Memorandum To: From: Date: Subject:
Dr. Flammia Claudia Gonzalez January 28, 2014 Business Card & Letterhead Design Decisions
Introduction For this assignment, I chose to design a business card and letterhead for a fictional editing and publishing company, by the name of “Bookends”. The business card is for Claudia Gonzalez, a technical editor for the company, while the letterhead if for company use. P.A.S.S. The purpose of the letterhead and business card was to have a method of contact that was modern, and minimalistic. It is meant to have a minimal, professional, and modern design, as well as to provide the information necessary to promote the company (name and contact information on both the business card and the letterhead) and give a respectable impression. The audience of the letterhead and business card are both the users/creators, as well as the readers (whoever receives correspondence with this letterhead, or utilizes the business card). The letterhead does not distract whoever is writing on it or reading from it, and the business card is simplistic for who is distributing it, and provides all the information to the person intending to make use of the company’s services. The subject of the business card is Claudia Gonzalez, and her place within the company. The subject of the letterhead is just the company itself. With the business card, Claudia is able to promote her specific services within the company, as well as represent the company. The letterhead can be used by anyone in the company, to promote the company to both existing clients and potential clients. Discussion of Cognates and their Overall Effect on the Business Card The business card is for Claudia, a technical editor at “Bookends” a company providing publishing and editing services. The card has Claudia’s name and title on it, but it is mainly for the company. The [fictional] company is small and independent; the only contact information that is for her directly is her email. Arrangement and Emphasis
The main focal point of the business card is the company name, rather than Claudia’s name and title alone. Since she works for this company that provides more than just her services, I thought it more important to promote the company as a whole and their publishing and editing services, as the person utilizing this card may realize they want more than just the services of a technical editor. With that said, the company name and logo are in the center of the card, and in a larger, bold, and white font in order to be consistent with Claudia’s name and title, and to grab the
Dr. Flammia
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January 28, 2014
attention of the reader. Because Claudia is subject of the card, her name and title come before the company name. The company name however, is in a larger font so it is clear to the reader that she is a technical editor, for this particular company. I chose a font that had was in all caps because it had a cleaner look for the business card, as otherwise would have created a lot of noise (in addition to the colors and logo of the card) The last thing on the card is the contact information for the company; not for Claudia directly. I chose to do this because she is working under the company. Assuming that this is a small, independent publishing house of some sort, anyone can call and ask to speak to her, or go to the office directly to meet with her. Because of this, it is more important to remember her name and title, as well as the company name, and have the contact information be incidental. Often enough, people will lose business cards, but if they remember the name of the company and person, using a phone book, or Google will aid them in finding the contact information. Clarity and Conciseness
Clarity and conciseness are achieved on the card by utilizing a simple, minimalistic design, three basic colors, large fonts, and to-the-point information. There is enough white space on the card so that it is not cluttered or distracting from the subject. Tone and Ethos
The business card uses some color; the color scheme along with the font and logo give the business a modern appeal to it. The color blocks serve to separate the information (title, company name, contact information) and the logo is visible and recognizable to the reader. The design is clean and professional, leading the person to believe that the company is as well. The modern look also lets others know that it is not a company set solely on tradition; the fact that they are more modern in the business means that they are open to editing and publishing more modern works as well. That is an important factor in 2014. Version 1 of the Business Card The draft of the business card had additional noise that was not practical for its purpose. This includes the use of the arrows, and the semi-circle at the bottom of the card. The arrangement of the colors also were distracting and did not aid the reader in deciding where to look to first. It was very asymmetrical in its attempts to be modern and professional. Final Version of the Business Card The final version of the card incorporates suggestions that my partner made, and my interpretation of those suggestions. I eliminated the arrows and the semi-circle in order to give the business card a cleaner look. I kept the same color scheme and logo, but made the logo larger so that the detail was clearer. I also rearranged the colors so that it was clear to the reader which order to view the card in. The title and company name both have a color background, as they are the important aspects of this card and will initially grab the attention of the reader. The contact information is still at the bottom, in white space. This makes the card less bottom heavy, and brings more attention to the focal point: the company name and services, as well as Claudia, the editor.
Dr. Flammia
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January 28, 2014
Discussion of Cognates and their Overall Effect on the Letterhead The letterhead is meant match the business card in color scheme and font; however it is meant to have more white space for correspondence use. Similar to the business card, contact info is found at the bottom, while the company name and logo is up top. Arrangement and Emphasis
The focal point of the letterhead is the company name and logo. In both the draft and final version, it is the most prominent part of the letterhead. While in the draft, the contact information was right beneath the letterhead, I decided to move it to the bottom. This way it is not as distracting, and it makes the letterhead less top-heavy, as pointed out by the peer-review partner. Clarity and Conciseness
In the final draft, clarity was attained by relocating some of the elements of the letterhead. Having the contact information at the bottom seemed logical in the order which a person may read their correspondence. Version 1 of the Letterhead In this version, the letterhead was asymmetrical, like the first version of the business card; however, this instead appeared to be unorganized. The elements of the letterhead were unclear in order, and though it left white space for correspondence, the elements could be better arranged without necessarily being so top-heavy. Final Version of Letterhead The final version of the letterhead incorporates some of the changes suggested in the peer review along with some of the changes I decided on myself. Though it was a suggestion to left and right indent the name, logo, and contact information, I felt that it would be cleaner and more professional to have the name centered, the logo right indented and the contact information at the bottom (where one would maybe see a signature at the end of correspondence). This choice made sense because the name and logo are the first thing a reader sees; then as they reach the end of the document, the contact information is already there need they have to address anything with the sender. Conclusion The final versions of the business card and letterhead implemented my interpretations of the changes suggested by my partner. He had very good points and I was glad to have someone revise my work, as I am much happier with the final versions of the documents than I was with the drafts.