Month: October 2024

How Has The Web Helped Non-Profit Organisations? In this section, i will discuss features of the web, their features, and how they have helped Non-Profit Organisations in their causes and aims. New Ideas An article from Personify Wild Apricot which references some of their favourite non profit organization websites, states that the web allows for things such as “clear storytelling, strong visuals and graphics, quick loading , seamless UX, mobile friendly, accessibility, clear calls to action, streamlined donation pages, and social media links, are all ways in which the web has been progressive towards the agenda of non profit organisations; in embracing new developments in the web to allow for better communication with users. (Tatiana Monrad https://www.wildapricot.com/blog/best-nonprofit-websites) Good Example Of Use Of Colour/Image And Branding For Storytelling Tatiana Monrad (2024) The 50 Best Nonprofit Websites. Personify Wild Apricot (https://www.wildapricot.com/blog/best-nonprofit-websites) [Accessed 15/10/2024] New Creative Ways To Solve Problems YKT also has a page for appeals and donations, which allow people to donate directly over the web, as opposed to sending physical cash donations. This section of the website displays all their different appeals using a card style layout which is easily navigable, and allows for people to choose, through text and images, which campaign they want to donate to.  The page also has links to socials in which people can keep up to date with YWT in real time, advertising campaigns, events, and planning appeals. Image Of Eye-catching Call to Action Button, As Well As Links To Socials Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) Appeals. https://www.ywt.org.uk/appeals/staveley-nature-reserve-appeal [Accessed 06/10/2024] Video Screen Shot Of Card Style Campaigns And Donations Page- Uploaded To My YouTube And Recorded By Me. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) Appeals. https://www.ywt.org.uk/appeals/staveley-nature-reserve-appeal [Accessed 06/10/2024] How Have They Changed Due To The Web? Visibility And Awareness: One non-profit which is interesting is called the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust; they have a website with lots of useful information; due to convenience of the web, it is easy to find out their goals, and mission statement on their “about us” section of the website.  Screen Shot Showing How Website Provides A Readily Accessible Volume Of Information For Users Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) What We Do. https://www.ywt.org.uk/what-we-do [Accessed 06/10/2024] According to Forbes, there are 5.35 billion people using the web, which is around 66% of the earth’s population. Organisations using the web have access to this populace which is very helpful to their causes (raising awareness, funds, and volunteering). (Lexie Pelchen  https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/internet/internet-statistics/#:~:text=There%20are%205.35%20billion%20internet%20users%20worldwide.&text=Out%20of%20the%20nearly%208,the%20internet%2C%20according%20to%20Statista.) Examples Of How They Use The Web To Help Their Cause.  Event Lists: Yorkshire Wildlife trust uses the web to help their cause by providing an Event Guide, which shows all the upcoming events, the areas in which they are taking place, and also has a widget at the side which allows for information to be entered in order to narrow down, or isolate a specific event, location, time, or date.  Image Showing The Events Interface With Input Section On Left To Make It Easier For Users To Get Involved Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) Events. https://www.ywt.org.uk/events [Accessed 06/10/2024] Marketing Campaigns The web also allows for wide spread marketing campaigns to access a huge amount of people. One such example is Unicef’s “Likes don’t save lives” campaign, with Medium stating  “The campaign took advantage of the power of the digital world and became an international viral success for the benefit of children.” (https://medium.com/@lindsayelsen6/likes-don-t-save-lives-social-media-impact-6a81e9750907) It made brilliant use of social media and used this slogan to bring to people’s attention the ineffectiveness of likes overall to fundraising. This is one example of the web effectively changing the output of a non profit organisation for the better.  Screen Shot Of Unicef’s Impactful And Shocking Social Media Campaign Medium (2016) Likes Don’t Save Lives-Social Media Impact. https://medium.com/@lindsayelsen6/likes-don-t-save-lives-social-media-impact-6a81e9750907 [Accessed 15/10/2024] According to Samarpan Infotech, another reason the web is incredibly useful to non-profit organisations, is establishing a foundation of trust and professionalism; one of the ways this can be shown is through a well designed, professional website, which seems crucial when asking for people’s devotion and donations. (https://www.samarpaninfotech.com/blog/why-nonprofit-need-website/#:~:text=A%20well%2Dmade%20website%20adds,credible%20and%20trustworthy%20to%20visitors.) Harvard References Lexie Pelchen (2024) Internet Usage Statistics in 2024. Forbes Home https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/internet/internet-statistics/#:~:text=There%20are%205.35%20billion%20internet%20users%20worldwide.&text=Out%20of%20the%20nearly%208,the%20internet%2C%20according%20to%20Statista. [Accessed 15/10/2024] Medium (2016) Likes Don’t Save Lives-Social Media Impact. https://medium.com/@lindsayelsen6/likes-don-t-save-lives-social-media-impact-6a81e9750907 [Accessed 15/10/2024] Mitesh Darji (2023) Why Non Profit Organizations Need A Website: Increase Your Reach And Impact. SamarpanInfoTech https://www.samarpaninfotech.com/blog/why-nonprofit-need-website/#:~:text=A%20well%2Dmade%20website%20adds,credible%20and%20trustworthy%20to%20visitors. [Accessed 15/10/2024] Tatiana Monrad (2024) The 50 Best Nonprofit Websites. Personify Wild Apricot (https://www.wildapricot.com/blog/best-nonprofit-websites) [Accessed 15/10/2024] Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) Appeals. https://www.ywt.org.uk/appeals/staveley-nature-reserve-appeal [Accessed 06/10/2024] Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) Events. https://www.ywt.org.uk/events [Accessed 06/10/2024] Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (n.d.) What We Do. https://www.ywt.org.uk/what-we-do [Accessed 06/10/2024]

SEO  According to Search Engine Land, SEO can be described as “SEO stands for  “search engine optimization.” It is the process of improving your website to increase visitors from Google, Microsoft Bing and other search engines, whenever people search for: It also claims that the better your page visibility when being searched, the more likely you are to gain organic visits from users. As well as this, websites should be optimised for people AND search engines. A Helpful Guide To SEO For Users And Search Engines (Danny Goodwin (2024) What Is Seo- Search Engine Optimization? Search Engine Land. (N.D) https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo [Accessed 04/11/2024]) As well as these statistics on the organic reach of SEO, stating,   “SEO is a critical marketing channel.  (https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo) Therefore it can be seen that optimising a Non-Profit website in this way, increases their click rate, and exposure/discoverability, e.g. things such as posting Youtube Videos, Instagram Reels, or CapCuts to TikTok, which can increase the reach of the charity through SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) Social Media Strategies And Campaigns According to ColorWhistle: “Graphic design is the most powerful art that has breathed fresh life into digital marketing. This modern form of art has added a contemporary flair to the advertisement profile of every company. It also acts as one of the key components to build brand awareness and influence the customer’s decision-making process.”  (https://colorwhistle.com/graphic-design-importance-in-digital-marketing/) Some effective marketing strategies include the use of graphic design via strong branding, use of colour, videos, typography, infographics and interactive storytelling, to post campaigns to social media to advertise and spread awareness for a narrative or goal (a campaign), to raise awareness and engagement.  Mental Health Awareness Week: Nature Theme 2021Ellipsis (2024) The 10+ Best Charity Campaigns In 2021: Overview. https://www.wpcharitable.com/charity-campaigns/ [Accessed 04/11/2024] Black Lives Matter: Extremely Famous And Important Campaign Showing Impact Of Web Visuals Ellipsis (2024) The 10+ Best Charity Campaigns In 2021: Overview. https://www.wpcharitable.com/charity-campaigns/ [Accessed 04/11/2024] User Engagement Propelled Marketing A second form of the use of social media marketing includes that of encouraging the individual user to spread a message or story via hashtags, video or dance challenges, and other challenges such as the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS. Infographics Step By Step For User Participation In The Ice Bucket Challenge (The ALS Association (N.D) The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: 10th Anniversary. https://www.als.org/ibc [Accessed 04/11/2024]) The chosen Non-Profit for my project can benefit from using this kind of visual web marketing to tell a story, and drive traffic through images and videos, as well as physical campaigns like the ice bucket challenge to gain traction to the website and cause.  Email Marketing For Nonprofits Non-Profits could use softwares such as MailChimp, to design email campaigns, and offer a way to update, advertise, invite, thank, and inform their user base to upcoming events and campaigns, and for giving donations, or showing interest in certain campaigns.  It can also be helpful for Non-Profits to use multi channel-marketing to make emails more personally tailored to people’s interests by being sent out when a user interacts with certain pages or buttons.  Brilliant Email Which Evokes Strong Feelings And Emotion With Call To Action Button CampainMonitorByMarigold (2024) Nonprofit Email Marketing: The Ultimate Guide To Email Marketing For Nonprofits. https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/ultimate-guide-email-marketing-nonprofits/ [Accessed 04/11/2024] Email Giving Thanks To User-Showing Versatility Of Uses For Email Marketing CampainMonitorByMarigold (2024) Nonprofit Email Marketing: The Ultimate Guide To Email Marketing For Nonprofits. https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/ultimate-guide-email-marketing-nonprofits/ [Accessed 04/11/2024] According to Campaign Monitor By Marigold, email marketing can help monitor performance and improve engagement, as well as observe click through rates  “An open rate measures the amount of supporters that opened your email. This metric will give you insights into the quality of your subject lines, if you’re sending too many emails, or if your content is appropriate for your subscribers.”  (https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/ultimate-guide-email-marketing-nonprofits/) Harvard References CampainMonitorByMarigold (2024) Nonprofit Email Marketing: The Ultimate Guide To Email Marketing For Nonprofits. https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/ultimate-guide-email-marketing-nonprofits/ [Accessed 04/11/2024] ColourWhistle (2024) Importance Of Graphic Design In Digital Marketing. ColorWhistle. https://colorwhistle.com/graphic-design-importance-in-digital-marketing/ [Accessed 04/11/2024] Danny Goodwin (2024) What Is Seo- Search Engine Optimization? Search Engine Land. (N.D) https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo [Accessed 04/11/2024] Ellipsis (2024) The 10+ Best Charity Campaigns In 2021: Overview. https://www.wpcharitable.com/charity-campaigns/ [Accessed 04/11/2024] The ALS Association (N.D) The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: 10th Anniversary. https://www.als.org/ibc [Accessed 04/11/2024]

Responsive Design Responsive design is a big one to consider when formulating for the creation of the website I will be making. According to Inside Design Ethan Marcotte, (a designer famous for creating responsive web designs), said; “Rather than tailoring disconnected designs to each of an ever-increasing number of web devices, we can treat them as facets of the same experience. We can [make our] designs […] more adaptive to the media that renders them.” ( Jes Kirkwood https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/examples-responsive-web-design/) He also argued that by doing this, it allows our designs to be future proof, allowing for longevity within our designs, which is something that is applicable to this project; it can be seen that creating a design which is highly adaptable to all devices, is a hugely important web design approach that allows for the information to be accessible, and  UX to be memorable in a positive way, thus improving the likelihood of returning users. Example Of Responsive Design Across All Platforms Jess Kirkwood (2018) 11 Powerful Examples Of Responsive Web Design. In Vision .26 Feb https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/examples-responsive-web-design/ [Accessed 23/10/2024] Mobile First Approach According to Studio By UXPin;  “The mobile-first approach is designing for the smallest screen and working your way up. It is one of the best strategies to create either a responsive or adaptive design.” (UX by Pin https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/a-hands-on-guide-to-mobile-first-design/) I would like to use the mobile- first approach, rather than designing for desktop, and then having a poorly adapted UI which has errors; As can be seen with the Time Bank’s website, when using it on mobile, some assets overlap text, as well as the upper tabs becoming a hamburger menu, (which isn’t the issue), it uses headings that are too long to fit in the menu properly, becoming unreadable.  Time Bank App Screenshots Showing Non- Responsive/Poorly Fitting Designs, And Text Unable To Fit Into Hamburger Menu Timebank(2022) Projects and Partners. Timebank. https://www.timebankhullandeastriding.co.uk/projects-and-partners [Accessed 23/10/2024] Accessibility Accessibility also allows for a wider demographic to access the information on the chosen project website.Gain Line states that;  “Accessibility ensures that websites and web applications are usable by individuals with various abilities and disabilities. It promotes inclusive design, allowing everyone to access and interact with digital content regardless of physical or cognitive abilities.” (Gain Line. https://gainline.co.uk/insights/the-importance-of-accessibility-in-web-development/) In this way, it is important that the website design takes into priority its need to be accessible by people with disability; One such example of this includes an “accessibility button”, on the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Website. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust User Way Accessibility Button Plugin Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (N.D) Home/YWT. https://www.ywt.org.uk/ [Accessed 23/10/2024] Video Screen Shot Of Some Of The Button Features Working Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (N.D) Home/YWT. https://www.ywt.org.uk/ [Accessed 23/10/2024] Accessibility Button- User Way Plugin This is a. AI powered plugin by UserWay, which complies with WCAG 2.1 and 2.2. WCAG are international guidelines which according to Gov.uk,  are a  “recognized set of guidelines for improving web accessibility”. (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/helping-people-to-use-your-service/understanding-wcag) Due to its compliance with WCAG, this could be a really useful tool to improve the accessibility of my website design, as well as using the aria html function to allow for the visually impaired to have audio queues for images and buttons on the website, making the information much more accessible, and improving the UX.  User Way Website Showing WCAG 2.1 And 2.2 Compliances UserWay(2024) Web Accessibility. UserWay. https://userway.org/?utm_source=ywt.org.uk&utm_medium=widget_footer&utm_campaign=free_widget [Accessed 23/10/2024] The Grid System  Another useful web design approach is the use of grid systems. According to UX Design Institute “Grid systems are the foundation of well-designed websites. Using grids in web design ensures that their websites have a clear hierarchy and are easy to follow.” (UX Design Institute. https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/how-to-use-grids-in-web-design/)  This will aid me in creating a responsive design for my project, that keeps its structure, as well as establishing a good use of information hierarchy, and uniformity across all platforms.  Screen Shot Of How Grids Organise A Layout To Be Really Neat And Uniform Jaye Hannah(2023) How To Use Grids In Web Design: 5 Golden Rules. UX Design Institute. 11 April. https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/how-to-use-grids-in-web-design/ [Accessed 23/10/2024] Harvard References GainLine(2023) The Importance Of Accessibility In Web Development. GainLine. 12 December. https://gainline.co.uk/insights/the-importance-of-accessibility-in-web-development/ [Accessed 23/10/2024]  Gov.uk(2023) Understanding WCAG 2.2. Gov.uk. 5 October. https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/helping-people-to-use-your-service/understanding-wcag[Accessed 23/10/2024] Jaye Hannah(2023) How To Use Grids In Web Design: 5 Golden Rules. UX Design Institute. 11 April. https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/how-to-use-grids-in-web-design/ [Accessed 23/10/2024] Jess Kirkwood (2018) 11 Powerful Examples Of Responsive Web Design. In Vision .26 Feb https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/examples-responsive-web-design/ [Accessed 23/10/2024] Timebank(2022) Projects and Partners. Timebank. https://www.timebankhullandeastriding.co.uk/projects-and-partners [Accessed 23/10/2024] UserWay(2024) Web Accessibility. UserWay. https://userway.org/?utm_source=ywt.org.uk&utm_medium=widget_footer&utm_campaign=free_widget [Accessed 23/10/2024] UX By Pin(2024) A Hands-On Guide To Mobile First Design. UX By Pin. 3 October https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/a-hands-on-guide-to-mobile-first-design/  [Accessed 23/10/2024] Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (N.D) Home/YWT. https://www.ywt.org.uk/ [Accessed 23/10/2024]

The Hand App During week one we collaborated in groups to create an application which would bring attention to, and promote, sustainable gaming practices amongst teenagers; this led to some interesting ideas from the group, as well as some input from Jambot on Figma. Hand App Group Work Mind Map Roles I Found Myself In The first idea was an app called “Hand”, which would act as a prompt to remind teens to take time out from their game. During the process of collaborating, I found myself in the role of “group leader”, which is not something I thought I was capable of due to my shyness. I found myself pitching this idea that I had for the app, and then the group began to add to it and broaden the concept. In the future I will maybe feel more confident in my ability to be in a leadership role for group projects, and directing the flow of group contributions into a useful and interesting collaboration of ideas might be useful for my future role as a graphic designer.  Figjam Board Hand App Figjam Board- Fleshed Out And With Jambot Results Opposition and Reflective Thinking One group member disagreed with the notion of the reward system of the app, stating that the company would go bankrupt pretty quick if it were to give away figurines in exchange for points; this was interesting because i had not considered that point, and it lead me to reconsider, and think that she was probably right in her conclusion. This led to reflective thinking, and re-evaluation of the concept, which is useful for iterative processes in graphic design such as app design. I think that opposition is a good opportunity for re-evaluation and refinement of ideas, to improve a collaborative effort, and check for errors.  The Use Of AI-Jambot For Ideas We also used Figma’s AI Jambot to help us quickly collate several different app ideas using the same brief, which was helpful as it managed to suggest lots of great ideas, faster than all of us could do in the time that we had. I feel that this aided group collaboration in that it speeded up the process, saves time. It also helped us to think outside the box, and end up with several fleshed out ideas; this is useful for us as graphic designers as it is likely we will have to create several ideas for our clients in the future.  What Did I Learn About Collaboration Overall I think that collaboration in web design allows for the re-iteration of ideas through error picking, which leads to the refinement of our ideas within the group. It also allows for ideas to be had that I wouldn’t have thought up originally, either by other group members, or by utilising AI such as Figmas Jambot, to collate multiple ideas using one design brief, which mimics the collaborative design environment that is a part of being a graphic designer.