21/3/16 - Editing

I began my final week at Changing Lives by proof-reading and self-editing the draft impact report I created in the office last week. As mentioned already, this will be a very important document in all future bid applications the charity makes, and after seeing how strenuous these applications can be first-hand from my encounters with the grants team, I know it is vital that the document I produce is accurate both factually and grammatically. 

I also ensured all design aspects of the  project were accurate and aesthetically pleasing, whilst also maintaining some uniformity with previous literature produced by the charity. 

Following my  own quality-control of the project, and some further additions to the statistics and infographics in the project (which I created on Thursday and Friday from home following my outreach work), I had a meeting with Rhiannon to hear her feedback of the draft product. Rhiannon expressed how pleased she was with my progress so far, and helped me with some of the vocabulary that the charity often use when talking about their service users to ensure the product I create is not offensive to anybody, and is clear to understand. Together we decided to re-order the sections of  the impact report from their previous alphabetical structure to a structure that tells the story of the charity more effectively and has the most impactful material at the beginning of the report.

It is important, when a situation like this arises, to take all constructive criticism on board without taking it personally. As somebody who works in a creative industry already (through my student journalism role), I appreciate how it is sometimes difficult to remove yourself from the work you produce and look at it from another perspective. The same can be said for academic essays produced at university. By reminding myself of this, I feel I was able to better take on Rhiannon's advice  and hopefully this will make my project even more successful.

With the end of my project in sight, I have arranged, alongside Rhiannon, to send the document to two of the highest-ranking employees in central office at the end of tomorrow for them to check it and make sure it tells the story of Changing Lives the way they want the public to perceive the charity. I feel that this setting of a deadline, by myself, will aid me in reaching my goal and I hope it shows my initiative to look past the immediacy of this two-week placement and to the future use of this product.