Technical writing

Project 3 Redesign Portfolio

• This unit emphasizes document design based on audience need, rhetorical situation, and design principles. In Project 3, you will be responsible for compiling a “Redesign Portfolio” of three technical documents to demonstrate your acquired skill and knowledge in the following areas:
• Appropriate Design and Document Formatting: this includes applying theories of design, particularly with respect to balance, alignment, grouping, consistency, and contrast and implementing these design choices in design software, Canva.

Rhetorical Awareness: this includes tailoring your redesigned documents for a particular audience, medium, and purpose.

Creative Thinking: this includes analyzing and solving problems in the original documents as you consider your redesign choices and implement them in, Canva.

• Writing Conventions: this includes writing with clarity, concision, and correctness.

Deliverables

• Your redesign portfolio will include the following deliverables:
• Introductory Memo In the introductory memo, you will explain design choices for each document: (1) discuss the design of the original document and what needs to be changed, (2) detail the changes made to the new document, and (3) defend the new design. The memo should be well designed and well structured. (1-2 pages long)

Document 1: Adapting to Your Audience You will choose one of the provided technical documents, each written for a particular audience, and redesign and rewrite the fact sheet for a different defined audience. Consider choices in content, language, formatting and structure, visuals, and other design principles appropriate for the named audience in your redesign. Choose between Option A and Option B.

• Option A SAMHSA. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services administration prepared a fact sheet for adult survivors coping with grief after community violence. If you choose this option, you will need to rewrite and redesign the document to be appropriate for 8th grade children (12–14 years old) who are survivors of community violence. (1 page front and back)

Option B WorkCare. This technical document about avoiding and treating insect bites was prepared for employers and workers who are at risk for such injuries while on the job. If you choose this option, you will need to rewrite and redesign the document to be appropriate for parents and their families for at-home care. (1 page front and back)

Document 2: Adapting Content to a Form You will choose one of the provided brief reports, which rely primarily on written text and a deep-reader audience. You will transform the content of the report and turn it into an infographic, relying primarily on visual design principles to appeal to the skim-reader audience without sacrificing informative power. Choose between Option A and Option B.

Option A International Migrants. The United Nations published a report on number of international migrants in 2019. Access the report click here. 

1. Option B Homelessness. The National Low Income Housing Coalition summarized a 2019 HUD report estimating homelessness in the United States. Access the article click here. 
2. Document 3: Implementing Design Principles You will choose one of the provided flyers, whose poor designs frustrate readers’ access to content and fail to achieve its purposes. Identify the purpose of the flyer and the intended audience, and redesign the 1-page flyer, focusing on design principles of balance, alignment, grouping, consistency, and contrast. Choose between Option A and Option B.

Option A Film Fest Flyer

Option B Animal Clinic Flyer

1. Your portfolio should include four documents—Introductory Memo, Document 1, Document 2, and Document 3—saved as a PDF file.