Recent Projects
Blog Post
Fall Recipes for Your Fall Veggies
I wrote this cutesy little piece for the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati to use. The whole point was to make something that would promote the organization while engaging and entertaining readers. I tailored the friendly tone to the CGC's target audience and came up with recipes that would be entertaining for that audience to read over. Basically, I used fun prose to make an ad that you don't hate for being an ad.
Brochure
Crafting the Real
With a team of two of my MA colleagues, I designed and wrote the copy for this brochure. UC's PhD in literary nonfiction program was in need of some fresh promotional materials, and we lent them our expertise. I realized that the "literary nonfiction" label is confusing to some, so I decided to offer familiar examples (here, they're Thompson, Thoreau) of the field to paint a definite picture. Less space used explaining meant more space for promoting, and I used bold, colorful fonts for the statistics that really sell the program. Why ramble endlessly, when you can quickly point out that 75% of grads land full-time academic work?
Brochure
The "Impact" Brochure
I put this together for Breakthrough Cincinnati, a wonderful organization that provides a summer educational program for promising, underprivileged youth. Among other deliverables, the organization needed a print document that articulated the impact that the organization has on the Cincinnati area. I adhered to the law of simplicity for both the design and copy of this document, so that readers' eyes would drift naturally to the most compelling information. The end result is readable, uncluttered, and useful to Breakthrough Cincinnati.
Essay
The Rise of the Listicle
In a theory class, I was asked to explore and analyze a contemporary social phenomenon. I decided to look into the increased popularity of web articles composed in list form, sometimes called "listicles." This essay depended on thorough research and some serious critical thinking, and in the end, I saw lists in whole new light. Analyzing this pervasive trend gave me a chance to think outside the box and gain special insight into the nature of language.
This essay walks readers through some dense subjects, but it presents these subjects in a way that general audiences will find intelligible and entertaining.
Proposal
Untitled Feasibility Report
This piece is a response to a fictional scenario, in which I have been asked to recommend one of three buildings for the "TRU" business to move to. The writing here adheres to the conventions of business communication. As such, the sentences are short, and the words are simple. However, the report never comes off as choppy, and the voice is never pedantic. Rather, the whole piece is succinct and it makes a poignant (but respectfully measured!) case for the Grandview address.
Infograph
High Blood Pressure Print-Out
In an information design course, I was tasked with making an infographic that would warn seniors about the dangers of high-blood pressure. I drew from extensive survey data and found that fear of change was common among seniors, even if it's healthy change. With that in mind, I decided to design something that channels nostalgia, presents a world before all the change. That's where the 50s kitsch comes in. Meanwhile, the copy drops some sobering statistics on readers, reminding them that HBP demands urgency.
We conducted user tests, and seniors said they enjoyed the look of the document, and more importantly, they found it compelling.
Plan
Data Plan for an Online Copyright Resource
In a graduate Editing course, I was given the task of compiling a guide for future students to make an online resource for general copyright information. The research was quite challenging, as there are presently few comprehensive guides to copyright. The plan gives its users direction, however, so that they would not have to search for details in the dark. The section on the Creative Commons, in particular, provides much needed clarity on a subject that had previously gone largely unexplained.