Short paper 2. Apples Keep Your Family Healthy

The purpose of this paper is to analyse an informative website of my own choice, which also are in relevance to my final project. Since my project is about apples i have chosen to analyse the web page “bestapples.com”.

Already from the web page address one gets a good indication to what the sites is going to promote – here you will find the best apples! The site is made for the Washington Apple commission, which purposes are “advertising, promotion, education and market development for the Washington fresh apple crop.” (About us: about the apple commission) Washington apples have a rich history dating back to the 19th century. Today, more than 225,000 acres of orchards produce different types of the well-known brand “Washington apples”.
Their mission is to protect, promote and make their industry grow by enhancing and increasing the value of Washington apples for growers and consumers.

Semiotic analyse
Gunther Kress argues that writing has lost its dominance and that verbal literacy is now less important than it once was. But with the internet I would claim that a different way of “writing” has appeared. Away with just words and welcome images, symbols, fonts and layouts and their role in creating a meaning. “Writing” on a website can be complex as long as users are able to interact with it in such a way that they can incorporate it into their understandings of themselves.

Anne Cranny-Francis writes in her book “Multimedia” that; “verbal text on a website should be limited and not conceptually dense. To many words on a screen are difficult to read and a complex argument on a screen is very difficult to digest.” (Multimedia p.19) This website seems to have followed this advice; there is little written text on the main page. Instead the site has categorized their topics into seven different one, all which contains more complementary information, divided into different subgroups. By organizing the site this way, it gives it an overall appearance and an informative, neat impression.

The different information that lies in the categories are all portrayed in such a way that it is the positive that shines through. They have stories from people who have succeeded in their lives, for example Tammi Flynn who discovered a 3 day plan with apples to loose weight. Such stories are a very popular way of attracting viewers. Furthermore they have enlisted surveys where they have discovered health benefits by eating apples. Anne Cranny-Francis argues that if it is written down and published, then it must be true. The way a site is constructed gives the viewer a sense of its creditability. By having stories or surveys conducted from doctors or serious organizations the creditability of the site will increase. To reinforce the sites serious approach they also have interviews with farmers who grows the apples and this gives the viewer an opportunity to get a closer look at where the apples come from.

To not make the viewer loose interest in the sites subcategories, the site is constructed so that as much important information is seen at the same sub site. This way the viewer will receive a lot of interesting information and at the same time not loose interest by having to read a long dissertation. Jacob Nielsens study of reading habits have showed that we only read the first few lines completely, before shorten the reading pattern down, making it look like an F-shaped pattern. Having this in mind it is important to construct the site in such a way that only the most important headlines appears and if this catches some attention one can click on it, and this way acquire more information.
The home page has a link that is directed towards children and teaching them about apples. I can see how the site’s appearance can appeal to children, having big signs, bright colours and Crispy the apple figure talking to them, taking them through different tasks about apple. It’s a fun and different way for children to be educated.

The home page is dominated by 4 smaller images on top of a bigger one. When entering this site one first is presented with an image of an orchard.
Then four images slides in to the site one by one, telling the apple’s journey, beginning as a beautiful flower ending as a delicious crispy apple ready to be consumed. It is the images that play the most important role at the home site. They are there to produce a feeling, create a desire from the viewer. By having only the written word, one will certainly not produce the same response. By not having a lot of text on the homepage one gives the viewer the opportunity to recall ones own positive memories, and for the viewers this can be a factor in being positive towards the site and wanting to know more.

Visuality is not only the use of images; it is a function of all aspects of the “look” of a text. At the site one can hear someone taking a bite of an apple when stroking the pointing-arrow across the images on the bottom of the site. Sound is a mode that in this sense reinforces that feeling the appearance of the site gives you.
Eating apples are a highly physical doing, involving several of the senses, from visual, taste, smell, auditive and tactile senses. Using images makes this process more real to the viewer, by letting several of the senses be stimulated at the same time.

On the top of the page there is a banner that is consistent when navigating through the different links to the site.
On the right of the banner various types of apples in various colours are shown. On the left side of the banner there is an icon shaped as an apple, containing of different colours. This can be seen as a symbol of the unifying of the different types of apples that “Washington apples” produce. The site also has a very positive appearance showing images of happy children from different ethnicity eating apples. These two modes together can be seen as a connotation for the diversity of groups standing together in the march towards healthy living. To reinforce this there is also an image of an adult smiling towards you while holding an apple with the underline “healthy living” written. The sites main purpose is to advertise and to promote for healthy living, and they do this to the fullest. Every image they have chosen to use, all produce a positive and a desired feeling of wanting an apple.

The colours used on the site are mainly varieties of red and green, and together with the images it produces a good desired feeling. The background colour to the site is in a light pale green colour, not attracting any attention, but gives a more calm feeling, giving the site an appearance of harmony. The colour green is the colour of nature, locked upon as a symbol for growth, harmony and fertility. Being an emotionally intense colour, red brings the subject of the images to the foreground. But the deep red colour used in context with the green colour and the images, gives the impression that it is harvest time.

Conclusion
When navigating through the different link of the site, reading the different information from the different links, seeing images of tasty apples in different situations, it makes me want an apple, which again is one of the sites purpose – to tempt the viewer. But I feel that maybe the site has gone a bit far in their width of information. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, aren’t this common knowledge? Do we really need that much of information about health benefits from apples? It’s healthy, that should be common knowledge.

Bibliography
Gunther Kress & Theo Van Leeuwen. 2001: Multimedia Discourse. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

Daniel Chandler 2007. Second edition. The Basics Semiotics.

Anne Cranny-Francis. 2005: Multimedia.

Color wheel pro
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

Short paper 1 “The Dumbest Generation”

Introduction.

This essay will look at the webpage “The Dumbest Generation”. The address to
this page is; http://www.dumbestgeneration.com/

The essay will mainly concern the analysis on the welcome page and the home page,
but the other sections of the site is also taken into consideration when writing the analysis. Furthermore the essay will look at the different discourse, the general design of the site and what the author wants to say with his book.

The different discourses on ”The dumbest generation” site are colour, dynamic text, pictures and regular text. The site is constructed in a way that makes it is easy to navigate through. It consists of three boxes. A headline containing the headline of the book, on the left side menu items that give a neat impression and help orient the reader to various sections of the site, and finally an image of the book cover.

The colours used at the site are black, white, red and light blue. Kress and van Leeuwen states that “Colour offers a specific sensory appeal, via sight and its physiology, and via both the physiological/experiential meanings of colour for humans as biological/physiological beings and the cultural/experiential meanings of colour – the meanings deriving from specific cultural provenances and physiological/experiential emotional effects.” (Kress,Van Leeuwen -2007:27)

One might ask what Mark Bauerleins purpose is by writing the book “The Dumbest Generation”.

When entering the welcome site there are two things that capture my attention. The first is the word “Dumbest“ written in screaming red, demanding my attention. The colour red is said to be the colour of fire and blood, and is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power and determination as well as passion, desire, and love. (Colour wheel pro).
By using the colour red which is an emotionally intense colour and a highly visible one, Bauerlein, in my opinion is out not just to provoke, but also to warn others about the development that by his view are happening. His subtitle “how the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future*”, not only explains his previous statement, but it also reinforces it.

The second is the dynamic text which scrolls by continuously. At first this appears quite fascinating the way it scrolls with its red and black colours. However, it doesn’t give the readers any opportunity to red the text in their own tempo and therefore becomes a frustrating component. One can only capture bits and pieces from the text and one can wonder if this is done by purpose. Bauerlein argues in one of his articles “online reading literacy is a lesser kind”; that” Fast scanning doesn’t foster flexible minds that can adapt to all kinds of texts, and it doesn’t translate into academic reading.” (Online reading literacy is a lesser kind) The way the dynamic text scrolls by, can be seen as a visual trope, illustrating how students read online. This is also called a “F-shaped pattern for reading web content”, which means that readers read at first horizontally across the first few lines of the text, then just halfway across, before the reader finally reads vertically the rest of the page. (“Is stupid making us Google?”)

Above the animated scrolled text there is another line written in a far more anonymous way. It reads “50 million minds diverted, distracted, devoured” and does not stand out in the same way as the text under it. Written in light blue it has a more neutral appearance, and opposite to the text underneath, this does not capture my attention at once. However, when reading the text, one notice that the three words describing “50 million minds…” reinforces each other in making a statement.

The image at the welcome site can be locked upon as an illustration of young Americans today. The digital age is a part of the young Americans identification. Toys or transformer figures proudly holding the American flag creates an association to the picture “Raising the flag” taken on Iwo Jima. Bauerlein is here trying to say that if you were to ask an American student to identify the picture, he will not be able to see the denotation. Also the title “The dumbest generation” can be seen in denotation to what was called “the greatest generation”, who where young people who lived under the great depression and then went out to fight in the World War 2. The greatest generation has always been locked upon as an ideal to the nation. By calling the young Americans of today the dumbest generation, Bauerlein disapproves of the development among young Americans. The result of the digital age as Bauerlein see it is that; “The result is, essentially, a collective loss of context and history, a neglect of “enduring ideas and conflicts.” “…America’s youth know virtually nothing about history and politics.” (“How dumb are we? Thanks to the Internet, dumb and dumber, this author writes.”) The technology that young American has access to today “allows” them to be “stupid”. Why remember anything, when you are only a click away from finding the answer? They have developed a “brazen disregard of books and reading” Bauerlein says.

Under the main title of the book, there is an asterix which says “* or don’t trust anyone under 30.” This trope gives an association to Jack Weinberg’s slogan from the sixties “don’t trust anybody over 30.” Bauerlein plays with this slogan, by twisting its meaning. The asterix is shaped in the form of stickers that one will find on CD’s. Such asterix are meant to be a warning and to give information about the CD, and Bauerlein here uses this as a metaphor to warn and to give information about the book.

Bauerlein argues that young Americans today have gone lost in the “wilderness” of the digital age, their writings are conducted in a monotonous blank style. They have lost their evocative descriptions and persuasive descriptions. Earlier writing meant that students had to consult other reference work such as encyclopaedias, cliff notes, and almanacs and so on. Today their primary knowledge source are such as Wikipedia and for that reason students believe that their writings should be in the same style, which means no sharp metaphors or nifty rhythms and parallels. As Bauerlein argues; “Verbal dash is verboten.” (REPN TRI to the FULLEST)

The home site is created similar to the welcome site, with the same menu items and headline. The home site contains images of networking sites and games online, with summaries of what the different aspect of the digital age should have done to help improve the daily life. The site’s content gives an impression of a negative attitude towards the digital technology.
“The dawn of the digital age once aroused our hopes: the Internet, e-mail, blogs, and interactive and ultra-realistic video games promised to yield a generation of sharper, more aware, and intellectually sophisticated children…… That was the promise. But the enlightenment didn’t happen.”
Furthermore it plays with words as “mind(less) games”, making them look as unnecessary use of time. At the bottom of the page, there is an asterix in bright red saying; “*Featured on CBS news with Katie Couric” and “*Featured on CNN Headline News”. Both CBS and CNN are serious news channels, signalizing that if both the CBS and the CNN has taken an interest in this book, this is so important that it has to be dealt with before its too late.

Summary
Bauerlein’s purpose for writing this book is because he feels the necessity to enlighten a growing problem amongst the youth of America. The digital age has caused young Americans to become less creative in their way of retrieving information. Using online resources as their only source is causing their writings to become flat, dull and with a sense of being robotic. By writing his book, Bauerlein hopes to warn people and hopefully give some direction on how to get back on track again.

Reference
Kress, Gunther og Theo van Leeuwen. 2001: Multimodal Discourse. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

Semiotics for Beginners, Daniel Chandler. Second edition 2007.

Color wheel pro
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

“Is stupid making us Google?”
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/is-stupid-making-us-google

“How dumb are we? Thanks to the internet, dumb and dumber, this author writes.”
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-et-book5-2008jul05,0,3980465.story

“Online Literacy is a Lesser Kind”
http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i04/04b01001.htm

“REPN TRI The FULLEST”
http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/18845104.html

“Why Johnny won’t read”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33956-2005Jan24.html

“OMG! Expert says today’s kids are stupid.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90755433

“Letters from America”
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/14/news/letter.1-407193.php

“Will generation Y be dumb or great.”
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/26/will-generation-y-be-dumb-or-great/

Guide to UiB 2

En rundtur på høyden

For this assignment i worked in group with Joakim and Margrete, and we made a portal for UiB guide which we called;
En rundtur på høyden.

As we wanted to provide a narrative that takes the reader on a trip around campus, we decided to link pages about places on campus with a little story connected to it. UiB’s own map was also included, which links to a larger version of campus.

We organized the different pages in a menu list, placed at the right of the portal. As there where many similar guide pages who described the same places, we decided to only add one link for each place which became a part of our guide.

Designwise we used a netural backgound pattern and simple boxes. To make the menu list stick out, we gave it another background color and added an arow to the links in the list items.

Studentsenteret

Universitetets nye stolthet ble offisielt åpnet våren 2008. Her finnes alt fra det store auditoriumet kalt “Egget” til mindre grupperom. Studentsenteret har et treningssenter som tilbyr trening i vektrom, spinning, aerobic, svømmebasseng og hådnballhall. En kantine og en bistro som tilbyr innbydende god mat! Kortsenter, rådgivning, studentorganisasjoner, studia og mer holder alle til her. Et fint sted å være i studietiden.

Hvorfor jeg har valgt å ta huin105

Hola!

Grunnen til at jeg har valgt å ta huin105 er fordi jeg har lyst å lære meg webdesign. Enkelt og greit!

Blogging

Hei alle sammen!!

Har blogget litt tidligere, men ikke så mye nå lengre. Leser enkelte blogger nå, men har ingen faste jeg følger.

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