Starbucks - A Well Designed Website





(Source: www.starbucks.com)

 

Web design is a ‘continuously evolving field’. It is important to have a webpage that is well-designed in order to ease the readers’ reading paths and also for the business to stay at the top.

 

 

Starbucks has a well-designed webpage. There were an increasing number of visitors who were accessing the site on mobile devices. This created a need for a better mobile site. Therefore, Starbucks has created a more responsive design which is equally functional across platforms. The new site is very functional as it allows visitors to locate the Starbucks stores and check the gift card balances from their phone. (Website Magazine 2013).

Readers wanted prose that are well-written and designed appropriately to accommodate reading on the screen (Shriver 1997). The headings on the Starbucks website have short and direct descriptions right below them. This will ease customers understanding on what the links on the headings are for.

The design should include typographic and spatial cues that are comprehensible. Readers will find it easier to perceive, organize, remember and enjoy those messages (Shriver 1997). The typefaces used by Starbucks are clear and easy to be read. The green colour used for the headings are consistent with the colour used nationwide for the brand. The headings are well-organized, even the links at the bottom of the page.

 References:

 

Starbucks 2013, viewed 29 September 2013,  <http://www.starbucks.com/> 

Website Magazine 2013, 'The webs most gorgeously designed websites', viewed 29 Sepetember 2013, <http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2013/05/09/the-web-s-most-gorgeously-designed-websites.aspx#sthash.cmYki95n.dpuf>

Schriver, K.A. 1997, Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures, Dynamics in document design, Wiley Computer Publication, New York, pp. 361-441

 

The Rise of Instagram



(Source: www.debaird.net)




(Source: http://www.warriorforum.com)

 

 

Instagram is a social network for sharing photos with people around the world. Instagram, recently bought by Facebook, allows participants to capture, edit and share pictures through this application. Users can provide feedback by clicking on the ‘like’ button through comments (Prives 2012). Instagram also uses ‘hashtags’ to group pictures under the same topic. This allows users to go through pictures posted by other people and share their interests with the other users. Users can conveniently upload the photos that reflect their personal lives through their smartphones. As can be seen, the Instagram user base size has increased tremendously in the last two years.

Instagram could possibly change the world of photography. People who do not usually take pictures of their everyday life encounters, began to develop creativity and an interest in photography. Some may have even gone further and pursue an education in photography. Instagram also gives users the opportunity to meet new people and learn about different cultures through the pictures posted by users from different countries. (Prives 2012).

Furthermore, businesses are starting to use Instagram as a means to promote their businesses. Instagram can serve as a convenient platform to introduce and promote new products to the world at large. This enables business owners to create a deep relationship and bond with their customers. Besides that, it is absolutely free! (Wiggs 2013)

For example, Burberry posts images of London, where the company is based and backstage pictures from photoshoots through Instagram as they know that their followers are interested in all these. Besides that, Burberry also posts the images of their merchandise on their Instagram account. (Austin 2013).  

References

Prives, G. 2012, ‘Instagram and its impact on the world of photography’, Digital Photography School, viewed 29 September 2013, <http://digital-photography-school.com/instagram-and-its-impact-on-the-world-of-photography>

Austin, C. 2013, ‘These 20 brands have mastered the use of instagram’, viewed 29 September 2013, posted 10 January, <http://www.businessinsider.com/these-20-brands-have-mastered-the-use-of-instagram-2013-1?op=1#ixzz2gCoU7dIq>

Wiggs, D. 2013, Instagram Impact, viewed 29 September 2013, <http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-special-offers-forum/822836-new-private-label-rights-instagram-impact-fast-track-guide-making-easy-money-today-ebook-infographic-video.html>

 

 





Blog Credibility

When you read through a blog, how do you know it is reliable? Have you ever wondered if you should trust the contents of a certain blog? Who wrote them?

A blog is considered a credible source when the readers trust the information on the blog. Readers who trust the blogs will return to the sites regularly. The familiarity with the blogs increases the credibility of the blog (Azzollini 2012).

The information on a blog is trusted when there are repeated exposures of the same information from different sources. A reliability model suggests that frequent exposure to many sources online allows readers to confirm the information that they have read. References and links from other sources help in verifying the judgements and generating trust (Finn and Zuniga 2011). 

In order to keep the readers interested, blogs posts should be focused on a few specific subjects that is interesting to your readers.  Thorough planning needs to be done to create credible and fascinating content. It is best to take advice from experienced people, such as journalists (Azzollini 2012).

Furthermore, there should be a regular schedule for publishing (Azzollini 2012). This will build and keep the attention of the readers. The regular frequency of the postings can establish reliability for the readers. Readers will become familiar with the blogs and continue returning to the site. Reliability helps to establish the communities’ trust. 

References

Finn, J. and Zuniga H.G 2011, ‘Online credibility and community among blog users’, ASIST, New Orleans, viewed 29 September 2013, <http://www.asis.org/asist2011/proceedings/submissions/110_FINAL_SUBMISSION.pdf>

Azzollini, S. 2012, ‘Building credibility with online communities: Tips from professional news rooms’, viewed 29 September 2013, posted 1 March, <http://blog.prnewswire.com/2012/03/01/building-credibility-with-online-communities-tips-from-professional-news-rooms/>

Blogs VS Social Media

(Source: http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com)

‘Social media has saved blogging from stagnation and extinction’ (Bullas 2012).

Social media increased online sharing and encouraged the discovery of bloggers. Users of social media can distribute content efficiently to their social network of friends and followers. Through these social media, users can search for people who have an interest on the same topics. With this, blogs on similar topics that are shared on social media websites can be found easily (Bullas 2012). Besides that, the sharing of a blog post on social media websites helps in increasing the number of subscribers to the blog. The links from social media websites can be useful in having the blog posts indexed quickly by search engines (Sbabzy n.d.).

Social media provides many opportunities for bloggers. Bloggers can create a blog which is its own brand through social media websites. Bloggers can create a community on social media websites around their blog. This allows bloggers to earn serious profits by marketing affiliate products to the communities (Sbabzy n.d).

Besides that, it is expected that the future of blogging will join forces with major internet companies, for example: Facebook. Facebook will have its own blogging platform that is fully integrated into its site. Users will find it easy to use the blogging platforms in these social media website (Sbabzy n.d).

Furthermore, VLOGS (video blogs) is the next generation of blogging. There is an increasing trend of vlogs that are shared through social media websites. Bloggers will create more video blogs that are shared more often through social media websites than traditional blog posts (Sbabzy n.d).

References

Bullas, J. 2012, ‘Blogging statistics – facts and figures’, JeffBullas, viewed on 29 September 2013, <http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/08/02/blogging-statistics-facts-and-figures-in-2012-infographic/#1W0f8lWZYMc7pMtd.99>

Sbabzy, n.d., ‘The Future of Blogging: Will Blogging be Dead in 2020?’, viewed on 29 September 2013, <http://sbabzy.com/the-future-of-blogging-will-blogging-be-dead-in-2020/ >

The Blogging Phenomenon

Blogging started in the 1990’s as a sanctuary for people to share their interests, hobbies and thoughts online. For some people, blogging is for self fulfillment and self discovery. Bloggers can improve their creative writing skills when they update their blogs regularly (Bullas 2012). Furthermore, blogs allow collaboration between bloggers when they exchange their views on a particular subject of interest.

 

Nowadays, blogs are used for businesses. 32% of the brands surveyed for Technorati Media Digital Report 2013 stated they have a presence on blogs. Blogs are used to introduce a company’s products and services. Companies can share information quickly to the readers through blogging. Blogging has relatively low starting and operational costs which can help a company to reduce expenses. It can also help establish higher search engine ranking.

 

Furthermore, blogging can be used as a platform for consumers to gather information. Consumers search for reviews on blogs when they want to purchase something, making it the third most influential digital resource for overall purchase. Blogs are considered the fifth most trustworthy online sites.

 

Bloggers can also earn money through blogs. From Technorati Media (2013), 64% of influencers make revenue from blogging. Most bloggers’ reported income was a result of advertising (61% banner, 51% text). Nearly half of influencers are paid for a sponsored post or article. For example, in Malaysia, Bangsar Babe is paid for the reviews on the restaurants or hotels on the blog.

 

Do you blog? If you do, why do you blog?

 

References

Bullas, J. 2012, ‘What are the ten secret benefits of blogging?’, JeffBullas, viewed on 29 September 2013,< http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/07/06/what-are-the-10-secret-benefits-of-blogging/>

 

Technorati Media 2013, Digital Influence Report, <http://technorati.com/business/article/technorati-medias-2013-digital-influence-report/>

Purpose

This weblog is created to provide and share information on the current media issues in publication and also the principles of good document design and layout. This blog will also help readers to understand the effects of social media on their social life. This weblog is targeted at college and university students who take in interest in publication, communication and design.