- Maker: Jasmine Jackson
- Genre: Podcast
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5800: Editing, Layout, and Design
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Winter 2020
Description:
From Shark Tank #2, I bring you a podcast episode about desktop publishing, the evolution of design, and a tutorial for creating a multi-page document using Adobe InDesign. I determined early on that I wanted to produce a podcast episode that would be useful for students in communication and digital media disciplines, who want to bring their layout ideas to life by using Adobe Creative tools. I remember accessing Adobe Creative Cloud applications for the first time during my senior year of undergrad. I was completely enchanted by the creative possibilities within the applications but found the multiplicity of controls, difficult to learn without the aid of several lengthy YouTube videos. I was curious about the autodidactate learning process of students when it comes to design software and was motivated to create a podcast that would help students who feel anxious or intimidated about using Adobe Creative software, specifically Adobe InDesign, for the very first time. I also wanted to link InDesign to a real world career, desktop publishing, and include the perspective of a professional in the episode so that listeners could get an in depth understanding of the experimental nature of the design process. Finally, I wanted students to see what a finished product would look like, using the guidelines in the tutorial. This finished product is displayed in my post “Multi-page Document: Program Booklet.
Reflection:
The design thinking process did not affect how I initially approached this project because I had so many ideas for creating the instructional that I became carried away with enthusiasm and creativity. The design process began to affect my approach only when I recognized that I needed to organize my ideas if I wanted to not only produce a coherent podcast, but to start recording the podcast. I realized how alluring the beginning stages of design can be. I think it is crucial to have a purpose for production in order to move beyond the ideation and research stages. Producing a podcast differed from a typical writing assignment because it challenged me to think critically about how to approach learning from a mode that is often overlooked. I am satisfied with the diversity of structure in my podcast, i.e. interview, game component, music, instructional, and real-world application. I am most proud of my innovative approach to creating a byproduct of the podcast episode that listeners can see on the website in my next post. I followed convention by including background music, at a lower volume, throughout the podcast and intentionally explored the effectiveness of audio as a mode of instruction that is often subordinate to the visual mode.
