JUICE

So the magazine whose website I am working on for 87539 is called JUICE, and is probably known only in Singapore and Malaysia. Sadly I don’t have any copies with me as of yet, because I left them all at home. But I’ve asked my friends to mail some over so hopefully I’ll get them soon; will make constructing my site much easier.

That being said, JUICE does have its own, not-too-shabby website already. To be honest there’s nothing much wrong with the site – everything is neat, easily accessible and clearly labelled. I like the fact that they manage to squeeze so much text and articles in there without making it look cluttered.

I think the main “issues” I have with the site are its overall design and lack of interactivity. When I first visited the site (for this project), it wasn’t at all what I expected it to be because after reading JUICE for quite awhile, I expected the site to look more like the magazine – hip graphics, funky colours and all that jazz. As it turns out, the site is quietly stylish but, in my opinion, not quite wham-bam! enough for the image that the magazine exudes. Also, despite hosting interesting polls and nightlife events, I feel the site could do more for an audience who spends a great deal of social time online, and cares much about the views of others like them. A discussion board would be excellent, letting readers communicate with each other, get in touch, and find out who’s going for the latest events, people’s takes on the latest fashion and so on.

So, my task in a nutshell: add some snazzy design and interactivity. Not asking much, eh.

Frolick

Frolick is a trendy frozen yoghurt chain located in Singapore, with a website that lives up to its tongue-in-cheek and uber-cool image. From the design of the shops themselves to the website, bright colours, iconic designs and witty (although slightly crude) taglines rule. Their target audience is probably the older end of the younger generation (ie. 18-28y), because there are less-than-subtle sexual connotations in their language and overall image.

The site, on initial viewing, suggests parental guidance when entering and warns of material unsuitable for young audiences. All in jest, of course, but still not without reason. The layout of the site is rather unconventional – there are no navigation bars to speak of, only a pageful of interactive “button badges” which users can scroll over to find out what they each link to.

Page names are not stated explicitly (ie. the ‘About Us’ page is not labelled as such), but rather are implied by the rather witty lines of text on each button, and more information about each link is given when users scroll over each button. Given their image and target audience, this unconventional navigation works well as it creates banter with the audience, and adds an element of fun and cheekiness into the site interaction.

Besides the usual necessary info on the site like yoghurt flavours, toppings, press coverage and so on, it also includes activities like a simple Flash game called ‘Pop My Cherry’, and a less conventional personality quiz. Frolick uses its site to create maximum user interaction and pleasure, which is unexpected and a nice surprise coming from a frozen yoghurt chain.

Well I think they’re doing a real good job selling their image; the yoghurt is almost secondary.