Artifacts & Assignment Proposals

Project 1: Marketing Booklet

I will create a comprehensive marketing booklet for my current employer. The purpose of this redesign is to combine all current marketing materials into one centralized pamphlet so that potential clients aren’t overwhelmed with too many separate pieces of information.

My current employer provides environmental, safety, and engineering services; each service contains a range of sub-services. We have customers who call and request only information about our environmental services, but if they are presented with information about the safety services we provide also (because it’s included in the comprehensive company services brochure we provided to them), they may take advantage of those services to benefit their company—as well as ours.

It’s a plus to combine all information the services we provide in one location because it’s just easier to keep up with, and it’s easier to make one piece of material look professional rather than ten. My plan is to gather the general information about the services we offer and organize that information into three main sections: environmental, safety, and engineering. I might also include a section that profiles the company itself. Next, I would choose a layout for the interior of the booklet that remains consistent throughout. My idea is to contrast imagery relating to each service with limited text; after all, my goal is to provide just enough information to potential clients and to get them to call for additional information.

Project 2: Employee Evaluation Form

I will redesign an employee evaluation form for a local manufacturing company. The purpose of this redesign is to include pertinent information for reviewers in a more concise layout while saving supervisors time and the company money.

When a friend of mine asked me to proof his department’s annual employee evaluations, he provided me with two different layouts: one for salaried employees and one for hourly employees. I asked why he had two different forms for the same type of review, and he said those were the forms given to him by the human resources department. Yes, although salaried employees—usually supervisors—have different responsibilities than hourly employees—usually general laborers, both evaluation forms could be combined into one form with separate sections for employee type.

The main reason I want to redesign the current employee evaluation form is to establish a better layout that is easier to work through. Currently, one form is designed in Word; the other is designed in Excel. Additionally, there are aspects of each form that are not user-friendly (i.e., the use of check-boxes, limiting text cells, etc.). By redesigning the form and converting it into a much easier format like PDF or even a password-protected Word form, managers completing the employee evaluations can save time by merely tabbing through the forms and saving them to the server for review by the human resources department.

 

Project 3: Business Card Redesign

I will redesign the business card for Phillips Construction and Equipment, LLC. The purpose of this redesign is to create a clearer and more professional image of the company.

Currently, the monochromatic card provides ample information about what the services the company provides and the applicable contact information. However, much of that information is jumbled and hard to read. I understand the company probably chose the monochromatic scheme because it was cheaper, but I don’t understand why they needed to incorporate all the clipart—especially the clipart of Texas directly behind the descriptive text of the company.

My redesign will consist of eliminating the excessive clipart and cleaning up the text so that the more important elements are in contrast to the less important ones. And, I’ll probably try to incorporate a little color. I assume that when the company had these cards printed, they were trying to save money with a local printer by choosing the one-color design. But I can create an eye-catching, informative business card with color for a pretty minimum cost, so that’s my angle on this project.

Project 4: Unsolicited Business “Proposal”

I will redesign this unsolicited business “proposal” received by one of my company’s clients. Upon review of this document, one would recognize that this “proposal” is more like an estimate because it doesn’t propose any solution to the problem at hand. The purpose of this redesign will be to create a more persuasive packet of marketing material to try to get a customer to respond in a positive way.

The customer who received this proposal had an odor complaint filed against them with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). However, this consulting competitor claimed that the customer had an expired storm water pollution prevention plan as well (which they do not). However, the competing consulting firm felt courteous enough to send our client a packet of information regarding water quality and storm water management.

What would have made this “proposal” more compelling would have been if the consulting company had customized the packet of information for our customer. But they neglected to do that and, instead, just stapled some printed flyers together to try to drum up business. Even though the packet contains a running theme as far as color consistency, each individual document varies in a subtle way that lets me know each page is typically intended to be a separate document.

Project 5: Employee Handbook

I will redesign an employee handbook that could be used as a template for multiple businesses. The purpose of this redesign is to create a more professional dialogue between a company and its employees.

The employee handbook I’m using for this project is owned and utilized by my current employer, and it is lacking in information and design. Plus, it is dated because it does not include recent changes the company has undergone.

My idea is to create a template so that any company could pick it up and customize the information to fit its needs. I will make this happen by incorporating form fields where applicable and including an instruction sheet with the template for users unfamiliar with form fields.

This project will be more about the design and layout of text rather than with graphics, so this is probably my least favorite project and may be replaced at a later date if I come across something that seems more interesting.