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I have decided to choose the website Electric Literature, which is basically a blog site that focuses on books. It really emphasizes the name of the blog and its set against a background that is interactive. The background consists of a pond and the water moves and the fog surrounding it does as well. The name is big and appears first, and after it is a navigational bar where people can choose different areas of the blog to visit. Below, there is a list of articles and events about books and authors. Compared to many websites I've visited, this one is really well-organized because as you continue to scroll down you are given more options and information. I think contrast is also used well because most of the links and pictures are really bright and colorful against a white background, forcing people to place their attention on these parts that stand out. The elements are also aligned streaming downward so a person can just keep scrolling until they find something they are interested in. They are also evenly spread out across the page, which is nice because that way my vision wasn't too overwhelmed, but I didn't have to search for what I was looking for for a long time.

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I chose Rotten Tomatoes, because reading film reviews is one of my favorite ways to kill time. The site's homepage emphasizes the featured articles, as they implement the biggest photos and therefore draw the most attention. Under these photos is a white headline amongst a black background, clearly standing out. The search bar is also very accessible, lying front and center toward the top of the page. As we scroll down, the website is mostly white with black wording, but it's very easy to navigate, and it doesn't read as bland thanks to the tiny tomato pictures accompanying the film titles. It all feels like my eye is meant to travel from top to bottom, as everything is presented in a list form with long narrow columns. And the bright, neutral colors evoke a calming feeling, which is ideal because scrolling through film reviews should be a leisurely, rather than intense activity. I would assume the designer chose to feature articles at the top of the page to encourage visitors to click around the site more. There are more articles listed at the bottom, but I assume they're less important or not in dire need of clicks, otherwise they would be more prominently displayed. I had never used the developer tool in browser before, so I was surprised to see what a jumbled mess the wesbite looked like behind the scenes. To be honest, I can't work out yet what the different fonts and colors and ordering mean, but I'm curious to find out.

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My favorite website is Popjustice.com. It is a website for news, music, and culture all surrounding the UK music scene. I primarily visit this site for new music recommendations and reviews. The layout features a pink header at the top which bears the logo for the site. The main feature of the site is their weekly "New Music Friday" article which is positioned as the largest image and blog post. These "New Music Friday" articles most likely get the most hits because they contain a short review of all of the British pop songs that have come out over the course of that week and gives them a short review. Above the feature article and just below the logo, there is a menu bar that shows all of the different types of articles included on the site, The Briefing, News, Music, Vids, Interviews etc, and Forum. This website serves many purposes besides news, but only really hardcore music fans will want to participate in the forum. The articles begin on the left side of the site with a substantial border and continue toward the middle. There is always a right hand side bar on every page of the website reminding visitors of their list of the best albums of the year and other options like a mailing list. The contrast on this website is primarily achieved by the black text on a white background, but the site also includes elements of pink for further visual interest. Some of the text in the headlines and paragraph headers appears in pink for further emphasis. The site is aligned along the space used for the major article space, with every other link seemingly optional. Popjustice does a good job of grouping the interests of readers together. Similar songs and articles of interest appear along the sidebar to entice readers to visit different pages on the site. The padding and the margin of the site make it more easily readable. Overall, I think this website is well presented in terms of formatting. It presents its information in a concise manner and maintains enough white space so that it is not overwhelming.

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This project was less of a doozey than the last. I managed the baseline criteria: make the audio of appropriate length; use three audio tracks; adjusted the bass and treble mix of the audio tracks and went splice-happy. No licenses were used, since I generated all the audio. I used a script of two original texts: a poem from high school, and a reflection paper for my German drama class. Those (along with a ‘translation’ of both pieces to be used for the audio revision) are my source texts which I manipulated for this audio project. I recorded some strumming and chord progressions modelled around “I’d Like to Walk Around in Your Mind Someday” by Vashti Bunyan. (I justify here fair use because firstly, the song is used in an educational context; and secondly, the song was not copied in its exact original form without modification.) Altogether, I think the project well-met the baseline criteria, as I have just outlined. I will later approach aspirational criteria. read more

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The Notorious Entertainment website emphasizes the name of the company front and center as well as the logo in the top left corner. The organization of the home page involves a scroll downwards, which is ushered by the downward facing arrow. As you scroll, it is revealed what the entertainment company offers as its main 4 features: DJ, Lighting, Entertainment, and Company. These features are not just listed, but appear one after another through a smooth transition, over a darkened picture representing that aspect of the company. The picture gives a shadow-like feel indicating a sense of depth and curiosity to learn more about these key features. The order in which the features are listed (in order above), is pretty accurate in terms of what is usually in highest demand and what is most popular for Notorious to offer. Contrast is offered through the use of white, Sans Sarif, crisp text on a solid black base background. This really emphasizes the bright text and vibrant images beneath the titled features. The feeling that is evoked is a sense of modern, edgy, forward-thinking vibe that would be wanted for an entertainment company. In terms of alignment, there is the scroll down on the first page of the key features as well as the menu bar which includes Home, Music, Live, Media, About and Booking pages. When the window is made more narrow, the menu bar disappears on the page and one must click a drop down menu in the top right corner to access the other pages. Because the page contains a lot of black blank negative space, the little text that appears on the home page is inviting enough to allow users to easily read and navigate the webpage. In other words, there is not a lot of clutter on the home page, which makes it easier for viewers to find their way around the website without being overwhelmed or confused.

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