This is the original proposal of my website given to my media tutors:
A concept of creating a Web site of my own choice always sounded exciting and challenging to me. After researching Marshall McLuhan’s dictums, that the world is now a “global village” and that “the medium is the message”, I decided to create a Web which will explore the “global village” thesis in more depth. McLuhan argued that technology become an extension of our senses, like sight and sound. The telephones, radios, computers and TV's became a long distance ear and eye by projecting further than our biological range of vision and hearing. He said, “As electrically contracted, the globe is no more than a village.” (1964: p.5). He argued that “Time has ceased, space has vanished. We now live in a global village... a simultaneous happening.” (1967: p.63). McLuhan is suggesting that through our “extended senses” we experience events, as far as the other side of the world, as if we were in the same physical space.
In relation to that, my initial idea was to create a Web site where viewers could review and leave comments on beauty products. I wanted to create a site in which networkers would be able to communicate and exchange their opinion on the cosmetics they use or used in the past. It was meant to replace the standard printed advert with an interactive site. It was going to give you not only the producer’s information on the product but also an opinion from the ordinary people. After giving it a long thought, I realized that this idea would not work. The reason behind it was that the Web site would have to have active and participating audience to get the site going and also the idea seemed to be more suitable for a blog that a Web site.
I developed that idea and decided to design a Web site about fashion and clothes. I always wondered why people constantly buy new clothes and rarely wear things twice in a week. The more I was thinking about it, the more it opened my eyes on the subject of shopping for clothes. I came to conclusion that some people constantly buy clothes because they would like to look fashionable and trendy. By wanting to look good they end up purchasing a lot of clothes, which may never wear. I decided to create a Web site, which will inspire young girls and women to create the look they like by using their own clothes, which they already have in their wardrobes. I realized, that by looking at the pictures of outfits online it will be easier for the viewer to see what pieces of clothing they need to have to create such outfit. My site will aim at females to buy fewer clothes and create their desired look by opening up their minds and being more creative with the clothes they already own. Women as the target audience are ideal because they tend to care more about their image than men and they also buy more clothes compare to them.
To discuss the description of the product, I start with the content of the site and then move onto the use of colors and finally the general layout of the site. The site will be based on six different tabs/sections: “Styles”, “Shopping tips”, “Steal her style”, “Do’s and Don’ts”, “Quiz” and the “Game”. Each section will have its individual character and purpose. “Styles” section will be designed to look at pictures of outfits and gain the inspiration from them. It will also have various outfits created with the use of the same pieces of cloths. Four sections will divide this part: “Day/work look”, “Evening look”, “Holiday look” and “Weekend look”. The second tab, “Shopping tips”, will list all useful tips about successful shopping, how to look after the clothes or what should women invest their money in when buying clothes or shoes etc. The next tab, “Steal her style” will demonstrate images of celebrities and answers of how to create similar outfits. Tab “Do’s and Don’ts” will compare pictures of badly combined clothes with the correct alternatives. The tabs with “Quiz” and the “Game” will be the entertaining part of the site where the audience can play Sudoku or find out what type of celebrity they are by answering few questions about their lifestyle. The colors that I will be using to design the pages will be settled and pale. The range that I am considering will include: black, grey, white and pale pink. I may write it in a vintage style font such as Edwardian or Monotype Corsiva. The layout will be very simplistic; the main tabs will be written inside the boxes and placed one below the other. That way any user will find the site easy to manipulate and browse. After presenting the concept of my Web site to my peers I got a positive feedback and an approval from the tutor who suggested that my idea is challenging and also that I may want to merge the quiz and the Sudoku game into one. He also said that it is quite hard to create the game by myself so I may be forced to replace it with fashion blog for instance.
After I established my concept, I set this project a timeline, which will involve maintaining my blog systematically, collecting all necessary images and data for the site by Easter Break, finding an appropriate sound to the web (nothing too laud or disturbing) and also decide by next week what quiz and game I will create. The pre-production will also include a research about similar websites as well as fining some good and bad examples. For the production part I decided that the best time to do most of the work on the site would be Easter break. I will need to systematically add some content to the site so I won’t overload myself with too much work. I will also avoid stress and any possible shortcuts in order to complete the project on time. I am looking forward to the postproduction stage when I will polish off my work by collecting all data into appropriate folders, gathering lists of bibliography as well as references and sources I used.
I strongly believe that this project will demonstrate how well I prepared myself for this task by providing a well-structured Web site with clear message and appropriate use of images, text and sound. I am sure the Web site I create will be completed on time and hopefully as a result of my work I will get a good recognition.
Word count: 1,097
References:
McLuhan, M. (1964): Understanding Media. New York: Mentor
McLuhan, M. and Q. Fiore (1967) The Medium is the Message. New York: Bantam
