Keeley Catarineau

ECM 4910

Capstone Project Proposal

Executive Summary

Her Campus is an innovative, female-centered website that continues to rise in popularity. The purpose
of Her Campus is to address an audience that previously had been neglected: college women. This is
accomplished through the utilization of timely, relevant article topics that are developed by members of
the same grouping of people—Her Campus is an online magazine for college women, by college women.
For my Capstone Project, I will analyze the Her Campus website design and article writing so that I can
emulate it in three articles of varying topics that will be submitted to Her Campus for consideration. As a
fellow female college student, I will also be able to appeal to my audience and generate an engaging
topic. This project is useful and distinct in its ability to nurture my career by providing an avenue for
communication and interaction with the business world, which on this occasion is the Her Campus
company.

General

This project for the English and Communication capstone course is an analysis of the Her Campus
website for both design, content, and style along with a deliverable of three articles for the website. Her
Campus website is an online magazine with the ambition of empowering college women. The idea for
Her Campus was born from three creators as only undergraduate students with a “plan to fill a huge
hole in the media market: an online magazine dedicated to, written by, and focused on empowering,
college women” (Hercampus.com). Her Campus has filled this gap by publishing articles on timely issues
such as “Grey’s Anatomy: Tom Koracick Deserves Better,” which was posted after the conclusion of an
episode. Another example is “I'm Bisexual & in a Heterosexual Relationship—That Doesn't Erase My
Identity Though,” which details current issues regarding sexuality. Since the creation of the website in
2009, Her Campus has flourished and produced over 360 chapters at various college campuses across
the United States. Her Campus proudly serves as the leading media brand for college women as well. To
date, Her Campus is 100% women-run. This alone empowers women by providing them a welcoming
workplace—not many companies can boast this quality. This feature of Her Campus also caters more to
a female audience’s needs as a female staff will recognize with ease that audience’s desires and address
them in a timely manner through the online publication. The website itself is organized by sections to
provide readers easy access to specific types of articles, such as culture, money and career, wellness,
lifestyle, décor, sex and relationships, style, beauty, high school, and “her20s.” Articles under the culture
section are about current types of news and entertainment, while articles under wellness include topics
like fitness, physical health, mental health, and sexual health. The design of the website is elegantly
streamlined and is appealing with its relaxed pastel color scheme.

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 Figure 1 The home page of the Her Campus website.

Breakdown of Project Parts

The project itself will consist of three main parts: analysis of the website design, analysis of the articles
on the website, and the composition of three articles to serve as creative deliverables. All aspects of this
project will work together to set me up for success in the business world by providing access to a
company with many potential career opportunities and by serving as an example of what business
interactions may look like.
Analysis of Website Design:
The Her Campus website will be analyzed with reference to the following aspects of design: proximity,
alignment, repetition, and contrast. These aspects are the focal point of The Non-Designer’s Design
Book, by Robin William, which the analysis will be based upon. William says that naming design aspects
is crucial because “Once you can name something, you’re conscious of it. You have power over it. You’re
in control. You own it” (11). The Her Campus website will be analyzed by doing exactly this—identifying
different aspects of design to provide control over how my own creative deliverable will work similarly
and effectively. With reference to this work, the final product of this part of the project will be an
analytical paper.
Analysis of Article Writing:
The articles of the Her Campus website will be analyzed based on content, form, and style. However, the
analysis for the content of the Her Campus website will be formed by knowledge accumulated through
English courses and curriculum, since this project will be demonstrative of a wide range of skills. Since
the Her Campus website has a wide variety of article sections, there will be a large range of articles
analyzed. For example, the articles will vary from “How to Be the Super Woman of Your Finances & Your
Life, According to Nicole Lapin” to “10 of Our Favorite Faux Fur & Leather Jacket Picks for the Fall.” By
completing this analysis, it should be easier to mimic the style and energy of the Her Campus blog
articles in my own submissions.

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 Figure 2 The format of an article on the Her Campus website.

Creative Deliverable:
After thorough analysis, the deliverable aspect of this project will consist of composing three separate
blog entries that portray the style and format of Her Campus articles. These articles will then be
submitted to Her Campus through their open submission form to potentially be published on the Her
Campus national site. The analytical parts of the project will also be completed prior to the composition
of the deliverables so that the style of the Her Campus articles can be emulated in the writing. The
topics for these articles will vary based on current topics and issues facing college women, along with
prompts supplied by the Her Campus website. For example, a potential article topic could be “5 Self-
Defense Moves Everyone Needs to Know,” in which several important self-defense moves will be
introduced and explained through both texts and visuals. Other potential topics could include describing
popular clothing trends or composing a list of important literary works for college women to read.
However, finding credible sources for specific article topics may be challenging as Her Campus articles
tend to reference experts in different fields. This can be remedied through the utilization of the article
prompts and information supplied by Her Campus, along with potentially composing an opinion article
as one of the deliverables since they do not include sources. The project will also address the interest of
the targeted audience, which is college-aged women, through the deliverables by selecting appropriate
and relevant topics for the three articles.

Proposed Schedule
Below is a timeline that presents proposed dates each portion of the project will be completed in.

Analysis of Article Production of

Showcase Day
Analysis of Website Design Writing Creative Deliverables
Presentation
October 18 - October 25, 2019 October 28 - November 8 -
November 19, 2019
November 6, 2019 November 15, 2019

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Distinguishing Features and Utility of Project
The distinguishing features of this project are the relevance of the Her Campus website and the
submission of the blog entries for feedback. The incorporation of the Her Campus website in the project
allows access to an up-and-coming media entity that appeals to a targeted audience that previously has
not been paid much attention to. The submission of the deliverables to the Her Campus website is also
distinctive because it provides an opportunity to get feedback and compete in a successful business
environment. This also contributes to the usefulness of this project, which is evident in the interaction
with the professional world. The feedback from this project and interaction with the Her Campus
business provides information that can be used to further a career. Regardless of the results of this
project, knowledge will be gained that contribute to personal career success. If any of the three
deliverables get selected to be featured on the Her Campus website, this provides an example of work
and success that can be added to a résumé. If none of the deliverables are selected by Her Campus, the
interaction with the business provides an example of how to function in the professional world, along
with the anticipated feedback by the editors at Her Campus on the articles serving as a list of things to
improve upon. This provides me with an advantage to begin working on my networking early and bolster
my blooming career.