FINAL POST

FINAL POST!

The end of the semester means it is time for my last blog post! I have learned so much this semester and this can be seen through all of my posts that I have created during my time in this class. For my final post, I have chosen to reflect on Shelby Spruiell's and Katie Kassler's IW8.

SHELBY SPRUIELL IW8

Design:

Shelby's blog has an awesome design. I really like the background and choice of font for the blog title. The design is simple and professional which appeals to ethos and her credibility. I also like how she chose to make the boarder and the post title red. It is subtle enough (because of how thin it is) that it looks nice how it is matching the red in the background.
If I could add a few things to the design, I would edit the gifs so they go inside of the writing. The big white spaces are distracting and makes the format look a little bit funky.

Content:

One of the reasons I chose Shelby's post to reflect on was because she added so many gifs (I love gifs and always incorporate them into my posts)!
This use of these funny gifs appeals to the audience pathos. I like her tone in her writing as well because it is casual and fun.
In the third paragraph, Shelby talks about how she was worried that her unit 3 project's point would not be understood easily because she wasn't allowed to use words. She says that she has to use the images to describe her point but she doesn't say how. I would add more to this!

My Additions:

Although I do love the gifs, I would add more images and links that can be related back to the points she has made in her post.
For example, she could have found an image online that has a very powerful argument and pointed out how she tried to incorporate similar content in her own images.
Here is an example of an image I found online that could have helped brainstorm ideas for her "Eat Local" project:

Shelbys blog is great and I really enjoyed reading it. She has a lot of great points!





KATIE KASSLER IW8

Design: 

I was drawn to Katie's blog because of the blog's design.
I really like her background. It is simple but it is also colorful. It is not distracting but it also is not boring. I think that this appeals to the audiences ethos. The background is professional and it helps her credibility. If the background was distracting and messy, I would not trust the blog as much.
I also like how the post is organized. The photos and gifs she added are professional and all have a purpose. They also all are placed well. I think that is is great that she put a photo on each opposite side, this helps with the flow of the post.
One thing I would change about her design would be the color of the post title. I understand why she would make it purple, because one half of the background is purple. I am not a fan of the way this looks only because the blog title is in black. If I were her, I would change both titles to the same color.

Content:

The first paragraph of Katie's post is very powerful and a great example. This example is important to me as a journalism major. Images are powerful and it is important that we use this power to express the truth. I really like how she added the image to the post as well, this helps her audience understand her point further. Her point about snapchat is relates to her audience. As young people, most of us use snapchat all the time. We all are guilty of distorting images of ourselves with the use of filters.

My Additions:

I would expand more on the first paragraph and talk about social media and images.
People can use social media to portray themselves a certain way. For example people can distort and edit photos to change their appearance or post only photos of them doing a certain things to come off a false way on social media. They use images to tell a story but usually these stories are fake
In this photo on the right, this woman's Instagram looks like she is on a gorgeous rooftop but in reality she is not.

Overall I really enjoyed reading Katie's blog post. Her points were smart and to the point. She added a good amount of links and images that were relevant to the topics.