• Rough Cut: one step beyond a mock-up or storyboard of your project
    • not the final draft, but you’ll have your assets placed approximately where you need them in something resembling  the program or technology you’ll use to create your final product.
  • Static Projects: Posters, Flyers, Brochures, Statues, etc…
    • The layout (spacing, alignment, number of columns, placement of headings, etc.) has been roughly determined.
    • A draft of the written text  or dummy copy has been placed in the document
    • Visual Elements have been edited for size and placed into the document
    • Fonts, text sizes and color schemes have been selected to provide a consistent look to the document
    • The project is available in a document/page layout program (word, indesign, Publisher) or in printed form (to test color) but not necessarily in the final output format(ex: pdf)
  • Interactive/Animated Projects (videos, audio projects, web sites, presentations, performances, etc)
    • All major pages, slides, screens or scripts and/or blocking and settings have been found or created
    • Found or original multimedia assets have been edited for purpose and length
      • graphics are cropped, compressed and placed
      • Audio and video assets have been edited into smaller two or three-minute  blah-blah-blahs of unnecessary  footage you captured in order to get  just the right shot:
      • Ripped digital videos have been downloaded, and irrelevant portions have been edited out.
    • Navigation/organization is in the place but may not be linked yet
    • The draft is available for rough cut feedback in an editing program, off line, or in an offsite workshop location
  • Rough Draft: all the assets should be finely edited and in place so that the project will work without any intervention by the author. A prototype.

 

  • make sure to test the product yourself during the rough draft phase

–

  • Rough Draft Checklist: 
    • All written content has been finalized, edited and proofread
    • All visual and aural elements (photos, illustrations, logos, videos, audio clips) have been edited in the appropriate software to their exact lengths or sizes and converted to the correct formats and resolutions, and the have been placed in their exact locations withing the project
    • Fronts, text sizes, and color schemes have been implemented consistently throughout the document
    • Styles ( when appropriate) have been used, and style guides have been followed
    • Animations (title screens, visual transitions, object movement) have been edited, synced for appropriate duration on-screen, and placed on their final locations in the project.
    • Color photocopies of all visual elements have been printed at the quality needed
    • Soundtracks or other whole-project media elements have been edited for appropriate volume,  added to the timeline, and synced to the individual scenes or navigation
    • Navigation or movement within the project (prezi, slideshow, autoplay, web menues) has been created and finalized
    • Nothing is broken (images are in place, links work, videos don’t stall, programs don’t crash)
    • The project has been exported from its editing program (word, indesign ,publisher, movie maker, imovie, audacity, dreamweaver, kompozer) into the final output format (pdf, mov, mp3, server)

Before having someone revue your draft, make sure they are aware of the background of the project and are provided summary before hand to increase understanding and better feedback.

  • A Summary should address the following questions:
    • Who is the intended audience for this piece and what rhetorical moves does the designer make to appeal to these readers/listeners/viewers/users? What suggestions do you have to further strengthen this approach or for better attending to the target audience?
    • How well is the purpose of the project conveyed through its organization/navigation? Is there a coherent message for the audience to follow? Do the authors offer some kind of commentary (the “so what” of the argument or story?) What suggestions do you have for adding or deleting content for the sake of clarity?
    • How credible do you find the sources used in the project’s argument? Were there any sources you found problematic? If so , which ones and why, and what would you suggest be used in their place? Were there sources missing that you’d suggest for the project?
    • Are the design choices (emphasis, contrast, organization, alignment, and proximity) used in this project appropriate? If some seemed inappropriate in relation to the rhetorical situation, what suggestions would you make for revising?
    • Do the mode and media choices contribute to the overall purpose and meaning conveyed by the project? Are there any you would add or delete, and if so, why?
    • Does the project match expected genre conventions? If not, does it break those conventions in productive ways that serve the text’s rhetorical situation?

 

  • Providing Feedback as a Stakeholder:
    • To read the text from the perspective of a particular audience/rhetorical situation for which that text is intended (the summary of rhetorical situation and genre convention is intended to assist readers with understanding this perspective)
    • to evaluate whether the text is successful at meeting the criteria/expectations required by that rhetorical situation
    • to provide constructive feedback to the author based on the text’s (in)effectiveness

 

 

  • Questions to ask yourself after a round of feedback:
    • What were the strengths of my draft that I should be sure to keep?
    • What design choices were problematic, and how can I revise these?
    • What rhetorical choices seemed out of place in my draft, and how can I better attend to my audience, purpose, context and genre?
    • What multimodal elements can I add or revise to strengthen the rhetorical effect and credibility of my project?
    • What re the most important changes I need to consider as I revise?
    • Given the time and technology constraints of this project, what can I reasonably revise before the next due date? What else would need revision that I don’t have time to complete but should complete, given enough time and resources?