Click on the image 

When I looked at Ying’s Task #1, the first thing I noticed was how clean her page looked. Our two pages are almost opposite in their appearance, as hers is crisp and white, and mine uses multiple colours throughout. Her page allows the readers eyes to go directly to the text on the page, while mine guides the viewers eyes in several directions. I think there is something to be said about Ying’s minimalist approach, as Bolter (2001), regarding imagery stated that “…the spoken word has perhaps not faced such visual competition since the introduction of the phonetic principle” (p.62). For individuals who struggle with focus, my task #1 page might present a challenge. Our two different visual designs can also said to mimic different forms of media. Bolter (2001) discusses how “In the modern printed book, the space is simple of clean. Different texts do not compete in adjacent spaces for the readers attention, as they still do in a magazine or newspaper” (p.67). Although I used images on my blog to show some of the different ways that text presents itself around us, Ying used an image of herself in Task #1 to accentuate her writing. Ying’s picture of herself serves to further the point in her writing that “Without my photo in this post, it would be very difficult to guess my profession…” whereas the use of the picture in my task is only to give a visual description of the contents in my bag. The combination of her writing and image add an additional layer of understanding and further interpretation of her text.

Halfway down the page, Ying chose a different colour to highlight each item in her bag. Her technique guides the reader’s eyes to where they can find extra information. I found that when looking at it, the linear presentation of information, with bolded (highlighted) titles, reminds me of an encyclopedia or textbook. When I am looking at different websites to find information, such as ‘how to keep an aquarium’ or looking up new recipes, I often find that I skip over the websites that lack this type of organization. Chunking and categorizing important information seems to keep us interested and away from the cognitive overload of reading too much information. I wonder if this encyclopedic function, to organize and provide comfort (Bolter, 2001, p.84) is an untouchable convention, even in the age of the hyperlink.

Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. New York, NY: Routledge.