personal development plans: Fearne Cotton Website Review

I decided to write a review about a website because in the ever growing media society we are in at the moment, websites are a massive must for designers. Fearne Cotton is known as a trendy, youthful and fun TV presenter. Her recently created website definitely portrays her personality and style - www.officialfearnecotton.com

When you enter the site, the homepage hits you with a lot of information. There are adverts at the top and side of the page, there is her navigation bar, lots of clickable links and images. Immediately, I feel that is it too busy. You don’t know where to start looking, and it puts you off. However, the style maybe connoting how busy of a person Fearne is and how much work she is involved with. It does also feel personal. You automatically get a sense of Fearnes style, for e.g. the ‘scrapbook’ style typography and the ripped paper. It signifies that it’s her diary. An audience will like this because you feel like you are getting to know Fearne as a friend. This therefore follows the uses and gratifications theory of ‘personal relationships’.

The website is very interactive, for e.g. on the right side you have the option to personalize the website by changing the background. This is an effective technique because it allows the audience to become involved with the website and therefore increasing the chance of them staying on the site.

The sites navigation is very simple. When you click on a link it takes you to the relevant page. I think this works with the website because there is so much going on in each page, that if there was added Flash animation it would complicate it far too much. It would look very unnecessary. When you click on each link in the navigation bar, each page is a different colour. This is a useful technique to keep the audience interested. If all the pages looked the same, the audience are likely to get bored very quickly.

The language used on this website is very informal and colloquial, for e.g. ‘bits ‘n’ bobs’. This definitely fits in with the context and audience because it feels like Fearne has actually written it, and therefore a lot more personal. Again, it emphasizes the friendly relationship you are building with Fearne. It also signifies that Fearne is up to date and trendy by using youthful language.

There is a mailing list you can join on the website which is a very popular method used on celebrity websites. Audiences enjoy this feature because they feel they are up to date with their favorite celebrities and feel like they aren’t missing out. By joining the mailing list it also makes people feel part of a team, with other people who are fans of Fearne. The box is very simple; only asking you for your name and email address. With people’s busy lives, this is effective because people will have the time to quickly fill it out. If it was a lengthy form, a lot of people wouldn’t be interested.

Personally, I feel this website is a bit too confusing to the eye. However, the amount of information and interactivity would keep a lot of viewers attention. It has successfully anchored Fearne’s personality, which ultimately, is what a personal website is all about.