Final Assignment: Document Analysis
English 314 Technical Writing
Phuong N. Nguyen
Context
This semester I have taken a course on the subject of Aggregate and Mining. Each week
there would be one guest speaker set up to educate students about the mining industry.
One week in particular we had a product representative of concrete that came to speak to
us. Before he began his powerpoint presentation he handed out brochures about an
organization he was also proudly representing. It seemed very apparent that this
organization, Environmental Council of Concrete Organizations (ECCO), have a strong
desire to spread their word about the environmental benefits of concrete.
Usability/Readability
The brochure was color printed on a six panel, 8.5” x 11” heavy matted recyclable piece
of paper using vegetable-based inks. Created in this manner the organization is well
aware of their environmentally benign message and have taken the effort in revealing this
physically in this brochure.
Upon looking at the front panel the user can clearly see who is in charge of producing
such a brochure. The organization icon and name indicated at the bottom of the front
panel grounds the centered graphics. A simple title and subtitle directly expresses to
readers the implications for this brochure. The brochure states: “A Concrete Advantage:
The surprising environmental benefits of concrete.”
The two font types and different font sizes used throughout the brochure were consistent
in scale and hierarchy of information conveyed. Subtitles printed in a large font size
were the main messages to be communicated to readers and they are: “The surprising
environmental benefits of concrete,” and “A better choice for the environment…every
step of the way.” The second subtitle is seen in the inside right panel after the reader
opens the brochure from the front flap. The text below the second main message
provides a literal transition into the contents presented on the three panels inside the
brochure.
The contents inside the brochure were divided into three key ideas, under three
meaningful headings. The headings easily stood out, were consistently centered, bolded,
and of a different font type, at a larger font size. Readability wise I believe the headings
and its text could have been more clearly emphasized on each panel instead of spilling
over to the next panel. This will reduce the disconnection of text under each key idea.
There is also a discrepancy of information given in the content and the visuals displayed
in the brochure. Under the energy efficient heading the text discusses the heat conserving
benefits of concrete structures but the visual below the text does not even show an
example of such a concrete structure. Text and visual consistency (such as an example of
concrete building with energy efficient construction) would have made the information
discussed more convincing to readers.
Side notes used inside the brochure was a helpful graphic, however, it was not successful
in its usability in accordance to the visuals provided. For example, a side note on the first
inside panel on the left side states that, “Concrete is made from abundant, readily
available ingredients, not scarce resources,” but the image it is next to does not visually
express any abundant, readily available ingredients. Just as what I’d suggested earlier a
visual representation of this side note would have made the text more convincing.
A short summary touching upon the environmental purpose and goals for the ECCO is
shown on the back panel and could readily stand on its own. Vital contacts such as a
phone number and mailing address are actionable items provided for readers in case there
are any question or comments about the ECCO.
Visual Elements
At a glance the quality graphics used in the brochure provides an ethos appeal for
possible beautiful concrete constructions. On the front cover is a slab of concrete with a
pine needle branch on top. This simple but yet original graphic visually approaches the
user with the brochure’s intentions. Quality graphics of leaves, prairie grass, and stones
flank the images to further an environmentally ethos appeal to users.
Text and Graphics
The content within the brochure is literally concise, complete, and very interesting but
looking at the brochure more closely, it lacks the visual connection that can really
educate the user.
Of the many graphics used, the line graphics used at the top of the three panel inside
seemed to be the most logical. The line is extended across the top of the page onto all
three panels. This indicates that all three panels have coherently related subjects to be
presented. Another spill over component that is effective in relating all three panels were
applied graphically through the natural graphics used to overlay on images laid on the
three panels. Each graphic consistently spilled over to the next panel leaving enough
room to still appreciate each photo image.
Despite the excellent graphics used, there are, however, still a few issues with the
brochure layout in the three panels inside. Side notes were centered, in bold, and
awkwardly placed near the images. The centering of the side notes presents a proximity
and alignment issue. The chunk of text and graphics is crowded at the top leaving too
much white space on the bottom of the page. Moving this chunk of information about a
¼” down will minimize the crowded look and distribute some of the extra white space to
the top where it is most needed.
Conclusion
This brochure has expressed its message in text and visuals quite sufficiently about the
environmental benefits of concrete. In order to excite readers through visuals, the
producer went through great efforts to sacrifice the disconnection in the text for beautiful
images. Overall, simple information and straightforward graphics easily enthused
readers. For the most part I believe it did the job successfully in a small brochure.