Reportage by Getty
The opening page is engaging and dynamic. The graphics and how the images are highlighted when you roll over them with the mouse are really good and we liked the way you roll over the multimedia stories and they become animated.
Burn Magazine has an active blog and forums which we may want to use. There is a sense of community being built through this site with the comment sections and other interactive areas. It's simplicity highlights the stories and photographs
Highrise has a great interactive opening page and awesome use of sound on the opening page. The playful display engages the viewer. It's harder to navigate through the stories.
Others work we liked
NY Times Debt Trap
Has a great design using interactive text. Several options for the story index
Live Love Hope different ways to approach the story, beautiful, simple design and interface
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Waterlife + Blur Magazine
Water Life:
http://waterlife.nfb.ca/
We have already discussed this website a little bit during class. I like the high amount of interactivity offered. At first when I began looking through it, I thought it was a bit disorganized and too overwhelming with all of the content given. However, there are three different ways to access the facts. There is a large mosaic-like symbol that the website opens with that allows you to select facts by random. Then there is a sidebar that divides the facts up by category and a bar along the bottom that serves the same purpose. As complex as this layout seems, I actually find it to be pretty simple. At first, I was expecting to get lost easily. But it did not take long for me to realize that the website is a lot smaller than it appears at first glance. The music that plays in sync with Water Life sets a nice mood. I feel as though I am plugged into something more than just a website.
Blur Magazine:
http://www.blur-magazine.com/
I have never been introduced to Blur Magazine until I looked at the list of links posted by the class. I enjoyed downloading the free magazine and scrolling through it with Acrobat. However, at that moment I wished I had owned an iPad. I enjoy the variation of subjects and photographs that the magazine offers. The interviews are much more powerful in this format because photographs can be looked at while you take in the text off to the side. The design is sleek and subtle, supporting the images well without distracting the eye. I found a link on one of the pages of the magazine that said “More about wet plate technology”. I was a bit disappointed and surprised to find that it led to a page on Wikipedia. I enjoyed looking through all of the photography on my computer screen rather than viewing it as a hard copy. I could control the brightness of my screen when I wanted to read the text and I did not have to worry about glare from surrounding lights. It was easy to scroll through the magazine with the arrow keys, horizontally and/or vertically. The magazine felt as though it had more than one voice with all of the interviews included in each issue. The links to blur’s Facebook and Twitter were included nicely on the last page with a note: “Let’s keep in touch!”. Overall, I enjoyed going through an issue of Blur. I made it through an entire one in about 25 minutes!
http://waterlife.nfb.ca/
We have already discussed this website a little bit during class. I like the high amount of interactivity offered. At first when I began looking through it, I thought it was a bit disorganized and too overwhelming with all of the content given. However, there are three different ways to access the facts. There is a large mosaic-like symbol that the website opens with that allows you to select facts by random. Then there is a sidebar that divides the facts up by category and a bar along the bottom that serves the same purpose. As complex as this layout seems, I actually find it to be pretty simple. At first, I was expecting to get lost easily. But it did not take long for me to realize that the website is a lot smaller than it appears at first glance. The music that plays in sync with Water Life sets a nice mood. I feel as though I am plugged into something more than just a website.
Blur Magazine:
http://www.blur-magazine.com/
I have never been introduced to Blur Magazine until I looked at the list of links posted by the class. I enjoyed downloading the free magazine and scrolling through it with Acrobat. However, at that moment I wished I had owned an iPad. I enjoy the variation of subjects and photographs that the magazine offers. The interviews are much more powerful in this format because photographs can be looked at while you take in the text off to the side. The design is sleek and subtle, supporting the images well without distracting the eye. I found a link on one of the pages of the magazine that said “More about wet plate technology”. I was a bit disappointed and surprised to find that it led to a page on Wikipedia. I enjoyed looking through all of the photography on my computer screen rather than viewing it as a hard copy. I could control the brightness of my screen when I wanted to read the text and I did not have to worry about glare from surrounding lights. It was easy to scroll through the magazine with the arrow keys, horizontally and/or vertically. The magazine felt as though it had more than one voice with all of the interviews included in each issue. The links to blur’s Facebook and Twitter were included nicely on the last page with a note: “Let’s keep in touch!”. Overall, I enjoyed going through an issue of Blur. I made it through an entire one in about 25 minutes!
Highrise and 1000 Words
These are the sites from class:
http://highrise.nfb.ca/prologue/index.php
http://www.1000wordsmag.com/
Highrise is innovative and exciting. It's interactive and organizes it's points through a crafty highrise building on the left side of the screen. That said, it's a little confusing and the fact that you can't direct yourself around the site is downright annoying. When relating it to what we can use it for, the creativity it something unachievable for us but still something that we should keep in mind. I like that it's fun to navigate and to spend time on.
On the other side, 1000 Words is very simple, maybe too simple. BUT it's clean, organized and easy to navigate. A blog and list of links are the only interactive features.
http://highrise.nfb.ca/prologue/index.php
http://www.1000wordsmag.com/
Highrise is innovative and exciting. It's interactive and organizes it's points through a crafty highrise building on the left side of the screen. That said, it's a little confusing and the fact that you can't direct yourself around the site is downright annoying. When relating it to what we can use it for, the creativity it something unachievable for us but still something that we should keep in mind. I like that it's fun to navigate and to spend time on.
On the other side, 1000 Words is very simple, maybe too simple. BUT it's clean, organized and easy to navigate. A blog and list of links are the only interactive features.
iPad App
Over winter break I was sitting down watching World News and saw this commerical for their iPad App. It plays upon the interactivity between the information being shared and the viewers role. While I don't think we'll be able to build a three dimensional globe, it's an interesting way to view news.
To a certain extent I think being able to choose what news a person wants to see can lead to a problem longer term. News will become more subjective than objective and people will only hear about what they want to hear rather seeing/hearing everything.
Here's the link to watch the commerical for the application.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HmOn7BbkQA
Here's some background information:
ABC News has today released an iPad app, using an interactive three-dimensional globe on which news stories appear. This is the second iPad app to be released by the Disney/ABC Television Group, with its ABC Player app proving to be a huge success, with over 928,000 downloads and 5.9 million episodes started in just over three months.
Users can spin the ABC News globe to find the stories that they want to read, and can then define what stories they want to have on their globe, from politics, health, entertainment, and more. ABC News' library of archival footage, "This Month In History", will also be available as an option for users to explore. Users can set up their own globe to include stories from Good Morning America, World News with Diane Sawyer, Nightline, 20/20, and This Week. Stories can also be selected to be read later, or shared with friends and family via Facebook, Twitter or email.
Steve Jobs will also be very happy to hear that the ABCNEWS.com website is now optimized in HTML5 and is available on the iPad with all features, including video.
The app is available now as a free download from the Apple iPad App Store.
Source: ABC
-Brittney
To a certain extent I think being able to choose what news a person wants to see can lead to a problem longer term. News will become more subjective than objective and people will only hear about what they want to hear rather seeing/hearing everything.
Here's the link to watch the commerical for the application.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HmOn7BbkQA
Here's some background information:
ABC News has today released an iPad app, using an interactive three-dimensional globe on which news stories appear. This is the second iPad app to be released by the Disney/ABC Television Group, with its ABC Player app proving to be a huge success, with over 928,000 downloads and 5.9 million episodes started in just over three months.
Users can spin the ABC News globe to find the stories that they want to read, and can then define what stories they want to have on their globe, from politics, health, entertainment, and more. ABC News' library of archival footage, "This Month In History", will also be available as an option for users to explore. Users can set up their own globe to include stories from Good Morning America, World News with Diane Sawyer, Nightline, 20/20, and This Week. Stories can also be selected to be read later, or shared with friends and family via Facebook, Twitter or email.
Steve Jobs will also be very happy to hear that the ABCNEWS.com website is now optimized in HTML5 and is available on the iPad with all features, including video.
The app is available now as a free download from the Apple iPad App Store.
Source: ABC
-Brittney
Monday, January 3, 2011
Zone Zero
http://www.zonezero.com/zz/
This site allows for forums and multiple means of communication. It has the option to view it in English or Spanish, and you can also share the site on social media sites such as facebook and twitter.
The home page starts off with the current issue, and there are links to the podcast. Started in 1994 by Pedro Meyer, this site is a good example of a web site working on multiple means of communication, embracing the digital age.
Lens Culture; Photography and Shared Territories
http://www.lensculture.com/
This web site is visually stimulating and easy to navigate. It's vague, open-ended name "Lens Culture" leaves the web sight open to various photographic and artistic art forms. The buttons on the top of the page make it easy to go from archives to interviews to blogs. They also open their sight up to "photobooks" and lend links to other sights. Their button to "submissions" is also beneficial in garnering more participation from viewers. Additionally, they have a link to profiles of their photographers and a link to audio interviews, encouraging the viewer to continue to actively learn more about the process as well.
Pros: Easy Navigation, open-ended means of expression, interactivity.
Cons: Perhaps too open-ended, but regardless a good example of what is possible.
Focal Point f/8
http://www.f8.com/
This web site focuses on the geography of stories, keeping interactivity at the forefront. While the main page is misleadingly plain, if you click on "the Devil's Caldron" the web site offers much more content in several different ways.
Pros: This site lends itself well to archiving and content.
Cons: The site is visually conflicting and not as engaging as it could be. If it was simpler in layout and design, it would be much easier to navigate.
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