Tangled Concerns

With my confusion of the assignment guideline, I found myself slipping at the face of failure. Just as I had enthusiastically prepared for the presentation, it did not go as expected. I realised that our presentation was not to be reviewed by the tutor herself, but quite unorthodoxly it would be reviewed by fellow peers. On top of that, I was always under the impression that we could choose our presentation week, and I remained unperturbed by the fact we were told that this was our presentation day.

However, I was assigned to a group with fellow course mates, Meaghan, April and Rachael for the peer reviewing session. We were required to compare our reengineered PowerPoint’s and grade accordingly to what we believe are accounts of their PowerPoint credential.

Meaghan started off the session by explaining her PowerPoint which was based on the theorist, Maureen Walsh. Meaghan did hers differently by making the PowerPoint a lot simpler than the original, more cluttered version. Quite fantastically she succeeded in her objectives, however, could have chosen to reduce the copy on her PowerPoint as it seemed too messy and became too informational without engaging.

Meaghan's References

Crystal, G 2008, What does jumping the couch mean?, WiseGEEK, viewed 13 August 2008, .

Howells, R 2003, Visual culture, Blackwell publishers, Cambridge

Michael O'Shaughnessy, aJS (ed.) 1999, Media and Society, 4th edn, Oxford University Press, London.

Walsh, M 2006, ‘The ‘textual shift’: examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts’, The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol 29, no. 1, pp. 24-37.

Yildz, M 2002, ‘Semiotics of new media literacy’, College of education, viewed 13 August 2008,

Rachael, on the other hand, decided to reengineer the original PowerPoint to make it more attractive. Her PowerPoint was based on the theorist Shriver, and she successfully practiced Shriver’s ideas and theories into her presentation. This was done by incorporating words and visuals that complement each other.

Rachael's References

Hart, G. 2007. Combining words and pictures: degrees of abstraction. Intercom January 2007:38–39, 42. http://www.geoff-hart.com/resources/2007/words-plus-pictures.htm

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers. The interplay of words and pictures Ch.6, pp. 261-441, Wiley Computer Pub, New York. [electronic version]

Nijibour, N 2001, “Better Technology Does not Equal Better Communication”, Viewed 15 August 2008,

April’s reengineered PowerPoint was also based on Shriver. April remade her PowerPoint to make it visually attractive and included a different PowerPoint design to harmonize the words that came with the original PowerPoint. Still, I believe April could have reduced the words and chose to adapt more visuals to make it more appealing to her target audience. As departing information solely through words can prove to be a difficult task, the presentation was less engaging.

April's References

Bernhardt, S, 1986, ‘Seeing the text’, College composition and communication, Vol 37, no 1, pp 66-78

Reep, D C, 1997, Technical writing: Principles, strategies and readings, 3rd edn, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, pp 90-128

Penman, R, Sless, D & Wiseman, R, 1995, ‘Best practice in accessible documents in the public sector’ in Australian Language and Literacy Council, 1996, Putting it plainly: Current developments and needs in plain English and accessible reading materials, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, appendix V, pp 2-32

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., New York.

New York Times Company, 2009 About.com: Desktop Publishing, Last viewed April 2, 2009

As the class was close to ending, I decided that it will be worthwhile that I work further on my PowerPoint and present the following week. Reengineering the PowerPoint to make it more visually appealing as well as informatively engaging will be a tall order. Nevertheless, the motivation to excel will be my push for wrapping up the presentation in due time.

Zeroing on Presentation

With presentation day nearing, the complex theoretical views involved in reengineering the existing PowerPoint remain a cause for absorption. However, after critical thoughts and contemplation of the approach that will be undertaken, there are two standpoints that will play a crucial part in the reengineering reading review process;

As a document designer, one must be able to combine the elements of text and image in a smooth blend in order to create a coherent meaning. As such, the PowerPoint in play will feature visual images as well as verbal texts that will interpret the reading review smoothly for readers. This is justified by Schriver (1997, pp.362) as she noted that document designers are expected to integrate the visual and verbal as well as cross the disciplinary gulch between writing and design.

On the other hand, the PowerPoint presentation has to conform and adhere to the expectations of readers. For example, if a powerpoint is targeted to students, appropriate language and writing style has to be used. As noted by Putnis and Petelin (1996, pp.254), document designers should always consider the reader’s expectations of a document in a specified genre. Therefore, tactfulness and conformity of style is vital in the presentation for target audience comprehension.

Given such adaptations, it will be an uphill task in reengineering the reading review. However, it will be remain an exciting process that will stand to nourish one's creative knowledge.
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References

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

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Publications, New York

Blogging Phenomena Sweeps the World

What is a weblog?

The term "weblog" was first used by Jorn Barger on his Robot Wisdom website in 1997 (Auburn 1999, and Blood 2000) and is now used to describe personal websites that offer "frequently updated observations, news, headlines, commentary, recommended links and/or diary entries, generally organized chronologically." (Werbach 2001) While there are many websites that are frequently updated, "what makes a Weblog a Weblog is that it's organized chronologically and designed for short, frequent updates. In other words, Weblogs represent the online intersection of people and time." (Werbach 2001)

Interesting facts on weblogs

Let us observe the blogging arena through the lens of the world as a whole. The average monthly unique visitors to blogs are approximately 26,000 a month and nearly half of those actively online in have a blog with over 73% of them being between 18-34 years old (Technorati, 2008). It is also said that 41% of bloggers spend three hours a week blogging (Windows Live Spaces, 2006), which is a considerable amount of time. Technorati states, the blogosphere has been doubling in size every 5 months for the past 20 months - a 16-fold increase in less than 2 years, and has no signs of slowing down. Blogging is already dwarfing the print media in terms of content generation. Technorati is now monitoring up to 500,000 posts each day. That means several hundred thousand people each day are spending anything from a few minutes to a few hours writing content for public consumption.

Are blogs creating a cyber storm?

Why the existence of weblogs?

Even though blogs are created to suit different purposes, blogs are primarily used as a means to maintain and build social connections and for expression. Most bloggers enjoy sharing their lives with family and friends as bloggers indicated they chose to start a blog to share a photo album or diary with loved ones (Windows Live Spaces, 2006).With Korea and India being exceptions, blogging as a corporate and business tool still appears to be relatively new in Asia.

If we accept that blogs are a form of journalism, then what is the impact of this new form of journalism? (Lasica 2001) believes that the grassroots blogging phenomenon is the Internet's answer to the ineptitude of the corporate mainstream media and says that the movement "may sow the seeds for new forms of journalism, public discourse, interactivity and online community." He goes on to say that blogging "represents Ground Zero of the personal Webcasting revolution. Weblogging will drive a powerful new form of amateur journalism as millions of net users - young people especially - take on the role of columnist, reporter, analyst and publisher while fashioning their own personal broadcasting networks."

However, the possibilities presented by this phenomenon should not suggest that blogging will supplant traditional mainstream media sources. While there are notable exceptions, bloggers do not have the resources to compete directly with the mainstream media in presenting the "late-breaking news." (Walker 2001) Yet, (Walker 2001) notes that the phenomenon's strength comes from being able to report on the "strange and wonderful, or merely strange and stage, things you are likely otherwise to have missed" in the mainstream media.

Blogging brings about many advantages to all sectors of the community. Marketing executives can perform brand building, direct communication and media and public relations through blogs (Suarez, 2006). Communities also benefit through political blogs as it provides research and discussion on political and social issues (Corporate Blogging, 2007). Personal benefits include self-expression, connection, peace of mind and contribution (Perera, 2008).

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References

Australian political blogging and the benefits 2007, Corporate Blogging, viewed 5 November 2008,
http://www.wiliam.com.au/wiliam-blog/australian-political-blogging-and-the-benefits

Blogging phenomenon sweeps Asia 2006, Windows Live Spaces, viewed 5 November 2008,
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-28-2006/0004480819&EDATE

Lasica, J.D. 2001, Blogging as a Form of Journalism. Online Journalism Review, viewed 11 December 2001, http://ojr.usc.edu/content/story.cfm?request=585

Perera, G 2008, The personal benefits of blogging, Article Alley, viewed 5 November 2008,
http://www.articlealley.com/article_669123_15.html

State of the blogosphere 2008, Technorati, viewed 5 November 2008,
http://www.technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere

Suarez, L 2006, 10 great strategic benefits of blogging, Knowledge Management Community, viewed 5 November 2008, http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/elsua/10-great-strategic-benefits-of-blogging-9233

Walker, R 2001, The News According to Blogs. Slate, viewed December 2001, from http://slate.msn.com/?id=102057

The First Step Forward.

Welcome to my digital realm.

As I embark on my digital journey, the aims of this site is to discuss critical publishing and design issues. These issues will be discussed in consideration of several publishing and design theories, academics and justifications. Also, this blog plays a pivotal role in stirring readers' perspectives on issues in publication and design. Besides that, reader feedback is warmly encouraged as they help to generate constructive and differing angles for a variation of understandings.

You've stepped onboard the perfect site if you're one for publishing and design issues. However, just about anyone to everyone is welcome to this site.

Have a pleasant read ahead.