Blog Post I

1. I noticed a tone of formality and clarity as to show where the White House stands on this issue. By choosing either “our” or “the President,” the statement touches base with how we as a country feel, which is represented by the White House, and also includes the support of our head, public figure, the President. However, the word choice that caught my eye the most was “our Japanese friends.” By simply including the word, friend, in the statement, our positive attitude toward the Japanese is demonstrated regardless of conflict in the past. Similar to helping out a personal friend in need, we as a country will help our Japanese friends in this time of crisis.

2. Visually, I notice that the colors used are opposite one another. One profile is particularly bold due to the extreme contrast while the other is softer and gentle. Based on the visual characteristics of the profiles, as well as the chosen avatars, I instantly assume that the account with the bold colors has an outgoing personality and may like attention. However, the softer profile with a panda bear rather than a personal picture for the avatar seems like the user may want to hide or have the focus directed more toward posts. Therefore, to go with outgoing, I picture the bold profile to be used for social purposes while the softer profile might be for personal use, as in brief blogging or writing down private thoughts. I personally have a Twitter profile but I stuck with a dark blue template because I like to stay simple. I’m not a fan of bright colors and perhaps that reflects my personality as well.

3. I hear music that gradually becomes more upbeat throughout the video and a speaker who consistently uses an encouraging and positive tone while also pausing when necessary to follow along with the graphics of the video. Since this video is working to encourage further innovation and creativity, using a classic, old school and rather irrelevant song would instead distract rather than work with the speaker.

4. My eye is first drawn to the crimson band on the top of the page because it loads first. Then I am drawn to the three changing pictures. The elements are laid out surrounding the center tile and the page uses all four corners of the screen with varying links. The layout encourages me to look around the page but that causes the grouping of topics to blend together and nothing really sticks out beside the changing photos and WSU icon in the top left. If this information was swapped, the importance of the bottom links would increase but the photos would also demand attention. Perhaps the bottom information would appear more significant and memorable.

5. I do find his use of gestural mode effective because he’s very professional and while he appears stern and rigid, his hands are gesturing to viewers, which makes all the difference. By doing this he appears open and it demonstrates that his decisions are what’s best for the country and what the people want.