A visible ideology: a document series in a women's clothing company
The article was adapted from The Journal of technical Writing and Communication (Vol. 30, Pg 125-141). It was written by Kristin Cronn-Mills in 2000.
A study was conducted by Cronn-Mills to analyze the redesigned sales documents of a women clothing company, namely Weekenders. The documents studied in this article were from the Fall/Winter 1997 and the Spring/Summer 1998 seasons. These documents were chosen because major design shift was discovered. The sales documents layouts were changed from season to season. However, there was only a slight change in the content.
There are four significant sales documents that are being used by Weekenders Fashion Coordinators. There are the Fashion Facts (FF) Brochure, Wardrobe Profile (WP) Brochure, Suggestions for the Weekenders Hostess Brochure, and Recruiting Brochure.
The concept of ethos was used in designing the sales documents of Weekenders. According to Kostelnick and Robert (Cronn-Mills, 2000), to develop ethos within a document is to cultivate a sense of character or credibility that will appeal to the audience. It is believed that ethos influences the customers to purchase certain products because those products reflect their values.
Document design as Ethos
Butterfly is chosen to represent Weekenders. It is viewed as a symbol of growth and transformation. In the previous brochures, butterfly in the logo was just an outline. After the redesign, visuals of real butterflies were used in the logo. Butterfly is a significant symbol in all Weekenders’ sales documents. It unifies the series of documents as well as reveals Weekenders identity. When you notice butterfly logo in any of the documents, you’ll know it belongs to Weekenders.
Using butterflies to symbolize change and growth enhanced Weekenders feminist ethos. Weekenders’ main philosophy of being a company run by women to serve women is clearly revealed through its entire sales document.
Document content as Ethos
The redesigned documents made minor changes content wise. “I stories” were used as a convincing attempt to recruit more Fashion Coordinators. However, the “I stories” used in both old and new sales document were almost the same. In the old brochure, the “I stories” were placed at high visibility spot. They readers would not miss them. On the contrary, the “I stories” were moved to the back panel in the redesigned brochures. It is not visible unless you turn the brochure over. In addition, the text was set in a smaller font. The redesigned brochure fails to play its role as font size and document placement influence readability. It could also affect the company’s image as a whole.
Some of the content of “I stories” in the old brochures was not realistic. However, the erroneous content appears in the new brochures as well. The copywriter of the new brochures should amend all the inaccurate information to increase credibility of the content. This could also boost the confidence of the public towards the company.
Conclusion
Weekenders deals carefully with the term feminism as the company does not want to be isolated by others. Nevertheless, the feminist ethos developed by Weekenders is clearly seen through the design and content of its sales document.
The article was adapted from The Journal of technical Writing and Communication (Vol. 30, Pg 125-141). It was written by Kristin Cronn-Mills in 2000.
A study was conducted by Cronn-Mills to analyze the redesigned sales documents of a women clothing company, namely Weekenders. The documents studied in this article were from the Fall/Winter 1997 and the Spring/Summer 1998 seasons. These documents were chosen because major design shift was discovered. The sales documents layouts were changed from season to season. However, there was only a slight change in the content.
There are four significant sales documents that are being used by Weekenders Fashion Coordinators. There are the Fashion Facts (FF) Brochure, Wardrobe Profile (WP) Brochure, Suggestions for the Weekenders Hostess Brochure, and Recruiting Brochure.
The concept of ethos was used in designing the sales documents of Weekenders. According to Kostelnick and Robert (Cronn-Mills, 2000), to develop ethos within a document is to cultivate a sense of character or credibility that will appeal to the audience. It is believed that ethos influences the customers to purchase certain products because those products reflect their values.
Document design as Ethos
Butterfly is chosen to represent Weekenders. It is viewed as a symbol of growth and transformation. In the previous brochures, butterfly in the logo was just an outline. After the redesign, visuals of real butterflies were used in the logo. Butterfly is a significant symbol in all Weekenders’ sales documents. It unifies the series of documents as well as reveals Weekenders identity. When you notice butterfly logo in any of the documents, you’ll know it belongs to Weekenders.
Using butterflies to symbolize change and growth enhanced Weekenders feminist ethos. Weekenders’ main philosophy of being a company run by women to serve women is clearly revealed through its entire sales document.
Document content as Ethos
The redesigned documents made minor changes content wise. “I stories” were used as a convincing attempt to recruit more Fashion Coordinators. However, the “I stories” used in both old and new sales document were almost the same. In the old brochure, the “I stories” were placed at high visibility spot. They readers would not miss them. On the contrary, the “I stories” were moved to the back panel in the redesigned brochures. It is not visible unless you turn the brochure over. In addition, the text was set in a smaller font. The redesigned brochure fails to play its role as font size and document placement influence readability. It could also affect the company’s image as a whole.
Some of the content of “I stories” in the old brochures was not realistic. However, the erroneous content appears in the new brochures as well. The copywriter of the new brochures should amend all the inaccurate information to increase credibility of the content. This could also boost the confidence of the public towards the company.
Conclusion
Weekenders deals carefully with the term feminism as the company does not want to be isolated by others. Nevertheless, the feminist ethos developed by Weekenders is clearly seen through the design and content of its sales document.
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