Project 4: Best of Philly

Image credit: William Way LGBT Community Center

Due Friday 4/26 on Canvas by 11:59pm

Please use this Group collaboration and deadline accountability document to find a partner and share your work.

Overview

This project asks you to write, illustrate, lay out, and create an interactive component for an article for print publication in a travel magazine, such as Condé Nast Traveler , Travel + Leisure, or Where. The article should highlight a dimension of Philadelphia that would appeal to visitors. Topics in areas such as culture, history, beauty, shopping, family, or architecture are all appropriate. Different visitors will have different interests, so develop a refined sense of your audience and choose your content to appeal to them. The project aims to highlight the “Best of” a specific topic — not the “best of” the entire city of Philadelphia. The more specific your topic, the easier it will be to focus your story and stand out in a crowd of articles about Philadelphia. Try to think about a new angle on the topic of Philadelphia tourism. The target audience is tourists and residents who may not know about this side of Philadelphia; you will be giving them the perspective of an insider. For a better sense of the audience, you can also check out the Visit Philly website. I also suggest reading articles about tourism to see how these kinds of things are written and to get a feel for the voice used for travel magazine writing, for example http://www.visitphilly.com/history-in-philadelphia/ and http://www.phillyvoice.com/events/.

Project components and process

Start this project by choosing a topic and researching it. Choosing a topic entails finding your angle on the topic (what will make this article interesting or different?) and understanding your target audience (demographics as well as values and beliefs). Research should be aided by your own knowledge of the topic, so choose a topic that you matches your own area of interest.

  1. After choosing a topic, angle, and audience and after conducting any needed research, write your article (approximately 1,000 words).
  2. Then, illustrate the article with your own photography or graphics. I am looking for at least four illustrations in your story. You can create original vector graphics or use original photography. You could also find something quantifiable in your story and turn it into a chart, timeline, or graph, but be sure to cite the source of data use in your graphic. If your topic is historical, you may use licensed stock or archival photos, but please ensure that at least half the illustrations are your own.
  3. Next, create at least three screen prototypes for a smartphone app designed to make the topic interactive in some way. The app’s focus could be navigational, informational, visual (like a digital gallery) or all three.
  4. Combine all these pieces into a magazine layout covering three pages, with the first two pages covering the spread. The app should be advertised in some way in your article, encouraging readers to download it from the Android or iTunes store.
  5. Finally, write a project statement to frame your work on the project and describe the goals and choices. The project statement should include a list of works cited as well as a list of media adapted (such as stock photos) for the project.

Project timeline

3/27 — Pair up, choose topics, begin research
4/10 — Article draft due, app wireframe due, at least three thumbnail sketches of layouts due
4/17 — draft of project due
4/26 — final draft due at 11:59pm on Canvas

Assessment

Although individual projects are not graded, the expectations for the final version of this project are as follows:

  • Completeness of project (follows all instructions, includes all five parts listed above).
  • Quality of writing: Your story is your own, is long enough, and is well-written.
  • Demonstration of understanding of typesetting and typography—appropriate font choices, clear hierarchy, proper spacing and punctuation, and of course, no typos.
  • Use of a grid, focal point and other compositional techniques.
  • Selection of well-composed and subject-appropriate images, and balanced, appropriate positioning of images in layout.
  • At least four illustrations are included, most of these being original.
  • At least three prototype screens are included for the app.
  • Timeliness of submission (drafts and final turned in on time).

Here is the feedback rubric I will use for this project.

Social justice topics

In the past, I have asked students to focus on social justice topics for this project. While you are not required to do this, here is a list of past topics if you want to go this route:

On Canvas, you can download examples of past student projects if you need inspiration. Please don’t share the examples with anyone outside of class.