Combining media for a purpose
Computer Science · Key Stage 2 · The School
More than one kind of media at once
A poster, a leaflet or a slide often mixes TEXT, IMAGES and LAYOUT together. Each part does a different job: text explains, an image shows, layout guides the eye to what matters most. Combining them well takes more thought than using just one. Getting all three working together is a skill in its own right. It is a different skill from writing well or drawing well on its own.
Who is this for?
A leaflet for young children uses big pictures and short sentences. The same topic, written for parents, uses more detail and fewer pictures. The AUDIENCE decides what belongs on the page — not just the topic. Picturing exactly who will read it is often the very first design decision.
A purpose, not just a topic
A poster about recycling could aim to inform, to persuade, or to instruct. An informing poster explains facts. A persuading poster makes an argument. An instructing poster gives steps to follow. The same topic looks different depending on its purpose. Deciding the purpose before starting to design saves a lot of redrawing later. Two posters on the same topic can look almost nothing alike. Neither one would be the wrong choice — only the wrong choice for its own stated purpose.
Improving after feedback
A first draft poster about healthy eating used a wall of small text and no images. A classmate said it was hard to read quickly. The second draft used three short bullet points and one large image, and was far easier to read at a glance. The topic never changed — only how it was combined.