Digital Media Artifact Analysis

V_Aoice Of The Northwoods – 

Gone Digital

By: Julia Weiss
9/26/2012

VAoice of the Northwoods is a new digital media artifact.  The Oscar G. Johnson Veterans Affairs Hospital assigned their 2012 summer intern Julia Weiss (me) with the task of creating, designing and digitally publishing their first ever internal affairs newsletter into the virtually accessible pathways of the World Wide Web, and that is what I did.  The intent of this newsletter was to create a medium of communication and sense of community among the VISN 12 hospital; done by having content that acknowledges the current events and specialties of the hospital and people within.  I know the purpose, content, design and audience inside and out, and I will prove to you that this is a digital media artifact, as well as what I have learned to be “new media”.

I created the newsletter through a media program; Microsoft Publisher 2010, which is a type of publication software, enabling the formatted and numerical creation of digital media artifacts.  In order to prove my point of the newsletter being a digital media artifact, I must make sure you – the reader understands what digital media is:

“Digital Media – digitized content (text, graphics, audio, and video) that can be transmitted over internet or computer networks” (WebFinance Inc. "Meaning and Definition.").

So, then what is digitized content?

“Digitalization (digitally converted content) – conversion of analog information in any form (text, photographs, voice, etc.) to digital form with suitable electronic devices (such as a scanner or specialized computer chips) so that the information can be processed, stored, and transmitted through digital circuits, equipment, and networks”, (WebFinance Inc. "Meaning and Definition.").
            Microsoft Publisher 2010 is the prime example of a program that can hold, store, create, design and format digitized content.  Within the newsletter consists, a self-designed template (blank originally), a color scheme – with a numerical code breakdown, organized formatting for boundaries of text, shapes, pictures, headings, subheadings, captions, design layouts, links, customization, logos and other general time relevant veteran stories.  There are several things that help to establish this artifact as digital media and essentially a new media artifact: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding.

First off, how did I create this artifact?  The software program itself is a media database, enabling my images, texts, shapes, sequences, templates, to all become computable.  The data that comprises my artifact is simply comprised of more data, thus a numerical representation.  Through this software program I have been able to create affective media communication by acquiring, manipulating, storing and distributing digital objects within the artifact, such as pictures, text boxes, shapes, colors … etc.  Since I had to build this artifact, one object, one edit, one composition at a time, I created a make-up of media. This is beneficial, because this means you have the ability to break it down, isolate, edit and delete without risk of collapsing the entire project itself; whereas with traditional media, you are just one wrong click away from deleting a module that will potentially crash an entire program (Manovich, Lev. "The Language of New Media.").
            The entire newsletter is numerically represented through resolution amounts, volume controls, contrast levels, color scheme codes, page numbers, words per text box, text boxes per page, boundaries, borders, imagery, and pixels; my point is there are separate levels of content, all of which can be broken down into a database of digital codes.  It is the design codes/context that you choose that affects the readers rhetorical decoding of the information; this newsletter is representative of the government and the Veteran Affairs Association.  The choices of color, layout, font, spacing and content is vital when wanting to create the appropriate ethos, pathos and logos of the artifact.

During the creation I had a strict conduct code for color schemes, logos, and context placement.  It is casual, but informative with the intent to educate and entertain the hospital staff and participating veterans. The newsletter has a modular structure throughout due to the guidelines, and also had to be compatible with the structure of the publisher software itself.  Having separate objects capable of shifting around and design manipulation, allowed for each media element to come together with the programs format, but also with each other to create a larger picture of systematic structure throughout.  This is digital media principle known as modularity (Manovich, Lev. "TheLanguage of New Media.").

The principle of automation goes hand in hand with the numerical coding of media and the modular structure of a media object.  Together they allow for the automation of many operations involved in media creation. Publisher is considered to be a “low-level” automation of media creation; the computer user modifies or creates from scratch a media object using simple algorithms or templates.  This is very common in commercial software, for things like word processing or image editing programs like Photoshop.  So, the numerical coding sets up the structure, and the modularity is then accessed by the user (Manovich, Lev. "The Languageof New Media.").

Principle 1 (numerical coding) + principle 2 (modular structure) = Principle 3(automation)
               An easy to operate system where you create from scratch what has already been created. Being able to access this type of media creation enables the computer storage and access of incredible amounts of media material, which left me with a lot of options for virtual design.

               Because the newsletter is constantly available to breakdown and edit how I want, when I want (even though it has already been published) I can keep updating or recreating new issues, none quite like the last, a new version bimonthly, once again due to the adaptability that comes from the numerical coding of media and the modular structure of media objects.  Traditional media was typically set to a certain format that was sure to work and store, and successfully enter the virtual realm with no translation issues; new media on the other hand is not constrained to the limits of “one version”.  It has infinite versions waiting to be discovered, and this is the principle of variability, the ability to exist in many forms (Manovich, Lev. "The Language of New Media.").  I have already created different drafts of the V_Aoice of The Northwoods digital artifact, and all are visually
pleasing, are color coordinated with the seasons in which their issue is set to be released.  Not to mention the format in which the newsletter could be saved (PDF, XPS, JPEG.  . . Etc.) giving rise to many different versions all applicable to different situations of external publishing locations.

Throughout the entire process of developing this artifact, I had to assemble a digital layout, and object setup that wouldn’t conflict with the publishing data structures.  In other words, I had to make sure my designs were compatible with what Microsoft Publisher was capable of.  Transcoding, the final principle and my final point proving that this is a new media/digital artifact.  Everything in the newsletter had to be compatible, run smoothly, and work well together.

The modular structure and numerical organization leads to a user friendly automation/self-design mode, which then creates opportunities for infinite design versions, and transcoding or what I like to call the “publishing principle”, then establishes that your digital artifact does indeed fit the proper protocol for its location, and you may then send it into the public sphere of the virtual world. 

          The newsletter itself can be printed off, but its original medium is digital. I installed hyperlinks that create usability; that is an accessible connection between two elements, connected on a network and World Wide Web (Manovich, Lev. "The Language ofNew Media.").  The newsletter contains short stories, and informative text, and direction (through hyperlinks) for readers who are interested in how they can get involved. It is like Andrew Sullivan said “Links are as legitimate as thousand word diatribes — in fact they are often more valuable” (Sullivan,Andrew. "Why I Blog.").

          Some people may say that a digital newsletter is a representation, but I created the newsletter through digital software from the beginning.  Thus, the original is not a digital representation, but a digital artifact.  Maybe people would say that the digital presence or absence of physical presence takes away from interaction and hands on development.  I stand beside Google when they say “The web is what you make it” (Miller, Claire Cain. "Google Takes to TV to Promote Browser."). It is hands on, and engages the reader through virtual means.  It only reacts when the user acts or physically types/programs something into it. It may not be like the ‘old days’ when people took ten minutes out of their day to go get the paper, but the digital format is appropriate with the norm of our culture.  We no longer live in a reality where we have all the time in the word. A ten minute walk could mean the difference between getting your child to or back from daycare.  The digital realm or reality compliments the society of today, and establishes the simulated ‘reality principle’ of the lives we lead (Baudrillard,Jean. "Simulacra and Simulation.”).  Physically, each day everything we see and do has a presence.  The virtual world is a world with consisting of the absence of physical presence, we know objects through the absence of them, thus making what we know about our physical reality ‘true’ (Baudrillard, Jean."Simulacra and Simulation.”).

          When it comes down to it, this newsletter is accessible, it is user-friendly, and it follows protocol for design and compatibility elements.  Culturally, it is up to date and complementary.  The substance is digital, it is not a representation, because it is in its original creation and format. It is a gateway to the World Wide Web, and establishes ethos, pathos and logos within its content/context.  It is made for the the workers and patience of the Iron Mountain VA Hospital, and created using the latest software technology digital media has to offer.  V_Aoice Of The Northwoods is a modern media digital artifact.

Works Cited

Baudrillard, Jean. "Simulacra and Simulation." Google Books. N.p., 2003. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=9Z9biHaoLZIC>.

Manovich, Lev. "The Language of New Media." Chapter 1 What Is New Media? (2002): 19-63. Print.

Miller, Claire Cain. "Google Takes to TV to Promote Browser." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 May 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/technology/04chrome.html?_r=0>.

Sullivan, Andrew. "Why I Blog." The Atlantic. N.p., Nov. 2008. Web. 31 Aug. 2012.

WebFinance Inc. "Meaning and Definition." Business Dictionary. WebFinance Inc, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/digital-media.html>.