AS Website evaluation

1) Throughout our website there is a lot of things that conform to a drug website, such as A-Z list of drugs to show and stress all the illegal drugs that are on the streets. We took this idea from talk to frank as it makes it simple to navigate. However we do have aspects that challenge forms and conventions. An example of this is where we have made the website look younger than the typical drugs website. We did this by making the colours of the website brighter and using primary colours. We also used a post it note effect that make the website seem simple and fun. This is all done to reach a younger target audience. We have used a layout where it is in like post stick note form. We have done this to make it unique and fill a gap in the market

2) Our website represents and is targeted at a teenage audience as we want to make them aware of the dangers of drugs and also that they are the demographic who will be experimenting and using them the most. We know this from the results from our survey that proved in a survey of 50 people form all different demographics and ages that teenagers are most likely to be experimenting with drugs. We have done the targeting in various ways. The first is the videos that are on our website are of teenagers expressing there experiences and the dangers of drugs. This makes it more personal to the audience as they can relate to it as they are from the same demographic and it doesn’t become patronizing. We know this from a questionnaire that we made that proved that teenagers are the most likely age group to be experimenting with drugs. There also isn’t too much writing, there is to a certain extent but it doesn’t drag on it gets straight to the point. An example of this is when we listed the drugs we only listed them at the start and didn’t do a massive explanation on each. This is because we have mainly used images and layout to show the drugs to keep the viewers interested and it keeps them from getting bored very quickly. The color of the website also helps to create it to be targeted at this social group. We have used bright colures to keep it light and fun even though it is talking about a serious subject. The reason that bright colors effect this is because it give the website a inviting happy feel and vibe to it.

3) There are many types of media institutions that would distribute my product. The first aspect is that it can be seen to be much more than what it is. It is quite easy to publish a website and make it fairly professional and established, and as an audience they could put more faith in this than anything else. However publishing is almost not an institutional issue. For example a small website with an aim to help and not make profit e.g a charity is likely to be more approachable and perhaps more adaptable. It may also be more vulnerable. A massive institution such as a newspaper needs a large amount of capital in order to get an issued print and distributed, and there is a risk that sales may not be expected. A website is a lot cheaper also than TV, radio or print. When the website is small it requires at the last £3 pounds a year for a ISP that is used domestically. However if the website grows than soon it will need editorial and graphic skills to keep reporting to the audience and this is where income soon becomes important, and with income comes management, and with managers in place it becomes commercial. Websites are also less regulated than other media forms, and can publish worldwide in a few minutes, for example the use of social networking. Over the last 5/6 years there has been a massive increase in the amount of people social networking via facebook, twitter, my space. This is a very effective way of advertising your website through these form of institution. It would help it to become known the audiences and it would be easy to target it at specific audiences depending on who your website is aimed at. Another way of doing this is paying for a Google bot to scan through your website and pick out keywords. Google is the biggest search engine worldwide and if you manage to get your website on it then you will only have to type in a few words in the search bar and it could be uploaded to there screen anywhere in the world. 

4) The target audience for our website is teenagers. The reason for this is that we gathered from our survey that they are the largest demographic of people that are using drugs. With the majority of them using weed on a regular basis and cocaine and MDMA occasionally. This immediately tells us that there is a problem here within youths in association with drug taking, so this is the reason we have targeted it at them. Our website reflects this in various ways. From the color scheme to type of font used within the website. We have gone with a very bright color scheme as it keeps the website upbeat and bright. The videos of people on it are also teenagers so that they can relate to it. The teenagers on the videos go into depth about their previous drug uses and advise them not to do it this is so they can see it from the same age group. The type of font is not very formal either, this is to make the website feel fun and interactive. The page set up is also like a post stick note making the website fun and easy and giving it a playful feel. Overall when all these conventions are put together it gives it a very effective product to be aimed at teenagers.

5) There are many ways in which we tried to attract our audience. The fact that we have targeted it at a teenage audience means we have to use techniques that would conform to them and language that would attract them. The first thing we did was to use bright inviting colors. The last thing we wanted to do was to make it seem all dark and unappealing to the eye because as a young audience it would be ignored and not interesting. The size of our font was also a big factor, the font wasn’t overly large but as we wouldn’t be able to keep all the font on the same page but we didn’t want to make it small and unappealing, as this would also be boring and plain. The whole set out of our website was designed to be appealing and attractive and the layout is done in a type of post stick note theme. This does keep it young fresh and cool and all in all I think all these conventions have come together to target a teenage audience successfully.

6) The first website that I constructed (school website) was a very basic website where I was trying to learn how to use various programs such as iweb and iphoto. Through out the course I was learning skills and improving them. Eventually when I came to make my main school website I had a different approach as I felt I was better and more efficient at using them. Also photo shop was a big part of it. I found throughout new ways to give my website new effects and develop the photos to a better quality, whether it would be to make someone look ‘better’ e.g. tanned, redder lips or the contrast on the background to make them stand out more. Or take something out and put something else in and make it look as natural ass possible. I think that overall my skills were made stronger and I was defiantly more comfortable using the programs a second time around and I felt it all came together to make a very high quality and successful website.

7.) Throughout the whole process of the course I have learnt many new things and from my first to my second website I used a whole different approach. When I was going about making my first website I knew very little about the programs that I was going to use and also the overall layout, now I am coming to the end of my whole project I feel as though I have strengthened my skills in not only iweb but also in photo shop, iphoto and also final cut express. I went for a very square structure on my first one although it didn’t look bad it was very basic and fairly easy to construct. On my second I took risks and a lot more time in doing it. For example instead of putting a photo straight on to the website, I took time to cut around the edges in photo shop so there was no background. Overall I took a very different and more successful approach mainly due to the fact that I knew more about the programs and I could use them to there full potential.