Document Design and Publicity



Reflection

Document Design and Publicity is a university subject I am studying and a part of this subject I am required to design and critique two web blogs. This leads me to ask what a blog really is. Almost every person I have spoken to has asked that question and through completing this assignment I am happy to say that I know what they are! Blogs are online diaries of ordinary people, which are posted on the internet for anyone to view.

This first assignment, I must admit was very daunting to me, not only did I have no idea what a blog was, but I was also slightly illiterate at computers. Throughout this assignment I have learnt that there is a whole other world behind the scenes, when it comes to the internet. I think that through completing this assignment I have grown in the knowledge that computers and the internet are not as bad as I first thought they were.

My web blog critics two web blogs, which I found via the Google search engine (www.google.com.au). The web blogs I chose to critic are quiet different yet very interesting. The second web blog I am critiquing is called The Hollywood Liberal this particular web blog is about politics in America. However this web blog is against the American politics and makes jokes and uses images to portray the leaders of America as incompetent. This web blog supports its claims of the incompetent politicians in America with legitimate claims about the mistakes that the government has made in the past.

The first website I’m critiquing is about Japan and a persons experience whilst climbing and descending to and from the top of Mount Fuji, via the Kawaguchiko or Subashiri trail. This web blog is neatly set out and is very simply constructed. Through choosing very different web blogs I think that my critique is going to be interesting. I used a political web blog, even though there was humour involved, and a cultured web blog, were I could experience the unknown through someone’s written words.





Tuesday 23rd, August, 2005-09-15

Japan Window

Japan Window is a sit, which I found via the Google search engine. Japan Window is a blog which is often updated. Japan Window details the events of travellers in Japan and where they go and what happens to them on this journey. The blog is very similar to a personal diary of events. The web log includes a easy set out were there is a large photograph of where these people have been and then underneath it has details about what happened throughout their time their. The blog is easy to understand and it is easy to make comments and post them onto the site. This particular web log I feel would be very interesting to people who are thinking about travelling to Japan.

Through first visiting the site it is clear that the person constructing the site wanted it to appear simple and easy to read. The site includes a large photograph of the area that the travellers are in. Beneath this photograph there are approximately 600 words about the trip and who they met, as well as their experiences. The web log has a great deal of white space and the only colour on the site is in the photograph or on the box were links can be found and comments can be made.

I feel that the intended audience of this web log is people who are interested in travelling and who enjoy hearing about other people’s lives. The intended audience I feel would be young people wishing to travel, defiantly not elderly adults as the blog shows that there is a fair bit of physical endurance needed.

The text on the Japan Window web log is limited. However it does tell an interesting story. There is a great deal of white space throughout this blog and the only real colour used is in the photograph. I feel that this is very strategic, as the text does not draw anything away from the image and makes the image appear more vital to the web log, which I think that it is.

The layout of the web log makes reading the web log easy. There is a simple photograph showing, where the travellers are, and information about what they have been doing whilst they have been away. However the writing on the page does not look very organised or well structured. The lack of structure however may be so that the web log appears more like a journal.

The web log is slightly difficult to understand, within the web log there is no introduction, body or conclusion. The web log is messy in the way that it is written and is obviously meant for a casual audience. The web log is easily accessible and the links are easy to use, however it is not designed in the best possible way. The web log does not look that interesting a part from the picture.

The Japan Window photo web log is no set out with basic administrative practices and then edited as described in the reading number 6. The web logs contents are scrambled and difficult to understand. If the web log had been edited and constructed in a better form a more valuable web log would be possible. Compared to the second web log I looked at, the Hollywood Liberal, Japan Window did not compare in the slightest.

The Hollywood Liberal is a bright, well organised but lengthy web log. The Hollywood Liberal I feel is better made and is designed in such a way that anyone would be interested in what is written. The Japan Window did not gather as much enticement due to its lack of colour, formate and context.





Tuesday 23rd, August, 2005-09-15

Hollywood Liberal


The second blog which I am critiquing is from the web blog Hollywood Liberal. The blog is about politics in America. The blog is comical in specific areas and addresses real issues of citizens in America. The Hollywood Liberal has a good design and is easy to understand. I chose this particular blog as I found it funny as well as interesting.

The Target audience is definitely for people who are interested in politics or at least America’s politics. The website could be for anyone who is serious about what is happening overseas or just wants a laugh. I think that the web log is directed at an audience between the ages of 16 to 70. The blog entertains and informs. I don’t think that this audience would be suitable for anyone younger than 16 unless they were very interested in American politics. I don’t think that children under 16 would be aware enough about politics to understand the jokes or the articles written on this blog.

The layout of this blog is done particularly well compared to the Japan Window blog. The blog is clearly made by a technologically advanced person. The blog is set out with writing in the middle, as if it is a newspaper column. Throughout the blog there is photographs and quotes, both comical and serious. There are advertisements on the left hand side and menus on the right hand side. The menus themselves include a number of helpful links and information including comics, side shows, and links to other websites, images, audio and video, places to place donations and advertisements, stories and articles, Archives and a blog roll. Through all these helpful links and information a more substantial and informative blog is made.

The blog is well set out. There is a great deal of colour and photographs to catch people attention. The blog prints a great deal of personal opinion, which many people agree with. This particular blog is interesting as it invited people to congress together for demonstrations and rallies and strikes. The website is interesting in the way it is set out. The beginning of the site is very comical and yet there is truth behind this humour. Then further down the site peoples personal opinions, views and stories are coming into play.

The blog is very well set out as through incorporating humour into a serious website more people are inclined to read on to see if there is anymore. The unsuspecting individual, who wishes to find more humour by reading on, will find valuable personal opinions about the American government from citizens and people who are interested in politics in America.

Document Design and Publicity



Reflection

Document Design and Publicity is a university subject I am studying and a part of this subject I am required to design and critique two web blogs. This leads me to ask what a blog really is. Almost every person I have spoken to has asked that question and through completing this assignment I am happy to say that I know what they are! Blogs are online diaries of ordinary people, which are posted on the internet for anyone to view.

This first assignment, I must admit was very daunting to me, not only did I have no idea what a blog was, but I was also slightly illiterate at computers. Throughout this assignment I have learnt that there is a whole other world behind the scenes, when it comes to the internet. I think that through completing this assignment I have grown in the knowledge that computers and the internet are not as bad as I first thought they were.

My web blog critics two web blogs, which I found via the Google search engine (www.google.com.au). The web blogs I chose to critic are quiet different yet very interesting. The second web blog I am critiquing is called The Hollywood Liberal this particular web blog is about politics in America. However this web blog is against the American politics and makes jokes and uses images to portray the leaders of America as incompetent. This web blog supports its claims of the incompetent politicians in America with legitimate claims about the mistakes that the government has made in the past.

The first website I’m critiquing is about Japan and a persons experience whilst climbing and descending to and from the top of Mount Fuji, via the Kawaguchiko or Subashiri trail. This web blog is neatly set out and is very simply constructed. Through choosing very different web blogs I think that my critique is going to be interesting. I used a political web blog, even though there was humour involved, and a cultured web blog, were I could experience the unknown through someone’s written words.





Tuesday 23rd, August, 2005-09-15

Japan Window

Japan Window is a sit, which I found via the Google search engine. Japan Window is a blog which is often updated. Japan Window details the events of travellers in Japan and where they go and what happens to them on this journey. The blog is very similar to a personal diary of events. The web log includes a easy set out were there is a large photograph of where these people have been and then underneath it has details about what happened throughout their time their. The blog is easy to understand and it is easy to make comments and post them onto the site. This particular web log I feel would be very interesting to people who are thinking about travelling to Japan.

Through first visiting the site it is clear that the person constructing the site wanted it to appear simple and easy to read. The site includes a large photograph of the area that the travellers are in. Beneath this photograph there are approximately 600 words about the trip and who they met, as well as their experiences. The web log has a great deal of white space and the only colour on the site is in the photograph or on the box were links can be found and comments can be made.

I feel that the intended audience of this web log is people who are interested in travelling and who enjoy hearing about other people’s lives. The intended audience I feel would be young people wishing to travel, defiantly not elderly adults as the blog shows that there is a fair bit of physical endurance needed.

The text on the Japan Window web log is limited. However it does tell an interesting story. There is a great deal of white space throughout this blog and the only real colour used is in the photograph. I feel that this is very strategic, as the text does not draw anything away from the image and makes the image appear more vital to the web log, which I think that it is.

The layout of the web log makes reading the web log easy. There is a simple photograph showing, where the travellers are, and information about what they have been doing whilst they have been away. However the writing on the page does not look very organised or well structured. The lack of structure however may be so that the web log appears more like a journal.

The web log is slightly difficult to understand, within the web log there is no introduction, body or conclusion. The web log is messy in the way that it is written and is obviously meant for a casual audience. The web log is easily accessible and the links are easy to use, however it is not designed in the best possible way. The web log does not look that interesting a part from the picture.

The Japan Window photo web log is no set out with basic administrative practices and then edited as described in the reading number 6. The web logs contents are scrambled and difficult to understand. If the web log had been edited and constructed in a better form a more valuable web log would be possible. Compared to the second web log I looked at, the Hollywood Liberal, Japan Window did not compare in the slightest.

The Hollywood Liberal is a bright, well organised but lengthy web log. The Hollywood Liberal I feel is better made and is designed in such a way that anyone would be interested in what is written. The Japan Window did not gather as much enticement due to its lack of colour, formate and context.





Tuesday 23rd, August, 2005-09-15

Hollywood Liberal


The second blog which I am critiquing is from the web blog Hollywood Liberal. The blog is about politics in America. The blog is comical in specific areas and addresses real issues of citizens in America. The Hollywood Liberal has a good design and is easy to understand. I chose this particular blog as I found it funny as well as interesting.

The Target audience is definitely for people who are interested in politics or at least America’s politics. The website could be for anyone who is serious about what is happening overseas or just wants a laugh. I think that the web log is directed at an audience between the ages of 16 to 70. The blog entertains and informs. I don’t think that this audience would be suitable for anyone younger than 16 unless they were very interested in American politics. I don’t think that children under 16 would be aware enough about politics to understand the jokes or the articles written on this blog.

The layout of this blog is done particularly well compared to the Japan Window blog. The blog is clearly made by a technologically advanced person. The blog is set out with writing in the middle, as if it is a newspaper column. Throughout the blog there is photographs and quotes, both comical and serious. There are advertisements on the left hand side and menus on the right hand side. The menus themselves include a number of helpful links and information including comics, side shows, and links to other websites, images, audio and video, places to place donations and advertisements, stories and articles, Archives and a blog roll. Through all these helpful links and information a more substantial and informative blog is made.

The blog is well set out. There is a great deal of colour and photographs to catch people attention. The blog prints a great deal of personal opinion, which many people agree with. This particular blog is interesting as it invited people to congress together for demonstrations and rallies and strikes. The website is interesting in the way it is set out. The beginning of the site is very comical and yet there is truth behind this humour. Then further down the site peoples personal opinions, views and stories are coming into play.

The blog is very well set out as through incorporating humour into a serious website more people are inclined to read on to see if there is anymore. The unsuspecting individual, who wishes to find more humour by reading on, will find valuable personal opinions about the American government from citizens and people who are interested in politics in America.