InStyle Website Analysis
Skills
• Scannability
• Analyze
• Microsoft Word (inserting images, headers, pull out quotes)
Narration
For this assignment, students had to choose a website about a topic that interested them and then analyze it. Since the class taught the fundamentals of writing for digital media, it was important to understand every aspect that goes into writing a piece for a specific audience. The purpose, audience, writing quality, visuals, layout, and navigation had to be looked at, as well as social media presence and competitors. The InStyle website was my pick, as I have an interest in fashion.
InStyle has a lot of information as well as character to it, so it wasn’t too hard to pick it apart. The analysis, however, required me to format it in a specific way. I had to input bulleted lists, pull out quotes, images, and hyperlinks for scannability. This was a bit difficult as that meant the most important things to highlight had to be carefully picked out from the analysis. Not only that, but citations from the course’s textbook had to be inputted as well. That being said, the website analysis of InStyle demonstrates my skills in being able to dissect the purposes and choices that were made in order to reach their desired audience’s wants and needs. It also helped in figuring out a site’s style and see what things can be improved.
InStyle Content Strategy
Skills
• Microsoft Word (inserting images, headers, pull out quotes)
• Scannability
Narration
Taking what was analyzed from the InStyle website analysis, I applied it to come up with a strategy to improve Instyle’s platforms. This included inputting bulleted lists, images, pull out quotes, etc. in the assignment. By incorporating these elements, it would allow for the viewer of the document to see what is being proposed and referred to. Taking on the role of someone who works there, as well as a reader/viewer of their content, made this assignment easier. This was done by making an interactor profile, which helped figure out the intended audience’s demographic.
The content strategy had me dive deeper into the site, such as looking at their frequency of publication and web presence. Figuring out the content fitness was the most difficult part, as I had to figure out InStyle’s intrinsic and contextual IQ. By preparing this strategy, I was able to learn how to put together a document detailing what improvements should be made, and why.
InStyle Blog Series
Skills
• Writing for a specific audience
• Microsoft Word (inserting images, headers, borders)
• Blog formatting and writing
Narration
In order to put everything that was learned to the test, students had to create a series of blogs for the site they chose. Using InStyle’s content and writing style, I wrote out three articles. Two of them are style guides and tips, and the other one is more of a review. The review was written in a first-person tone as it was an opinion piece. However, it is still personable. The other two articles were written in a bubbly tone, to feel as if you were having a conversation with a friend.
This assignment made it truly feel like I was a writer for InStyle. Choosing what to write about took a bit of thinking but then formatting, finding images, and the pieces of clothing I would link to was fun. This helped me practice writing articles in different tones that fit the genre of them best, while also sticking to the style of InStyle’s articles.