Graphics Consumes My Life...

Since things have changed a bit for our reading and blogging assignments, I guess I have to start reading even more articles on the printing industry. This week, I’m actually going to write about my experience in Chicago the weekend before last. All the juniors and seniors in Graphic Communications are invited to go to Chicago for GraphExpo every year. This is basically a big trade show all about printing with all the new presses and inks and new software technology. This was my third year going, and it has proved to be a very rewarding experience every time I have gone. I actually picked up many documents containing “technical writing” describing the new presses and their capabilities since I have to do a graphics project pretending to put a new wide-format inkjet press into my “company.” I even got a piece of vinyl with a tiger on it that is able to stick to any surface. Me and two other people went up to the FujiFilm guys and told them that we were from Clemson University and that we needed three copies and they did it for us! Needless to say, we got a lot of cool stuff and met a lot of interesting people.

Tuesday was Intern Employer Day for Graphic Communications majors, and I was chosen by the GC faculty as one of the co-chairs for it, so I had to be there all day, which is why I had to miss class. This is basically our “career fair” where graduating seniors can potentially find jobs and where we can find our internships since we have to have two to graduate. There was a lot of “technical writing” here as well, since people had lots of brochures and fliers on what the internships and jobs entail.

Well I didn’t get a chance to read any graphics-related articles, but I’ve definitely had my share of graphics-related technical writing over the past couple of weeks!

A Big Ol' Rant

Well I haven’t blogged in a couple of weeks so I guess I should explain why. Right now I am taking not only this Technical Writing class, but I am also taking the last 4 graphics classes. All of the GC instructors will tell you that this is not the best idea, but has still been done in the past. That wasn’t exactly the plan though. I was taking one of the classes over Summer Session 2, but I had to take an incomplete for it because I got bit by a dog on my face and I just couldn’t catch up from all of the work that I had missed. Because I took an incomplete, I didn’t technically “register” for it for this semester, I just had to work it into my schedule. So I had to sign up for a Leisure Skills so that I could be a full-time student with 12 hours. So I added up all the hours I’m in class each week, and it adds up to 24 hours. I’m just trying to graduate in December! I’ve always stressed about school, but man, I have never stressed so much in my life until this semester. The past 3 weekends I’ve done nothing but get up early and do work all day Saturday and Sunday. Basically my point is, I’m taking this class because it is a general education requirement, and honestly, my Graphic Communications courses are much more important since it is actually my major. I’m not saying I’m not going to try in this class, but I have so much work that I have to figure out which classes and which assignments are my first priorities. I really am trying here! Sorry for the rant, but I just figured since I couldn’t think of anything else to blog about right now that I would explain some stuff and get it off my chest.

On With Instructions

Although I know that we will continue to study rhetoric, I’m glad to be finally getting in to creating instructions. I was having trouble coming up with what exactly I wanted to write my instructions on, but I decided to do something graphics related since I’m a Graphic Communications major. I wanted to do something I enjoy, but also something I know well enough to be able to give good instructions. I decided to go with creating a vignetted image in Adobe Photoshop. For those of you who don’t know what that means, here’s an example:



When we read the introduction for the tape dubbing, I thought that it was way too long. I think just a small paragraph is really all you need, and then go into the details when you’re writing the step-by-step instructions. What is everybody else writing instructions on, and how did you decide? I’m actually pretty excited about seeing other people’s instructions and how they make them.

Instructions for Different Audiences

The last few classes, we have mainly been talking about rhetoric and the different ways people can use it. I actually noticed one of my Graphic Communications instructors used it in the sense of “rhetorical question” about three different times just in one class. The first reading we did (Herrick’s “An Overview of Rhetoric”) was definitely the most interesting out of all that we have had to read so far. Aristotle’s was just way over my head, and I felt like Bitzer’s “The Rhetorical Situation” wasn’t over my head, but it was still hard for me to understand what exactly he was trying to say. At least I’m starting to understand the term “rhetoric” a little better now.

Although I know that all of these different points of view are important for us to truly understand rhetoric, I’m definitely ready to move on. I am kind of excited about writing instructions actually. Honestly, having to “write” anything is like torture to me, and I absolutely hate it. I think I hate it just because I have such a hard time getting my thoughts into complete sentences that the audience can understand. However, I feel like writing instructions would be easy for me. I haven’t really written a bunch of instructions, but I have had a lot of experience in using them, not just in everyday life, but also in my Graphic Communications classes. There are many things that we do that are very technical, such as setting up and running printing presses. Lannon makes a good point in that it can be very important in knowing who the audience is. In running a printing press, the press operators at a company would be the “experts” and would use a “highly technical” document; Graphic Communications students would be the “informed persons” and would use a “semi-technical” document; and students in English 314 would be the “laypersons” and would use a “nontechnical” document. I’m not quite sure what I want to write my instructions on, but I am looking forward to the next part of our Technical Writing class.

Rhetoric and Blogging

Blogs are very interesting, and they can act as different things for different people. Some may use a personal blog just to act as a diary, while others might be writing comments on sports or a certain job industry. For the most part, they are very rhetorical and have many different opinions. I actually used to have a blog using LiveJournal and pretty much just used it as a diary. Sometimes it can be good just to write your feelings down and get it off your chest. I had to do blogs in my English 215 class, which is Contemporary Literature. I still don’t really know why we have to do it for class, but I guess it’s just a different way of communicating with classmates and being able to use different technology. As far as what we did in class this week, well, we only had one class so there really isn’t much to talk about yet. I’m really surprised at myself for saying this and meaning it, but I actually thought we had interesting discussions on rhetoric in class. Sometimes just reading about stuff doesn’t really help you to understand it, but it helped me really get what rhetoric means (although there are many different meanings for different people). I also realized that it really does play a HUGE role in our lives and it is used in just about every situation. Although I still wish I didn’t have to take this class, I do hope that I am able to get something out of it and learn some valuable things to take with me into my future career.