Embedded Files
Pinnow_A6 Client Project_Final.pdfProfessional and Technical Writing at CMU Brochure
Professional and Technical Writing at CMU Brochure
Context: Originally created in Fall 2023 for Document and Information Design at Carnegie Mellon University.
Audience: This brochure was created for a primary audience of prospective undergraduate professional and technical writing (PTW) majors, including both prospective CMU students and current undergraduates. Additionally, this assignment was a client project and had a secondary audience of our client, the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Programs for PTW, who wanted to increase awareness of the value of a PTW major.
Purpose: To inform prospective majors about what PTW is and how these programs can help them grow as a communicator and as a professional.
Considerations: Here, I wanted to present both the professionalism and creativity necessary to be successful in PTW. In order to offset the connotation of “Professional” and “Technical” being deeply serious and uncreative, I used CMU’s secondary color palette to make the design stand out while still adhering to the CMU brand identity. Since this document is used to provide an overview of essential information, I used headers and visual hierarchy to allow prospective majors to quickly skim the brochure to find the information they are looking for while still providing a moderate depth of information in a compact document. Similarly, the brochure is also designed with accessibility in mind. Whenever a QR code is provided, a URL is also provided to accommodate those who are unable to scan the code.
Created using InDesign.
How does it unfold?
How does it unfold?
First, users encounter the title page, which sets the context for the document.
Next, users will see the “Love writing?” page, the first half of “Find your career,” and the first third of “Join our community.” These sections emphasize that students should consider a PTW major because they love to write and will be able to make a successful career out of it.
When users continue to unfold the brochure, they see the full “Find your career” and “Join our community” spreads, along with a new page titled “Become a strong communicator.” The user is now being shown why they should consider a PTW major at CMU specifically. Here, they will see that as a PTW student, they will receive personalized guidance and start to build a strong professional network.
Finally, the user will see the back cover, which includes information on how to “Contact us” and find additional information. This is presented at the end since it is the final step to declare the major and so that it is easily accessible for future reference without having to flip through the entire brochure.
Cancer Institute Flyer_2025.pdfCancer Screening Flyer
Cancer Screening Flyer
Context: Originally created in the fall 2024 for my mother-in-law, who is a cancer-screening coordinator at AHN. She asked me to create a brand-compliant flyer to pass out at informational events. This flyer had to contain information from several previously-created handouts, including what cancers they can screen for, how screening works, how people can register for a free cancer screening, and when and where free cancer screenings are held.
Audience: Patients who may be at risk of cancer and who may benefit from one of AHN's free cancer screenings.
Purpose: To inform users what to expect from a cancer screening and how to register for an appointment.
Considerations: I wanted to convey as much information as possible without overwhelming users. As someone without a medical background, it was difficult to condense much of the information about screening as I did not know what was essential. I also wanted to ensure that both sides of the flyer contained information about how to register, as that is the primary action item from this flyer. Finally, I wanted this flyer to be easy to update from year-to-year, so I ensured that the first page contained information that rarely changes, and clearly labeled the schedule with the year in several places.
Created using Adobe InDesign.
Pinnow_A2Technical Document_Final.pdfTextbook Design
Textbook Design
Context: Created in Fall 2023 for Document and Information Design at Carnegie Mellon University. Students were given the text from a chapter and asked to create a design appropriate for the genre without using multiple columns or color. In particular, we were asked to focus on the margins, typefaces, type sizes, leading, tracking, kerning, and running head.
Audience: College students (users of the textbook).
Purpose: To encourage textbook usage by designing a chapter that does not overwhelm users.
Considerations: I paid close attention to what turned me away from or drew me to textbooks I have used in the past. I wanted this text to be easily digestible and I did not want the text to be so tight that it becomes overwhelming to the reader. Ideally, the design of this chapter should not be noticed by the user, as they should be able to use the textbook with ease.
Created using InDesign.
Pinnow_A5 Infographic_Final.pdfInfographic
Infographic
Context: Originally created in Fall 2023 for Document and Information Design at Carnegie Mellon University. Students were asked to design an infographic on a topic and content of their choice.
Audience: Someone who is caring for cut fresh flowers for the first time or who is looking to extend the life of their flowers.
Purpose: To inform users on best practices when arranging and caring for cut flowers.
Considerations: I wanted to make sure my infographic was aesthetically pleasing while still being easily digestible and memorable for readers.
Created using Adobe Illustrator.
Icons via the Noun Project.
Pinnow_A5 Magazine_Final.pdfThe Bitter Southerner-esque Magazine Design
The Bitter Southerner-esque Magazine Design
Context: Originally created in Fall 2023 for Document and Information Design at Carnegie Mellon University. Students were tasked to design at least one spread inspired by a magazine of their choice. For my project, I was inspired by The Bitter Southerner and chose to use an article previously written about me for the NDSMC Observer.
Audience: Readers of The Bitter Southerner, a website and magazine that highlights the American South.
Purpose: To enhance the readability of the article by creating a spread aesthetically similar to The Bitter Southerner.
Considerations: In these spreads, I had to consider the aesthetics of The Bitter Southerner while not directly copying it. I paid special attention to the typefaces and layout as well as the color grading of images.
If I were to do this assignment again, I would choose a different article since the images associated with this article do not lend themselves well to the style of many Bitter Southerner images.
Created using InDesign.
Dynamic Events Spreadsheet
Dynamic Events Spreadsheet
Context: Though people don't typically think of spreadsheets when they think of design, design thinking can help create usable spreadsheets. A version of this spreadsheet was created in spring 2026 when a program director asked me to create a digest of all events that would count in order to meet requirements for five required, related courses.
Audience: Student who need to find events to complete any of the five courses.
Purpose: Efficiently and clearly house information about recommended events. Allow students to browse upcoming events for a specific course and to view a digest of events happening soon.
Considerations: I wanted this spreadsheet to be consistently useful for students and to be easy to update. Once an event is manually entered once, it automatically updates throughout the rest of the workbook. For instance, once an event for Course 1 is entered into the data tab (hidden from student view), it will automatically appear in both the "All Events" and "Course 1" tabs.
Additionally, data also automatically updates by date. On the "Digest" tab, the date at the top always has today's date, the days until due section will always have the correct number (and will change color as the due date is within a week), the events this week will always show the events that occur this week, and the featured event will always occur today or later. The events on the individual course pages and on "All Events" will only show the events occuring today or later. These programmatic updates ensure that students have the most relevant information easily accessible without requiring daily manual updates.
The real version of this spreadsheet was viewed by over 250 unique students within the first six weeks of its release.
Dynamic and Filterable Calendar Spreadsheet
Dynamic and Filterable Calendar Spreadsheet
Context: A version of this spreadsheet was created in spring 2026 when a program director asked me to create a calendar view for the above spreadsheet. Our goal was for it to be filterable to only the course that the student was interested in. The above spreadsheet uses the same template as a personal calendar.
Audience: Someone who wants a simple, easily filterable calendar at a glance.
Purpose: To be able to see and comprehend any and all upcoming events. Additionally, be able to view past and future events and events that are part of a specific category.
Considerations: I wanted this spreadsheet to allow the user to quickly understand where they were in time. When you select a month, all the dates in that month are highlighted in yellow. Today's date will always be orange with white text. Selecting an event type will only show you events for that month of that type.
This spreadsheet also needed to be filterable (both for month and type) by users, however, I did not want users to accidentally edit any of the data or formulas within the spreadsheet. To do so, I made the two dropdown menus editable to anyone but did not grant edit access to the rest of the spreadsheet.
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