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Unit 4 Assignment: Redesign With CARP

Christopher Donovan

Arizona State University

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The effectiveness of an information flyer or poster can be exponentially increased when

looking at the through the CARP lens and making the appropriate changes. As a designer, it is

easy to simply put the information out there and expect the audience/reader to understand the

material, follow along with ease, and comprehend the information as intended. For this

assignment the focus was on an informational flyer from the Junior Coyotes Hockey program.

The flyer was an informational brochure for an upcoming hockey tryout. This brochure was

significant to me and my life because my daughter Christina was a former Junior Coyote, and I

am a hockey coach. My first impression with this artifact was that it was very pleasing to the

eyes, the information was very clear and easy to understand, and I knew who this was targeted

towards. The target audience for this brochure was parents of hockey players and current/future

hockey players wanting to try out for the advanced Junior Coyotes teams.
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Contrast

The first element of this artifact is the use of contrast. The designer did an amazing job

with the contrasting colors, images, background, font sizes, and font color. The designer started

with a very dark background and layered the text on top, with contrasting colors. All of the

information provided in the text is clearly visible, understandable, and sticks out from the

background. However, studies have shown that the use of white print on a black background can

be strenuous for the reader’s eyes, and approximately 50% of the population find it harder to

read white text on black than black text on white (Oddie, 2008). To make this work, the designer

used a dark grey background with a faint image of a hockey player. This minimizes the strain on

the eyes from an all black background. I would recommend changing the background to white

and switching the white font color to black. It just makes this easier on the reader. The image

below shows the flyer as it is, with the dark grey background.

Looking at the image above, it is clear that the use of dark grey and light grey (the

hockey player and background words) do not stick out over the more important pieces of
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information, but accent the flyer. The designer does a great job of using contrast to create

emphasis and visual interest. The use of font sizes and colors, as well as the use of making text

bold in subheadings, establish a visual hierarchy (Malamed, 2015). Without the contrast in this

flyer, the information would appear boring and monotonous. The use of contrasting colors and

font sizes attracts attention and helps the readers understand the point (Malamed, 2015) of the

flyer. The information printed on the flyer is specific to certain individuals (hockey ability

levels) and therefore the use of contrast allows the reader to quickly find what is important or

pertaining to them. The use of extremely larger font and extremely bolded font for information of

where to register assures that this information is delivered and that the reader does not overlook

this.

Alignment

The designer used an edge alignment for this flyer. The images were aligned to the left,

while the important tryout dates and locations were aligned to the right. The edge alignment did

a great job of providing order and refinement to the design (Malamed, 2015). The alignment in

this case was key to the flow of the information. The use of contrast with the heading informs the

viewer of what the information was about, then the use of the two different ability level logos

aligned on the left, draws attention to who this is meant for, based on which team a player

currently plays on, or is wanting to try out for. The important try out dates aligned to the right

show when the players will have the option to actually try out. The information aligned on the

bottom of the flyer shows importance in two ways; the use of contrasting colors and font size,

and the alignment of the text. The cost of the tryouts and where to register are both very
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important pieces of information and aligning them at the bottom of the page makes them stick

out and leaves the reader with a lasting impression as well as guides them to actually register.

This could have easily been a make or break design component because as we have seen

in other examples incorrect use of alignment can cause the reader to lose interest, forget what

they are reading about, and get lost in the text. The designer did an excellent job of laying out

this information, while still making all of the contents equally important. The part that stuck out

to me the most was the placement of the fees and where to register. Looking at this flyer through

the CARP lens it is clear that the intention was to guide the reader straight into the registration,

or at the very least, guide the reader to contact the Junior Coyotes with any questions. The use of

alignment was subtle and effective. I would not recommend changing anything with this portion

of the design.

Repetition

Repetition is an effective way to achieve unity throughout the element design (Malamed,

2015). The designer showed the use of repetition throughout the flyer with the use of color, line

type, font size, and using bolded text to make areas that were important stand out. The flyer used

appropriately placed thin lines above/below images to make them stand out, and was consistent

with the use of titles and subtitles. The use of repetition in font color creates a rhythm and

unified look. The color scheme chosen matches the team colors of the Coyotes and immediately

allows the viewer to make the connection to the team, as well as capture their interest (if a player

is affiliated with the Coyotes in any way, they feel a sense of ownership with those colors

because they wear them on gameday).

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Elements that I would suggest adding to make this flyer more effective include borders

around the flyer, and underlining the heading. The heading jumps out and is subtle, but I feel that

it would break the text up a little more if there were a break between the heading and the body of

information. It feels like it just jumps right in and could with the importance of the information

provided in the flyer, it could make the reader feel overwhelmed or anxious. Breaking the text up

from the heading with a line, as well as breaking the body up with a line from the footing, could

give the audience a mental break while reading the flyer. The repetition of the lines would let the

reader know the sequence of information a little better (title, body of important information,

contact/registration).

The first image above shows what a possible breakdown of the flyer would look like if

the designer had underlined the heading and broken the body text from the bottom, with a line as

well. The second image shows what it would look like with both underlines and a border.

Proximity
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Proximity is critical to showing the reader the importance of the relationship between the

information and the images provided. Also, correctly choosing images that clarify text or in this

case, who the text is directed towards, has a large effect in the artifact’s ability to reach the

targeted audience. When considering the use of images in this flyer, the designer should have

been aware of the unintended associations between images and text, with respect to proximity.

The designer did a great job with the images selected, as they draw the attention of players and

parents who wish to try out for the two different skill level Coyotes teams. Where the designer

had major flaws was the proximity of the images selected to the text. The flyer shows that the

intended audience was players wanting to try out for the AAA advanced team and the traveling

team.

The images were so close to the information in the text that the reader could very easily

become confused as to which of the try out dates are related to which ability level team. The

designer should have considered a layout that was broken down into try out dates, times and

locations for both of the ability levels teams, to avoid confusion.

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The images above show what the possible flyers would look like if they were broken

down into two separate flyers (for each team the players are trying out for). I feel like this would

have been the better option. Doing two separate flyers eliminates the confusion for which try out

date is for which team, which location is for which team, what the times are for the try outs, and

any other confusion created by proximity issues related to the images and the text.
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References

Junior Coyotes Elite AAA Tryouts [Digital image]. (n.d.).

https://www.jrcoyotes.org/news_article/show/1005769

Junior Coyotes Tier II Youth Tryouts [Digital image]. (n.d.).

https://www.jrcoyotes.org/news_article/show/1009951

Junior Coyotes/CAHA Try Out Information [Digital image]. (n.d.).

https://www.jrcoyotes.org/news_article/show/767238

Malamed, C. (2015). ​Visual design solutions : principles and creative inspiration for learning

professionals.​ Wiley.

Tatham Oddie. (2014, October 08). Why light text on dark background is a bad idea.

https://tatham.blog/2008/10/13/why-light-text-on-dark-background-is-a-bad-idea/