Reflection

Finally, it has been almost 3 months since setting up this blog and as each blog post task is done, it’s time to look back and reflect on some of the things that I’ve picked up upon taking up the subject of Issues in Publication and Design. Firstly, who knew that there were a lot of document design principles implemented in a simple document? With the first post, I learnt about the concept of document design by Reep (2006) and how both visuals and text must complement each other to effectively draw readers’ attention. Putnis and Petelin (1996) also emphasizes that the key to effective writing lies in the given context and readership. Hence, I now know how to write and design better as a document designer to reach my intended audience.

With this blog, important issues in publishing are also brought to light. For instance, with the new trend of blogging, micro-blogging, and social networking, I am now more aware of how to practice self-censorship and to think twice before posting materials online as it can spread within seconds thanks to the speed and immediacy of the online world. Furthermore, the ethical issues have definitely taught me as a blogger to be more careful in future with what I say online as it will be permanent and people will be listening to what I have to say (Gerbyshack 2009). Lastly, I’m glad that this subject has been informative and helpful to me as a communication student to know the fundamentals in publication and design.

References:

Gerbyshack, P 2009, Fired for facebook and twitter, Philgerbyshack.com, 19 March, viewed 13 November 2010, <http://www.philgerbyshak.com/fired-for-facebook-and-twitter/>

Putnis P & Petelin R 1996, ‘Writing to communicate’, in Professional communication, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Reep D 2006, ‘Principles of document design’, in Technical writing, 6th edn, Pearson Edu, Inc., New York.