First Stages of Kompozer

We started creating our websites using KompoZer. The first element of our website design was to create a table of 3 x 6, we then joined the selected cells on the top and bottom rows. The top row was for the logo, and the bottom row was for the content, leaving the middle row for the navigation bar which contains the following pages of: Home, Top 40, What's On, News, Win and Contact Us. We then set the column width to 800 pixels and the allignment to the centre so everything will remain in the centre of the page, leaving it neat and tidy. I then set my navigation cells to 133 pixels wide because I had six cells, thus making them equal. I then set the allignment of the text in the navigation cells to the centre also.



During the duration of the work I have done at school and home using the software KompoZer to create my teen website (Boom Box), I have found that the more I progress, the easiar it is to use. I have developed my six content pages and linked them all to eachother so that once you click on one page, you are able to transfer quickly and easily through any pages necessary. The different fonts I am using throughout my homepage and content pages can be found on www.dafont.com and then slightly editing this in PSE (photoshop). All of the images I have used so far have either been taken by myself, or I have obtained through friends, given their constent. I have completed most of the pages including contact us, what's on, top 40 and my homepage. Once they have been completed I will upload screenshots of them all, however, I will be making minor changes throughout. The the final images of my website will be uploaded also. I am enjoying developing my website and the skills I am developing.

Logo Design + Page Layout

I began first with a black and white image which I hand drew and scanned into the computer, using photoshop I coloured in the drawing as displayed below, I decided the use of yellow on "Boom Box" was not eye catching enough - so I started experimenting with different colours.
This is second draft of my logo design for my website, I decided on "Boom Box" as I believe its onomatopoeic sound is short and snappy making it memorable. I set the colour scheme to simply four colours to keep it simple. These four colours of purple, yellow, blue and green will also be the colour scheme of my website. I was undecided yet if the boom box and the text will feature together, or if the text will be the website title and the boom box as a background or gadget.

However, once I put the logo onto the website, I was unhappy with the result, I therefore changed the of the logo grey and set the background blue.

Again, being fussy, I decided that in 'PSE' located on our macs, I was able to invert the colours, I then set the background of the logo into black. This makes the Logo a more neon theme, which is what I wanted. The Blue and grey background made it feel a little cartoonish, and I believed this would effect my target audience. I gained the picture of the Neon Dj from Google and set this as my background, I am now happy with the layout of my website and have started added features to the page. I have also used the boom box in a different way, it is now the logo of the top 40, which I have again edited on Photoshop to make it glow a green blur.

INSERT TOP 40 AND LOGO!

Jakob Nielsen and Font and Colour Research

Font: As I am in the middle of designing my website, I have taken the time to research which fonts and colours work on websites. I have come to realise that not everyone has the high-resolution monitors we use in our school, therefore according to www.newbiewebsitedesign.com website designers must refrain from using serif fonts on the pages. If we wish to have pure text that is easy to read, we must use Sans Serif fonts. Sans serif fonts have been the main style of font used for the pure text for websites, they don't become unusual on low-resolution monitors, making it the perfect choice for the pure text of websites. The four serif fonts that all operating of all recent versions can display are Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet MS and Verdana.

Colour: When choosing a colour scheme for my website, I became aware that it's actually not beneficial to the audience if you put white or light text on a black or dark background. Although this may seem the obvious and clearest way of presenting text, it causes the eyes to strain. Text is actually presented better if two colours that have little contrast between them, rather than using black text on a yellow background and vise versa. The best colours for websites are black or dark on a white of pastal coloured background reducing strain on the eyes and it also gives the right amound of contrast.

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Jakob Nielsen has a vast range of opinions regarding website design, including the Do's and Don't of website planning. Using a wide range of search engines, I have discovered the Top 10 mistakes in Web Design

1 - Bad Search
Search engines that are very literally may reduce usability because they are unable to handle typing errors, plurals and other typing problems. These search engines may be particularly difficult for elderly people to use. Instead of simple searches, advanced searches could be used, however, simple searches are often more popular.

2 - PDF Files for Online Reading
Most users dislike seeing PDF files while browsing, because it can be very distracting and irritating. Even the simplest things like printing or saving documents are difficult to do because standard browser commands don't work.

3 - Not changing the colour of Visited Links
Knowing your previous locations makes it easier to decide where to go next. Links are important in this navigation process. Users may revisit links they found helpful in the past.

4 – Non-scan able Text
A large amount of text is very bad for an interactive experience. It would be much better to have scan able text, as it would draw more users in.

• subheads

• bulleted lists

• short paragraphs

• the inverted pyramid

• a simple writing style, etc.

5 - Fixed Font Size
Websites have the power to disable a Web browser's "change font size" button. The majority of the time, this fixed size is tiny, meaning it reduces readability.

6 - Page Titles With Low Search Engine Visibility
Search engines are the most important way for users to discover new websites. They can also help the reader find excactly what they are looking for.

7 - Anything that looks like an advertisement
Web users have now learned to stop paying attention to any adverts that get in the way of what they were originally trying to do

8 - Violating Design Conventions
Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles. Users always expect things to behave in the way they usually do.

9 -Opening New Browser Windows
This disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites.

10- Not Answering Users Questions

Users visit sites because there's something they want to achieve. The worst qualitiy a website can have is to not provide the information that users are looking for.

Analysis of TV Listings

First Analysis

This is my first analysis of a double page spread of TV listings. I found this in the "TV Choice" Magazine and the listing are for the 8th November 2010. The main channels are organised into different columns and colours, for example, BBC One is dark blue, BBC Two is light green, ITV is pink, Channel Four is light blue and Channel Five is orange. The TV listings magazine uses different colours throughout the different days of the listings, for example, Monday is purple. This differentiates between the channels and days. Each column contains a time scale and the programme title, both in bold with description below, this draws attention to the programmes and helps create easy reading for the audience. The use of the black box around the Films is a good advertising technique as the change in font and size in the text is eye catching and draws the audience to the information. However, this would not work for my own double page spread, as all of the programmes and features would be new, so I have gathered this will be very hard to organise. On the left hand side is a small "Today's Choice" Column, containing the editor's choice for the top rated shows of the day. This promotes not only the programme, but the channel it's on, it also adds variety to the page. It makes the page more visually appealing as it contains the only two pictures within the piece. The logo of the magazine is also advertised at the bottom of the double page spread, this is a good advertising technique as the audience is constantly reminded of the magazine they are reading, this follows the codes and conventions of the advertisement, I would use this technique in my own listings page.

Second Analysis

Again, I am analysing another double page spread of TV listings. I found this is the "Celebs on Sunday" magazine found in the Daily Mirror Newspaper, these listings are for Monday January 24th 2011. The main channels are organised into different columns with a dark blue header with the channel name. Although this may be keeping to the theme colour of blue, it does not give a large indication between channels that the audience will notice straight away. This makes it less eye-catching than my first analysis. Although, the days are different colours, for example, Monday is blue, Tuesday is purple and Wednesday is Green, therefore, even though the colours don't differentiate between channels, they do between days, which makes it more appealing for the audience. Each column contains a time schedule in white and then peak-times are highlighted in light blue., indicating popular channels they are looking for. I like the use of the 'Best on the Box' feature on the top right hand side of the page. It not only gives variety to the page, but it features programmes that have been highly advertised the past weeks and also high anticipated episodes of soap operas. They also use a multi-coloured sphere to draw the audience to this feature, which is a good technique to advertise popular programmes. I would like to use this in my own double page spread to introduce my new TV programme. They also advertise the 'Best on the Box' feature again throughout the schedule for the audience to quickly and efficiently find it. They use the same technique with advertising films, making the page more visually appealing. The only thing that is not used, which I would use myself, is the advertisement of the magazine logo. I want my audience to constantly know which magazine and/or website they are on my displaying my companies logo throughout.

Third Analysis

When researching different TV scheduling magazines, I came across this interesting double page spread on Eastenders, which also contains a small schedule telling you what to expect this week in Eastenders. I found this in the TV Times magazine as part of it's 'Soap Week' section. This page is centralisied around the image of four popular Eastenders characters, in preparation of their wedding days, this is obvious by the white dress worn by pregnant 'Ronnie' and the rose petal detail, which has connotation to marriage again, and the use of the heading 'Happy Ever After' is the usual fairy-tale ending, which again is in referance to marriage. The double page spread also contains rhetorical questions throughout typical of this type of article, and it leads the audience to believe that there might not be a happily ever after, after all. There is also a section of the page set out like a fact file. This explains what we as an audience can expect from Eastenders and it's characters this week, not only from the central characters featured but from a whole range of characters. This is an interesting feature, as it is quite small,but also eye catching due to the different use of colours, it allows the audience to obtain the information they need. The double page spread contains several short articles, the main one evidently focussing on the central storyline of the weddings. The main article also contains quotes from the actors about the storylines they're involved with and provide the reader with inside information about the programme. I may use this technique in my own double page article about my new programme as it will allow the audience to not only learn about the programme, but the characters behind it and the actors playing them. This is a creative way of broadcasting and combining the use of a double page spread and a TV listing section together, which I may be intrested in using.

Double Page Advertisement Analysis: Sky+HD, The Vampire Diares

SKY+HD ADVERTThis advertisement for the Sky+HD Box with a Christmas theme, I found the double page advert in a TV Listings magazine. The Advertisement is not very eye catching; I believe this is because of the colour choices. However, Sky has obviously chosen this background of a clear Christmas night sky with a snowy sparkly bottom, to emphasize their theme. The focus of the advertisement is the text "Enjoy the latest movies in sparkling HD this Christmas", I would not use this in my newspaper advertisement as it is not memorable as it is not short or snappy like the codes and conventions of other advertisements. However, the font colour again represents the genre of Christmas due to the sparkles around the modifier 'sparkling HD', obviously intensifying the importance of the product to the readers. The five pictures used underneath the slogan are many memorable films that did well at the box office this year, such as Avatar. Sky have obviously used these pictures to convince their audience of the variety of packages they can obtain with the package. The advert uses persuasive language such as "perfect", "sparkling" and "super fast", these words excite the readers and get them interested in the product. Sky is trying to connect to a family audience as they use phrases such as "There's nothing like settling down to watch a movie with the family" and "The perfect gift for the family", obviously trying to connect the product with family life. However, the adverts uses large paragraphs of writing and I believe it is not 'chunked' enough which is a code and convention of an advert as audiences like adverts to be short and to the point. The smallest font contain the information about purchasing the sky box and the legal requirements; this information is in the smallest text as it is information which may put the reader off buying the product. I believe the Sky logo is also not represented effectively as it is small and in the bottom right hand corner. I believe it should be largely advertised at the top of the page so the audience are aware of the company immediately. The advert is therefore not following the typical code and conventions of the piece as the logo and slogan "Believe in Better" is not evident clear within the piece, for example, I was not aware of sky's slogan until I studied the piece effectively. In conclusion, I would not use this type of layout, colour or choice of logo and slogan positioning in my advertisement.



The Vampire Diares AdvertThe advertisement that I am analysing secondly is for the launch of the new series of "The Vampire Diares" on ITV2. The Advert apperared in a "Look" magazine. The advertisement itself covers a double page spread of the magazine as it is dominated by the pictures and the word "Unbelievably" across the top of the pages. I believe the programme uses this to express the popularity of the programme, they also use the different fonts to maintain the audiences attention. I think on one hand this is a good technique as it allows the reader to take each word used into context. It could also be a bad idea as it could be too unorganised and cause the reader to loose interest. The use of the three characters give the audience an idea that these are the three that the plot will be encircled around. There is a little information on the programme itself but I believe they use language such as "Angsty Teenagers" and "Break-Ups, Make-Ups" to appeal to their 13-25 audience range for their programme. The ITV2 logo is displayed and the green stands out against the white background and the dark colours the actors are dressed in, the focus of the programmes/products lofo is one of the many codes and conventions of newspaper advertisements. The advertisement is quite simple and gets the audiences attention quickly, whcih is main aim of newspaper advertisements. However, in my own advertisement, I would prefer using more information of the programme, for example a blurb of the plot or some type of teaser through the use of pictures.

Doctor Who Advert

The third advertisement I am analysing is for "Doctor Who" on BBC One. The advert appeared in the News of the World Sunday Magazine "Fabulous".I believe the target audience is from 7-50 as Doctor Who is a programme that has continued throughout generations and the designers of this advertisement have kept that in mind. The double page spread is dominated by pictures of the characters well known from the programme. This is accompanied by a short blurb of each episode. The headline "The Stars Are Coming Out" Is white and sparkly and is set against a dark winter mountainous scene. This, along with the simple dark colour scheme, creates a sense of eerieness which is simialr to the monsters featured on the page. However, this headline is small and doesn't grab the audiences attention right away. This is a bad use of the codes and conventions of newspaper advertisements as it should be large and eyecatching. I also believe the use of so many characters dominates the page leaves the page messy and overcrowded. I would prefer to use less characters and got my point across quickly and easily. However, I like the use of teaser blurbs used in the advert - it allows the audience to have a taste to what they can expect and will encourage them to watch Doctor who when it is on. Also, like on the Vampire Diares advert the logo of the programme is not advertised effectivly, but it they had done this they can use this to their advantage.

Codes & Conventions of Newspaper Advertisements

Codes and Conventions of Newspaper Adverts

One section of my coursework consists of creating a newspaper advert to promote my TV teen channel. Therefore I have carried out some research into the possible codes and conventions of newspaper adverts. The codes and conventions are overall used to grab the attention of the reader. Advertisements usually are short, notable slogans, (such as "I'm Lovin It" and "Just Do It") bright colours and photographs to make the advertisements stand out and different to others you may find. Some companies use celebrities to promote their products, for example, Sky uses Emma Bunton and Lisa Snowdon to promote Sky+ and 'True Match' by L'Oreal use Eva Longoria and Beyonce to promote their makeup (seen above). The pictures are often in colour and refer to the theme and audience of the advertisement. For example, The True Match review shown above sticks to neutral skin colours, reflecting the natural feel and look of the product. Captions are also used to give the advertisement meaning. Logos are just as memorable as Slogans, which is the main aim of advertisements. When a new television channel is being advertised in a newspaper there is a variety of information displayed such as, the channel number for sky and free view, details on what you can expect to see and possibly a description of trailers of up and coming shows for the channel.

Codes and Conventions of double spread magazine advertisements.

There is always one main image which gets direct address from the audience. The main image can be the background of the article with text at the top, or one half of the article is the main image that can bleed between the pages. The headline of the article is usually short and catchy and is usually in a stylistic font. The headline is used to draw the reader in without telling the audience what the article is about immediately. Quotes are sometimes used in the headline or the picture or in the stand first to break up the text. There is usually a simple and minimal colour scheme, usually the text which is used purely for information purposes is about 11pt as it is not needed to draw people in, this text usually contains the legal and copyright notes. Techniques used to draw the reader in are usually bold texts, slightly bigger type style, capitals for the first few words. These adverts are typically laid out into four columns.