*This is the first in a series of brief posts in which I undertake to perform a rhetorical analysis of the university advertisements that appeared in the 2010 Rhetoric Society of America (RSA) conference program. I will undertake to comment upon all of the university ads in the program, in the order that they appeared in the program. Because rhetoric programs are advertising themselves in the program of the field’s premier conference, the ads seem especially ripe for analysis.*
This series begins with an analysis of the ad on the inside cover of the 2010 RSA program, an ad for my own PhD granting institution, the University of Texas at Austin. In many ways this is fitting, not only because it is the rhetoric program from which I hail, but also because it is the advertisement for which I have the toughest criticisms.
By way of disclaimer, let me say that I don’t know who at UT Austin created the ad. That said, I probably do know the person, either as a colleague or friend or, more likely, both. So, let me be clear–my criticisms of this ad are tough, but not directed at the creator. My criticisms are tough also though because this is the rhetoric graduate program that I know the most about, and so am in the best position to analyze.
I’m not a fan of this ad at all, which appears on the inside cover of the RSA program, a position of some visibility and prominence. It strikes me as an ad that was–and I can only speculate here–designed in color, but that translates very poorly to the grayscale format used in the actual printing of the RSA program. More than that though, the ad is simultaneously weak and too busy. By too busy I mean that the faded text collage in the background is distracting, and not a particularly engaging effect. Similarly, the bulk of the text in the fore of the image is shadowed. Unfortunately though, the shadowing only muddies the text. This ad is indecisive and schizophrenic. I know it isn’t the case, but if I had to judge this program purely from its ad, I would say that it is a program that doesn’t know what it is or what it wants to be. This negative effect is magnified by the overly thin script used, which also lends an appearance of indecisiveness, weakness, and amateurishness. This ad simply lacks graphic confidence. The department’s website address also appears in a disappointingly low resolution, which doesn’t instill confidence either. The ad’s primary problems all go back to font. Additionally, the white on gray used to list the program’s faculty simply obscured the wonderful names. They should pop, but instead simply fade into the simultaneously distracting and incoherent background.
I am also disappointed that none of UT Austin’s signature logos, which are graphically wonderful, were employed in the ad. The longhorn logo, most often associated with the sports programs, would have been great, as would the more academically oriented “tower” logo.
Another point of contention for me is that this ad only lists the English Department rhetoric faculty, and not the Communication Studies rhetoric faculty. These two departments are two of the best at what they do, and two of the strongest associated departments in the nation, and from what I can tell, they get along fabulously with one another. It’s disappointing then that they did not reach out to one another for this advertisement, which mistakenly conveys the notion that there is no cooperation between the two departments. For shame. These are two top tier departments with quite collegial faculties, and they should be represented together in an ad that appears in the program for a conference that both departments send a phenomenal number of graduate students and faculty to attend.
In short, this ad is indescisive, graphically muddy, and fails to convey the strength or breadth of the department(s) it might be intended to represent. I am saddened that my own program’s ad does not convey they confidence of a wonderful program that is arguably one of the top two, if not THE top, in the rhetoric concentration. Bolder fonts, more symmetrical presentation, less busy-ness, and better branding would dramatically improve future incarnations of this ad, which simply isn’t convincing in the form in which it appeared in the RSA program. Sorry UT Austin, but we can do much, much better.
