Maranta Group

A fictitious company created to showcase design and technical writing principles, branding standards, and documentation for novice, college-level designers   

When I first began teaching technical writing, I wanted a way to show students curated, well-designed examples of documents they would be asked to create in my courses using the tools that average college students would have access to and time to learn. My "company" is a mobile development firm that produces customized mobile applications and supporting documentation for said applications. 

First, students "apply" to the company with their self-created resumes and cover letters. Once hired, students propose and design a mobile application using a template, write supporting technical instructions for their apps, write memos providing status updates, and design an icon for their app. Finally, in the third unit, students produce a press release statement, press release kit, and social media advertisements with supporting memos for self-analysis. In these assignments, students are exposed to a wide range of writing and design genres, learn the theory behind design principles, and enact those priciples by producing documentation common in some business environments.