KileEarDraft

=**Ear Part One - letter to parents/guardians**=

I decided to write a letter to parents/guardians to high school graduates interested in Bloomsburg University. The letter basically informs parents to help their child gain knowledge on the decision process of commuting or residing on campus. I decided to write a letter simply because I think it would have been somewhat helpful while I had to make this tough decision. Although it isn't an issue for some students, it is for others and I believe sending out a simple letter like this would have been helpful to so many students. I believe that a letter best fit this specific audience because it is far more professional and it gets a lot more information across that is needed to be said on just one paper. If I decided to send just a brochure or flyer out to parents, it would not be professional, too convincing, and it would not have contained as much information on it. In general I strongly believe that a letter is the best way to get a point across.

To help me create a professional looking letter, I found three examples that were helpful in some way. While I liked some things about each example, I also noticed things that I did not like, which only led me to make the most fitting and nice looking letter.



In this letter, I love the idea of the border above. It gives the overall letter a nice touch, and it make it look very professional. I also like the fact that it gives the letter a little color, without providing too much. I also like how all the text in the letter is aligned to the left, also making it look professional. Although I personally like the blue border on the top, I think a letterhead would have done a great job as well. If someone glances at this right away, they more than likely would not be able to determine what the letter is about/or who it is from. I also got the idea from this letter to have the signature at the bottom, followed by the printed name and the position that person is in charge of. By doing this, I believe that it is the proper and more professional thing to do. Overall this is definitely my favorite example of all 3.



One thing I like about this letter is that it is very simple and it used numbers to provide important points and purposes of the letter. Although this letter looks fairly long, the numbered points are a good idea. If you read number one, you are bound to finish to read the others. However,I do not like that it does not have a letterhead. Without a letterhead, I believe that a letter does not look professional. Although at the top it states what the overall letter is about/who it is from, a letterhead would have done the job a lot better. I also think that this letter looks very boring, and long. Although many letters don't have color, I personally believe a little is great. The best place to do this is through a border or letterhead. If I were to receive this, I would be annoyed that I would have to read so much just to find out what the whole point of the letter was.



With the letter to the left, I like that everything once again is aligned to the left. I also really like that this letter has a letterhead, which directly points out what the letter is about. To whoever receives this letter, they are able to conclude what the letter is going to be about just by quickly glancing at it. Although this letter obviously looks a little out dated, I do not agree with the style of the text.. If I were to make my own or redo this, I would use a simple or common style such as times new roman. I would also align the signature and closing all the way to the left. With it being in the center, it throws the overall letter off, it just does not match the rest.



The characteristics I imitated from my sample letters were alignment, letterhead, color, and a direct notice to who the letter is for or what it was about. In my letter I aligned absolutely everything to the left, from the date below. I decided to use the common and simply Bloomsburg University logo for the letterhead. By doing this is provides viewers to quickly recognize what it in general is about, and it also provides a little color to the letter without having overwhelming too much. Using the style Times New Roman, the text in the letter was very simply, yet making it look professional. After observing the 3 examples, I think the criteria for a good letter include some but not too much color, a letterhead directly stating what the letter is about/from, simple text, and the same alignment throughout the page(preferably to the left). Since the this specific letter is to parents or guardians, keeping it nice and simple and to the point is important. It is almost important to make the letter look professional, it helps persuade the reader into what you're aiming for. In this case, persuading incoming freshman to live on campus or to make a fitting decision for themselves. I also believe that a good letter should be somewhat short and to the point, additional information can be placed using bullet points on a brochure or poster.

**Ear Part Two - Poster for Incoming Freshman**

I decided to make a poster directed to High School students interested in Bloomsburg University. Like the letter, the idea of this poster is to persuade students to live in a residential hall on campus. I decided to make a poster for this specific audience because it is most fitting. If a student is walking down the hall and sees a poster verses a letter, they are more likely to look at the poster and read it. Students would much rather spend 10 seconds reading a poster, then spending 3 minutes reading a letter that basically does the same job and gets the point across. I also decided to use a poster because posters are bigger then brochures, which also heightens the chance of students looking at this simply because it takes less to view and it is a lot more eye catching to teenagers, it is more likely to interest them. From personal experience, I notice myself passing a bulletin board reading the big interesting posters, versus the letters or folded up brochures hanging there.



In the flyer to the left, I really like the idea of the alignment of the dates on the left, with the given activity scheduled for that day next to it. It makes it really easy and quick to find the information needed, and it makes the overall flyer organized. I also think the choice of the big bolded text and the top draws attention to viewers. One thing I did not like about this flyer is the choice of colors. I believe that if another outgoing color was chosen, it would draw even more viewers to it. Although the color chosen is simple, I don't find it very catchy.



In this flyer, I love the background colors that were chosen. They are bright colors, creating viewers attention and making the overall flyer catchy and nice looking. The silhouette's make me feel as though I would fit right in and could be a part of this specific occasion, just as we discussed in class. The black silhouette's along with the black grass make white text look very nice and easy to read. I also really like the idea of the three rectangular boxes with the sports, making really important information really stand out above all the other information, in a organized and unique way. One thing I did not like about this flyer was that it did not provide enough information... how much is it to attend?



In this flyer I think the color chosen is a "happy" color, which really catches my attention. I really like that the topic of this flyer is right on top made in a creative way, making it really easy to understand what the flyer is all about. I also like how it is organized by the days of the week, with bulleted activities for that specific day. It is easy to find the information you need and quick on this flyer and it is overall very catchy. One thing I did not like is that choice of text for the days of the week. I think that if the days of the week were in a different color and a little bigger than the other information, it would be even easier to read.



The characteristics I imitated from my three examples include eye catching color, pictures, big bold text, and boxes/shapes. In my poster to high school students, I decided to use a common picture of Bloomsburg University's campus in hopes to help during the persuading process. By them looking at a picture of the campus, they may realize how beautiful the area really is and how welcoming it is. Although gray is not a "fun" or "outgoing" color, I used this as the background because it is nice and simple, bringing out the big picture of the campus which helps catch more focus or attention to the picture. As far as repetition goes, I decided to use boxes to pin point important details to help them stand out on the poster, just like in my example two. I think the criteria for a good poster include little but straight to the point information, nice colors or a big picture to give a good idea, borders to help bring out information and make the poster look more organized, as well as simple but interesting text that will catch viewers attention. I don't think posters should have too much information simply because it will lose interest from viewers. Posters are supposed to be viewed quickly, not for someone to stand in front of for 5 minutes, so it should be straight to the point! **Ear Part 3 - Satire for Incoming Freshman**

I decided to take the poster that I made in step two, and just turn it into a satire so that there is a serious and not so serious version. I decided to make a satire toward the same audience (incoming freshman) because it is directly toward them, it is their decision as to whether or not they want to commute or live on campus. By making a poster, it really gets the main idea across in a humorous way.



In this satire, it is promoting the complete opposite of what cigarettes really do. It is in general saying smoking a pack a day, decreases your chance of getting caner. I like the contrast in this satire, there are many different colors. I also like how there are cartoon people to the right, providing thoughts. By doing this, it helps describe the poster in an organized way.The picture of the pack of cigarettes is the biggest part of the flyer, which allows viewers to quickly understand what the flyer is all about.



This satire if very humorous. It is basically making fun of a procrastinator for being late to their own meeting. although there is not many c.r.a.p principles in this, I like that it is nice and simple on a black board with all the text aligned in the center.



This satire is also very humorous. I like how it used a picture of a cute kid being upset about Mondays. By doing this, it made the satire overall more funny and interesting. It also really emphasized and exaggerated the idea. If an adult were to replace the child, it would not have been as funny or interesting.



The characteristics I imitated from my three examples include a big bold picture that helps determine what the overall purpose is, humor, and boxes to help organize the poster. Like in the ear part 2 example, I used the picture of Bloomsburg University's campus to inform viewers on what the purpose generally is about. I used repetition in the boxes that organize the main points on reasons to live on campus, and I also used humor to make it a satire. I think a good satire includes humor, but in a serious way without it being unrealistic or rude. A satire poster is simple and too the point, with many c.r.a.p principles to the make overall product interesting to viewers.