5366+-+Digital+Graphics,+ET8008



Week three, The Newsletter – What it is and what it can do for you. This week we explored page layout, the use of graphics, logos and included everything we learned from weeks one and two. We discussed contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity (C.R.A.P.). I learned that there is more to graphic design than just appearance. I did not realize there were rules that needed to be applied to achieve the ultimate outcome. We examined business cards and applied the same strategies. Our assignment for this week was to create a rubric to be used for evaluating a newsletter. By beginning with a rubric we were practicing the backward design we learned in course 5368 Instructional Design. We began working on our four page newsletter that would be submitted in week five. Week five, Student Publications. This week our newsletter assignment was completed. This course provides an opportunity to examine what I am currently doing with my classroom newsletter, business card and website. I have changed everything I was doing to reflect the Golden Ratio, C.R.A.P, and Rule of Thirds. I am still struggling with branding and would have liked to study that further. Since I am not a creative person, I need more instruction. I will continue to use what I’ve learned in future newsletters and business cards. I collaborated with coworkers on this assignment and all were cooperative in sharing their newsletters with me. I have learned more about color and graphic design than I ever knew existed. It was amazing to discover that even ancient writings used the same design principals. I learned that these writings were beautiful to look at without even understanding the content. The assignments examining the work from the UK library was fascinating. We used the British Library to analyze the pages of great works such as Lindisfarne Gospel, Sultan Barbar’s Magnificent Qu’an and The Sherborne Missal. I’m amazed how these ancient writings were just as concerned with the presentation of the material as they were with the actual content. It seems as though we are currently more concerned with the actual content more. Perhaps that’s just the setting I’m currently focused. REFERENCES Online Gallery. British Library. Available from