Design Statement
The Uxbridge Cat Rescue is a group that rescues and helps cats and kittens in the greater Toronto area (“Uxbridge Cat Rescue”). They are a volunteer-run and foster-based cat rescue located in Uxbridge, ON (“Uxbridge Cat Rescue”). This landing page uses three different rhetorical tropes, metaphor, synecdoche, and a visual pun to persuade and change the beliefs of people to help cats and kittens in need and prevent them from passing away.
Overview of Cause
The cause that my landing page supports is the Uxbridge Cat Rescue. The Uxbridge Cat Rescue is a 100% volunteer-run and foster-based cat rescue located in Uxbridge ON (“Uxbridge Cat Rescue”). They are trying to find permanent homes for the cats and kittens that they rescue to help the ever growing problem of the overpopulation of stray unfixed cats in Ontario (“Uxbridge Cat Rescue”). They are also trying to promote responsible pet ownership by spaying and neutering all of the cats that they rescue that are of the proper age, if they are too young they will ask for a commitment from the new owners to spay and neuter the kitten(s) when they have reached the appropriate age (“Uxbridge Cat Rescue”). This cause is worthwhile because they have rescued and found homes for hundreds of cats and kittens. It is also run by one woman, Nicola Ransom-Brown, who founded the rescue in 2011 (“Uxbridge Cat Rescue”). Taking care of many rescued cats and kittens requires a lot of time and money. At the very minimum the cats will need to be spayed or neutered and will need to receive a vet visit to ensure they are in good health and receive any vaccinations they do not already have. The rescue relies on monetary donations to ensure each cat gets the medical attention they require (“Uxbridge Cat Rescue”).
Landing Page Design
The final design for the persuasive landing page includes three visual rhetorical tropes.
1. Synecdoche: the paw prints are a part of a cat that are representing the cat(s) as a whole.
2. Visual Pun: the “house” that is in the shape of a cat is a visual pun based on the common phrase “purrfect home”.
3. Metaphor: the commonly used phrase “crossing the Rainbow Bridge” is a metaphor for an animal passing away, this is represented by a rainbow bridge with clouds, and the paw prints that lead down the page are faced towards the bridge.
Process and Exploration
Feedback from Peers:
• I like how it directs you through and is yarn which is really on par with the idea
• I like how its opposite with text and images
• I like how the images lead more than the text, it's unique
• Layout is great
• I like the paws
• Add more blank space
• Light colour patterns in the background
Results from In-Class Activity:
During this in-class activity I was able to figure out the information hierarchy based on the information that is the most persuasive and important for supporting the call-to-action.
Rhetorical Tropes
The rhetorical tropes I explored that did not work were: Metonymy, Personification and Hyperbole. The ideas for these rhetorical tropes were: something to do with a cat having a “loud motor”, a personified cat speaking to the user, and something to do with helping all of the cats. When exploring these rhetorical tropes I struggled to come up with ideas for corresponding visuals. I also felt that they were too playful and more of a joke which would not be appropriate for the tone of the website that I was trying to convey.
Visuals
The visual that was explored the most was the “cat house” visual pun. I started with a house that had cat features and ended up with a cat that had house features. Before I ended up with the idea of a cat having house features, I explored a cat popping out of a house and a much simpler visual of a cat in front of a house.
I explored a couple different versions of the Rainbow Bridge visual metaphor. I tried brighter colours but decided that they did not match the rest of the website. I tried a “colour out of the lines” design for the bridge but decided it didn’t look right. In the mid-fidelity mock-up, I had coloured in the section before crossing the bridge to the clouds green to imply grass, but when trying this in high-fidelity it did not look the way I had wanted it to, so I decided against it.
Feedback
The feedback received for the mid-fidelity mock-up focused on the image for the visual pun, which was:
• House is creepy
• How do you make a house purr
Based on this feedback I was able to change the visual from a house with cat features to a cat with house features.
• House is creepy
• How do you make a house purr
Based on this feedback I was able to change the visual from a house with cat features to a cat with house features.
Feedback
The feedback received for the high-fidelity mock-up also focused on the image for visual pun, which was:
• The inspiration from the Studio Ghibli “cat bus” character was evident. Based on this feedback I was able to confirm that this imagery was appropriate for the website and it’s tone.
• The inspiration from the Studio Ghibli “cat bus” character was evident. Based on this feedback I was able to confirm that this imagery was appropriate for the website and it’s tone.
Reflection
The visuals in a screen-based design affect a user’s behaviour by potentially influencing them to complete a specific action. The design can achieve this successfully by affecting the users emotions through colour, imagery and text to persuade them to complete a task. This is a very important concept to learn for anyone in the field of design. Understanding how an audience will potentially perceive the design is important, but testing this design is imperative. Everyone will react to designs differently, this includes the text, depending on their culture, life experiences, etc. I have learned that it is important to make sure, and confirm, that how you want your design to be perceived is accurately achieving that. This can be especially useful when working on other projects. I try my best to get feedback on my designs, to ensure that the tone I intended for the design is being accurately conveyed. However, this is usually only to a couple of people, typically my friends, so it would be more beneficial to step outside of my comfort zone and ask for feedback from other peers. This way I would be exposing my design to many different people and would be able to more accurately gauge how the tone of the design is conveyed.
Works Cited
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