UNIT 2
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by platonotprozac
Step 3: Whether the chosen Website Is Effective In Communicating The Site’s Key
Purpose Using Visual Language
1. Comment on the usePublish Post of visual language in the chosen website:
(a) Use of colours
(b) Use of fonts
(c) Use of other graphics (eg images)
(d) Overall effectiveness of graphics
The main text colors are black on a white background, which has easy readability and also looks more professional than colored text. Colored text is used to label the 4 sections of Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops in Blue, Red, Green, Yellow respectively. These colors are contrasting and are good when used to color code the various sections.
When you hover over a link, the font changes to blue, underlined. This helps to differentiate between text and links. Also, this link hover formatting is a web standard so it is easily recognisable as a link and therefore user friendly.
The font used is one of the following: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif.
This is included in the code and means that Geneva will always be used. If the user does not have the font Geneva, the next font will be used, which is Arial.
These fonts are all common fonts and very readable. Also, providing for a variety of fonts in the event that any of these fonts are not available on the user's computer will ensure that the site displays consistently for all computers.
Of note is the graphic at the right side showing 4 cats in various positions depicting Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops. The cat is signature of the CATS section in the parent The Straits Times, and hence by using the same cat image on this site there is a common identity and coporate image of CATS and st701.com. The website shows the cats in various positions depicting Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops, and if you hover your mouse over each section you can read a brief note about each and the subsections of each category. The same colors in Blue, Red, Green, Yellow are used for Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops which gives consistency throughout the site and minimises user confusion(hence maximising userbility)
On the right side, along the various listings, there are graphics related to recent activities organised by st701.com. These include the well-known 'Colleen Exposed' publicity campaign where a model lives in a glass house in Raffles Place Park depending only on st701 to bring herself food, entertainment and everything else.
st701 is also encouraging user registrations by giving away 2 Sonly VAIO laptops. This has 2 purposes: 1- To increase the number of users looking for something related to Cars, Jobs, Property or Shops, which will increase the number of advertisers and 2, to increase the number of advertisers so that there are more ads for users to choose from and hence increase viewership and promote a busy online community which will attract more users in a self-fulfilling cycle.
There are minimal graphics on the front page and this reduces clutter and also increases the space for information on the 4 sections, which will improve user navigability on the site. The overall site layout is sleek and minimalistic, which conforms to the Classified Ads sections on The Straits Times, from which st701.com is derived. Important or interesting articles or events are displayed in tasteful graphics which will serve to attract readers while not detracting from the main minimalistic design of the site.
2. Do you think that there is consistency across the site?
Yes. Throughout the entire site the main text is in black on a white background. The sections are also color coded in Blue, Red, Green, Yellow for Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops respectively.
The top bar of the website displays the banner st701 prominently, along with the links: Main | Jobs | Cars | Property | Shops
which lets users hop quickly from one section to the other. The search function is also displayed at the top and lets users search whichever section they want. (It is also preprogrammed to search by default the section the user is in. Eg. if the user is browsing condominiums, the category displayed on ST701 Snappy Search will be Condo/Apartment.)
Not only does this top bar let users navigate easily throughout the site, it also gives a feeling of consistency as it is always displayed as you browse the site.
For advertisements, the pictures are always displayed to the left of the details of the product/property/service. The format of advertisements is always the same, with the same order of product details (eg. Description, Price, Price negotiable?, Billing Terms) for easy comparison between different advertisements.
Purpose Using Visual Language
1. Comment on the usePublish Post of visual language in the chosen website:
(a) Use of colours
(b) Use of fonts
(c) Use of other graphics (eg images)
(d) Overall effectiveness of graphics
The main text colors are black on a white background, which has easy readability and also looks more professional than colored text. Colored text is used to label the 4 sections of Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops in Blue, Red, Green, Yellow respectively. These colors are contrasting and are good when used to color code the various sections.
When you hover over a link, the font changes to blue, underlined. This helps to differentiate between text and links. Also, this link hover formatting is a web standard so it is easily recognisable as a link and therefore user friendly.
The font used is one of the following: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif.
This is included in the code and means that Geneva will always be used. If the user does not have the font Geneva, the next font will be used, which is Arial.
These fonts are all common fonts and very readable. Also, providing for a variety of fonts in the event that any of these fonts are not available on the user's computer will ensure that the site displays consistently for all computers.
Of note is the graphic at the right side showing 4 cats in various positions depicting Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops. The cat is signature of the CATS section in the parent The Straits Times, and hence by using the same cat image on this site there is a common identity and coporate image of CATS and st701.com. The website shows the cats in various positions depicting Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops, and if you hover your mouse over each section you can read a brief note about each and the subsections of each category. The same colors in Blue, Red, Green, Yellow are used for Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops which gives consistency throughout the site and minimises user confusion(hence maximising userbility)
On the right side, along the various listings, there are graphics related to recent activities organised by st701.com. These include the well-known 'Colleen Exposed' publicity campaign where a model lives in a glass house in Raffles Place Park depending only on st701 to bring herself food, entertainment and everything else.
st701 is also encouraging user registrations by giving away 2 Sonly VAIO laptops. This has 2 purposes: 1- To increase the number of users looking for something related to Cars, Jobs, Property or Shops, which will increase the number of advertisers and 2, to increase the number of advertisers so that there are more ads for users to choose from and hence increase viewership and promote a busy online community which will attract more users in a self-fulfilling cycle.
There are minimal graphics on the front page and this reduces clutter and also increases the space for information on the 4 sections, which will improve user navigability on the site. The overall site layout is sleek and minimalistic, which conforms to the Classified Ads sections on The Straits Times, from which st701.com is derived. Important or interesting articles or events are displayed in tasteful graphics which will serve to attract readers while not detracting from the main minimalistic design of the site.
2. Do you think that there is consistency across the site?
Yes. Throughout the entire site the main text is in black on a white background. The sections are also color coded in Blue, Red, Green, Yellow for Jobs, Cars, Property and Shops respectively.
The top bar of the website displays the banner st701 prominently, along with the links: Main | Jobs | Cars | Property | Shops
which lets users hop quickly from one section to the other. The search function is also displayed at the top and lets users search whichever section they want. (It is also preprogrammed to search by default the section the user is in. Eg. if the user is browsing condominiums, the category displayed on ST701 Snappy Search will be Condo/Apartment.)
Not only does this top bar let users navigate easily throughout the site, it also gives a feeling of consistency as it is always displayed as you browse the site.
For advertisements, the pictures are always displayed to the left of the details of the product/property/service. The format of advertisements is always the same, with the same order of product details (eg. Description, Price, Price negotiable?, Billing Terms) for easy comparison between different advertisements.
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