ENC 4215 Peer Review Form for Business Card & Letterhead To be completed by the Designer: Name of Designer: Claudia Gonzalez A brief statement of the Purpose, Audience, Subject, and Situation for the document: Purpose: To create a simple business card and accompanying letterhead for a technical editor at a [fictional] publishing house, “Bookends”. The design is meant to be clean and to the point, as to not distract the reader from the information provided. Audience: Authors looking to get their work either published or edited by this company. Subject: Claudia Gonzalez, a technical editor for the publishing house. The business card is to have her and the company’s information. The letterhead is one meant to be used by the company. Situation: I used a color scheme that I felt would not be boring, but also would not be distracting. The color scheme also matches that of the fictional logo used for this company and they mesh well together. It is meant to be a minimalistic approach and also professional.
To be completed by the Reviewer: Name of Reviewer: Michael Diaz When completing this form, be sure to address the questions posed in Module 3. 1. List three or more strengths of the business card. • • • • •
The contact information is very clear and the card looks clean. The color scheme and font choices reflect an image of cleanliness and sophistication on the company, as well as making it look modern. The card uses font size to create a clear hierarchy, making the company name and logo the focal point. The line under “Bookends” gives the audience a straightforward understanding of what the company does. Overall, the business card exemplifies great implementation of all the visual cognates: a casual tone balanced by a concise style and thorough ethos.
2. List at least two areas/aspects of the business card that could be improved. • • • •
The arrangements of the elements in the focal area (the center portion, in this case) feel uneven and too spread out, making the card feel bottom-heavy. At the same time, this distracts the reader from the contact information on the bottom. The quarter-circle design on the bottom portion makes the design more interesting, but it is also a bit distracting from the focal point and throws off the balance in the bottom portion. The largeness of the yellow section conflicts with the large company name and logo, creating a conflict in the hierarchy of information. The logo adds some depth to the simple business card, but it feels like it might be too detailed within its’ small area, making it feel out of place.
3. Offer specific suggestions for improvement. I think your business card looks very professional and is a great starting point. The color and font choices, as well as clean lines of color definitely say a lot about the company. I have a few specific suggestions for improving the middle section of the card. I think they would all make the card a little more interesting and balanced, but feel free to use my ideas as little or as much as you see fit. Most of the issues I will be addressing pertain to the visual cognates of arrangement and emphasis. First, I would suggest that you make the logo bigger. You could make it the width of the card itself (keeping it the same height, if possible), and then put a more simple logo next to the company name. Alternatively, you could tweak the size of the white
and yellow portions of your design, specifically by making the yellow section smaller, so that it doesn’t feel so bottom-heavy. One other possible way I would address this particular issue would be to replace the current logo with a simpler one and making the company name larger. I also think the arrowheads to the left of the company name could be removed, as they make the card feel a too asymmetrical, and are a bit distracting. Regardless of which alterations you think make the most sense, I think emphasizing and distinguishing the company name more (in size and font) would improve the design.
4. List three or more strengths of the letterhead. • • • •
The design is very consistent with that of the business card. The fonts, colors, and graphics are all consistent. The letterhead has the same tone of professionalism and modernity as the business card, which is important for the company’s image. The letterhead can be used by anyone in the company, as you mentioned in the PASS section. There is a lot of undisturbed white space for correspondence.
5. List at least two areas/aspects of the letterhead that could be improved. • • •
The design feels very top heavy. Although the important information should be at the top, it seems like the current arrangement causes the correspondence area to be pushed down too far. The arrangement of the information on the top seems unorganized and unclear, leaving no clear division between the letterhead’s design and the correspondence area. Because the colored areas are thinner than on the business card, the design loses some of its ethos.
6. Offer specific suggestions for improvement. Your letterhead design maintains a lot of white space for correspondence and it is very consistent with your business card. The asymmetrical design of your card seems difficult to transition to a letterhead design while maintaining good arrangement and professionalism in the letterhead, but I have a few suggestions for improving it. Initially, I would suggest that you make a clearer distinction between the information on the top of the document and the beginning of the correspondence area. This can be done with a visible or imaginary line, as long as the arrangement of the elements supports it. I think putting the company name and logo on one line and the contact information on a below that would be a huge improvement for the design. It would make the top section half as thick, as well as create a clear distinction between
it and the correspondence section. Here is a rough mock-up of what this could look like:
In addition, because of the much higher ratio of white space to color in comparison to the business card, the letterhead doesn’t feel as bold or impactful. A visible line under the information section or increasing the height of the blue bar above the information section could help bolster your letterhead’s ethos. I enjoyed analyzing your designs, as well as your feedback on my own! I had some concerns about my design, and really appreciated getting your view on them. I look forward to addressing the things you pointed out, particularly the issues with the logo I used and consistency with my subject’s website. As designers, I think it’s invaluable to be able to get a second opinion about our work from people that also have experience designing. Again, thanks for your feedback. I look forward to working with you throughout the rest of the semester.