Our Website Adverts

After choosing a suitable layout for the website and completing research for appropriate adverts we started designing a few adverts in fireworks since we will be creating the layout of the website with this software. We used existing media texts to expand our ideas and designs for possible adverts.

Above is the banner advert that will be featured at the top of the website next to the logo. We decided the advert should promote a financial business so we took an existing advert that was similar to our idea and produced a professional advert. It is simple, straight to the point with the important details, “25% off” shown in a bigger font to highlight the deal, making it stand out. The colours chosen also reflect the house style colours of the newspaper and website so they link together.

The next advert, shown above, is marketing an Italian restaurant which uses earthy colours compared to the website so it stands out more to the reader. The green/brown colour scheme was also chosen since Italy is more countryside so they were ideal and suitable colours to go with. The Olives where drawn to likewise represent Italy and the name of the restaurant since there are plenty of olive gardens in Italy. The e-mail is placed on a black shape so it stands out from the advert itself so the viewers can easily see where to get more information from.

This advert is promoting a furniture clearance as viewers will be able to see easily as the title is the biggest thing in the advertisement. The colours here also contrast with the colour scheme for the newspaper and website to make it standout out from the articles. Furthermore, it is simple and direct so the observer doesn't have to puzzle out the message portrayed behind the advert which could lead to them skipping over it straight away.

The final advert displayed on the website is a local bingo club advertising you to join them playing bingo in Wigan. To keep with the set trend of unpretentious, simple and functional, adverts this was kept on a white background with colours to highlight the text. The word bingo was placed on to the balls to make the advert more interesting and to ensure it catches the reader’s attention.

Website: Choosing a layout (Option 3)

Option 3

Using our designs from option 1 and 2 we used our new found knowledge to come up with another layout without the influence of another website already on the internet. The design we came up with is a very graphical based layout with more pictures then the previous two and more main headlines for each category provided (News, sport news and Celebrity news).

We really like this design as it featured a simple layout at the top for the Header mast and a clever way of displaying the articles in the centre using 3 columns for each section, to separate each section from each over so all the articles aren’t simply placed randomly together. The advertisement displayed in the layout is along the bottom, 3 to follow the pattern of the above columns and one on the top of the page next to the logo.

However, we decided against this layout for a few key points that option 2 included that weren’t designed in this layout because there wasn’t enough space or because we thought it wasn’t required in the layout.

Firstly, this layout has no navigation bar. When we designed it we thought that the categorizes that the website offered where shown with a simple layout and where to clear to the user. However, a website still needs a simple and easy way of navigating the site. Secondly, it was missing a place for the slogan. Slogans are key to a website as they are one of the first things the viewer sees, which sticks in their memory so they turn to that particular website next time they go online to look for news. Since the design was missing these two basic factors we opted for option 2.

Maybe next time or when updating and improving the future website we will modify it to option 3 and keep in mind the important features that weren’t included.

Website: Choosing a layout (Option 2)

Option 2

This design was also influenced from an existing website and became our selected layout. It allows for a lot of articles to be displayed in the centre of the page with an ordered pattern and the main article bigger than the rest just above, below the title and logo.

Advertisements are kept separate from the main section of articles so it doesn’t disrupt the flow and distract the viewer from the stories. They are placed on the far right with one main one alongside the logo and title of the website, which was a popular layout we found during research.

The layout of the title and slogan are also kept simple and straightforward so they stand out clearly for the viewer to identify what the page and website is about.

Down the left hand side of the layout is where the navigation bar will be situated displaying the different categorizes of articles so the viewer can easily select which type of articles they won’t to filter. On the right hand side are links to other articles, which are separated by the advertisements so they don’t merge and follow the same pattern as the main articles in the centre.

This layout optimized the amount of articles could be displayed without them being cluttered and overflowing onto a single page. It provides a simple and trouble-free arrangement so the viewer can navigate and find the way through the website without trouble and effort.

Website: Choosing a layout (Option 1)

In the following posts we have designed 3 possible layouts for our website. There are many pros and cons between them all so it was a hard decision to choose a professional layout that is also simple and easy to follow

Option 1

The first layout was the original design which was influenced of an existing website. It allows a lot of articles to be displayed on a set size compared to the other layouts, and still show advertisement at the top and middle of the page.

However, if you imagine the design with all the photos and text entered website layout is cramming all the articles around the advertisement and it becomes a bit cluttered, coming off to the viewer as unprofessional.
On the other hand, this is compensated by the easy and clean layout of the title and logo alongside the main article photo at the top of the page that brings some sort of control to the page.

It also has an easy navigation bar down the right hand side of the design which would link to the different articles or categories of stories. It also features the site map down at the footer of the design with extra links, but this could collide with the navigation bar and the viewer will have too many links to choose from.

Advertisment Research for the Webiste

To get influence when designing our adverts for the website we researched existing internet adverts to get an idea of how colour, font, images and layout is used to attract the readers attention.

After analysing the advertisements above, we noticed that a large amount of the adverts on the internet are animations as well as images. This makes them more interesting and grabs the viewers’ interest. In college we have the software to make an advert similar to these types but with the limited time allowed it would not have been up to standard with the website and not of good quality.

So after reviewing adverts that just contain images we came to the conclusion that many are really simple but effective by using colours to make it stand out. They use large fonts to make the purpose or title of the company obvious.

From this research we will make sure that our adverts meet the conventions and patterns of existing website adverts by ensuring we use bold colourful text but ensure that we keep them simple and easy to look at.

Website: Content research

Content Research

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Research conclusion from looking at other websites

All the websites that we looked at have set up the pages in the centre using blank spaces on either side. The echo and the daily mail left this space white which makes the articles and borders seem to just stop in the middle of the page.

However, the Wigantoday used a gradient tool to make the background and the articles separate from each over. Furthermore, the sun uses a block colour and a shadow around the articles to make it seem off the page and not just a flat screen. We think this looks better and makes the website more professional then the others.

The Sun also uses adverts to the minimalist so it doesn’t distract the reader from the articles, making the website easy to read. When designing the website for the newspaper we will use The Sun as a guide to make ours look like an expert page and specialized.