Based on the points in the article ("What You See Isn't Necessarily What you Get) and your knowledge of Eckerd, analyze the brochure. Begin by describing the brochure or pamphlet you are analyzing, then explore the following questions: What image of Eckerd is the brochure projecting? Is it accurate? Who is the audience for the brochure? How might the brochure change is the audience changed?
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Last semester in Writing the Environment I made a magazine about Eckerd College Campus. I tried to emphasize aspects and buildings that are usually ignored in common brochures. Looking at the visiting campus brochure, I find that Eckerd tries to show only the best. A few of the picture are of the waterfront, on-campus beach, iota, omega, and the library. There is also an African American woman posing in front of the hand mural. It seems that many of the pictures are posed, and some have minorities in them, but any photo that isn't staged is purely white. I am assuming that none of these photos have been tampered with, but it is obvious some of the people have been positioned.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find a pamphlet but I did analyze the on campus tour of Eckerd on our website. Through out the tour most of the pictures are about right, not to structured and most are actual depictions of campus life. There are a few pictures that you can just tell have been set up and would never normally happen. There is a picture of students riding perfect brand new Yellow Bikes, but honestly when was the last time you ever saw a perfect working bike, almost never. The majority of the pictures of the campus are very appealing, but they are only from the best places on campus. They don't show any pictures of Mt. Eckerd anywhere on the tour. Overall the tour did give me a good sense of what Eckerd is really like, with only a few exceptions.
ReplyDeleteI analayzed the online tour as well as the pictures displayed in the admissions section of the college's website. While it seems Eckerd is not as deceptive as the other schools advertising mentioned in the article, there is definitely a heavy inside influence on the image that the college whats to portray. For example,the only buildings that were shown were the much newer facilities such as Iota,the library and the marine science center,all with a backdrop of the perfect sunset. And while there are numerous shots of the waterfront and the "beach", there are no pictures of the four lane, high traffic highway at the front of our campus. Obviously to attract prospective students you need to play up the positives of the school, but dishonesty about the student body and campus will definitely backfire.
ReplyDeleteI used the Eckerd website as well. I found the campus tour confusing because what they chose to photograph was not the Eckerd that I see on a daily basis. I understand that they have to put a positive spin on things, but I would have appreciated a bit more realism. For example, the only dorm they show is Omega and the picture of the Pub looks nothing like the Pub. If you judged Eckerd by this tour, you would think that the average student has class outside every day and the library is their favorite place to be and that is simply not the case.
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ReplyDeleteI used the tour on the eckerd website. i did find it to be a little misleading. some of the computer labs shown are not open to all students and some of the places mentioned i have never been to much less; there was one i had never even heard of. they only showed one picture of omega "looking over" the bay. they could have shown iota at least as well because its new and clean if anything. but they could have taken more of a natural approach and shown some of the more scenic areas of campus or kappa field, the "beach", zeta/nu pond, there are many areas they could have shown full of happy students because lets be honest, its eckerd. many students dont hang out on the library steps. while its important to show the educational aspect of the campus i think it would only be a positive thing to show the students enjoying the campus. a picture of kappa field on a sunny day would be perfect, showing students getting out in the sun, doing homework, playing catch and chillin out on blankets im sure would only have a positive influence on the online tour. the pictures of students sitting in omega rooms chitchatting on their phone are clearly fake and disappointing.
ReplyDeleteI used the eckerd college online tour and every picture you see is straight out of Elle Magazine with pretty people and beautiful weather. I feel that the school is only showing the positive side of eckerd i.e. nice Omega dorms and brand new state of the art Library, but shy's away from grungy kappa. I understand they are trying to get people to enroll, but being a bit more real would take some of the shock value away when the students find out eckerd isn't a diamond in the rough, but more like a rough diamond.
ReplyDeleteI also couldn't find a brochure, but I did visit and analyze the website of "The Campaign for Eckerd College: Many Experiences, One Spirit."
ReplyDeleteThe website shows several images on the left side and bottom of the page, and they attempt to play up the advertised dichotomy of the typical Eckerd lifestyle: hard-working and scholarly, but also casual. The OTHER side of Eckerd life (i.e., the extremely casual side) is obviously not represented. I think that the casualness that is shown, for example, in President Eastman yellow-biking across the campus is slightly exaggerated, as I have never seen him do that. Also, the pictures of students always show them diligently at work or focused on a lecture, which is not a random snapshot from student life, but rather a carefully selected one. This is of course understandable, as the college wants to present this carefree/scholarly image to incoming freshman, their parents, etc., but it does not completely represent reality.
I analyzed the online Eckerd tour, which portrayed a prestigious image of Eckerd College. The images posted on the tour are accurate and evoke the spirit of Eckerd: relaxed, beautiful, and very academic. There are some pictures that are too staged for me and I feel that these pictures are not realistic. The campus life page is very misleading because it only shows a picture of omega, which is the only apartment style dorm on campus. Many visitors would be disappointed to find that only one dorm is actually like this. I would like to see the traditional dorms on the campus tour, such as Zeta or Kappa. I feel that the online Campus tour should have more candid pictures of students interacting on campus, not staged photo shoots.
ReplyDeleteI also analyzed the online tour of Eckerd. The pictures they had on the tour were mostly outside including the water or the beautiful sunsets. They really captured the beauty of the campus. They included things that are the strengths of the campus like the library and the new nice buildings a lot because they are trying to sell the campus. Why would they put in pictures of the broken down stuff on their website. It plays to the audience of parents of potential students and students. I think if it were a brochure for people that already went here then they wouldn't be as worried about only showing the strength of campus and showing more of what the students here love like the graffiti wall.
ReplyDeleteI analyzed the online tour of Eckerd on the Eckerd website. I was amused by the "seibert computer lab" with pictures from what looked like 1997. Why would they put that in there? I would think they would want to put in pictures of our bright shiny new PCs in the library lab. It was also interesting seeing the arts center at Eckerd on the website, as I have never actually seen it in person (which is horrible, since I live on campus). Also, I had no idea we had a marine mammal pathobiology lab. It's interesting that these tours are even informational to a sophomore student; I think it says a lot for the quality of the tour. The online tour is an accurate depiction of Eckerd, although not 100% up to date (what exactly is "the Connections Snack bar” and why have I never seen it?) I still think it is an enticing representation of Eckerd that could be made better. Perhaps if they added more information of the nature of the student body and had more pictures of the student life (picnic table gatherings, Kappa Karnival, etc) at Eckerd, it might give a more accurate feel for the campus to an outsider. Also, there aren’t any pictures of Iota or traditional housing, only Omega. I think an important aspect of student life is left out by not picturing/describing the communities that are built within Eckerd College’s traditional housing. This tour projects something that will appeal to a parental audience or a dull student, but someone truly seeking the nature of the Eckerd College student body will miss some of the most important aspects of Eckerd. Overall it was lovely with its portrayals of our beautiful campus and great recreational activities but leaving out the essence of the student life was a mistake that should be corrected post haste.
ReplyDeleteI chose to analayze a paper/ pamphlet on Sustainability at Eckerd College. It's audience is Eckerd College students. The image it is trying to project is that Eckerd College has numerous green programs. The brochure is accurate in a sense as it portrays the college programs we have such as the recycling crew, EcoClamshell take out box, and yellow bikes. However Eckerd College is not exactly accurate in trying to portray themselves as a "green" campus. There are still lots that have to be improved upon. In addition the quality of the photos and general layout of the pamphlet needs quite a bit of work. I think as the audience changes the pictures shown would change. For instance, if the audience was parents of Eckerd students, there would have been a lot more money and better quality photos invested.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the Eckerd Home page isn’t technically a brochure, it certainly has the same traits as one. Eckerd College uses several images of what they want the school to be seen as. They do this by vibrant color use, images of idealized Eckerd college students, inviting phrases and well organized links. Of course in any brochure there are things shown that are not necessarily true, in order to persuade the viewer. It is important to have a balance between the truth and what is being exaggerated. If there’s is too much exaggeration, it will not be believable to the audience, while on the other hand, sometimes demonstrating the whole truth might not sell to the audience. On the website, all of the pictures seem staged, to the point where they aren’t believable. For example, in the picture of the photography students and their teacher, the students look more delightedly interested in their teacher setting something up than any real students ever would. The webpage is also racially idealized, as the diversity displayed on it exceeds what I have seen in the Eckerd Classroom. I think that the Eckerd College website is somewhat exaggerated and could use a little more truth. Maybe taking candid pictures of real people doing actual things here at Eckerd would be more persuasive for the viewers.
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