So what is PR Design?
PR Design has been, by far, one of the most beneficial public relations courses I have taken during my time at Gaylord. PR Design as a class taught me a lot of beneficial design tips and took a deeper dive into the design choices the professionals make. I learned a lot about how to use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Canva, and even platforms like MailChimp to help me create emails. We learned that PR design is way more than just the colors you choose for a business card or the font you use on a newsletter; there are a ton of things to take into consideration as a thoughtful designer.
My Little Tips and Tricks
One of my biggest tips is to KNOW YOUR STAKEHOLDERS! It is so important to know who you are designing for and who your target audience is. Something that might look “cute” or “aesthetic” to you, may not catch the eye of your target stakeholders at all. Design was completely new to me this year in terms of using Adobe, so I’m still a little bit slower using those, but I’m definitely getting the hang of it! One huge tip that did help me a lot for our final project was to use a previous design’s base outline/layout to save time when creating my newsletter pages! For me it was a bit tricky to get the base format of my assignments set up, so using my first newsletter assignment to act as a template for my 6-page newsletter probably saved me hours of work!
This is the cover for my 6-page newsletter that was my final project. I was orginally nervous about this assignment because I remember I wasn’t the best at creating the first newsletter, which was our very first assignment. This project truly showed my how much I grew as a designer and how my skills developed. Once I started working, I was proud at how much more I knew. I used the template from my original newsletter and edited to be exactly how I wanted.
My Final Thoughts For PR Design
I’ll say it once again, PR Design Sam Sims has been one of the absolute MOST beneficial classes I have taken in college. I truly learned more in this class than most of the others classes I have taken at OU. It challenged me in creative ways and Sam was such a great mentor for this class! He is always extremely insightful, and I would recommend this course to any and every PR student! From creating my own business card, to making a competitive analysis about myself, to the final project, every single assignment taught me something new and challenged my design skills! This class has truly set me up for future success and I am excited to put my skills to use!
