Web Desing Paper

Zac Holford
Writing Outside of the Academy

News for Cycling Consumers vs. News for Bicycle Nerds

Pez Cycling News and Velonews are both performance cycling oriented news websites. They both aim to attract a readership consisting of fans of international performance cycling. Whether it is a grueling road race in Belgium, an epic 24 hour mountain bike race, or the world championships in track cycling, chances are that any professional cycling event of note will be placed on these sites. By analyzing various aspects of each website's design, one can discern that they capture different subsets of fans of performance cycling. Velonews aims for the American cycling enthusiast who wants products, news, and reviews brought to them while Pez Cycling News wants to attract an international demographic of “bike nerds” that searches more diligently for “what's cool in Pro Cycling (Pez Cycling News).”
The audience that Velonews hopes to capture is a bike shop-visiting, American consumer with an interest in performance cycling. Velonews is not only a website, but a physical publication as well. This publication can be found at most sizable retail bicycle stores in America. These bicycle stores rely on consumers with disposable incomes to purchase expensive bicycles, labor for repair, and parts. Just as these customers would pay for the convenience of a well functioning bicycle, they will click a mouse for convenient performance cycling news.
Velonews is based out of Boulder, CO. It is common knowledge in the cycling community that Boulder and the surrounding area is a performance cycling Mecca. There are many domestic and international professional cyclists who train there as well as bicycle fit gurus and companies. This gives them credibility in the American cycling enthusiast's opinion.
Pez Cycling aims for a more international, knowledge seeking “bike nerd” community. They do not have a physical publication; they are just a cycling news website. They are international by the nature of their headquarters’ physical location. Their publisher is located in the U.K., and they have German, French, Spanish, and Italian departments. Note that there is no American department. It is expected that their readership haphazardly wanders across it's website as opposed to hearing about it in a bicycle store.
Different manipulations in page layout and graphic design are employed by web designers to achieve their target audience. An effective website design will “create a strong …. visual hierarchy in which important elements are emphasized and content is organized logically and predictably (Web Style Guide).” The aim of the website is to emphasize the content the designers hope to deliver to the user. If Velonews does indeed want to capture a readership who wants to find cycling news easily, then the elements of its design should allow for easy information gathering. If Pez wants a readership consisting of avid cycling fans with a knack for searching for “what's cool,” then their design may convey a grassroots impression. Analyzing the tools of website design for both websites should bring to light how, what, and to whom these sites wish to portray their content.
A tag line is meant to convey to the users what a website contains and “what it has to offer them.” (Web Style Guide) A tag line should be posted in a noticeable section; both Velonews and Pez have their tag lines in the top left of the page. (Trishler) The tag lines of both Pez and Velonews are appropriate for their desired audience. The tag line for Velonews is “The Journal of Competitive Cycling.” This implies that this website is any easily navigable collection of performance cycling news. This tag line conveys to the reader that Velonews will be as easy to search through as flipping the pages of a glossy magazine. The tag line to Pez Cycling News is “What's Cool in Pro Cycling.” (Pez Cycling News) By labeling Pez Cycling News as “cool,” the designers convey that it will be full of information considered to be on the fringe of the performance cycling media radar. Their news consists of things sought out by learned and enthused cycling fans.
The page layout of Velonews is easier to follow than that of Pez Cycling. It has a seemingly more ordered “visual hierarchy.” (Web Style Guide) The eye wanders easily across the Velonews layout. This may be because Velonews employs a more common and better structured grid system. Grids are invisible barriers between visible tracks of information; the effect is felt but not seen. (Trishler) A grid system helps graphic designers align and present the visible information by structuring the images on the screen into ordered rows and columns. There may be more columns of grids than there are columns of information. ( Trishler) For example, Velonews may have 12 vertical grid columns used to evenly space their three ordered columns of information. The end result is a balanced display of information. The distant between them is the same and thus, the user is not drawn to any one column more than the other. One can easily scan each column. Pez is not well ordered and it can make a designer wonder if they used a grid system at all. The display of information is not balanced well horizontally or vertically. Those with a short attention span may find they eye drifting in between information points on Pez.
The color usage of each website connotes the feel they want to convey to their readership. Velonews uses predominantly white space for the background, and black, red, and blue for all headers, navigation bars, and typography. Pez is colored with almost every color in a Crayola box. Velonew's use of color makes the website appear more professional and credible, while Pez's color palette is random and frenzied. Readers do no associate the color scheme of Pez with any sense of uniformity. There is white and black and a different color for each article heading. Not only is Velonews' color consistent with its own website experience, it is similar to a lot of popular designs in the cycling industry.
Velonews' palette is consistent with colors selected for the most popular brands of high performance bicycles. Trek uses this scheme on their Madone 4.7 which retails for $2,619 (Trek Bikes). Specialized, another one of the most popular U.S. brands of bicycles, uses this color scheme on their entire brand, including their website ( Specialized). This unification of white, red, and black and this scheme's similar use on credible bicycle brands makes it seem more credible to American cycling consumer.
The advertisements used on a website indicate the readership the designers strive for and the nature of the company behind the website. Velonews receives revenue from selling magazine subscriptions and over the counter sales. Pez does not, so they must sell ads. The sheer volume, placement, and design of the ads on Pez dominate the user's attention and detracts from any sense of visual hierarchy. They line both sides of the website, encasing news stories, product reviews, and race results in between them. The ads are animated and flash, causing more distraction to the user.
The ads on Velonews are far less numerous and less visually “loud.” There are usually only 2-4 animated ads on Velonews. If Velonews contained the same amount of these flashing ads as Pez Cycling, then their readership would struggle to find relevant articles and information that interests them. Readers of Velonews are consumers of cycling news, not scanners of hard to find information.
Content is one of the most integral aspects to designing and maintaining a successful news website. (Trishler) It is absolutely necessary that the content portrayed matches the content the desired readership would find fulfilling. By assessing some of the stories most prominent in terms visual hierarchy, one can ascertain what types of cycling news each website uses to draw readers. Velonews showcases higher profile news stories and is concerned with American riders in the international field. They break the stories about the most popular trends in cycling news. When accessed on March 28, 2011, Velonews top two stories were about Tom Zirbel and Alberto Contador. (Velonews) Tom Zirbel is an American cyclist whose doping suspension has just been lifted. Zirbel has yet to compete on the international scene with much success. Alberto Contador is a three time winner of the Tour de France and one of the greatest champions of all time....to be caught for steroid use. These two stories are a combination of a high profile American news topic and a case already known by avid international cycling fans. On the same day, Pez showcases a story about a low-level Belgian kermisse, or circuit race around a Belgian town. (Pez Cycling News) The next story is about the Koppenburg one of the hardest burgs to climb in Belgium.(Pez Cycling News) These news items are not well known to most fans of cycling in American, nor do they need to be. This aforementioned “bike nerd” news will get these chubby American cyclists with disposable income too excited.
Despite differing in textbook design quality, both websites strategically capture their desired readership. One can go into any sizable, bicycle retail store in America and ask the head mechanic about the latest news in bicycle racing. Chances are he will cite the latest news on Velonews, if not reciting the headline verbatim. Pez Cycling captures the minutia of an already popular sport in Europe. It does well to portray facets of elite cycling through a more minute scope, loved by nerds.


Works Cited
Horton, Sarah. Lynch, Patrick J. Web Style Guide.
27. Mar 2011

Pez Cycling News. 27 Mar.2011

Specialized Bicycle Components. 27 Mar 2011


Trek Bikes. 27 Mar 2011


Trishler, D.J,. Personal Interview. 27 Mar. 2011

Velonews. http://velonews.competitor.com 2011. 27 Mar.2011

Writing Exercise 10

What a great series of posts this was! I enjoyed his drawings, observations, and humor. His experiment was long and arduous. I can’t imagine anyone I know completing such a task. You can pick up a lot of themes from his entries. They are so many topics covered by the author/artist. And I do not believe that I can extrapolate enough concepts from just one of his entries. I will instead comment on one theme exemplified in his experiment and other media we have witnessed: vanity







Vanity- One of his commentors said that they put on a different persona to represent themselves online. In our current, super-connected age, people must take part in a self-consciousness dictated by Internet usage. This new Net Self-Conciousness makes people do silly things. Face book is the most recognized forum for this dynamic.

People have to represent themselves in a profile pic. “What will my profile picture say about me?” is the question people ask themselves when selecting one. They may choose an image from popular culture, such as Scarface, to convey a “gangster-ass” image to the people who may look them up. I see a lot of people doing the Blackberry self-portrait, where they obviously shot themselves in their most attractive state. You know they tried multiple times when one of their albums has their chosen face all over it. Girls usually do this provocative lip pursing while guys do some lame ass hardcore, emotionless stare. People have to worry about how they look to other people when they use social networking sites.

Another commenter, made the statement that a lot of mean things occur on the Internet. People do not have to see to whom they are typing. People do not have to look at the nuances of a facial expression as they curse someone out via the Internet. People don’t have to feel the physical awkwardness of picking someone up when they “holler” at someone via Face book. They fulfill expectations of how communication is going while it may not be going that way at all. Someone may be cussing someone out, thinking they are intimidating, while the people on the receiving end are mocking the enraged typist. You may feel sexy as you cheat on your spouse by typing into Face book chat, but it’s not too sexy…. at least for other people to look at.

Writing Exercise 9

I cannot specifically remember a time when I heard about robots being used for English language instruction. Seemingly, each week a new story comes out of Asia, usually from Japan, about how they invented a robot which does some daily task. Their robots usually seem so weird to me; so much so that I can only superimpose a “01010101010010101 means Kill Meeeeee,” onto any Asian robot media clip upon viewing it. They freak me out. I never take them seriously because the lack a approachable human form and set of mannerisms. I know that the Asian RoboMasters are trying to construct beings which aid us on an everyday level, but not until viewing these clips have I been convinced they they can viably help us.

The Korean instructional robots now seem to have developed a more human diction and inflection than Sir Stephen Hawking; who is not a robot according to my research. The Korean robots seem like they can actually aid in the instruction of word selection and pronunciation. Given that substantial improvements have been made in more human-like robot behavior, I believe that robots, over time, will eventually be common place in the classroom. I predict this occurrence by the year 2040, when even Sir Hawking himself will actually be a robot. Mr. Whitehill's improvements on the facial recognition of humans by robots is a mile-stone. I do not know much about pedagogy, but I do feel it's important that a teacher be able to perceive and relate to his student as a subject. The teacher should be able to see a wrinkled brow, brought about by confusion. With Mr. Whithall's recognition programming, educational robots will be more apt to do this.

Another comment made by Mr. Cavallo, gave me hope that instructional robots can be made effective. Cavallo stated that his aim was to adapt robots to the human way of learning and not vice versa. A robot aiding us in our natural way is what I would like to see, assuming that robots will be instructing on a large scale in the future. I'd be worried if the paradigm of human learning is shifted out of a need to adapt to a robotic teaching device.

I do not have much detailed speculation on how the advent of robot instruction would affect writing. Assuming that print is constantly dying and students would have lesser needs for textbooks, robots may drive writers to write for robots. These robots are going to need idiomatic expressions, textbook terms, subsets of dialect, and technical methods programmed into what they can teach. These bits of information must have a human source. I am not proposing that more writers will be employed, I simply mean to convey that I believe that there will be more robot-specified writing performed.

Writing Exercise 8

I do believe that in the future, a computer may be able to produce a novel. I do not, however, believe that it will be able to do it better. I do support the assertion that a bunch of monkeys, locked in a room, slinging crap against a wall, will eventually spell something out that stylistically blow Sparks out of the water. Monkeys, yal, monkeys. Better is a hard condition to meet. It is vague and subjective. Do we mean to ask if a computer will be able to produce a better novel, commercially speaking? Do we mean that this proposed computer will be able to have better style? Do we mean to ask if this computer can do it quicker? Better is a hard metric, I believe that a better novel is one produced by a natural mind.



I do not believe that a computer can produce a better novel then any human being, in my opinion of what makes a good novel, that is. Although we may be able to relate a seemingly endless array of cultural facts, nuances, and miscellaneous tidbits of information, computers will never be able to synthesize all of that information in a way which satisfies a wide range of human literary tastes. They won’t be able to use said nuances to layer subtext, skillfully place exposition, or make a joke using cultural notions. They won’t be able to capture the experiential knowledge of Dublin and put it into prose, a la Joyce. They won’t be able to assess what sappy themes and character types might be a commercial success.



Or will they? Just like they way by which internet programs may suggest what we may like, will computers be able to tell what type of writing will be commercially successful and then produce it? It’s interesting to wonder to what extent will computers be able to predict literary devices and then use them for profit. They will equal Nicholas Sparks’ literary intentions and probably his quality. I believe they will be able to know basic things, but the only thing computers will be able to sell is novelty. I wish to Yahweh I could make a pun out of that last sentence. People will generate buzz about a computer written novel: “Hey man, have you seen that computer written novel?



I bet that it will suck so bad that no one will read it. To re-use one comedian’s analogy, the robot book will be like Hitler’s Mein Kampf, everyone will have a copy, or access to it, at some point, but no one will admit to reading it. It will suck. Did I mention that I think Sparks sucks?



Will a computer be able to do it quicker? I believe so. They will churn out crap so quick it will be novel to all who first witness it. Hey-oh! I just punned it to death. Yes, computers can do things faster, but it will be horrible. If efficiency is what you want, then a CPU will win. If the human touch is what you want, then wait on something awesome from someone like Joyce. Wait less time for something that sucks and is made to be sold in a Wal-mart checkout line, a la Sparks.



When the robot war comes, our propaganda will be better written although it will take more time. I bet John Connor will have rhetoric worthy of being scribbled on the nearest wreckage.

Writing Discussion 7

I was glad to see the clip of Gumbel and Couric discussing the internet. I saw it days ago and have pondered it off and on since seeing it. I agree with the first article we read. If you think it is funny that anyone could have this lack of knowledge of the interent, then you may not realize the rate at which the times are a'changin'.
I was born in 1984 and so I remember being cognizant of the first murmurings of the internet on a popular scale. I remember when we finally got it at our house, in 1994. I remember when its use gained in popularity in schools. I am fortunate to have witnessed all of this. I remember the first major shift from "snail mail" to email. I am not surprised when I see Katie and Bryant scrambling to understand the internet, I remember seeing people do it everyday.
As I grew up through the ranks of elementary schools, I remember doing things which are not as popular today in our educational system. I remember taking field trips to the county library, where we all had to check out a book. I remember being taught the Dewey decimal system. Do any kids who are 12 know how to do that today? I don't spend much time in elementary schools or around families who have kids near that age, but I doubt that these are educational points still considered to be necessary.
I received a Kindle for Christmas, two years ago. I still have not opened it. I have seen the market forces trying to influence consumers to use a digital form of reading. Not for me. I like to turn the pages. I like to have a measure of my hobby and academic endeavors. I like my "old school" books. They are ones I can read by candlelight when the power goes out. I like the way they smell. What a contrived value a Kindle has! The only value that I am concerned with is MY Kindle's ebay value.
Like the second writer said, revolutions do not happen in a day. Printed books will go out of popular use. This is my prophesy. I can see things a' comin' from a long ways away. Until that time, I will read books......Nineties Style!

Writing Discussion 6

I find myself confused. These two articles were eye-opening concerning the effect of computers on traditional writing. I tend to romanticize concepts of things in my life. Usually, I find myself thinking of things considered antiquated as better than modern conventions. Before reading this article I found myself in the same boat: traditional writing has to be better than the current writing paradigm. Concerning traditional writing, my opinion was that computers and the Internet Age have somehow detracted from it. It seems like these two would be at odds: traditional writing vs. electronic writing. These two articles helped to break me out of that preconceived notion. In order to grasp any effect that computers have on traditional writing, I feel like I must first attempt to define traditional writing.

When I hear the phrase traditional writing, I think of a desk, a pen, and a page. How computational writing was changed the action of a human sitting down with a pen and a page? The first thing that has changed is the use of traditional writing utensils. They simply are not used as frequently these days. Instead of paper, desk, and pencil, we have USB memory storage devices, Microsoft Word, and cheaply made computer desks from China. Do you remember the days when each classroom had a hand-cranked pencil sharpener? Electronic writing has made its tools the only ones used in work places, schools, and homes. In one case it seems to have done away with certain aspects of the written word. I heard, anecdotally, that the Georgia public school systems are refraining from teaching their children cursive handwriting.

So there are some traditions that are being done away with, in lieu of a more efficient and easier means of communication. Computers have definitely made the written word travel faster to and be read by more people. The utility of the electronically written word is great and needs not to be mentioned. The convenience of a computer can be detrimental to a writer as discussed by Foden. The writer does not only write, he fiddles with page margins, fonts, images, and hypertext. There are other distractions for writers. Facebook, twitter, and other “time suckers” can detract from a writer’s productivity. We live in culture of increasing distraction; this must affect writing on some level today, compared to ten years ago.

Writing Assignment 5

If I were in flooded Brisbane with a 3000 word article due to the New York Times by tomorrow, I'd freak the hell out. I'd find it quite challenging to accomplish without Internet access, computer access, pen or paper. I'm going to assume we are in a boat with nuffin. Here's the plan.
I'd navigate that boat to the nearest aid station. I'd look for rescuers and try to find out where the nearest and most effective staging area was for relief. I'm sure there I could find a pen and a piece of paper. I'd seek out the Red Cross, Police Station, or Australian government hangout, and snoop for a pen and paper. Pen and paper in hand I’d handwrite my 3000 word article. I will do it with a deft hand and journalistic flair on par with Fox News. Bam. 3000 words and I don’t even care; I am a wordsmith. I’d then seek out any sort of management at said staging area. They are sure to soon return to a city with some amenities going on, or they will know someone who will. I would handwrite instructions detailing how to get my article to New York.

I admit that this part of my plan is …ill planned. What amenities will there be, in another town? I am going to ramble about some possibilities. I’d ask the official to get these papers to an affiliate in another town, and get them to fax it to New York. I’d also try to pay someone to transcribe it to email and then email it to New York. Maybe I’d try to hitch a ride so that I could make sure that the job gets done. If all seemed hopeless I’d go to plan B:



1) Flip the $%*& out.

2) Elbow the closest dude I find on a Jet Ski

3) Steal Jet Ski

4) Whip that thing around and around and then towards the nearest town with amenities

5) Get disguise

6) Fax/Email/Transcribe/Dictate Over Phone the article

7) Get arrested



The truth is that I have no idea how one could accomplish this. If one could, they should let their employer know how difficult the task was. I don’t think the Times expects much effort out of any of their writers, so they’d seem like a god for meeting the deadline. It seems impossible. This hypothetical exercise shows me how dependent we are on technology to deliver information.