Activity 1

Visual Glossary:

Rhetoric: Exaggerated use of language, or use of effective and persuasive speech.

Icon: An image or picture that can stand in or represent something else.

Design (Noun): A projection or plan that outlines or represents something, an organized creation, or structure to some object.

Design (Verb): To create or conceive some sort of plan or creation. To form, or plan, the structure or outline of something.

Representation (Noun): An object, person, symbol, or image that stands in place of and gives the same meaning as the entire thing it is taking the place of.

4c. Tags: grand theft auto, busy town, videogame, game, animated design.

6. Each logo does work to make the website visually appealing. They can’t be too simple or too complicated. They are supposed to draw the user back to the website in the future and make there website the most attractive. Google uses different colors to try and do this, Yahoo a unique font and style, while AltaVista uses a symbol above there wording. They all are effective logos and do the work they are suppose to.

I like the Google logo the best. It is a simple design but the colors are creative and cool. The biggest reason I like it the best is probably because I use it the most and am most familiar with it.

I like the AltaVista logo the least because I am not at all familiar with it and had not used it before this activity. Visually they are similar so popularity really determines what you like and don’t like.

13. Advice for validity of general research:
1. Try to avoid .com, use things like .edu, .org, or .gov because the information on these sites is much more likely to be accurate and meaningful. They are much better for an educational or professional setting.
2. If the content has grammatical and punctuation errors then the creator of the site didn’t take care to have there work carefully looked over, and therefore isn’t very professional.
3. Is the content of the website relevant? Can you understand and use the information that is provided?

Advice for validity of visual research:
1. If it looks professional and well thought out it is probably valid. If it looks sloppy and quickly thrown together then it is more likely to not be as trustworthy.
2. Is the visual content useful? If it is not relevant to the website then it is unlikely to be at a professional level.
3. If it satisfies common sense criteria. If it makes sense and is appropriate for the context of the website.