TECHNICAL WRITING
Theatre Blog Design And Writing
Mentorship is an invaluable tool for encouraging, teaching, and bringing up the next generation in any given field. Passing on knowledge learned is such a gift to those who come after, and allows them to not only get a head start but to be able to build upon and improve what came before. The theme of the blog is focused on a career in live theatre, specifically in the wardrobe department. The goal of the articles is to be a resource to people new to the field or looking to expand their pre-existing knowledge and to be a tool in the mentoring of new theatre professionals. With this blog I aimed to combine visual creativity with writing. This project allowed exploration of new skills from web design to blog article writing with a focus on the specific needs of the audience. It required practice using multiple forms of communication both with the writings as well as all visuals used throughout the site that also needed to convey meaning or support the story. I relied heavily on peer assessment and many stages of editing and revision.
▪ Skills developed: User-centered design, understanding and analyzing an audience, adaptation to new technologies.
▪ Technologies used: WordPress, Google, Word.
Coffee Maker Instruction Manual
Instruction Manuals are something everyone must deal with at some point in time. When you’ve used a poorly written or designed one, the necessary work required to make them user friendly is clear. The product used to create this instruction manual was a very base level, no frills coffee maker. Despite this, creating an effective instruction manual to operate it required thoroughness to make sure all important information and steps were included. It was crucial to try to understand the audience that would be using this product to know how they would view different steps and that the communication would be clear and easy to follow. User-centered design is one of the most important elements to focus on in a project like this. People expect things to be laid out in a way that makes it easy to follow along without getting lost and allows them to find important information quickly.
▪ Skills developed: Focus on creating user-centered design, adapt to the needs of specific audiences, understand the role of technologies in communicating information.
▪ Technologies used: Word.
Barter Theatre Technical Research Proposal
The objective here was to create a research proposal. Because the Covid pandemic shut down indoor gatherings, my goal was to help a local theatre gain support and funding to build an outdoor amphitheater. Many rounds of editing and revising went into this project to make sure the perspective of the intended audience was being addressed most effectively. When creating a proposal that is intended to gain support, there are many things to consider. Understanding the intended audience is very important. These may be people who are going to grant permits, access, or financial support to whatever project is being proposed. This project required analysis of who these people would be and what their own perspectives and goals would be for the impact of the outcome. Another thing to consider is the medium used to present the proposal. It is important to determine the best means of communication that will present the information to the audience in a way that will catch their attention and hopefully sway them in your direction. This report was fact heavy with land and financial information so it was determined that a written report would be the best way to convey all necessary information.
▪ Skills developed: Adapt to the needs of specific audiences, analyze personal assumptions and beliefs alongside those of the audience, evaluate research reports.
▪ Technologies used: Word, Google.
Incident Report
As much as we try to avoid them, negative events happen in the workplace from time to time and an incident report is often needed in case any legal action is required. They are supposed to be straightforward, informative documents stating the facts and nothing else. Nonetheless, there are still creative elements in this form of technical communication. There are necessary visual details demonstrating the layouts of locations in which the incident occurred. And it is also very important to understand the audience for these reports. They will quite likely be held to legal guidelines and be looking for a professional tone and impartial perspective. Making the report user-centered and straightforward is an important creative aspect. The research and revising methods are also significant. Finding accurate information and presenting it appropriately are crucial. Writing a clear, straightforward, and informative report is, in a way, telling a story about an event, but one that must be factually accurate. I had to convey everything that a company may be looking for in an incident report. While I gained useful experience creating graphics such as the Sci-Tech logo and the diagram of the incident, it was the need to write both precisely and engagingly that was the most rewarding challenge.
▪ Skills developed: Understanding and implementing appropriate methods of research, understand legal and ethical uses of communication and technology, understand the role of technology in managing and communicating information.
▪ Technologies used: Word, Google.