Task 1
- 1. Factual Writing Copy – Task 1 Emily Monsey
- 2. Leaflets Leaflets are used to inform people of a company or brand or an organisation of who they are and what they do, they tend to advertise a lot of places and businesses as it is a way for companies to share their brand name with a large audience just by handing them out to people. Leaflets include informative writing that tells the reader exactly who they are and if it is somewhere to visit it can use quite persuasive language to ensure that the reader wants to go to that particular place once read. A massive range of companies and brands use leaflets as a way to get their name out there to the public, to spread awareness about something or just to advertise and explain the brand more to their target audience. They can be a really effective way of advertising, especially if the content and clarity of the leaflet is of a good standard. It has to draw some attention so leaflets commonly include use of bright colour and also images as these are the things that people are first going to see in the design. This particular leaflet is very obvious as to what kind of business they are as they have bold lettering at the top saying ‘museum’ and there are planes making it clear as to who they are and that it is advertising the royal air force museum. The clarity overall of the leaflet is good as it tells anyone interested in the air force what to expect from the museum and also why they should go so it is fairly persuasive. The overall structure of the leaflet has been done very well as it helps with the clarity due to the format being really organised and split in to sections of text instead of having one main body of text which can become boring and uninteresting to a younger audience who they are also trying to advertise to. The leaflet does have lot of detail to really explain what they’re about and what the museum has to offer, however they have delivered this information in a clear and concise way. I would personally decrease the amount of text as this could be seen as too much, especially to a younger audience. The leaflet has to appeal to both a older and younger generation so the register and language used has to be appropriate for both. I think they have managed to do this as they have discussed the factual information and ‘great value’ hospitality, however they have also made it interesting for children as they have included information on what activities are there.
- 3. Instruction Manuals Instruction manuals are made to be informative to the reader, they are a step by step guide that tells you how to do something or make something. Manuals have to include helpful information and instruction for their readers, otherwise the product they are trying to make will not work. Instruction manuals usually come with a lot of products if it takes time to set up in order for it to work. They do vary quite a lot as each manual will have a different layout and way of explaining things and they also all follow a different structure regarding how much text they use and also if they use any images or diagrams. Most instruction manuals use diagrams to illustrate their point at each stage of creating the product, however some manuals also include an actual image of the fully made product on their manuals as something to aim for. I looked at a selection of different manuals, all of which consist of a lot of writing and no proper images of the product, just drawings and diagrams to show what the product should look like at each step of the process. Instruction manuals have to be extremely detailed and also easy to understand and clear in the way the information has been presented unless the reader won’t understand how to put together the product. The links with the clarity of the product as each manual has to ensure that the clarity of the writing and also of the diagrams is correct and of a high standard to ensure their readers are going to be able to understand clearly and be able to make the product. The middle image in particular shows a lot of detail in the text they have included this is actually really normal, rather than something like a leaflet where you wouldn’t expect such a lot of detail and information. This is also aimed at an older audience as they have to be old enough to put it together safely so this amount of text doesn’t really matter. If this was aimed at a younger audience you would expect far less writing, however it has to be aimed at the person who will be creating the product which is many cases is going to be an adult due to health and safety dangers for a child. The typography of these three manuals shows that there was no colour used in any and also that the font stays pretty much the same with the same size throughout all of them. This makes it much easier to read and improves the clarity of the manuals. One of them also shows the company brand name and logo which makes it stand out and advertises the brand further so the instructions do have to be clear if they want their brand name to be well thought of. The manual has to be accurate in the sense that each of the instructions given have to be correct so that the manual helps the reader to achieve what they wanted. I like that with these three examples the font is all the same as it makes it really consistent and easy to read which is essential. I would personally increase the font size slightly as they are appealing to a really wide audience.
- 4. ‘How to’ Guides ‘How to’ guides are made to instruct the reader on something they want to learn to do. This could be something like an interview or how to play an instrument, these have to be very clear in what they explain as it has to help the reader to achieve what they want. They offer advice and tips throughout the guide to help when completing the task or activity they are wanting to learn about. The style of a ‘How to’ guide commonly involves both text and images, even if it is just one image it shows any potential readers quickly what the guide is about, it also just makes it slightly more appealing and interesting. The examples I looked at for the how to guides showed both image and text and if there wasn’t an actual image there was some sort of graphic on the page that was animated and created on the computer. This just makes it slightly more interesting as how to guides can become quit boring as it is literally just a lot of writing explaining to the audience how they can do a specific thing and giving them advice and tips. The typography in these examples shows the font being the same in the main body of text with a slightly larger size for the heading and the sub heading, this is just to highlight that it is a ‘how to’ guide and what they are going to be explaining in each guide. There has also been use of colour as the colour green has been used on all of this selection of how to guides, this brightens it up and also helps to draw attention and highlight particular areas of text as they have coloured some paragraphs in green and others in black. This how to guide also shows use of colour on the images as instead of using their original colour they have changed it to green. This isn’t something I particularly like about these guides as I think they have overused this one colour a little too much making them all quite bland and boring instead of doing what the colour was supposed to do and make it look interesting. There is only one other colour that they use and that is red which is used on key words and phrases to highlight them and make these aspects of the text much more memorable. The clarity of the writing is good as they have been really clear as to what kind of guide they are and also the subject of each guide with the sub heading, ‘give a great interview’. They are really informal guides and we can see this by Some of the language used, ‘kick-ass’. This is definitely far from being formal and helps to change the tone of the guide to being really relaxed and an easy read that can actually really help and inform the reader. These how to guides Do have to be fairly detailed in order to really help and advise the reader On the subject so keeping it concise doesn’t sometimes happen, However I think that the layout of these examples does show A lot of structure as it is all paragraphed and some is bullet Pointed and has quotes with advice from other people relating to The topic which can be really useful. There is also a section on one Where they have used an images of a clipboard and used bullet points Of helpful tips to help their readers. This has to be accurate as they are Advising someone that is most likely going to listen and follow the Tips they have been given in these guides so all of the information and Tips have to be appropriate and something they strongly believe can help.
- 5. Magazines & Newspapers Magazine and newspaper articles are created to inform and entertain their audience, they explain different subject matters, including the writers own opinions and commonly factual information also. This style of writing needs precision and actual facts to back up any points and information that has been told due to many laws and regulations that journalists have to follow when writing. Journalists have to follow a set guideline when writing an article to ensure that don’t breach any regulations or laws that have been set, for example, if you make a broad statement you have to then back it up with factual evidence particularly when talking about businesses or people as if you don’t it can be classed as libel which means the magazine/newspaper can then be taken to court. The writing has to be factual and inform the reader of a particular subject, however it is also written to entertain and has to be presented in a way that is going to appeal to potential readers and it all has to be clear. I looked at one web post on the national geographic website and also a magazine article from Glamour magazine. Both articles use factual writing and evidence to back their points and fully explain their opinions and thoughts on each topic they have written about. The clarity of both is very good as the articles aren’t overly long, but still include all the important factors they would need when discussing each subject. There is also a clear layout on each whilst one uses a paragraphed format and the other spreads the writing across the A4 page dividing it in the centre with an image and quote. This helps to break the writing up and makes it much more of an easy read which could appeal more to a lot more readers. The typography includes the font being fairly feminine In style for the magazine article which links to the subject of the Piece and identifies the audience they are aiming it at. The font Is in a large size for the main heading, using italics on the word ‘rock’ emphasising the message they are trying to put across. The rest of the text is much smaller and the quote that has been Picked out is slightly larger and in italics. The use of colour is Also really good for this article as there is colour in the two Images used and also colour for the quotation marks and the Letter of the first word of the article. The online article discusses Climate change and the heading although not much bigger than The rest of the text, does show a slightly larger font making this A main focus. They have used one image in the article which Illustrates the point they are making and links well with the piece. There have been use of quotations in each article just showing The people that agree with them and also evidencing the points