Real-Life Communication
Designing a roller-coaster is incredibly complex. Coasters are highly
technical. Safety is a major concern, not to mention the laws of physics that
must be employed.
On top of all that, roller-coaster designers must
remember one other thing: this monstrosity, which will take a year or longer
to build at a cost of up to $4 million, must be fun! Isn't that what brings
you to an amusement park in the first place? The ride must be thrilling and
electrifying, one that twists and turns and races at more than 85 miles an
hour, then plunges the height of a 22-storey building.
Any project
this complex requires a design team that works with each other every step
of the way. There's no room for error in this business, and the big designers
make sure of that. Communication must be honed to an art form, using whatever
methods are necessary to convey the information.
Designers rarely use
the same coaster design more than once. Each coaster is unique and based on
the client's needs. For instance, a major consideration is the site itself.
Each
coaster must be built to precisely fit its location. In order to ensure a
perfect fit, the design team visits the site, then goes back to the office
and designs the coaster. Then the designers have to show the owner what they've
come up with.
"We produce model and artist renderings to convey the
information to the owner," says Denise Dinn Larrick, a roller-coaster designer.
"Then
we'll do a layout in the field to show the owner physically where the coaster
would fit on the site. As we get further into the design, we'll do a three-dimensional,
computer-generated rendering to show the owner what it's going to look like.
Then we produce the construction documents to build from."
You work
for a roller-coaster design company. You have been working on a new roller-coaster
for the past month and it is finally completed.
You've been asked to
write a brief ad (no more than 75 words) explaining the details of the new
roller-coaster. Here are the facts:
Your company name: FastCoast Roller-Coasters
Name
of project: Fireball
Speed: 55 mph
Height: 29 meters
Drop: 26.5
meters
Length: 1,279 meters
Arrangement: Two trains with four cars
per train. Riders are arranged two across in three rows for a total of 24
riders per train.
Structure: Steel structure with wooden track
How
would you write a short, catchy ad for this coaster? Remember that you don't
have to use all the facts.