Tuesday 10 May 2011

10th May


AS Media Evaluation

1) When initially thinking about the design of our website, we felt it was important to ensure our design was eye catching and bold compared to other charity websites, which go for a simple layout. Our charity name ‘Paw Paws” is short and catchy, the play on words making it sound like poor paws is fitting in with our charity’s objective ‘Looking after and re-homing poorly dogs”. From this, we chose a few colour schemes: White and black from the colour of our logo. Yellow and red the same colours from the pedigree logo and sky blue to represent freedom. The layout of our home page is inspired by many other similar charity sites, like having a fixed background of a pleasant image with all out context faded in to the front of the page. We liked the idea of framing the main section of the page and making it centre of attention to draw the audience’s eyes to the relevant information.
After researching the conventions of charity websites, we found that certain features were appearing repeatedly, some less obvious than others such as:
·      Links to top stories
·      Donation boxes
·      Motivational quotes
·      Navigation bar
We included all the obvious conventions on our site such as the navigation bar, the ability to donate, an about us page with information on the charity and a ‘contact us’ page whilst also adding some of our own features. Something that didn’t appear often was a ‘fun and games page’, we thought we would add this page to ours to make our site more enjoyable for the audience.


2) We created our site to appeal to all social groups. We did this by using very simple layouts and colour schemes that would not favour any particular social group. We also thought about this in our pictures and videos and made sure that we had a selection of breeds to please all dog lovers.  After reviewing what our audiences wanted from information collected from our surveys, we found out they wanted a modern looking websites with more images and video over music and sound. Customers would prefer a practical looking website rather than a stylish looking site. Our site had a very conventional layout. Everything was neatly spaced out and in line to make it easier on the eye for the audience. All pictures were measured to the same size and thought about in great depth to the where about of the placement of all the pictures.

3) When researching the publishing and distribution of a website, we found out that the whole process is not as complicated as we first thought. Compared to other media conventions such as newspapers or radio, distributing your media product on to the internet is relatively easy. It is quite simple and does not take any exceptional i.t skills. With a website, your main worries are getting it to look professional and to be functional. As we have found over the past few months, we have been able to create a stylish, practical website thanks to the simplicity of the process. When publishing and distributing such media products as newspapers or magazines,  the context but me thought through a lot more in depth to ensure that all information being given out conforms and that there are no individuals or social groups that feel they need to complain to the PCC (Press Complaints Commission). Also with conventions such as newspapers and magazines they take hundreds of people working on them to ensure deadlines are met. Newspapers also require having large funds so they can print thousands of papers everyday. In cases of magazines, it can take weeks jus to get one spread out to the audiences. This is where internet sites become superior as a site can be created in very little time and very little fuss. With radio, we have seen on many previous occasions before where people have said things in the heat of the moment and paid the repercussions of their actions. With internet you can think exactly what you put on so it is harder to get your self into trouble with the PCC. 


4) We tried to have everyone as our target audience. We did this by not using any colours or images that would appeal to any one social group over the next. We used a simple, spaced out layout that made the page very practical to use. We did this as we knew from our survey that this is what the audience wanted, practicality over style.  We also took note from other, similar more established websites than ours on trends in layouts that many sites seem to be using. This gave us ideas on what we would like to copy and we knew they could be trusted as all the big sites with large audiences had them which also tells us that they would appeal to our own audience.  Because of our survey already completed we knew exactly what the majority of our audiences wanted. This made creating a website for our audience a lot easier as we know what appealed to them. For example we used the top three most wanted colours from the survey and incorporated them into our site. Green was our most popular choice so we got a majority green grass background picture that was frozen at the back. White and blue were our second most favourable colour options so we then made are base white where most of the content would be placed. So we didn’t clash too much with the green but listened to out audiences requirements we used a little bit of blue in the header titles. We got the idea of the header titles from similar charitable websites. Another way in which we tried to base our website for all audience was by our font. We used a simple conventional font in an easy to read size to ensure we did not discriminate to the old audience members or audience members with bad eye sight.


5) We tried to attract our audience by having a friendly, attractive site. We used soft colour schemes throughout which made it easy on the audience members eye. We used a simple language as not to confuse any of our audience and to ensure that they are able to use our site as effectively as possible. We made sure that whenever text was on the page it was very easy to see. We did this by using a large font size and a simple easy to read font, we also made sure that the text was always in a spaced out position to the attention is not distracted from the reader. An unusual touch we added that not to many sites have was adding a fun and games page. On here we had a word search that appeals to the younger generation so they can enjoy our site as well. Having the roll over colour changes made it easy for the audience member to know when they were on a link to a new page. Lots of little things when collected altogether I think made our site easy to use for customers of all ages, ethnicities and so on. I think these small components were very effective and help make our site what it was. A simple, stylish effective site.


6) When constructing my preliminary website, I had very little knowledge on sites such as iweb, iphoto and final cut express. Because of this my first site was a very standard basic site. There was very little creativity, which was down to lack of skills, and not being able to put down the looks I ant to achieve.  After much practise I had developed my skills and looked at new areas such as Photoshop. Now I had better skills I would be able to do more of m designs in the style I want.  I would be able to give my website new effects and develop a better quality. I think overall my skills were made stronger and I was more confident to explore new styles that will improve my site.


7) Throughout the whole process I have learnt many new styles and techniques that have helped me change the way I look at designing. When creating my first site I knew very little about the programmes I was using and that was reflected in my preliminary site. Everything was very basic and looked unprofessional. Now as I am at the end of my project, I feel I have improved greatly as I have had the knowledge to create stylish and professional pieces of work. I have learnt to use video and image programmes to alter the way things look and how they sound. A lot of this is also down to becoming more confident and taking risks as well as experimenting and coming up with new designs. This can be as simple as getting rid of backgrounds on pictures that then make the whole site a lot more professional.  Overall I my secondary site was a lot more successful than my preliminary due to the fact I knew more about the programmes and I was able to use them to their full potential. 

18th March

16th March

15th March

14th March

13th March

12th March

In order to evaluate are website properly, we compared our site to a more established dog charity site. Here we can compare similarities and what works well or doesn't work well. 

10th March

What would you like the website to contain?

9th March

How would you like the website to be?

8th March

Religion of interviewee

7th April

Post code of interviewee

6th April

What would you prefer the site to be like?

5th April

Gender of of interviewee

4th April

Job of interviewee

3rd April

Ethnicity of interviewee

2nd April

Colour for website

1st April

Age of interviewee

29th March

To find out what are customer wanted in our website, we made a survey of all the questions we wanted to find out. In the next couple of slides you will see all the information collected from these results. Using these results we planned our website to fit the audiences requirements. 

27th March

26th March

25th March

23rd March

22nd March

21st March

20th March

19th March

17th March

These pictures are taken from our completed website. We have used colour schemes and simple layouts as well as language to create this website.

15th March


This is my final design for my school welcome page. I have used images and video as well as colour schemes on this page.

10th March

This is my school welcome page half done. I am using a colour scheme to make it easier on the eye for the audience. I soon will add in images and video. 

Monday 9 May 2011

8th March


This is our photo list that we planned in advance to give our selves an idea of are page set up and how we want it to look.

6th March

5th March

4th March

3rd March

2nd March

1st March

28th February

25th February

We started to look at other dog charity websites linked to ours so we can get inspiration on ideas and designs we can use for our own site. A lot of websites were very different but used colour schemes and page designs the same throughout the whole site.  

24th Febuary


23rd February


22nd February


21st February

These websites are taken of others school and annotated to  give us some ideas on our designs. 

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Final marking

Nick - you are rather below your target, and most of it is because the blog is really out of date. You must use the list on the front page of the website and attend to all the details of this. Without it you are throwing marks away.
HM

Wednesday 16 March 2011

20th February

We gave out our new survey out to all our classmates and took some home for our family. We will then collect in a few days the surveys back to look into the results which will help make our own website to the audiences requirements. 

19th February

Today we created are survey to give to the audience of our website. In this survey we would find out what our customers are passionate about and what they want to see in our website.


Rate in order the campaign that means most to you.

CAMPAIGN

Rating

Cruelty to Dogs
1
2
3
4
5
STI’s
1
2
3
4
5
Anti smoking
1
2
3
4
5
Water aid
1
2
3
4
5
Third world infant mortality
1
2
3
4
5
Animal rehoming
1
2
3
4
5
Drugs awareness
1
2
3
4
5
Police on the streets
1
2
3
4
5
Animal welfare
1
2
3
4
5

Thursday 17 February 2011

17th February

Today we started planning our website. Me and charlie together brain-stormed ideas that we have a passion for.  We came to the conclusion that we want to base our charity on dogs. In particular the rehoming of the dogs. We choose this because it is a very current issue and is around us everyday. 


RSPCA- The rspca are devoted to the rehoming of all animals.
http://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/pets/rehoming/petsearch?p_p_id=petSearch_WAR_ptlPetSearchPortlets&p_p_lifecycle=1&p_p_url_type=1&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2






Dog Trust- They devote all their time just to dogs and rehoming them.
http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/searchcentres/westcalder/default.aspx?gclid=CP_FvvKUj6cCFUEY4QodBCf-cw




Dogsos- They devote all their time to the rescuing of dogs in particular. 
http://www.dogsos.co.uk/






All these web sites show a love for dogs and ensuring they go to the right home.  Each site has many pictures of the animals in question so try and persuade the customers to adopt. It gives lots of opportunities on the web site to adopt a dog as well.


We have decided to call our charity paw paws. This is a play on words related to dogs. 

11th February

Today i edited my clips in final cut express showing off the school and showing what it has to offer. 



Wednesday 16 February 2011

2nd February

Today we went off in groups of five to film around the school for our web sites. I filmed a p.e lesson going on in the field, pupils walking around the school and sixth form students socialising  and working during their free periods. We then returned to load the video on to the computer ready for editing.

Wednesday 9 February 2011

28th January

Today we went through a check list of all the work we should of completed so far and to try and get it all finished. This list consisted of:
  1. 1.Creating your blog.
  2. 2.Using a camera introduction
  3. 3.Photoshop your picture/s and post to blog.
  4. 4.Research on four school websites: 400 words short essay.
  5. 5.Survey.
  6. 6.Catchup, including survey, annotated websites.
  7. 7.Draft brief for preliminary site.
  8. 8.Page layout.
  9. 9.Photoshop, first artwork.
  10. 10.Setting up iWeb.
  11. 11.Working in iWeb.
  12. 12.Finish your initial site, and continue in your own time.

    Once fully competed we were to post it onto our blog.

27th January

Today we carried on creating are own school web sites. We used the skills learned over the last couple of days to make out online web site as close to our hand drawn design as possible.


Here is my design still in process:

26th January

Today we were introduced to iweb. This is a very basic application that we would be using to create our first draft online web sites. Using a blank white template we tried to imitate our hand drawn designs on to the computer as best as we can, making slight changes to improve our designs. Some parts had to change due to our lack of technological skills on the computers.

25th January

In todays lesson, we touched up on our photoshop skills trying to improve our knowledge on how to create different effects. we also used the lesson to catch up on any work that we had fallen behind on.


Here I designed a very basic possible idea for the logo for my school:

24th January

In todays lesson we completed our first web site draft. We then spoke about what did and didn't work on the site and how they could be improved. We then gave them to tom Hayward to scan them in to the computers and look as followed:



21st January

Today we made a rough design of our school web sites. We did this by hand on paper. This was so we could get it exactly how we wanted with out having to worry about technology holding us back. My school is to be called "Green Wood School". This was to get us practicing following theme colours, introducing photos and creating links to other pages.