Journal 3

The artifacts I have chosen for this project all relate to a different kind of exigence. Exigence is the word I have chosen to study, and when picking artifacts I wanted to focus on ones that all exemplified different types of urgency and discourse. I have chosen to look at a Twitter page, a thank you note, and a planner. A noticeable trend among all of them would be an immediate Cause and Effect relationship. While the audience for each my vary, their original concept sparked in very close relation to an action occurring. For example, tweets are often composed after immediate thought and/or an instantaneous need to deliver information. The specific Twitter page I am focusing on is SeminoleSAFE account that Florida State University uses to put important alerts out to its students.

In regards to Edbauer, circulation is key and in my own opinion it is what gives your writing value. While the circulation does not need to be a grand gesture, it is still important to put your message in the hands of the right people. For example, I am using a planner in my project, but a planner is not something that needs any circulation. It simply needs to be put in the hands of the author itself for it to gain its value. The same goes for the Thank You note. While it does not need to be seen by anyone but the reader, it is nothing but words unless the intended receiver reads those words.

As far as design goes, I think each artifact I have chosen has a unique design that works as its foundation but it is then up to the author to utilize it how they would like. Most Thank You notes have a decorative cover and a blank inside that gives the author free range to write a long message or draw a picture. Planners are similar in that they have a predetermined design in regards to lines, blank spaces, and calendars, but once again the owner of the planner can be as neat or scattered as they want. The twitter account is probably the most formulaic design amongst my artifacts, however each account owner is able to add pictures and wallpapers to their profiles to customize it to them and their purpose.

Material plays a much larger role in these artifacts than it originally seemed. The paper based planner aids in being a portable, physical documentation of your thoughts. A physical Thank You note adds a flare, specially from handwriting, that provides a personal touch.  And the digital Twitter account succeeds because it is the fastest form of deliver as well as simply a catalyst for information and not so much documentation.