Among Peers and Clients: Professional Communication

E4

Writing formal and informal emails in the context of one’s work as a future design professional is an opportunity to bring the context of communication in focus. It is as much about deciding what needs to be said regarding the work that one shared with a professional acquaintance, peer or client, as much as it is about being considerate of the reader, and making sure they understand. For emails, this entails an ability to make use of conventions of the genre, but also being able to write briefly and clearly; being able to help the interlocutor engage with the work provided as attachment; and ensuring that they are clear on what is expected of them.

Such emails need to be crafted with care to the register and tone one adopts, and need to be seen also as an act of presenting a certain image of oneself in the professional world.  

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The final exercises for the semester are an opportunity to pause and reflect on one’s learning in the context of the future one strives for, before moving into a new semester. This is primarily an exercise intended to help the writer themselves, before being one intended as a way to make one’s work available to others.