Project 4

Hi, class:

Could you leave your comments and feedbacks for me? I really appreciate it.

Excellent Tazo

Tazo website has such an attractive appearance.  Their stories are interesting; their layouts are appealing; their web navigations are so useful and functional.

“ Discover Tazo” is in connection with its targeted audience—tea seeker.

A humorous image—the man seeking for something through a telescope—not only matches the section properly, but it also catches my eyes immediately. In addition, the content is unique.  It is like a short statement rather than an ordinary article; however, it is powerful. Each key word in a bold font reveals the mission of the company. We steep; we sip; we explore. Those are the steps how to get a novice into a tea world.

Moreover, the layout is well organized. Actually, it is visually appealing. Page’s title, subhead, content have the same font consistently. Different font sizes and weights distinguish the visual hierarchy. Additionally, the spacious white space let me read the word clearly.

Finally, the web navigation is practical. It is less than 3seconds to get another page. Other than speed, the simple navigation bars are useful. Main menu and sub menu list the various sections horizontally, and secondary section menus write down the additional information vertically. As a result, we can navigate information unimpeded.

The only thing that I think they can improve is to add a tagline for their company so that the customer can value their company comprehensively. 

Clarify the Complexity

Have you heard about BYOD? This is my first time to know it—Bring Your Own Device. Now, I have a clear map in my mind after reading its excellent information graphics.

BYOD originated from a current phenomenon that people take their personal iPads and smart phones into work. The info-graphics showcase the loves and hates that this technology trend inspired.

Based on the controversial issues showing in the Internet, the company examined a year’s worth of data, including more than 100,000 mentions of BYOD in blogs, news articles, social networks like FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, reviews, comments and more.

 The info-graphics employs some interesting elements to analyze some arguments. Whether the BYOD increase teacher's anxiety is one of examples. A humorous illustration—a crazy fashionable girl pulling her hair seems to confuse the computer technology behind her. The subhead is: Teachers Never Breakdown. The description reveals that 29% people fear that the devices will overwhelm teachers.... The conclusion is: Not everyone agrees. Read on. 

Although it doesn’t like a process book, the colorful elements and humorous graphics still are useful for our project 5. 

Choose a Printer

Printer plays a key role for our projects. Since having a terrible experience in Staple, I print all my class presentations in Shady Grove campus. The campus offers XEROX Phaser™ 7760 color printer.

As far as I am concerned, the printer is nice. The printing color is close to original picture, although sometimes it is darker. My Project 1, for example, has a lighter  color in digital version; however, when appearing on the print, the red Sichuan pepper in the hot pot seems like cherry-red. But anyway, it is still a nice experience printing here.

After doing my research, I’ve found that 90 percent customers love this machine. Some of them use it for client newsletters, speaker sheets, design presentation and book or magazine page proofs. They commented that the color would be great once the machine be calibrated. In addition, it works great on both Macs and PCs. Each time it took me only less than two minutes to get printouts. The function is efficient. 

Using Space

I am looking for a magazine for my project 4--a category of rose. I am a rose lover. Five years ago, I planted a bush rose in my front yard, and now it's already grown into a rose tree, which is about five feet and six inches high. The clusters of rose which have velvet-like red petals make a delight in a small garden.

After comparing different publications related to horticulture, I chose <<Garden Gate>> as my magazine. It has a nice page layout that categorizes various plants clearly and logically. I noticed that how they classified the content using white space, a spacious room that makes the pictures stand out and attract the audience to go through the text readily.

According to Richard Saul Wurman, the author of "LATCH: The Five Ultimate Hatrack", we need to pay attention to the space between the things. It is more crucial than objects themselves. Actually, the opposites between them make me understand the information clearly.

Magazine Advertising

I found out an interesting ad in the AFAR magazine. It not only impresses me, but also impulses me to make a donation for an international education program launched by AFAR magazine. The ad employs the hierarchical grids, which is composed of
horizontal columns.

The headline is resided in the left upper corner, telling us the information loudly—TRAVEL IS THE BEST FORM OF EDUCATION.

In the middle background, a girl spreads out her arm as if to hold a world. Next to her, a testimonial, in a smaller sans-serif font, reveals the significance of the program: " ULTIMATELY, THIS HELPED ME SEE HOW MUCH A PERSON CAN GROW THROUGH TRAVEL. "I notice that both headline and subhead are using uppercase;however, when appearing in a green background, they are easy to read through.

In the lower column, the body copy explains the program—through its flagship program Learning AFAR, the AFAR Foundation grants international travel scholarships to students who would not otherwise be able to explore our world. A bold face invites the audience to look for more information and make a donation.

The ad is successful since it utilizes the visual hierarchy and chooses a proper media that all readers had a common ground that
travel is a best way to open up a world.   

Project 2

I post my Project 2 in my blog. I am looking forward to hearing your comments and feedback. Thanks!