Editing and Design: English Scholars Advertising Materials

As completed on April 5th, 2023, I compiled a professional document full of information on the BYU-Idaho English department honors program, known as English Scholars. To achieve this, I first planned what information to include and how to obtain it, created an outline, asked the director of the program what his goals and needs were, and then edited and compiled the information into a Microsoft Word document. I included a table of contents and title page, a description of the program, the benefits of joining, the rationale behind it, semester and thesis project requirements, project examples, student testimonials, tips and tricks, policies, a FAQ section, and contact information for the program. I took this information from previously compiled forms and flyers, interviews conducted via email with student participants, my own experiences as an English Scholar, and emails with the director, Dr. Olsen. I edited the text to structure it according to the arrangement listed above for importance, clarity, and ease of reading. I organized the interview answers into their sections, and after that, I started creating the document in Adobe InDesign.

In Adobe InDesign, I took a blank canvas page, inserted the semi-transparent book from the English Scholars logo I made for an earlier project, and I placed it at the bottom of the page. This, along with a page number in the bottom left corner, became my standard page. I chose two columns, one wider than the other to make it more interesting to look at, and picked my font. I used the colors from the logo color scheme to start inputting the text, using headers, text boxes, and other tools in InDesign to arrange, copy, and repeat the structure. At the end of each section, I put in a little symbol to signify the end, much like some magazines do. I also made use of sub-headings, different colors, and spacing to maximize my space usage. 

I completed the project a few days early and sent it in for feedback. I made the recommended adjustments on the time commitment each week (5-10 hours instead of 10 hours) in the FAQ and one other small design change. After that, I submitted the document for my homework assignment and shared it with the director of the program. Dr. Olsen later informed me that the English Scholars program had more interested participants than it had in past semesters after all of the originally printed copies of the packet had been taken by students.

For more information, or to see the document, please contact me at rachelmwelker@gmail.com.