Learn About The Theory Behind The Project
Creativity was not only the theme of my project, but also a key element in the decisions I chose to make throughout my design process. My goal was to inspire my audience to extend their imagination, so I attempted to instill inventive elements throughout my website.
When creating my website, I used elements of John Gallagher’s research entitled Five Strategies Internet Writers Use to “Continue the Conversation”. Gallagher discusses frequent text exchange and the idea of an “initial writer”. Although, I am not encouraging my audience to engage with me in the form of direct comments on my articles, my social media movement, “The College Creativity Project,” heavily encourages readers to interact with the text. I, as the “initial writer”, “initiate, facilitate, and manage the participation” with the audience. I have the power; I encourage the reader to engage with materials.
In addition, Gallagher’s proposed techniques that authors use to engage with their audience also relate to my project. I have chosen to edit my work after its original publication, following critiques of my peers. I also connect to Gallagher’s idea of “textual listening”, although my project does not follow this exact model. Textual listening is defined as the author’s recognition of their audience members’ input. Although I am not directly responding to comments in a thread, I am listening through my participants’ instagram posts and responding to their captions and feedback.
When it comes to the auditory element of my project, Heidi McKee’s article “Sound Matters: Notes toward the analysis and design of sound in multimodal webtexts” helped guide my podcast. McKee lists three elements that describe sound in multimedia compositions: vocal delivery, music, and special effects.
Vocal delivery was very important to me as I made my podcast. I tried to keep a light tone throughout the podcast. I believe this “happiness” helped the audience remember how fun it is to be a fearless child ready to explore. I also took advantage of background noise. I put children playing in the background so the listener would feel nostalgic of their days on the playground. In addition, music helped bookend my project. It helped draw in my audience and engage them.
For my infographic and other visual elements of the project, I connected to Anne Wysocki’s “Sticky Embrace of Beauty”. In her piece, Wysocki speaks about Robin William’s The Non-Designer’s Design Book and how it tends to rationalize and formulate design. I think this criticism is very important, as design is such a creative and personal element. I tried to incorporate this philosophy into my project. I wanted to “break the mold” and infuse an original feel into every part of my website. I tried to think outside the box (or inside the wreath (p.154)) when it came to colors I used, and the formatting of my articles.
Overall, I tried to integrate and take advantage of multimodal elements throughout my website. As Heidi McKee writes, technology has enabled “the integration of visual, aural, and textual elements with unprecedented ease”. I wanted to gain the most from each of these elements with my “read”, “listen”, and “watch” tabs in order to engage my audience and present them with a full experience.
When creating my website, I used elements of John Gallagher’s research entitled Five Strategies Internet Writers Use to “Continue the Conversation”. Gallagher discusses frequent text exchange and the idea of an “initial writer”. Although, I am not encouraging my audience to engage with me in the form of direct comments on my articles, my social media movement, “The College Creativity Project,” heavily encourages readers to interact with the text. I, as the “initial writer”, “initiate, facilitate, and manage the participation” with the audience. I have the power; I encourage the reader to engage with materials.
In addition, Gallagher’s proposed techniques that authors use to engage with their audience also relate to my project. I have chosen to edit my work after its original publication, following critiques of my peers. I also connect to Gallagher’s idea of “textual listening”, although my project does not follow this exact model. Textual listening is defined as the author’s recognition of their audience members’ input. Although I am not directly responding to comments in a thread, I am listening through my participants’ instagram posts and responding to their captions and feedback.
When it comes to the auditory element of my project, Heidi McKee’s article “Sound Matters: Notes toward the analysis and design of sound in multimodal webtexts” helped guide my podcast. McKee lists three elements that describe sound in multimedia compositions: vocal delivery, music, and special effects.
Vocal delivery was very important to me as I made my podcast. I tried to keep a light tone throughout the podcast. I believe this “happiness” helped the audience remember how fun it is to be a fearless child ready to explore. I also took advantage of background noise. I put children playing in the background so the listener would feel nostalgic of their days on the playground. In addition, music helped bookend my project. It helped draw in my audience and engage them.
For my infographic and other visual elements of the project, I connected to Anne Wysocki’s “Sticky Embrace of Beauty”. In her piece, Wysocki speaks about Robin William’s The Non-Designer’s Design Book and how it tends to rationalize and formulate design. I think this criticism is very important, as design is such a creative and personal element. I tried to incorporate this philosophy into my project. I wanted to “break the mold” and infuse an original feel into every part of my website. I tried to think outside the box (or inside the wreath (p.154)) when it came to colors I used, and the formatting of my articles.
Overall, I tried to integrate and take advantage of multimodal elements throughout my website. As Heidi McKee writes, technology has enabled “the integration of visual, aural, and textual elements with unprecedented ease”. I wanted to gain the most from each of these elements with my “read”, “listen”, and “watch” tabs in order to engage my audience and present them with a full experience.