When designing my website one of my main objectives was to create a site that conformed to the conventional means of a Campaign website, as opposed to that of an online charity poster. I spent alot of time researching and highlighting the conventions of websites similar to mine such as; Talk to Frank and Re-solv. By doing this I was able to identify familiar trends which could be something very simple like the navigation bar being located in the centre, at the top of the page and the logo being situated in the top left hand corner of the page. The websites that I researched are very successful campaign websites and I looked at these in particular so that I could gain a real understanding for existing media products and incorporate important elements of them in to my product.
The picture on the Title Page was based upon an idea from a campaign site similar to mine, they had a rough looking basement as the background image with links placed over it which enforced the message being given which is that there is a darker side to drug and alcohol abuse. I used this idea but in a context that related to my site, I took a photograph of some shabby looking lockers, because a large proportion of my target audience will still be at school and will be able to identify with this. I then “photoshopped” the photograph and placed links in individual lockers.
Through my research i also found that colour scheme plays a big role in the perception that people get from viewing the site. At first i thought a colour scheme was applied to a certain website because they want to give the viewer something aesthetically pleasing to look at. However, the more i researched the more i found that the colours chosen were in place to enforce the message or to ignite certain feelings within the viewer. For example; a drug and alcohol abuse campaign is a serious topic, and a website would not chose a rainbow inspired colour scheme, as bright colours are often associated with happiness, and this is not the effect I am aiming to have on the viewers. Therefore the colour scheme would be irrelevant. This is why I chose a black and white theme for my website, excluding the Title Page. For the Title Page I decided not to de-saturate the image and keep it in colour because in essence this is a page where viewers can direct themselves and in the deeper message, their lives. So in effect the colour scheme here enforces the message that “there is a light at the end of the tunnel”. One creative decision that i made was to apply a photograph as a background image, in which it is the base of the page and everything is built around it. This could be seen as unconventional in the sense that other websites often have a solid colour background with one or two images on the page but i felt that it was essential for the viewer to be drawn to the image as they are very powerful and enhance the message i am trying to send. I felt that as the majority of my target audience are teenager’s, that it would not be appropriate to include pages and pages of text introducing who we are and what we do as they would already be aware such issues, and would quickly lose concerntration if there was a long winded introduction. I made sure the text was as informal as possible in order to portray the charity as down to earth, and able to identify with its selected social groups. Regarding demographics my product is aimed at a wide range of people across the economic scale and therefore people with a lower reading ability should not be limited.
I feel that the audience may have a basic understanding about the abuse of drugs and alcohol as in the modern day it is no secret that under-age drinking and drug abuse is rife. It is often publicised by the media, but members of the target audience may go on what they have heard from peers which could potentially be unreliable. I believe that by visiting my site that viewers will be educated and their knowledge and understanding of drug and alcohol abuse will increase.
When it comes to distribution it is very hard for a website to measure this because unlike radio and television a website his visited or hosted. I researched the ways in which campaign websites are designed and distributed and discovered that there are two ways, the first being that that charity has its own marketing department which come up and produce their own sites. The second method is that the charity contacts marketing and advertising companies asking them to come up with a campaign idea, distribute it and often create the website itself.
I don't think that my campaign would need to contact an advertising agency as I believe that by coming up with and designing the website myself, i will be able to take full control in ensuring that my website raises the viewers awareness of the dangers and consequences of drugs and alcohol abuse, effectively.
My audience would mainly be aged around 16-21, as individuals experimenting with drugs and alcohol may see it as part of growing up in which they first try dangerous substances with peers, this is often the case with school children at the lower end of the age range. Older individual such as the 18-21 year olds may be at university, and again may be experimenting with peers. My target audience influenced the design, language and layout of my site bearing in mind that most modern day websites that youngsters visit do not bombard them with information and boring layouts, i wanted to captivate my young viewers, grab their attention and provide them with important information. I feel that parents of teenagers are my secondary audience, from research i have discovered that parents who have teenage children often log on to sites similar to my own, in order to educate themselves and to see what their children are being exposed to. It is for this reason that I included a ”Help Page” which provides the answers to a select few commonly asked questions that a parent may be curious about if they suspect that their child is experimenting with drugs. However, when designing I wanted my site to appeal to numerous audiences, there is an adequate amount of information, a clear navigation bare and a casual layout that appeals to teenagers and parents.
I made sure that throughout the site that there was a consistent black and white theme so the audience felt a nice flow as they went from page to page. To really get the message across and raise the awareness of the audience, we really needed the theme to communicate what we were trying to say not only with words but with the general feel of site, which we emphasised by dark effect, which represents the dark side of drugs and alcohol.
I made sure that throughout the site that there was a consistent black and white theme so the audience felt a nice flow as they went from page to page. To really get the message across and raise the awareness of the audience, we really needed the theme to communicate what we were trying to say not only with words but with the general feel of site, which we emphasised by dark effect, which represents the dark side of drugs and alcohol.
I found that by having a young target audience that i would have to consider their attention span, i wanted them to be drawn in from the minute they entered the site. Many sites loose the attention of viewers because they fill the first page full of text, so I decided to create an "Enter Page" which includes the logo which is a link into the site and a photograph relating the the content of the site. I chose this specific black and white photograph because the girl in the image is looking directly into the camera, and therefore is engaging with the audience. This is a a result of market audience i carried out, in which i found younger people lost interest in the site if they saw too much text on one page.
I feel that to keep my audience interested i need to ensure that their time on my site is as entertaining and productive as possible. The cool layout combined with the right amount of information aids this, as every page has an interesting feel and provides new information which i believe will encourage to maintain concertration then visiting my website. There is also a selection of different images on the site which is like the narrative, and helps explain each page.
When designing my site I wanted to make sure that it had a simple, yet effective structure. I wanted to ensure that the pages on my website were all easy to access so i created a basic navigation bar with links to all my pages, which i located at the top of each page. This way the viewer will not have to spend time looking for links, as they can refer back to the top of the page and make their way from there. Also, on the "Enter Page" there are 2 links, the first is the logo which takes the viewer to the "Title" page, the second takes you to the "Help" page and is located over text which is in the original photograph. I feel the viewers will be satisfied with the easy navigation tools i used, as it will save them time and enable them to gain the full benefit of the site.
When thinking about incorporating a video in to the website we had to take in to the consideration the preferences of our target audience, which is teenagers and young adults. Instead of adding a clichéd video consisting of one, or several individuals explaining to the viewer the consequences and effects drug and alcohol abuse has had on their lives, we decided to go for something a little bit unconventional. Seeing as my aim is to raise the awareness drug and alcohol abuse has on an individual I wanted people to see what affect it could have, so I made a video that showed a group of boys in a club "appearing to have a good time", but the viewer can clearly see that they are making fools of themselves. I believe this will put a negative spin on the viewers perception of drugs/alcohol and the effects they can have.
I wanted to add sound effects in my site, but it needed to be something subtle that contributed to the effective delivery of the message i am trying to give. I found a "heartbeat" sound effect on an internet website which was copyright free, and decided to add it to the "Enter" page as this is going to be the viewers first impression. I feel it added to the intensity of the page, and related to the content as dangerous substances have a negative effect on the heart.
The second sound effect i made myself, it is a heavy breathing effect which portrays disease and illness. As my website is tackling a serious subject, i feel these sound effects emphasize this.
Before i started this project, i had no previous experience of the iweb software. Over the year i made this site, i developed my skills and understanding of the program and was able to use it efficiently. I found that by using the iweb pre-settings and templates the website looked cheap and unprofessional, therefore i had to start from scratch and create my own. I also discovered how effective it is to combine photoshop and iweb to edit images and make them more aesthetically pleasing which is an important aspect of web design.
Regarding Adobe Photoshop, i have had previous experience using the program but learnt a lot of new techniques from my teacher. I was able to crop images, add text and change the levels so that the images were more sharp, with a higher contrast.
One of the most time consuming tasks on Photoshop was based around the "Facts" page, where we created a page full of post sticks. On the Apple computers there is an application that allows you to create post sticks, and i had to print screen the page and cut out the post stick notes in Photoshop and edit text on to them. I believe by doing this the page looked most effective.
I also created the Navigation Bar in Photoshop, I could have made it in iweb but i feel it is easier to use a digital manipulation program to create the gradient box, with the text inside.
The idea of the Navigation Bar gradient was to show a light to dark contrast. The "Drugs" and "Alcohol" pages being in the darker end of the navigation bar, and then gradually as you move right page by page the "Facts" and "Help" pages are in the light. This effectively represents the "light at the end of the tunnel" which could be seen as a way out of drug/alcohol addiction.
Before creating the campaign website, i underwent a preliminary task which was to make a school website. By doing this we were taught the basics of several programs which we would use to a fuller extent in the future. When creating the school site my first impression was to create a conventional website, that looked like any other site out there. However, over the period of time that i have been making my campaign website, i have realised how important it is to create a site which is different from others and can be recognised.
