AS Planning grade: 15/20

WWW:
Good research into similar products and identification of conventions
Good research into web hosting & domain registration
Good use of digital technology in the presentation of work
EBI:
You should have included your sketches and analysis of your orinal and sourced photographs
Perhaps the rush on getting your work done towards the end meant you didn't have time to get representatives from your target audience to participate? More careful photography and video planning would have helped.

QuitSmoking UK Survey

I have created a survey to collect information for my site.
Please click on the link below to complete it


I hope this will help identify my target audience which will also let me better my site so I am able to gear the site towards them. the survey will also give me information on peoples tendencies towards various methods of quitting e.g. group therapy or one on one sessions. i will then use the results once analyzed to tailor my website to a specific market and include elements and techniques to persuade those who may not be as willing to quit to quit and take the first steps.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6L4Rc18RMrAcrlMflognkA_3d_3d


These are pie charts with percentages of the answers from the survey. It shows that my target audience should be more early thirties men and women who want to quit. 80% wish to quit due to family or health reasons so i could include facts and figures on health issues and how that affects you to further persuade these people. Also once they have applied they would prefer group sessions rather to one on one, this would mean that i should have more group therapy sessions while still continuing one on one as they are still valued. 80% of participants find smoking to be a bad habit leading me to believe that they do not enjoy to smoke but are unable to quit due to will power, this is where my site will become useful as it can provide help to those wishing to quit and give them the boost in will power to quit.

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Website Evaluation draft

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?



I used photos which I took, as a slideshow which like the Smokefree website used visual imagery as a way of deterring people from smoking, by emotive imagery and music.
The layout for each page consisted of a blue and white gradient background with a title of the same font and colour and navigation bar on the left and top of each page. As well as this I placed my companies logo at the top left of my website, this created consistency throughout the website providing an organized layout, which is a convention of websites.
I made small manageable chunks of information because I felt it was easier to read and didn’t overwhelm the reader with all the information so they can absorb and remember the information easier.
I choose the tabs on the navigation bar in order of importance because the main purpose of the website is to promote the help provided by the company because of this I had "about us" and "contact us" as two of the tabs, because these are most important in relation to the purpose of my media product.


2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?


I represented middle class smokers of the age around 30 to 35 yrs. I represented them because studies have shown that the older a person is the more likely it is that they are going to be able to quit, also women are more likely to be able to quit than men.
By using different techniques, picture and text for example using images of cigarettes and cigarette packets to show what exactly is involved with smoking, zooming in at the end of the slideshow onto smoking kills would hopefully hit the target audience and make them think further and resolve any misguidance they may have had.
Also the video about people’s success in quitting smoking and with constant speech of ‘I quit’ my actors were all young showing that even as a young person it is possible and this will hopefully challenge the audience via two step flow with the actors being the opinion leaders.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?


There are many charity and health institutions around but there are certain ones that deal with smoking. The main institution associated with health is the ‘National Health Service’ (NHS). They will mainly distribute the website via hyperlinks from their site to mine due to it being a health website. In recent years the government who are in charge of the NHS have issued public issues concerning smoking. The health service will want to distribute the website due to rising health concerns. A reason for distribution the website will be to help inform the public i.e. the target audience of the how and where to quit smoking, and any help that can be acquired.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?


My target audience for my media product will be people who smoke, as this is a quit smoking website, and who are 30-35yrs of age, both men and women and with jobs. Having a job is not required however the majority of smokers have jobs in order to pay for their habit.


5. How did you attract/address your audience?


I attracted my audience by clearly outlining what the company hoped to achieve, contact information and facts about the affects of smoking. I also displayed my information in a clear organized layout as to not confuse my audience, and thus repel them from further reading.
Also my house colours of red and blue are both bright and attract the viewer’s attention.


6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?


I have learnt a lot of techniques while designing and constructing my website, one of the most help tools was the pen tool which allowed me to create a path around an object in a photo and select and cut it out with precision. This was better than other tools as I could curve my line to fit better. Another helpful piece of software was garageband that I had not previously used, it helped me create playlist for the background soundtrack for my slideshow.


7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?


Looking back on my preliminary task I feel that the use of Adobe PhotoShop has proved extremely helpful in the producing of the site, as it has allowed me to edit photographs effectively. I didn’t use it much in my preliminary for editing photos and as a result some of my pictures are not as good as they could have been, meaning the quality, brightness and colour balance were not used to bring out the subject of the photo.

Website research and Institution Research





(Click on each picture to see an enlarged image.)

After I analyzed these charity websites I collated a list of different conventions of websites. All of which I will use in my website so my website will follow the conventions of website.

The navigation bar is a key feature for most websites and was consistent throughout all the ones I looked at. They quickened the pace an inexperienced user could navigate through the site and find what they were looking for with ease. Also on one of the sites was a side bar which I found very useful, because of this i will try to include a navigation and side bar in my website. The navigation bar will be aimed more at short clear statements of what is on the page e.g. About Us, Contact Us, Home etc whereas the side bar will contain, while short and clear, more diverse links.

Also the use of imagery will be key to the site as to shock the viewer into seeing the damages that smoking can have. However I will also have success stories as to give a positive side once quit, to show that it is not all negative this will take the form of a video or slideshow as well as plain normal images.

Also a clear and visible logo for my site will be required at the top of the page as I have found this is common in all the sites I looked at. The branding of the charity is important as the main aspect of this site is to promote the idea of quitting and the benefits that can include. For this reason a strong and remembered logo is needed.

The typography must also be clear and readable as the site will be lost if I cannot convey the information to the viewers if they are unable to read it. This was apparent in all the sites I researched and so a must for my site.

A combination of both the typography and imagery I feel will carry my site forward as the picture can shock the viewer and the text can either shock or communicate that the effects of smoking are disastrous and should be taken seriously.

Institution Research

While creating a website it is important to research how other campaigns and websites are made and also what institutions are involved in the design, production and launch. large charities usually own their own companies so do not need the creative agencies, however companies such as WWF or Breakthrough Breast Cancer use companies such as Saatchi & Saatchi and Torchbox to create promotional websites and campaigns.

This is a link to a news report on how BBH and Barnardo's worked together to create a promotional campaign named "Break The Cycle" to shock people into seeing that even though some youths are troublesome others do need help that Barnardo's gives.

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/941641/APG-Creative-Strategy-Awards---Barnardos-break-cycle-BBH-London/


"I'm absolutely disgusted with the negative reactions. These people need shocking into reality. I hope to see more shockingly sad and heartrending shorts like this to awaken people's perceptions."
This is a quote concerning the video, showing that the message has gotten to the audience, or at least some of them.