AN ASSESSMENT OF THE VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS APPROACH OF THE PUBLICATION UNIT OF AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA-NIGERIA

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Author

Presented To

Department of Environmental Design

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of visual communication designs published by the Public Affairs Unit of the Ahmadu Bello University Registry. The specific aim was to develop a prototype Visual Communications Resource that would serve as the ideal tool for advertising university undergraduate programmes, using perceptive principles of design that are capable of strongly impacting on prospective undergraduate students. In line with the principles of the Functional Context Learning Paradigm, an informed awareness led the study to the development of an undergraduate prospectus in print mode, based on the variables of typography, images and colours highlighted in the statement of the problem. The study explored a descriptive analysis to delineate the visual content which later guided the entire redesign procedure before administering them to respondents (prospective students) in clusters of Focus Groups. The results obtained from the analysis revealed that in spite of the limited media of advertising university courses, richly designed prospectuses seemed to be the preferred medium for educating and informing prospective students as well as their parents and guardians of the courses and extra-curricular options available. The conclusion of this study was that Visual Communications Materials that incorporate crisp digital images, simple array of texts and harmonious colours can have a great impact on the target audience it was being designed for: particularly, the prototype prospectus had a positive impact on prospective students that constituted the study population. The study finally recommended that the University Management in liaison with the Graphics section of the Department of Industrial design should endeavour to implement this concept for educating and informing prospective students in a more suitable, effective and sustainable manner.