Blog7

Mike DeCotiis

Blog 7

Part 1:

            The Norton Field Guide explains in detail things to consider when constructing a website/blog in chapters 51 and 53. It talks about considering your audience, readability, usability, hypertext, interactive features, visuals and more. My blog considers a few of these topics, but not nearly all of them. When constructing the blog all I really did was pick a random color scheme, then add a picture of Jay Z as the background. I didn’t pick fonts, headers, or put any thought into the color scheme. The Jay Z picture shows my interests, but does not have much to do with writing. Is it easy to read? I definitely think so. I kept the default font and size; the writing is big enough and clear. I did not use any crazy unreadable fonts or make the font extremely small. Is the blog appropriate for a college classroom about rhetoric and writing? The background and such do not really relate that much to these subjects, but that doesn’t make it inappropriate. Does is it express who I am as a writer and student? The main thing you see in the picture is Jay Z. I’m going to say yes and no. It does not really relate to school or writing in any way. However, I have always looked up to Jay Z. He came from very little, and became not only one of the best rappers of all time, but one of the best businessmen. Jay Z is not stupid; he is a multimillionaire with his own clothes line and partial ownership of sports franchises. He also writes his own lyrics, that usually contain substance rather than just a catchy mainstream tune. He’s an inspiration to me that counts as something right? I’m not saying it can’t be improved, but I think my blog accomplishes its purpose.

Part 2:

            I changed up a lot of elements of my blog for various reasons. The first and most noticeable change is my background. I changed it to a big picture of the ocean, or some type of body of water. I did this for a few reasons. First, I love and always have loved the ocean and swimming. This helps the blog represent me personally and my interests. Next, I think it reflects me as a writer. I always focus on having a very relaxed paper that flows well. The water represents this “flow.” Lastly, I wanted to consider my audience. At least for me, the body of water has a relaxing calming feel. I want my readers to be relaxed and flow through my ideas. I also changed my color scheme. I did this for much of the same reasons as the background. I changed the colors to some greys and a dark blue. First, this helps the theme match the water background. Also, it helps convey that flow and relaxing feel I was talking about earlier. I think the new scheme definitely helps that even more. After this I went on to change my font and font color. The main reason I chose the font I chose is because it is big and easy to read. Readability is extremely important. I also like this font because it is not too serious, but not too unofficial at the same time. It conveys the exact attitude I want from my blog. The color again has to do with flow, matching, and relaxation. Between that, the ocean background, and the new color scheme, I believe I have completely changed the emotion of my blog. Lastly, I changed some sizes and layouts around. I made the right side bar with a lot of meaningless links much smaller. I also made the main part a little smaller. This allows the viewer to see the background a little more, but still easily be able to see the focus of my blog. These changes greatly enhance my blog. Some sites that inspired me to make these changes were these sample blogs and the facebook home page.