French Hand Instruction Manual
Technical Writing Portfolio April 2012
Technical Writing Portfolio April 2012
This instructional manualwas part of my portfolio for my Technical Writing class. The research isfrom http://geert-hofstede.com/france.html providedby the instructor, Mr. Anirban Ray.
My purpose to develop“Drawing Realistic Hands,” was to be: creative, universal and logical. It wascreative due to the actual drawing. It was universal since humans everywherehave hands; and logical because of the reasoning behind the steps.
I researched online aboutlearning a new culture, and I scanned the initial artwork and made itprofessional using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.
My audience is theParisians. They have a Westernized business language and they are the mostnoticeable when representing the French culture. My adjustments were to writeformally, and to recognize the subtle business etiquette of a high contextculture.
According to my research, using Geert Hofstede'sCultural Insights, the French have a 68 in the Power Distance Index. The manualincludes a detailed explanation in the ‘Notes,’ captions, along withreferencing figures. The Uncertainty Avoidance Index is 86, with color-codedsteps emphasizing clarity.
Their Masculinity scoreis 43 incorporating cool colors except for the ‘Cautions,’ caption in yellow.Their Individualism score is 71, therefore, the steps are separated and easy toreference back to. The Long-Term Orientation dimension is 39 and usesguidelines throughout its steps.
I chose thecolors were because of the light contrast between all of the design elements.
The outcomes I feel Ihave achieved are designing a convincing, effective and usable manual that wasethical and could communicate with a different culture.
My purpose to develop“Drawing Realistic Hands,” was to be: creative, universal and logical. It wascreative due to the actual drawing. It was universal since humans everywherehave hands; and logical because of the reasoning behind the steps.
I researched online aboutlearning a new culture, and I scanned the initial artwork and made itprofessional using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.
My audience is theParisians. They have a Westernized business language and they are the mostnoticeable when representing the French culture. My adjustments were to writeformally, and to recognize the subtle business etiquette of a high contextculture.
According to my research, using Geert Hofstede'sCultural Insights, the French have a 68 in the Power Distance Index. The manualincludes a detailed explanation in the ‘Notes,’ captions, along withreferencing figures. The Uncertainty Avoidance Index is 86, with color-codedsteps emphasizing clarity.
Their Masculinity scoreis 43 incorporating cool colors except for the ‘Cautions,’ caption in yellow.Their Individualism score is 71, therefore, the steps are separated and easy toreference back to. The Long-Term Orientation dimension is 39 and usesguidelines throughout its steps.
I chose thecolors were because of the light contrast between all of the design elements.
The outcomes I feel Ihave achieved are designing a convincing, effective and usable manual that wasethical and could communicate with a different culture.
The Title Page: the masthead
This is the title page of the French Hand Manual. It has the miniaturized finished hand with a sans serif, Calibri, in bold at 33 points. It has the same font for consistency in a contrasting purple of C-75 M-100 Y-0 K-0, or R-102 G-45 B-145 to go with the "Frankenstein-like," green of R-224 G-236 B-183, or C-13 M-0 Y-35 K-0.
I have included both the RGB and the CMYK codes since the assignment called for both print and digital media. It helped me to see the vast difference between the inks in their percentages for the screen and on paper.
I used small caps in the 33-point Calibri sans serif title, “Drawing Realistic Hands,” for the more professional outlook. The simplicity brings attention to the subject matter of the finished hand piece to its left.
The light gray separator was used as a contrast to the, “Frankenstein-like,” green. It had to be light enough to tie the purple and the black texts. I used R-35 G-31 B-32 for the light grey.
This is the title page of the French Hand Manual. It has the miniaturized finished hand with a sans serif, Calibri, in bold at 33 points. It has the same font for consistency in a contrasting purple of C-75 M-100 Y-0 K-0, or R-102 G-45 B-145 to go with the "Frankenstein-like," green of R-224 G-236 B-183, or C-13 M-0 Y-35 K-0.
I have included both the RGB and the CMYK codes since the assignment called for both print and digital media. It helped me to see the vast difference between the inks in their percentages for the screen and on paper.
I used small caps in the 33-point Calibri sans serif title, “Drawing Realistic Hands,” for the more professional outlook. The simplicity brings attention to the subject matter of the finished hand piece to its left.
The light gray separator was used as a contrast to the, “Frankenstein-like,” green. It had to be light enough to tie the purple and the black texts. I used R-35 G-31 B-32 for the light grey.
Section One: Getting Started
Thefirst part of this page has the masthead from the title page while continuingwith the
design elements with clear descriptions of thehow-to skill of drawing hands.
The objective for this design layout was to explain thepurpose of the manual, include an introduction, and display notes and captionsin a light blue and sand color. The text is heavier since it is the beginningwith some white space as natural pauses when reading.
Also, there are bullet points to indicated materialsneeded before beginning to draw the subject matter of the hand. Italics wereused in the subheadings.
Thefirst part of this page has the masthead from the title page while continuingwith the
design elements with clear descriptions of thehow-to skill of drawing hands.
The objective for this design layout was to explain thepurpose of the manual, include an introduction, and display notes and captionsin a light blue and sand color. The text is heavier since it is the beginningwith some white space as natural pauses when reading.
Also, there are bullet points to indicated materialsneeded before beginning to draw the subject matter of the hand. Italics wereused in the subheadings.
The Steps: the next three pages
Below are four pages of steps to creating hands. Tothe right are the hands in succession toward completion. The purple circlesstart at the knuckle guidelines.
The purple lines lead to the current steps taken byeach picture, such as when the artist will be drawing the ligaments or themetacarpals.
The blue “Notes,” boxes are the C-15 Y-0 M-0 K-0, orR-212 G-239 B-252. I chose the soft blue as a contrast and a tie in to the“Frankenstein-like,” green, white space, light gray. It also complemented thepurple details.
The sand-like “Caution,” caption was the lightestcolor C-0 M-2 Y-20 K-0, or the R-255 G-246 B-210 on the title page as arequirement during a how-to manual and to signify any potential accidents usingmaterials in drawing.
Below are four pages of steps to creating hands. Tothe right are the hands in succession toward completion. The purple circlesstart at the knuckle guidelines.
The purple lines lead to the current steps taken byeach picture, such as when the artist will be drawing the ligaments or themetacarpals.
The blue “Notes,” boxes are the C-15 Y-0 M-0 K-0, orR-212 G-239 B-252. I chose the soft blue as a contrast and a tie in to the“Frankenstein-like,” green, white space, light gray. It also complemented thepurple details.
The sand-like “Caution,” caption was the lightestcolor C-0 M-2 Y-20 K-0, or the R-255 G-246 B-210 on the title page as arequirement during a how-to manual and to signify any potential accidents usingmaterials in drawing.
The Conclusion: after 11 steps of “DrawingRealistic Hands.”
Below is thefinal page in the manual. The last three steps are shown, with the followinglight gray separator to indicate the final message.
The message suggests that the artist can now applytheir skill in a few ways: as gift to family and friends, or to impress someonein their field of interest.
Below is thefinal page in the manual. The last three steps are shown, with the followinglight gray separator to indicate the final message.
The message suggests that the artist can now applytheir skill in a few ways: as gift to family and friends, or to impress someonein their field of interest.
