Andrew Vetsch
Professor Licastro
ENG 256 01
March 20, 2017
When watching a video, people tend to find it easier to follow visual storytelling, than textual storytelling. That’s because in visual storytelling, the story is told through pictures, or visuals, whereas in textual storytelling, the viewer has to rely on the things characters say, so the viewer has to work a little bit if he or she wants to follow the story. The website of a company asking for donations should never be boring. To motivate viewers to donate to the Asylee Women’s Enterprise, the company’s website should give the viewer an experience that makes them feel that donating to their cause is the right thing to do. To advance the AWE’s message on the website, there should be elements of not only visual images that demonstrate the refugees’ situation and their plight to get to a safer place, but sound effects that add noise and music that helps create mood for the viewer.
The “About Us” page could be greatly improved with visual elements such as sound effects, oral language, written language, music and still or moving images that are combined to create a lively experience for the viewer to feel more welcome. The page is too straightforward and is more concerned with getting to the main point of AWE’s cause, rather than making it appear engaging and emotionally right. If the message cares most about the message, then the viewer has little reason to care about selecting AWE as the cause to donate to if they want to help refugees.
An example would be the website for The Climate Reality Project, which uses visual imagery and textual language to communicate its views to the viewer. Rather than playing it safe and greet the viewer with an abrupt “please sign out petition,” users join a question-and-answer game” The AWE website doesn’t have to use a quiz to engage the viewer. It’s not just the sarcastic, simple questions that the CRP website uses to engage the viewer, it’s viewer’s ability to watch and re-watch cute animations and videos that make the concept of helping refugees slowly seep into their consciousness.
Citation:
“Our Mission.” Climate Reality. N.p., n.d. Web.
The questions we discussed when you presented in class would really make an impact. What “page” or “tab” would you put this under?
I liked your explanation of visual storytelling over textual. That’s something that is really important when it comes to building website content.
I think you are spot on that the site should be more visual then textual. Pictures are so powerful and videos are easier then reading a long article. Videos also fit well onto a compact website. I am personally not a fan of the quiz idea. I do not like it when sites make you take a quiz or present information in that form.
It may be very difficult to use the sound effect idea because so many people that use the Internet do so either with the volume muted or without something plugged in for listening. For someone not listening to any audio, the sound effects will completely miss them. However, I like your idea of more dynamic moving images to grab attention.
A question-and-answer landing page similar would really make the AWE site stand out from other non-profits! Questions could be based off of the ones that Tiffany Nelms herself used to draw us in the day she visited. We could lookup what causes refugees to become targets in their homelands and tweak them to catch the interest of American donors/visitors to the site.
A great way to get more support is relating back to those you are looking for hep from. By the about us becoming more personalized and goal oriented, AWE can create an initial connection with onlookers and maybe gather additional support too this way.