The contents of this leaflet are written to give information on the AQA support meetings available to Business studies teachers. The leaflet includes the assessment objective for the courses, what the units will cover, it contains a breakdown of the topics throughout the AS and A2 course, it gives details of were you can find out more information about business studies AS and A2, it gives a breakdown of what the courses will provide, and then gives a timetable of where, when, and reference numbers for each of the courses across the UK.
2.4 Layout
This leaflet consists of seven pages, I am going explain the layout of each page separately and evaluate the quality of the layout at the end.
The front cover has the company logo “AQA Teacher support” in the top right hand corner of the page, in the top left hand corner of the page is a section of text at a slanted angle informing the reader of the time period the meeting will be held “Jun-Dec”. In the centre of the page is the main heading of the leaflet, the text has been left justified and is in different sized text and different coloured text. The bottom quarter of the page is filled with an image.
Overall the front cover appears very professional but leaves a lot of space unused this could be because they don’t want to bore people by making the front page look overcrowded and making the leaflet look full of text but the page could have been redesigned to use up more space in an effective way.
Page 2 of the booklet has no logo on it and is a page full of text. The top half of the page has an orange background with white coloured text on it. The page is started with a large italic sized font for the title, it then continues with smaller text (Not Italic) underneath which is paragraphed and also includes a bullet pointed section of text within it.
The bottom half of the page is a white background with one blue rectangle to the left of the page, in the blue rectangle is a section of white coloured text, to the right of the rectangle on the white background is a section of text, the title is in yellow font and the text below it is in black with a section of bullet points.
This page looks very colourful and interesting but fails to fill the page fully, the text in the blue rectangle only fills have of the blue coloured background, and the section of text to the right doesn’t fill the page either, so there is a quarter of the page with no text filling it.
Page three has two columns of text filling the top half of the page, on the left hand side of the page is one column of text the title of the section is on a small blue rectangle in white bold text, below this is a small paragraph in blue coloured text, with two small paragraphs below with headings in blue text and the information in black text with all the information bullet pointed.
The column on the right hand side of the page is set up in exactly the same way except the text that is blue in the left column is orange in the right column. The right hand column has an extra bit of text below it in orange writing reading “see end of this leaflet for full meeting details and how to book a free place”.
Below the two columns of text is an image centred on the page with the company logo in the bottom right hand corner of the page.
This page is very neatly set out but also leaves a lot of room unused leaving large gaps.
Page four and five are very similar in that they both contain tables of information just set out with different headings.
There is a large title running across both pages four and five reading “Draft (March 07) Specification Outline – Details of FREE meetings overleaf” this is informing the reader of what the tables contain and then what page they can apply for the course on.
Page four is a large table filling the entire page, this table has three headings each with its own section of text below it, and this table contains information on the specification outline for the AS Business studies course. The background colour of this page is blue with white and black coloured text on it, all of the titles are written in white and the information is written in black text.
Page five is set up in a similar way with the background colour being Orange the only difference in the set up of the table is that the title of the page is on the right hand side of the table whereas the title on page four is on the left hand side of the table.
This is the table design in the leaflet.
Sections A are completely empty and these run all the way down the right and left hand sides of the pages, leaving large empty gaps.
The rest of the sections all contain text that fills the boxes fully.
Page four and five look very good but it is far too obvious by the size of some of the text that they are struggling to fill the space.
Page six is split in to 3 sections of coloured background.
The first section is an orange background with a large title written in italic all the text in this section is in white.
The next section is a blue background with white text.
The last section is a white background with numbered sections of text and headed sections of text in the bottom right hand side of the page is a small blue rectangle with small text in giving information on the courses available.
This page looks good and also uses the space efficiently without leaving gaps.
Page 7 has two tables in columns with the date, location and reference numbers of the courses on, below these tables are two headed sections of text giving information on the fees of the course and points of interest.
This page also looks professional and makes good use of space.
The back cover of the leaflet has the company logo in the top right hand corner of the page, I n the top left hand corner of the page is a section of slanted text the same as the front cover telling the months the courses are on “Jun – Dec”, the text begins with an web page address and then there are two columns of text with bullet pointed information. Below the columns are two speech bubble images containing text, and below this is a section of text in a small text size giving information on the Terms.
This page has made use of the space really well.
Overall the layout of this leaflet is quite impressive the only improvement that could be made is the use of space as there are a few pages where there are far too many gaps and makes the leaflet look less professional.
2.5 Writing style
The writing style in this leaflet is very informative and persuasive. This leaflet has been sent to the recipient to give extra details about the AQA support meetings, and to try and persuade the recipient to attend the course, the leaflet is set out to try and persuade the recipient that, this support meeting could benefit the staff and the students, the leaflet then adds extra information where the meetings are and on what days and times they are held, this could persuade the recipient to go if they can find a meeting near them at a convenient time.
This leaflet is both formal and informal, the leaflet contains lots of information where the company are just trying to get the information across to the recipient which is all written formally, but some sections of this letter are written informally more like a friend writing to you, these sections are parts where the company are trying to persuade the recipient to attend the support meetings, they do this to make the company feel friendly and are trying not to bore people with all the information they are trying to make the leaflet feel a little bit personalised.
2.6 Strengths
The strengths of this leaflet are,
The Logo is placed very clearly on the front and back cover so that if the leaflet was seen you would recognize the AQA logo.
The leaflet is brightly coloured with photographs, this makes the leaflet eye catching.
The text is an appropriate size, so that it is readable by all.
Each page and section throughout the leaflet is titled clearly.
There are different features used throughout the leaflet to make the text stand out, Bold is used mostly on the titles, bullet points are used to present text, and some text has been put in italic.
Most of the pages are split into different subjects; the company has done this by paragraphing and also splitting the page into blocks of colours for each different subject.
2.7 Weaknesses
The weaknesses of this leaflet are,
The company logo isn’t on each page it is only on the front cover, page 3 and the back cover.
There are lots of blank gaps throughout the leaflet that could be used up.
The text size doesn’t remain the same throughout the leaflet it changes from page to page.
2.8 Improvements
Some improvements that could be made are,
I would place the company logo on every page, making sure it stayed in the same place throughout the leaflet this would not only keep continuity throughout the leaflet it also takes up some of the blank spaces in the leaflet.
The gaps in the document could be taken up by more text or by putting in more images this would make the document appear much better.
The text size should remain the same throughout the leaflet there should be one text size for information and one text size for the title and headings, making the leaflet appear more professional.
House Style
It is very hard to keep a house style running through these documents as they are totally different types of documents one is a letter and the other is a leaflet and the only house style they could keep the same throughout theses two documents is the company logo.
The company logo design is kept the same but the colours have been changed to suit the colours of the page.
SECTION 3 – PETPLAN LETTER
3.1 Purpose
The purpose of this document is to renew the recipient’s petplan policy; the letter outlines all of the policy details covering about four pages of text. This letter is written in a very formal way and is almost like a contract between the recipient and the company.
3.2 Audience
The audience of this letter would be a pet owner that was interested in either renewing or taking out pet insurance.
3.3 Content
The contents of this letter are written to give the recipient the new policy details of their Petplan account. The letter includes the guide to how to renew your Petplan cover, a short paragraph of what the letter contains, it contains certificates of insurance policy details, Certificates of insurance animal details, Policy summary, new terms and conditions, and a paragraph explaining the changed details within the terms and conditions.
The company address is present on the document although it is not clear as it has been placed in the header of the document, the recipients address is present on the document and the policy reference number and the date the letter was sent.
The company logo has been placed on every page in the top right hand corner of the page.
3.4 Layout
This document is a letter of four A4 pages; the first page is a letter to the recipient the company address is at the top of the page in the header, the recipients address is below this on the left hand side of the page. The company logo has been placed at the top right hand side of the page, with the reference number and date the letter was sent directly below.
The letter is paragraphed appropriately using different features throughout to make certain text stand out; the heading of “How to renew your cover” has been put in bold so that it is clear that the letter is starting on a different subject, important details have also been put in bold like telephone numbers. The letter has been signed at the bottom of the page and is then followed by a short P.S. note explaining what the pack contains.
The second page is titled in bold large text at the top left hand side of the page with the company logo on the top right hand side of the page, the information on this page is in a bordered area taking up most of the page this information does not fill up the whole bordered area and makes the page seem empty, below the bordered area there is the signature, the date printed, and details of what the page is, on the reverse of this page is Exclusions and clauses which takes up one quarter of the page and the rest of the page remains blank leaving the page looking very empty and unprofessional, there is footer to the page containing the address of the company in small grey text.
The Third page has a large bold title in the top left hand corner and the company logo in the top right hand corner. All the information on the page is bordered, only leaving the title of the page, the company logo and the footer of the page left outside the bordered area. In the top right hand corner of the bordered area there is an image saying “Key facts” Then the text begins and also bullet pointed details, at the bottom of the bordered area is text in bold To say “Ple3ase Turn over page for more of this policy summary” . On the reverse of this page is the same bordered area containing information but the text only takes up half of the page leaving as very large gap, there is also a footer below the bordered area containing the address of the company.
3.5 Writing styles
The writing style in this document is both formal and informal; the first page is a letter to the recipient this letter is written to very informally it is writing to an existing customer it starts the letter with “Dear Mrs Kadhim I do hope you and Jazz are well”, this is very personal and the company want to seem friendly so that you will renew your existing policy with the company, the company try and act as friendly as possible so that you will stay with their company.
The second and third pages of this document are legal policies so these have to be formally written as they are legal documents, and need to be presented professionally.
3.6 strengths
The strengths of this letter are
The company Logo is placed in the top right hand corner of each page to show continuity.
Different features are used throughout the document to make text stand out, Bold has been used on every page for titles and important information, some headings have been underlined, Bullet points have been used, all these features allow important information to stand out.
Both of the legal documents use a coloured background.
Each page is clearly headed in large bold text.
All of the signatures on these documents have been inputted on the computer saving time when producing letters in masses.
3.7 Weaknesses
None of the signatures on these documents are personally signed they have all been inputted via the computer making the document look less personalised.
Both legal documents have used a coloured background making the first letter look odd as it is just plain white.
Some of the pages have not been totally filled with information and this makes the document look less professional.
On the first page they have tried to cram far too much information on and it makes the page look untidy and unprofessional.
The P.S. at the bottom of the page is far too long and this letter although it is informal should not have the P.S. at the bottom of the page.
3.8 Improvements
Some improvements that could be made to this document are
The signatures on the document could be signed personally, this takes time but if the company has time to fill in all the pet names then surely they have time to sign the bottom of the letter.
The house style in this letter should remain the same throughout the documents.
The pages could be filled properly making the pages appear more full and professional.
The pages should not be too full that they look crowded as this makes the page appear less professional and looks odd.
The P.S. note at the bottom of the page should be removed if the recipient needs to know any of the details in the P.S. note then it should be added to the main letter.
SECTION 4 – PETPLAN LEAFLET
4.1 Purpose
The purpose of this leaflet is to describe in detail the terms and conditions of the recipients pet insurance policy.
4.2 Audience
The audience of this letter would be a pet owner that was interested in either renewing or taking out pet insurance.
4.3 Content
The content of this letter is written to give information on the terms and conditions of the Petplan policy. The leaflet contains 7 A5 sheets of information in small font size, this is done so that the leaflet can be made smaller and so that it is less expensive to produce. This leaflet includes a number of different headings which then are written out in detailed number sections/points, the headings are, definitions, general conditions, cover, claims procedure, customer service, complaints, financial services compensation scheme, general exclusions, fraud, cancellation rights.
All contact details have been given for the company. The leaflet uses different features to note information, it uses numbering a lot to state different points, and the leaflet also uses bullet points to separate sections of information.
4.4 Layout
This document has been set out as a booklet containing 4 A5 sheets printed back and front so 8 A5 sheets of information.
The front cover is a simple white and black colour scheme with the Petplan logo in the top right hand corner in blue, then a large title in the centre of the page, withy a smaller title below and the date, at the bottom of the page there is a small section of text stating “Written in plain English”.
Page two has a blue text box of information at the top of the page, below this is lots of text separated with small headings and thin blue separation lines, this allows more room for text rather than leaving a large space between each sub heading allowing more text on each page.
On page three the top quarter of the page is the same information layout using the same thin blue line to separate sections. The rest of the page is set out in two columns with numbered sections of information.
Page four is set out in the same two columns of numbered sections as in page two and three, with subheadings.
Page four has a small tab (a small extra information page) this contains contact details and how to contact them if there are any complaints or for claims procedures.
On the reverse of these four pages are three more pages of information that are set out exactly the same as pages three and four using the numbered sections and subheadings. Thee fourth page on the reverse is the front cover.
4.5 Writing style
The writing style in this leaflet is completely informative and descriptive. This document is telling the recipient the terms and conditions of their pet insurance policy, therefore they are talking about the terms and conditions of legal documents and the recipient needs to know exactly what the terms and conditions are. The leaflet needs to get the information across to the recipient as clearly and as informatively as possible so that the recipient knows exactly how to claim on the pet insurance and under what conditions it can be done.
4.6 Strengths
The strengths of this document are
The front cover clearly states what the leaflet is about before you even open it.
The company logo is placed in the top right hand corner of the front cover where it is clearly visible.
The company have placed there full contact details in the booklet so that the recipient can contact the company with any queries.
The company have informed the recipient of the company having a name change and have reassured them that this will have no affect on there legal rights.
Different features have been used to separate sections of text, sections of text have been numbered and in these numbered sections some information has been bullet pointed, some words throughout the booklet have been put in bold this is because there is a definition guide.
The date the booklet was created is printed on the front cover.
Each section of text is headed clearly to show the change of subject.
Each heading and subheading has been printed either in blue text or the text has been made larger to show the change of subject clearly.
4.7 Weaknesses
The weaknesses of this document are
The front cover is very empty the text and logo have been made much larger to try and fill the page but it makes the cover look odd.
The text is too small this has been done to try and fit all of the text on to a certain amount of paper, but the text gets quite hard to read after a while and for some who may be slightly visually impaired this would be very difficult to read.
When the leaflet is held away from a surface and is held in the light you can see the text on the reverse of the page this would make the text hard to read.
The text is all crammed together making all the pages look really crowded and unprofessional.
The company logo is only on the front cover of the leaflet.
4.8 Improvements
Some improvements that could be made are
The front cover of the leaflet should be filled up more either with more text or by using an image to fill the gaps.
The text should be made a bit larger so that it is more easily read.
The text should be spaced out more so that it doesn’t look so crowded this would make the leaflet appear tidier.
House style
It is very hard to keep a house style running through these documents as they are totally different one is a letter and the other is a leaflet, The Company have kept a house style running between the two documents despite the difference in layout. One house style is the company logo this has remained the same on both documents and has been placed in the top right hand corner on both documents. The colour scheme on the legal documents is the same as on the leaflet, they have kept the blue and white background so that they can be recognised as Petplan.
SECTION 5 – ST JOHN’S SCHOOL LETTER
5.1 Purpose
The purpose of this document is to inform the recipient that they will need to phone the school to arrange an appointment once they have received their GCSE results, and of when school will start and what the students will be doing.
5.2 Audience
The audience of this letter are students that have just finished their GCSE’s and want to continue to do A levels at St John’s School.
5.3 Content
The contents of this letter are written to inform the recipient of the procedures that will occur over the next few weeks, during the holidays and then when the students return to school.
The schools address, phone number, email address and web page are all present on the letter so that the recipient can contact the school, and extra phone number has been added so the recipient has an alternative contact number if no one answers at the school. The school logo has been put on the letter, the letter has been signed personally, and the recipients name has been hand written in.
5.4 Layout
This document is a very basic letter format, the school logo has been placed towards the top of the page in the centre of the page with the school address and contact details on the right hand side and on the left hand side of the logo is the head teachers name and the date the letter was sent.
The letter is written in paragraphs using bullet points to separate some details within the letter. The letter is then signed the signature has been centred and signed personally. The letter uses up space quite efficiently but I don’t think the use of the bullet points are necessary I think they have been used to save having to join paragraphs together, they have done this to save time in writing out constructive sentences.
5.5 Writing style
The writing style in this letter is informative, this letter is set out to inform the recipient of important details, and the letter does this by writing it informally the letter is very personalised it is very chatty like a friend talking to you, this has been done to try and make the school appear friendly.
5.6 Strengths
The strengths of this letter are
The logo of the school is top centre of the page this takes the main focus when you first look at the letter and it is easily recognised.
The address of the school is placed on the letter plus additional contact details for the recipients benefit.
The date the letter was sent is present on the document.
Different features have been used, bullet points have been used.
The letter has been hand signed and the name of the signature and the status has been clearly printed below it.
The recipients name has been hand written this makes the letter more personalised but also means the school can print out masses of the letter and fill in the blanks for each individual student.
5.7 Weaknesses
The weaknesses of this document are
There is a large gap at both the top and bottom of the page.
The font style in this letter seems to aim to a younger age group, but the parents of the student will also be reading this letter making the letter look a bit immature.
The email address and email address have both been hyperlinked in the word processor and this can be seen as the text is lighter when printed.
There is a spelling mistake in the letter, the Writer has referred to a date in the school year “Nicky Will be in school on the 23rd” but instead of putting the 23rd they have written the 23th this could have been avoided by doing a simple read through of the work and, I would have thought that filling out the names of the students and signing the forms by hand someone would have noticed the mistake, this could have been avoided by having someone check over the letter saving the school/the writer of the letter some embarrassment.
5.8 Improvements
Some improvements that could be made are
The whole content of the document should be moved up a few lines closing the large gap at the top of the page this would make the document appear less odd and a bit more professional.
The font style should be changed to suit any age group.
The hyperlink should be removed before printing so that the text is all the same colour.
One improvement could be checking through the document thoroughly before printing and sending them out to possible future students and their parents.
SECTION 6 – ST JOHN’S SCHOOL LEAFLET
6.1 Purpose
The purpose of this leaflet is to make students aware of what alternative subjects there are available to them when they choose their lessons for the up coming school year.
6.2 Audience
The audience of this letter are students that have just finished their GCSE’s and want to continue to do A levels at St John’s School.
6.3 Content
The contents of this leaflet are written to give information on the alternative curriculum available to the next year 10 students in St John’s School, this leaflet was created to help the current year 9 students to pick their subjects for year 10, the booklet allows the students to look through the subjects available to them and then think about it throughout the school year giving them plenty of time to think about it and decide. The leaflet contains a calendar of the options procedure so students know when there choice has to be made by and when they will have meetings with the school about making the right choices. The leaflet does this by covering, in detail each of the subjects and then allowing the students to choose which subjects they would want to take by using a tick box chart/table.
6.4 Layout
This document has been set out as a booklet containing 6 A4 sheets of paper folded in half to create a booklet of 12 A5 Sheets of paper that are mostly printed back to back leaving the odd A5 sheet empty.
The front cover is very basic it has a blue border with the title of the booklet using a word art; there is a band of blue in the centre of the page and then an image in the bottom half of the page.
The first page has one main title and three headings all written in bold below each heading is a section of text, some of the information has been numbered, all of the text is very small the titles are all the same size as the information.
On page two there is the main title of the page in divide lines, below this is a subheading which introduces the table on this page. The table has three columns and seven rows, the titles of the columns are Numbers, Month of the year and date, and what events are happening on that day, this table only takes up half of the page then the rest of the page is left blank.
Page three starts with a main title, below this is a title centred and in divide lines, this starts off the section of text below it which is in numbered paragraphs there is another divide lined heading with numbered paragraphs below it.
Page four starts with a heading in divide lines below this is a small image that is centred there is then a page of text that ends leaving a small gap at the bottom of the page.
Page five contains a table of 2 columns and 20 rows the headings of the two columns are “FOUNDATION TIER” and “HIGHER TIER” the table is the slit into sections of year 10 foundation and higher and year 11 foundation and higher, below this table is an image that tries to fill the remaining half a page that is not full.
Page six is titled and divide lined with text in the top quarter of the page that is paragraphed, it then has an image in the large gap beneath the text that is centred to try and fill the remaining space as much as possible.
Page seven starts with a line divided title below the title is a large section of text that is both bullet pointed and named i) ii) there are subtitles to each of the named paragraphs that is in capitals and underlined. There are three more divide lined titles that each has text below them.
Page eight is titled and line divided with paragraphed text below, there is then three columns of text which each have an underlined heading, there is another titled section of both columned text and a line of text and there are three images at the bottom of the page that are trying to fill the remaining gaps at the bottom of the page.
Page nine starts with a line divided heading below this are five paragraphs, each paragraph starts with a question in bold which is then answered in the paragraph, the second paragraph starts with a question and is then answered in bullet points, this page is only half filled and leaves a large gap at the bottom of the page.
Page ten starts with a line divided title below the title is a section of paragraphed text, each section of text is started off with a question “What is a GCSE in Graphic products?” this is then answered within the text below it. The page is not full and leaves half of the page empty, this page also has two images within the text.
Page eleven is titled with divide lines below the title is paragraphed text with two images mixed within the text, each of the paragraphs are started with a question “What sort of work will I be doing?” the questions are then answered in the paragraph below it.
Page twelve is titled with divide lines and paragraphed text with three images within the text in the centre of the page, each of the paragraphs are started with a question “Why study history?” each question is then answered in the paragraph below it, all of the question are underlined on the page to make them appear like headings to the paragraph.
Page thirteen is titled with divide lines, the page is then paragraphed text, each of the paragraphs are started with a question, each question is then answered in the paragraph below it, with two images within the text the page is not completely full and leaves a quarter of the page empty.
Page fourteen starts with a title in large bold writing and then below this has another title that is line divided, the page then has two sections of text that are paragraphed appropriately, the second section of text has a heading in bold and then the text below it, there is an image that has been placed below all of the text to try and fill the remaining space.
Page fifteen is titled with divide lines, this page contains five paragraphs of text with one image filling the large gap that is left, this image has been centre justified but there is still a lot of space left unoccupied.
Page sixteen starts with a title that has been line divided, the page then starts with two lines of text and then has a section of text named “1.” This section has a heading that is underlined and below this is text that is headed with “a, b, c,”the next set of text is headed“ 2.” Is set out the same using “a, b, c,” as sub headings to separate text, below this is a section of text with two images within it, try and use up some of the space.
Page seventeen has a title in bold and then has a full page of paragraphed text that contains no headings to any of the paragraphs.
Page eighteen is setup landscape instead of portrait it is titled and then has a page of tick boxes that have titles and then a paragraph of numbered text and three signature lines.
Pages nineteen to twentytwo are blank pages.
Art and design
(Divide lines below and above titles.)
6.5 Writing style
The writing style in this booklet is very formal and informative, this booklet is written to try and inform students of what the year 10 lessons will consist of, so the booklet has to be strait forward and to the point so that year nines wont think that there going to choose a lesson because they think it will be easy, this booklet will tell them exactly what it will be like how much work is involved. This booklet is trying to treat the year nines soon to be year tens as young adults.
6.6 Strengths
The strengths of this leaflet are
The front cover is colourful and eye catching.
The text is an appropriate size, and can be read by all.
Each page and section of this booklet is titled clearly.
There are different features used throughout the booklet to make certain parts of text stand out, Bold has been used on most of the titles, and different sections throughout the booklet have been bullet pointed or numbered, and some text has been underlined or put in capital letters to stand out.
Images have been used throughout the booklet this takes up room in the booklet and makes the pages look less plain.
6.7 Weaknesses
The weaknesses of this leaflet are
The schools logo is not on this document at all the only thing that says its anything to do with the school is the school name on the front cover.
There are a lot of blank spaces on pages, making the page appear empty.
There are a total of five blank pages in the booklet making the leaflet appear unprofessional.
None of the pictures are in colour, making the booklet appear dull.
There are no contact details for the school no phone number, web address, on some of the pages it says for more info speak to Mrs Kerr, but what if a parent wants to phone in there are no contact details.
6.8 Improvements
Some improvements that could be made are
The school logo could be added even if it is only on the front cover; this would make the booklet look more recognisable to the school.
The text could be made a bit bigger this would remove some of the blank spaces in the booklet.
Text could be moved around to get rid of the blank pages.
Some of the images could be in colour this would make the booklet brighter and more interesting.
Some contact details should be put in for the benefit of the parents.
