Blog 4

What is the most important thing I have learned so far in DCT 355?

This is a difficult question because I feel that all of the information is important. Each thing I have learned links with another, ultimately helping me to create a much more professional product. For me, learning the technology is the most important. Prezi, PhotoShop, and ComicLife are all new programs to my repertoire. In the short time I have used these three programs I feel I have learned them very well. However, I would like to practice more with the programs so I can remember them thoroughly. This knowledge will make future project go smoother and will also create a more professional look.

Also, learning the Mac computer has been crucial to my future success in DTC. Although Mac and PC are similar, more similar now than back in the early 90’s when I had my Mac, there are a lot of different tricks to be learned. These tricks are time savers and are important for computer geeks to know.

Re-learning the CRAP principles from Robin Williams’s book, The Non-Designers Book is also important. I am able to use these principles on all my projects. Whether the project is text or images, the CRAP principles help to improve the project.

My final answer is “Multi-media Authoring”.

 Act like Burbules

I chose to evaluate The Kim Komando Show’s website. I chose her website because one, she is “America’s Digital Goddess”, and two; there are a lot of links to evaluate.

The first thing that caught my eye after reading Burbules was that Kim Komando is known as “America’s Digital Goddess”. This is what Burbules would describe as a hyperbola trope, or an “exaggeration for the sake of tropic emphasis” (113).

In addition to the hyperbola trope, the Komando website has a shopping cart which links to “Kim’s Store”. This link is what Burbules describes as a metonymy trope, like the pentagon shape used as a home link (111). It is commonplace for a shopping cart icon to be used as a link to product sales.

Finally, the Operation Komando link at the bottom of the web page represents what Burbules explains as an identity trope. This is an identity trope because it links two things that do not appear to be related (e.g., soldier aid and Kim Komando). The link is designed with an American flag and a silhouette of a soldier. In addition the link has Komando’s name which is in effect minimizing the differences and linking the two together (115).

  (http://www.komando.com/)

Works Cited

Burbules, Nicholas. Taking Literacy into the Electronic Era. New York, NY: Routledge,

2001. 102-122. Print.

Komando, Kim . The Kim Komando Show. West Star Talk Radio Network. 29 Sep. 2010.