Week 1.1

 Brainstorming Ideas

The first class was about introducing the topic of creating a website and video about an environmental issue. Initially we brainstormed some ideas, as well as doing research into our chosen topic (E-waste) and finally researching websites which we believe were well designed. 

https://paperplanes.world
This website is interesting as it allows the use of a different device. When using the website on a laptop we see a world with multiple paper planes flying around it along with occasionally text popping up explaining where a plane has been thrown from. However, when accessed on a phone the website allows us to geo-stamp our location on to a paper plane and then send it off and collect another paper plane and unfold it to see all of the locations the plane has been before restamping it and sending it off again. The unique aspect of this website is that you're anonymously interacting with multiple other users from all around the world. 

This site engages with all ages from a range of different locations and provided they have a phone, they are capable of using it. The style of this website is an illustration style and captivates the viewer. It is quite a clean, light, minimalistic design - which is quite visually appealing to the viewer. This design involves interaction, motion graphics and crisp type - this is engaging and extremely playful. It is innovative as it combines the use of the action of throwing with the connection to the rest of the world as opposed to typing to someone across the world which is more prominently used. There is no audio to this website. This website is more of a game as opposed to an informative site, however it does provide you with how many other planes are being thrown. In terms of the grid, there doesn't seem to be a specific grid, however all of the text is centred. As the website is only one or two pages, the navigation of it is extremely easy, the webpage also includes step by step instructions to teach you how to fire off a plane. It's an extremely engaging website which definitely captivates the viewer and makes us want to play. 

If I were to create this website, I would improve it, by making it more purposeful and informative as this really is just a game. I would also perhaps make it more accessible from a laptop, so that a greater range of users could use it. 



http://womenofearth.co.uk

This website is talking to our generation. It uses animation, a much heavier illustration to text ratio. This would therefore be more captivating to a younger age bracket who perhaps have a smaller attention span. In terms of contemporary features, there aren't any gimmicks or fads, but the website itself does focus on a modern issue. In the innovative sense, it is interesting how the characters move through each slide as you scroll, this creates continuity as well as captivating us through animation. There is no audio. The content is quite minimal in terms of information, only conveying the key facts. The grid for it is thirds and this is relatively consistent through the whole design. In terms of navigation, it is extremely straightforwards as you just scroll through the entire website. It is engaging due to the style of animation and imagery. In terms of improvements, we found that it could have more information as we feel currently it relies too heavily on the illustration.