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Post your analysis here (details). As with other assignments, be sure to include links to the original texts you analyze.
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Subculture Genre Conventions
Websites
Outlaws MC- http://www.outlawsmcworld.com
Hells Angels MC- http://affa.hells-angels.com
Mongols MC- http://mongolsmc.com/index.php
Bandidos[sic] MC- http://bandidosmc.com/index.aspAll of these organizations utilize their name and club colors (logos) as the primary brand identifier.
Common multimodal usage:
Black/Gray backgrounds
Horizontal Navigation
Intimidating visuals such as members on motorcycles
Multi-level links throughout the websites
All authors are listed as the club only and are trademarked and or registered trademarks
Guestbook Link
Contact Link
Gallery of imagesAs with all subculture websites these are intended to garner potential members that this type of lifestyle appeals to on a personal level.
The use of intimidating imagery and a strong sense of bonding with the presented brand, through membership or support, are constant across every example. Although there are some variations in design capabilities and overall appeal, the Mongols and the Bandidos[sic] websites are professionally designed and implemented.
Overall, the multimodal design is as with any other product/organizational brand. The websites are designed to inform potential supporters and members with information that is relevant to that organization. -
Dating Site Genre Conventions
Websites:
http://www.eharmony.com/
http://www.blackpeoplemeet.com/
http://www.christianmingle.com/?prm=67754&lgid=chrsitianmingle.com/
https://www.zoosk.com/All of these sites use their logos and brand to attract customers, their names and brands are easily identified and unified as one element.
Colors: All of the sites use white backgrounds with framing colors that match their logos.
Navigation for the sites is horizontal, using either the up and down arrow keys or mouse to drag the side bar.
Word Use: The websites have titles and explanatory paragraphs.
Authors: The sites are authored by their various parent companies.
Users: Numerous, depending on how far a user goes into dating profiles, each website features many users.
Pages: Each site features an about page, a page to sign up and a testimonial section or quotes. Multi-level links are present.
Use of Media: Each site features photos of the members and specific symbols related to the sites goals.
Because these are dating sites they are meant to attract members who are actively seeking relationships. The websites use images of their members in order to encourage potential new members to join as well by seeing existing members who they find attractive or feel are like them. Depending on the “theme” of the site there is imagery that is meant to support said theme, for example Christianmingle.com features imagery related to the Christian faith. The sites are designed to encourage the overall growth of their membership by encouraging others to join based on their perceived possible relationships to be found and personal beliefs.
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Celebrity Lifestyle Sites Genre Conventions
Websites:
http://goop.com/
http://www.preserve.us
http://www.oliviapalermo.com/
http://thetig.com/Site purpose: The texts’ purposes in the sites are to provide insight and advice on luxury lifestyles as well as a way to access them by also being able to shop featured items.
Background: the sites have a solid background, usually black or white with striking main images in close proximity to the navigation bars which give a nice contrast to the stark backgrounds.
Navigation: horizontal navigation bars are found across all four sites with links to different sub-pages on the sites. You can also scroll down the pages to find links to featured articles/blogs.
Use of words: titles are simple and bold giving visual emphasis on the brand name. Article links on the home page provide a partial view of the blog usually followed by an ellipses to indicate further text.
Author: the author of the sites are people who have a celebrity about them, whether it be an actor, socialite, or someone in general who is an authority on the type of lifestyle being displayed.
Use of images: the use of images are correlated directly with the article; whether it be about a vacation spot, designer spotlight, or about the author and “convey an example”.
I was able to derive this list based on everything that I found to be similar about the sites (which was actually quite a lot!). The sites’ audiences are people who are interested in celebrity, travel, and style. The sites are meant to provide a comprehensive place where you can not only find resources for a particular lifestyle, but also have the ability to purchase featured products through the website. By having a common purpose, they generally tend to have similar written and design rhetoric.
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University Official Websites
Websites:
West Virginia University (WVU) http://www.wvu.edu/
Virginia Tech (VT) http://www.vt.edu/
University of Connecticut (UCONN) http://uconn.edu/
University of Massachusetts (UMASS) http://www.umass.edu/Site Purpose: The texts’ purposes in the sites are to provide insight on the different universities people can attend in the future, or ones they are at now.
Background: The sites have a solid background and are their school colors. WVU has blue, gold and white; VT has red, orange, and white; UCONN has blue and white; and UMASS has mainly white with some red. Each has a slideshow or picture of some sort below the navigation bar.
Navigation: Horizontal navigation bars can be found across the four websites with links of different sub-pages a person can look into. Scrolling down to the bottom, you can find more links to different pages, but the main links are up top where people will see them right away.
Use of Words: The titles are simple and right to the point. Some seem eye catching. Article links provide a good insight on what it will be about, so you know what to expect as well.
Author: The author of each website is someone through the school who takes information of things going on and just general information of the school and puts it on the website. They are people who know the school well enough to know what is important to place on the first page.
Use of Images: The use of images are correlated with the schools and information given. This could be from the WVU Therapy Dogs, to WVU occupational therapy student being one of America’s up-and-coming Ironman triathletes. The images are big and show what the school is about.
The sites’ audiences are people who are interested in college, or in college and want to know what is new. The sites are helpful for people who might just need to know about event, but can range to Admission and Aid. All four websites have a general purpose as they tend to have the same structure and outline.
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Vegan Recipe Websites
Site purpose: The purpose of the site in general is to inform readers of recipes and techniques revolving around vegan food.
Background: Each website features a primarily white background with black texts. One website, PPK, also adds a pop of colors (red, orange, and gold) to offer contrast. Peas and Thank You has light blue text headings; Oh She Glows also offers a light blue title. VeganYumYum offers not contrasting colors.
Navigation: Each site has a different form of navigation. PPK has a bright navigation bar on the top, but also sections of navigation around the page. Both Peas And Thank You and VeganYumYum offer a navigation tab on the side and continuous scrolling. Oh She Glows has a navigation bar on the top and some navigation on the side.
Use of Words: The word usage helps the reader to successfully cook a meal, but also entices the reader to cook the authors foods with phrases like “fulfill your wildest dreams.” The authors also use humor and personal stories to connect with their audiences. Titles are often witty.
Author: Each page provides information about the author with about or cookbook sections and pictures of the author and their families are often posted.
Use of images: Most image usage is of the author, the food, or the supplies needed for cooking. Images are used for step-by-step instructions and to show the reader the end product. Both PPK and Oh She Glows use eye-catching images for their logos as well.
Each of these websites are intended to promote a product (recipe, book, etc) and to teach the readers how to cook vegan food. I use the techniques in Writer/Designer to look at each aspect of these websites to understand how and why the pages were designed. I compared and contrasted each website to form the list above.
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Fitness Advertisement Genre Conventions
Images:
1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z3qgL5HYktU/Tpm5SCAWLDI/AAAAAAAAEH8/QOkVWiSsFSY/s1600/Fitness+Ads+%252814%2529.jpg
2. http://files2.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_1608/16088705/file/fitness-centre-kid-600-39825.jpg
3. https://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/13482147/disp/034af1682e51edd64fe5221e4a591023.jpg
4. http://www.mensfitness.com/sites/mensfitness.com/files/d6/images-mf-209625-13653.jpgColors: The ads don’t use the same color schemes, but most use bold colors/patters to make strong impressions.
Use of Words: Text is used to support the message the image is saying, whether by explanation or with humor. In all, text is minimal.
Author: The respective companies behind the advertisements.
Use of Images: The images convey the main point the ad is trying to make e.x. you can balance fitness with your life, you’ve let yourself go, you are capable of being better, etc .
These ads seem to target people who might not think fitness is possible for them. By either showing them it is possible, or where they can go to get help with fitness, or telling them they need to be fit, the ads are trying to connect with that audience. They are all extremely to the point and even other examples that I found but didn’t include hold true with the same conventions- bold image with a bold statement.
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The genre is Sneaker community
The purpose of these sites is to inform people about upcoming release dates on popular brand name shoes such as , Jordans, Nike, and Adidas.
http://solecollector.com/
http://sneakernews.com/release-dates/
http://www.23isback.com/
http://www.kicksonfire.com/Color- The background of each of the websites is white. Each site uses colored text to contrast the white background. Each site primarily uses white black and red text.
Use of images- Each site features large images of shoes that will be released. The images are always larger than the text. Brand logos appear frequently on each site. The most used logo is the Jordan logo.
Navigation- Each site utilizes navigational tabs located at the top of the website. Common tabs are release dates, featured brands, and contact information.
Use of animation- Each of these sites feature animation and video on their home screen. Videos include advertisements for different brand name shoes.
Categorization- Each site has shoes categorized by brand and release date.
This genre uses these conventions to meet the needs of the intended audience. The sites are geared towards young people who would like to be able to navigate quickly and easily.
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Secondhand Smoke Awareness Conventions
Websites
American Cancer Sociey – http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smokeCDC – http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/general_facts/index.htm
Smokefree – http://smokefree.gov/secondhand-smoke
EPA – http://www.epa.gov/smokefree/healtheffects.html
American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery – http://www.entnet.org/content/secondhand-smoke-and-children
American Lung Association – http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/about-smoking/health-effects/secondhand-smoke.html
All of these websites incorporate their name/group
Statistical information
HelpLine
Contact Link
Images
How to Quit
About smoking and its effects of
Preventing smoking
Facts & FiguresThese websites are intended to stress the importance of the effects of smoking and second hand smoke. Some of the images are disturbing but relates to exactly how second hand smoke can harm children. Each site offers ways to get help to quit smoking, facts about how it causes death, etc. All of the websites look professionally designed and are easy to follow. The all have an about us page, lists sources used, ways to sign up online for how to quit, e-newsletters, etc. The overall multimodal design relates to these companies and the importance of secondhand smoke effects relates well in each. The websites are setup to give people statistics and helplines to get them to quit smoking.
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Recipes
http://www.allrecipes.com
http://www.foodnetwork.com/
http://www.myrecipes.com/
http://www.recipe.com/Site Purpose: The purpose of these sites are to provide ideas for cooks who may want to try something new, find an old recipe, or find a recipe of something they have tried.
Background: The backgrounds for these sites are simple in color and design.
they are not busy and cluttered . The focus of the page is on the images of food, which will be discussed below.
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Navigation: There are many navigational features on these pages. There are images that you can click on to get the recipes. There are search bars where you can search for specific ingredients; specific recipes; themes, i.e., brunch; or categories, i.e., drinks. In addition to searching these websites there are clickable links to other food-related sites.Use of Words: The words used on these pages describe and label the recipes. There are many adjectives used like, “yummy” and “delicious,” in recipe names.
Author: There are many authors on these websites. Many of the recipes are submitted by individuals as well as by companies. For example, Kraft, well-known line of food products has featured recipes on some of these sites.
Use of Images: The primary focus on these websites are images of dishes created by the featured recipes. The websites attract users by showcasing pictures of scrumptious looking foods and drinks which give users ideas for what to make.
The users of these websites are people searching for new ideas for food preparation, or for those looking for a recipe they have tried before. Users of these websites can get ideas for entire menus or a single dish by browsing around the site.
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Healthy Recipe Websites Genre Conventions
Websites:
http://www.skinnytaste.com
http://www.kalynskitchen.com
http://www.cookinglight.com
http://www.theskinnyfork.comSite Purpose: The texts’ purposes in the sites are to provide information and instructions on how to prepare healthy, low-calorie recipes.
Background: All four of the sites have solid white backgrounds with text and illustrations in striking colors such as orange, red, and green, which are reminiscent of the brightly colored vegetables and fruits in many of the site photos.
Navigation: Top-to-bottom and right-to-left navigation bars are present on all four sites, as are headers with the other pages of the site listed at the top of the homepage. They also have a search box at the top right corner, as well as a box to sign up for email updates and daily recipes.
Word Use: The titles in the headers are very simple and similar (i.e. About Me, Recipe Box, etc.). The articles are titled simply but are quite descriptive for their short length. The articles give a preview but require the reader to click on a link to continue reading the full blog entry.
Author: With the exception of Cooking Light, the authors of the sites are professional food bloggers who began their websites as places to post their personal cooking experiences and experiments and saw their blogs grow in popularity through sponsorship, social media, and self-promotion.
Image Use: The images displayed on the sites connect straightforwardly to the information presented in the articles. The images typically show the ingredients, the recipe in its different stages of preparation, and the finished product in the pan/pot/skillet as well as arranged on a serving dish for the purposes of serving suggestions as well as aesthetics.
The sites were quite easy to assess, as they had several elements that were incredibly similar. From the technical jargon of cooking to the buzzwords contained in the articles to the color schemes and page layouts, the similarities among the four sites were undeniable. The audiences for these sites are people who are either interested in finding new recipes to help maintain a healthy lifestyle or hoping to find inspiration to change some of their eating habits to more healthy alternatives without sacrificing taste. The sites provide a virtual recipe box that is easily researched, with the added bonus that the recipes have already been tried and proven to be successful.
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Video Game Streaming
Examples: Gaming Live TV
Hitbox
Instagib
TwitchSite Purpose: The purpose is to provide entertainment in the form of various individuals streaming themselves playing video games for visitors to the site to watch.
Focus: The focus for all of these sites is on the videos. Each site has a “featured streamer” somewhere on the front page. Gaming Live TV and Instagib seem to promote their site services and advertisements as the most prominent parts of their sites on first view, while Hitbox and Twitch make the video feeds the largest part, but all 4 sites use this.
Navigation: While some of the sites have a small amount of textual menu options, all four seem to prefer graphic navigation: i.e. images of the games or streams available as links to take you to that section of the site.
Colors: Dark colors are present in large quantities on each website. In the case of Hitbox and Instagib they rely almost solely on blacks and grays, while Twitch and Gaming Live TV use white and other colors as well. A lot of the impression of darker colors on Gaming Live TV comes from the images for the games and from their large rotating banner at the top.
Author: The authors on these websites can be inferred as the companies themselves. However, on all these sites, the content that is provided through the website is provided by a number of different individuals playing different games.
Image Use: Since the primary purpose of each of these websites is to allow site visitors to watch videos, image use is obviously very important. Very little text is used on any of these sites.
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Site purpose: The purpose is to give consumers these fast food restaurant’s websites as an online convenience. Consumers can view the menu, apply for jobs, find the nearest restaurant, and much more.
Background: Each website is different. They’re all colorful. Panera uses one of their salads as a background, Subway and Papa Johns use color, and Wendy’s uses a collage of images.
Navigation: Every website offers drop down menus, search bars, store locators and various links. The websites are very easy to navigate. Papa John’s seems to be the most out-of-date site.
Images: Images are used on each of the websites. These offer promotions and new menu items by the restaurants.
Author: Company employees.
The websites are very similar. Papa Johns stands out the most. This may be because they have delivery features and it’s not the same type of restaurant. Panera, Subway, and Wendy’s each offer many of the same aspects.
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