Reading Response Week 5
Submitted by bluscomb on Thu, 07/10/2008 - 23:07.
I thought this topic was really interesting because I was assigned to make the flyer part of the Service Learning Project. All the tips from the book and the ten tips for making a flyer were all really helpful. A few things that I thought that were really interesting on the website with the ten tips was the one tip about "your creative concept needs to do two things - catch the eye and sell the show." This really goes to show that I have to not be able to describe to someone in a short blurb why they should come but I also have to sell it through a picture or the look of the flyer itself. And I want to make sure that I make our flyer look amazing because I really want an A on the project and the only way to do it is for the client to pick ours, so I want to make sure that I do everything I can to make that flyer look appealing to everyone especially the client. Another tip I thought was interesting was "remember 'less is more' in advertising. Be very strict on word count" at first when our group was reading over the project we thought that the flyer was going to be the one with more thorough written statement on it and that just isn't the case. You have to be careful how much you actually write on your flyer if you write to much it can begin to look clustered. Also the website says "People have very short attention spans and often won't read past the fist line or so." So I want to be able to get everyones attention in about a total of a paragraph throughout the entire flyer. So I think when i begin to make my flyer I'm going to make sure to space out a few key sentences throughout the flyer to keep their attention and read the whole flyer because in the end they will think they are reading less but they are reading the same as a paragraph being all clustered together. In the book they did a great job showing you how they actually made some of the art work for the flyers. I thought the RiverLife Pittsburgh was really interesting I like how the used all three images to create such an amazing simple but really eye catching Poster.
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Response
Blair,
I also found the tip, "Your creative concept needs to do two things - catch the eye and sell the show," to be very useful as well. When I looked at flyers online, I didn’t even read what the flyer said if it didn’t visually catch my eye. I think that tip is the most useful tip out of the book and online. If the flyer doesn’t catch the readers eye there’s no way they’re even going to read the details on it. I also liked the tip “less is more.” That is something I didn’t even think about, but it is very important and very true. The reader doesn’t have all day to sit and read the flyer, so it is crucial to get the point across in a concise, effective manner.
Bethony Vernaglia
Response to Blair
Blair,
A flyer defiantly needs to catch the eye of the viewer quickly. When I was looking for a flyer online, I wasn’t reading the whole flyer every time, just the ones that caught my eye. I also thought the RiverLife Pittsburgh flyer was really interesting. I thought it was really cool how the designers put it together; there was hardly anything to this flyer. This emphasized the advertising theme of “less is more.” You are right when you say that people have short attention spans. The flyer that our group needs to create will have to catch somebody’s eye immediately to be successful.
Response
I totally agree with you on the tips about "catching the eye and selling the show". I think you're right about reducing the wordiness to make it more interesting and eye catching. You also have a great point about "less is more". Many people really don't have enough of an attention span to read past the first few lines (I'm one of them). So, if you want people to keep reading it needs to draw them into more detail as they go along. I'm sure adding a little bit more creativity will go a long way also.
comment
I think you make some good points in this blog entry. First, I agree with the “less is more” statement. Sometimes flyers or posters can be too wordy and the reader will lose interest, but if you keep it short and to the point I think the reader will be more interested and pay more attention. This also goes hand in hand with the “people have short attention spans and won’t read past the first line or two” statement. Today everyone is busy and likes to get to the point as soon as possible, and if it is too wordy you will probably lose them.
Response to Bluscomb
Blair,
I like you idea on having about a paragraphs worth of material on the poster, but to space it out to make the reader think that they are actually reading less. I think if I were to see a poster similar to this, I would also read more than if it were just clustered together. Also, I think this way it is a little easier to read from far away. Sometimes in my classes if I am sitting a few desks away from a poster I will try to see what it is talking about. I think if it were designed this way, I would read it and get the “gist” of it. Good luck on your project.
-Elizabeth
response to Blair
Blair, I like that comment about your creative concept needs to do two things – catch the eye and sell the show. A flyer definitely really needs to catch the eye of the viewer quickly. Now that I thought about it, it just came to mind how there are hundreds of flyers that got posted on advertising boards or on the streets throughout the Purdue campus. As many people walk pass it every day and also the fact that it has to compete with the other surrounding flyers, a flyer really has to stand out in order for it to catch someone’s attention and would make them want to stop and actually take a look at the flyer. Of course not everybody has the talent to create amazing flyers like most of the flyers posted online. These flyers gave people who look at them the chills just because how amazing they look. Still, we could always improve our desktop publishing skill. I think that this skill will be a very valuable asset to own.