readily accessible on phones and tablets, many documents are being designed for the web. In today's blog, I will be looking at some of the issues you need to consider when designing text for the web.

  Reading a document on screen is much more difficult than reading a document that has been printed. This is because on-screen reading involves projected light, which is like staring into the lens of the project. As the letters are projected onto the screen, this creates more foreground/background contrast, which increases eye fatigue. This effect is an added reason as to why it is important to portray your message with great design.

  It is also important to remember that just because your document is on the web, it doesn't mean that it can't be printed. If you design for the worst possible scenario, you are creating a document that can be comfortably read on-screen, but also one which is even easier to read if printed.

  Always keep in mind to restrict web documents with text to single columns. Printed documents use a multicolumn layout, and do so to great effect. They can do so because of the pattern in which we read - from left to right, top to bottom and onto the next column. Unlike a printed document, computer screens rarely sure you both the top and bottom of the page. This would mean that scrolling up and down to read pages with multiple columns would become difficult.

  I find nothing more frustrating when looking for a document on the web and it takes a long time for it to load. That is until you finally get into the document and there is a great amount of text bunched up without spacing and paragraphs, making it nearly impossible to read.

  Using incorrect line spacing can seriously compromise and undermine your documents appearance, making it harder to read than it has to be.

  Parker, R 2003, ‘Designing documents for web distribution’, R Parker (ed), Looking Good in Print, Paraglyph Press, Arizona, p. 270

Prose and Graphics

When including graphics and prose into a document, there are five key ways to do so. Prose comes from the Latin word ‘prosa’, meaning ‘straightforward’. Prose can be written or spoken and has no formal metrical structure. It is ordinary language, similar to the way people speak.

  Among previous research, Schriver (1997), has characterised the five key relationships among prose and graphics, being redundant, complimentary, supplementary, juxtapositional and stage-setting. Let's look at these in more depth.

  These key concepts don't necessarily constitute a complete set of all the relationships readers may experience or that document designers may want to use. However, in some cases a prose and graphics combination may fall between two categories. This simply represents some of the more common way words and pictures work together.

  Schriver, K 1997, ‘The interplay of words and pictures’, K, Schriver (ed), Dynamics and document design: creating text for readers, Wiley Computer Pub, New York, p. 362.

Document Design Principles

Good document design is pivotal for any document, whether it be a website or flyer for a corporate company, or even a document for your local council election. Having an attractive document brings traffic, and when you have traffic, your intended message is being received.

  According to Reep (2006) When designing a document for both print and web, it is important to remember and to apply the following basic, but effective design principles.

  If you effectively use these design principles, you will be well on your way to creating an attractive and user-friendly document.

  Reep, D 2006, ‘Document design’, Technical Writing, Pearson/Longman, New York, p. 158