Comments on: #InfographicInspiration: Put CRAP in Your Document Design

By: Faizal Zulkifli

Faizal Zulkifli — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 03:47:44 +0000

I agree that the tips given above are very helpful in helping with our document design to make it appealing to the reader, However, if I can add another component to the above CRAP elements I would definitely add an S for Simplicity. The reason is because usually students like me tend to get carried away in designing a document where our creativity sometimes seems to get the best of us. A fair reminder about how to keep our document design as simple as possible would actually make a difference as it can avoid our work from being too over the top.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 19:42:38 +0000

This infographic was very informative and will be extremely helpful in the upcoming months as I complete my Senior Capstone class. This project is a self-paced, semester long project that requires my team to design a new infield for Richmond International Speedway in Richmond, Virginia and develop a construction plan. This project will contain mostly technical information and will be graded by my professors, as well as industry professionals. So, besides the quality of the content, document and presentation design is also extremely important. This infographic will be a good resource when the time comes to create these final documents and presentations and will hopefully allow myself and my team to create final products that catch our audiences’ attention, look professional, and ultimately help set our team apart from the other teams and win the competition.

By: Christian Arroz

Christian Arroz — Sat, 03 Feb 2018 01:49:06 +0000

I love how the centerpiece of this graphic is the Principles of Design because in professional writing I feel as though the CRAP elements really are standards that can be overlooked in this environment. Having contrast makes the document unique and memorable in terms of information or color. Repetition reinforces a specific idea or theme that is trying to be portrayed and can show a commitment to structure. I agree with the gentlemen in the video that recognition can be the difference between a basic colored document and a multi-colored document. I feel as though these principles would be useful in projects and presentations.

By: Ben Joel

Ben Joel — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 20:37:50 +0000

This infographic really resonated with me because one of my pet peeves when reading a report, article, etc. is when the document design is bad. I have had a couple of labs throughout college, and one thing I always did before submitting lab reports was take the time to make sure my report looked good. I think the power of using contrast is very under-rated because it can provide so much clarity to a document and make it easy for the reader to pick up on things. Alignment and proximity are also powerful tools for making your document look professional. I will take the time to try and make my professional bio look better by using the CRAP method.

By: Youngsu Kim

Youngsu Kim — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 18:15:16 +0000

The video was somewhat helpful for me. I think I kind of taught myself to apply the CRAP system to whatever I do like project reports and coding since I came to the college. The design, its consistency and recognizable pattern is what makes it look professional in my opinion. I will definitely use and try to apply the CRAP system to my professional bio statement. It’s going to attract reader’s attention more and that’s what I need for my professional bio statement. It’s written for recruiters in mind so my professional bio needs to be eye-catching.

By: Mackenzie Knox

Mackenzie Knox — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 05:16:24 +0000

I too think this is a helpful infographic but I was having trouble seeing its application to our professional bios before you broke it down. The video seemed to focus on the graphics aspect of it in association with logos and such which is not currently relevant to me. However, I now have a better understanding of the CRAP/PARC methodology in written documents, like my professional bio. I think having work that is aesthetically pleasing is extremely important in order to appear as professional as possible as well as engage your reader. I want my reader to want to read my work.

By: Josh Detwiler

Josh Detwiler — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 05:01:47 +0000

This infographic resembles the acronym it’s using. I understand the design elements it’s trying to convey, but it uses a bunch of junk design elements to do so. Where it could have used meaningful examples and illustrations of its suggestions, the infographic uses basic and rather meaningless shapes. Shapes and colors can lead to a more elegant design, but they have to have a purpose too.

As for the individual aspects of CRAP, I’ve had to practice these a lot in web development. It’s usually good to have contrast in headers and footers from the body, repetition among CSS styles of similar HTML elements, alignment of div elements (literally a block), and proximity especially in elements seen when scrolling from both a desktop and a phone. Applying those to my bio, I might try similar approaches. I think as long as the paragraphs aren’t huge and align well with the surrounding elements, it’ll look nice.

By: Cassie Bienert

Cassie Bienert — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 03:06:12 +0000

I keep being surprised by the significance of layout, design, color, etc. in professional pieces of writing. As a science major I am used to scholarly research articles which include very little creativity; however, I now see how the layout of research posters and papers can impact the overall piece. Alignment is especially important for CVs and Resumes – It speaks to a persons attention to detail and organization. A messy looking resume = messy person.

By: Zachary Cohen

Zachary Cohen — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 02:38:55 +0000

I found the video to very useful and actually quite relatable. I’m a geography major, and lot of good map making comes down to proper placement and spacing of map elements, which according to the video is a big part of graphic design. I definitely think the skills outlined in the video are valuable to know, because being able to brand and represent oneself well is an important ability. I’ve always struggled with making infographics so I think the CRAP method will be especially useful for those.

By: Katherine Butler

Katherine Butler — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:50:37 +0000

Immediately after reading the headline of this post, I knew what it would be about. Actually, I took the Writing and Digital Media class here at Tech and we learned about this exact same method! I found it useful when I was creating blog posts on Medium.com, but also I have carried it with me in other parts of my life, too. I am not surprised we are discussing it here considering the focus of this class. I will definitely save the image posted on this, though, for future reference! Thank you!