For our first project in semester two we were given the task to profile a person, idea, or place. In English we were taught how to write a magzine article and then we were tasked with actually writing one. In Web/Audio we made a website, this website, and a commercial to go along with our profile article. For Design class we made the lay out that the magaine would go in. All together we had a finished project of a magazine,website, and commercial.

I chose to porfile Canine Companions for Independence. It is a non-profit organization which raises dogs for disabled people. I was first introduced to the program when I was very young. When it came time to pick an organization or person who influenced my community I realized it was the perfect opportunity to show the amazing things this organization does. The care and precision that goes into raising and training these dogs is exquisite. CCI is now a nationally recognized organization and is still growing. Their dogs provide service to thousands of people in need. For my profile I chose to highlight one part of the program. I felt that it would be interesting to look at the year and a half of puppy raising that the dogs go through. I wanted to show how tough it is for these dogs to pass, but also how much effort they put into it. Many people think that it is up to the puppy raiser to train the dog enough to pass or fail. However, in most cases it is up to the dog.

I learned a lot through this project. The energy and time it takes to create an entire piece from ground zero to finished project is enormus. I have spent the last few months on this project making sure that everything is exactly how it should be. Every design, word, and idea has gone through me in order to make sure that it is exactly what I want. My article has switched focus and my magazine has changed desgings many times. However, I learned a lot about how to write a good profile article, and also how to design something that isn't for you, but for someone else. This site and the article both emulate the colors and feelings of CCI.

The commercial we were tasked to make was supposed to be a short trailer introsucing the article to people. We used After Effects to put our entire commerical together. The audio in the piece in the anecdotal lead from my article and all the photos are also the ones being used in my gallary and in the magazine article. It was hard to create the commercial, so that it would have the right effect that I wanted. I learned a lot about how to use After Effects. There are a lot of different tools in the program that we learned how to manipulate in order to create a product. I learned that it takes a lot more time then I originally thought to make a commerical.

When tasked with creating a magazine I was excited and also nervous. It is an intricate process that is necissary for the creation of a profile of any organization or person. After fist picking what I was going to profile, we had to learn how to profile. In english class we were tasked with reading lots of article and learning how to interview people. We learned about the ethics of article writing and also the value of it. After much reaserch and training we were then tasked with writing our own. Lots interviews and reaserch was expected and required in order to write the article. However, a magazine isn't just about the article it is also about the layout. In design class we were tasked with created a layout for the magazine. The entire 5 page piece was written and desgined by me. This type of creative freedom allows for very different pieces, which can be seen in all the different magazines people made. The most important thing for me was that my article and magazine layout reflected the organization I was profiling. I wanted to make it sleek and proffesional and yet fun and inviting. I chose to use the blue background and white font for my article because it is out of the ordanary, just like Canine Companions for Independence is. The photos I chose all feature the dogs becuase the program is about the dogs. The fonts that I picked are all understated but fun at the same time, which I feel is a representation of the dogs. All together the magazine is a cohesive representation of CCI and the dogs they raise. If you click on the yellow lab to the left, it will take you to my article.

This project taught me a lot about all the different componenets that go into making a magazine. Everything from the font to the line spacing is looked at. Certain colors shades or types of fonts can change the whole feel of a magazine. In designing a layout you have to take eveything into account and be sure that everything you are doing will look good in the end. Certain photos can only go certain places. Every quote is picked and placed for a reason. It is a lot harder than it looks. I have learned to appreciate the work that goes into creating a magazine.

Below is a screenshot of my InDesign interface as I was working on my magazine. Some of the interwokrings of the process can be seen through the different tools that we learned how to use. A lot of text wrap and drop shadows were used in the making of this magazine.

Interviews are a really big part of any profile piece. For my article I wanted to interview people who had raised or are raising CCI dogs, but I also wanted them all to be different peopl. Each person that I interviewd got into the program differently and they all live very different lives. However they all are similar in that they raise CCI dogs. Each person has a differnt take on the raising process. It was interesting to see that while they were all different, they were not different by much. Interviewing was a long and tireing process. We had to do four interviews and they had to be at least 10 minutes. Then we had to transcribe all the interviews, which took quite a while. The process was worth it in the end and the final product can be seen below. Click on each headshot to read a little bit about the person and you can even listen to the interview.

Sue
Guzman

Erin Callaghan

JoAnn Ranish

Cassidy Craford