DESIGN BRIEF (Art 483 E )

(1) What is the purpose (goal) of the design?

(To inform, persuade, sell, entertain, promote, mark, or identify? Determine how it will function)

The website is based off of an editorial magazine entitled Blaqk. The purpose of this site is to inform readers of the current fashion trends circulating the world of fashion today. For instance, the website will be entirely based on the current Fall trends of 2010; featuring hottest accessories, current color trends, styling/fashion trends, etc.

(2) Who is the audience?

(A specific targeted group of people. Their behavior, age, gender, ethnicity, geography, and income determining the messages, imagery, and visual approach.)

The target audience for this website is primarly fashion concious women between the ages of 18-30 years.

(3) What message needs to be communicated?

(Make certain that the intended message is clear and that your design is effective)

The slogan for the magazine is "Inspiration never goes out of style." The message of the website is that fashion is everywhere and plays an important part of our everyday lives. The website communicates a message that fashion can be for everyone and provides examples of the latest fashion trends. 5 words to describe the message would be: trendy, edgy, upscale, current, and accessible.

(4) What is the competition and marketplace?

(How the competition has solved similar problems and to avoid solving it the same way, list 5 reference websites below and have a description why you like this site)

Competitor websites:
1. http://www.luckymag.com/  - Lucky magazine's website reflects its originally intent very well. It is completely modeled after their magazine and it very user-friendly to more budget conscious women. The tone of the site is very informative.
2.  http://www.vogue.com/ - Vogue provides a lot of images through the use of slideshows etc. I think that the site is fairly simple, but does not live up to its magazine. The magazine seems to have more of an editorial feel; where as the site is more casual.
3.  http://www.marieclaire.com/  - Marie Claire's website seem to have lost its sophistication compared to its magazine. It seems extremely cluttered.
4.  http://lookbook.nu/  - I really like the design of the site. It has more of a blog feel, but provides more fashion editorial photographs.
5.  http://www.runwaybeauty.com/ - This site is by far much better than the other websites. It has more of an upscale feeling with the large editorial photograph. Overall, compared to the other sites, it is much less cluttered and presents a clean, concise way of presenting the information. It doesn't overwhelm the viewer with ads, etc.

Other competitors such as Lucky magazine, Vogue, Elle, etc. all present the information in a similar way; all have a similar navigation bar at the top. Once selected, a scroll down menu appears. Even though the actual magazine (such as Vogue) is a higher end magazine, the site seems to be more casual and very text dominant. My goal of the website is to keep the same feeling throughout the magazine, which is more editorial fashion. The site will balance text and imagery, so that it is not cluttered as the other previously mentioned sites are. I will incorporate more fashion editorial images to give the site more of an upscale feel to it.

(5) What is the context?

(Where, how and when a design will be seen. Environment, circumstance)

The context of the site will be primarly viewed on the computer screen.

(6) In what voice?

(01: Personality or expressive voice. Write one sentence to describe the topic)

The topic is expressive, yet informative; it will be primarly have a casual tone.

(02: List 5 adjectives to describe it.)

1. inspiring
2. bold
3. edgy
4. enthusiastic
5. light-hearted

(7) What kind of response is desired

(If you can get the audience to react, to feel, to purchase, to think...)

The goal the site is to inform readers of the current seasonal trends in the fashion world and inspire them about fashion.