Standards VII

Desktop Publishing

The desktop publishing teacher has the knowledge and skills needed to teach the Foundations, Information Acquisition, Work in Solving Problems, Communication strands of the Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in desktop publishing, in addition to the content described in Technology Applications Standards I-V.

Reflection
Desktop Publishing has always been a fundamental tool for creating awareness and informaing individuals. Whether it is a flyer, business card, newsletter, or even a party invitation, we value these pieces of information because they attempt to inform us of important information and events. There were so many things that I never realized truly mattered when it cam to working with printed materials. Many times, I have found myself creating publications with no prior planning and lacking vital information. Without using proper and/or acceptable techniques, many readers lose focus and many publications end up being ignored or placed in the nearest trash receptacle. I gained a new and valued insight from the world of DTP. From the typeface used to the wise use of repetition, alignment, and proximity..I have learned how to create publications the correct way. Planning is so very important, which I have noticed moreso in this course than any other. Without proper planning, a great idea can become a DTP nightmare.

Artifact #6 / Artifact #7

Caption 6

Indicators: TA TEKS: 7.1s, 7.3s, 7.7s, 7.10s, 7.14s, 7.16s, 7.15s, 7.18s, 7.29s, 7.46s, 7.34s, 7.33s, 7.31s, 7.30s, 7.35s, 7.41s, 7.17s, 8.14s, 8.24s, 8.43s, 8.44s, 8.45s, 11.4s

Artifact #6

Descriptors: Desktop Publishing, Digital Graphics, Web Authoring

Title: Desktop Publishing Newsletter

Course: Desktop Publishing

Date Created: January 2003

Source: Individual Project

Media: Microsoft Publisher 2002, Adobe Acrobat

Description: This was a two part assignment consisting of importing information from various Interactive Guides and using the information to create at least a one page newsletter that would be a learning tool for the novice desktop publisher. For part one, a masthead and template had to be created for future publications of the newsletter. For part two, the template had to be used in order to import, format, and resize information obtained from the guides in order to create a final draft.

The requirements for this assignment were:

1. A skeleton template with graphic and caption areas (different file from the final actual content newsletter product)

2. Imported text from Module 2 Interactive Guides for the final copy

3. Attractive use of white space, proximity, repetition, and graphics to enhance the readability of the newsletter.

4. A graphic masthead

5. Wise use of typography, headlines, pullquotes and columns to maximize print space.

Rationale: For this assignment, a newsletter template and final draft had to be created. The newsletter and template were created using Microsoft Publisher 2002 and various pieces of imported text from Interactive Guides in Module 2. After studying the basics of DTP, I understood exactly what I needed to do as far as the overall newsletter was concerned. The problem with this assignment was that the final product had to be universally readable. Well, it could not be a web page and this is where the difficulty came into play. Microsoft Publisher or .pub files are not universally readable; therefore, Adobe Distiller had to be used in order to transform the newsletter into a .pdf file. This way anyone attempting to view the newsletter would be able to with Adobe's Acrobat Reader software. After a series of tutorials, I was successful and very proud to know that I had gone out on my "skinny branch" and survived. I realized that there are many new features within MS Publisher 2002 and this gave me a chance to brush up a few things while learning more about DTP. I truly realize that it is important to understand the do's and dont's of DTP. I look back and ponder all the things tha were not "acceptable" in terms of DTP techniques. I am now very informed and have a wealth of resources from my experiences.

Implications for future: Desktop Publishing is an area that I feel much more comfortable with as a result of completing the projects and learning experiences provided to me in this course. Desktop Publishing definitely has a place in the technology classroom and curriculum. I think that students should be taught the basic concepts and principles of design along with acceptable practices in the field of DTP. I would like to create and incorporate a unit on Desktop Publishing for my students in order to provide them with a basic foundation and introduction to this topic. As for me, I would really like to utilize some of the resources for DTP and learn more of the techniques in order to perfect some of my earlier designs.

Reviewers Comments:
"Give yourself more credit, you did a great job on the newsletter. Nice design, use of color, use of space, and nice layout. Great Job!"

Review Name: Kayla Steiner

Date Reviewed: January 29, 2003

Title: TATC Instructor

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Caption 7

Indicators: TA TEKS9.29s, 7.10s, 9.19s

Artifact #7

Descriptors: Desktop Publishing, Digital Graphics,

Title: Selling Yourself Advertisement

Course: Extended Desktop Publishing 204

Date Created: April 2003

Source: Individual Project

Media: Photohsop 7

Description: For this particular assignment, and advertisement was created in order to sell/promote myself and services offered by a ficticious personal business or through a hobby while incoporating proper DTP design techniques. The only specific requirements were to create a representative image in an acceptable format, which was .bmp or.png., and also to utilize one of three dimensional settings. The image file had to be uploaded and shared with other online community members.

Rationale: This artifact was selected because I was able to confidently complete this task and feel great about the final product the first time around. I thought that this artifact exhibited a well thought out design and also a pleasing color scheme. I have grown so much since the beginning of the year. This project highlighted my enhanced skills as a result of building upon the skills obtained in previous courses

Implications for future: I was definitely able to visualize my actual growth through this assignment. I would really like to understand the actual process of layouts as related to newspapers and incorporating advertisements. This is something I have not focused on in my course teachings. I think it would be really informational and enlightening to learn how the actual news and ads are placed throughout an actual newspaper.

Reviewers Comments: "I'm impressed! Great job."

Review Name: Lanee R. Warwick

Date Reviewed: April 2003

Title: TATC Participant

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