Informa(ve

 Package

Media  and  Genres:  Varied

Deadlines:    Staggered
Available  Points:  400  (40%  of  final  grade)

Design  problems  are  all  around  us,  just  begging  to  be  fixed.    What  beAer  place  to  think  about  
how  to  address    these  things  than  in  this  class?    For  the  rest  of  the  semester,  you  will  work  on  
creaHng  a  set  of  informaHve  texts  that  address  a  real-­‐world  design  problem.    You  will  develop  a  
cohesive  informaHon  and  design  strategy  that  leads  to  the  producHon  of  appropriate  arHfacts.    I  
encourage  you  to  choose  to  work  on  something  that  you  care  about  and  are  invested  in.    If  it  
involves  a  real-­‐world  client  and  end-­‐products  that  will  actually  be  used,  all  the  beAer.  

Poten(al  Problems  and  Clients

PotenHal  places  you  might  look  for  problems  in  need  of  soluHons  include:
• professional  organizaHons  you  belong  to
• your  major  department
• your  sorority  or  fraternity
• other  campus  organizaHons
• your  dorm  or  apartment  complex
• a  nonprofit  you  work  with
• religious  insHtuHons
• family  businesses

You  may  also  choose  to  work  with  me  on  some  design  aspects  of  a  project  called  SyrGuide  that  
I’ve  been  developing  with  students.    It  is  an  online  guide  to  the  local  area,  and  you  can  take  a  
look  at  its  current  iteraHon  here:    www.syrguide.com.    Things  I  need  done  include  branding  
redevelopment  and  public  relaHons  planning  and  design.

Design  Considera(ons
You  will  develop  and  produce  three  arHfacts  that  meet  your  project  goals.  These  products  must  
be  in  different  genres  and  what  we  will  loosely  define  as  “media  types.”  As  with  the  previous  
assignment,  you  are  not  limited  in  the  media  you  choose  to  work  with.    There  are  only  three  
basic  requirements  for  media  decisions:    that  they  are  jusHfiable,  that  you  be  able  to  build  
them,  and  that  they  are  funcHonal.    TradiHonal  paper  sizes  are  permissible,  but  they  cannot  be  
the  only  media  type  you  work  with.

I  encourage  you  to  approach  this  as  an  opportunity  to  play  in  a  producHve  fashion  and  to  learn  
the  things  you’ve  been  wanHng  to  learn.    For  instance,  if  you’ve  been  wanHng  to  play  around  
with  video  and  haven’t  felt  like  you  had  Hme  to  produce  something  like  a  5-­‐minute  instrucHonal  
piece,  you  might  decide  that  one  of  your  arHfacts  for  this  project  will  be  a  really  Hght  30-­‐second  
or  1  minute  trailer.
Deliverables
By  the  Hme  we  wrap  things  up,  you  will  have  produced  the  following  items  in  more  or  less  this  
order:
• An  “elevator  talk”  version  of  your  proposal
• A  creaHve  brief  
• A  work  schedule  with  milestones
• Usability  protocols,  tesHng,  and  report
• Final  arHfacts
• Design  narraHve

Some  of  these  documents  will  be  posted  to  the  blog;  others  will  be  included  in  your  final  project  
por_olio,  which  is  due  at  the  end  of  the  semester.    You  will  also  develop  and  perform  a  
presentaHon  on  this  project,  but  those  points  are  alloAed  separately  on  the  syllabus.