How-to without the end result?

How-to posts have become increasingly more popular, thanks in part to Pinterest. As a writer for an online lifestyles magazine, I can attest to the fact that pictures are most helpful in explaining how to do something. The end result is vital—the reader has to know if they’d like it, right?

Veronica Misako Gledhill was on the right track with her article “How to Wear a Blanket to Work and Have Nobody Notice” on The Cut, the fashion portion of New York Magazine. This post has appeal for a variety of reasons, the main one being who wouldn’t want to wear a blanket to work? It sounds incredibly cozy. The timing of this article is great with the oncoming cold weather.

I had a few tiffs with this article, however. First of all, a blanket isn’t even used in the demonstration—it’s a scarf. That makes the title misleading and, as a reader, I was a bit miffed. The fact that there was only one way depicted to turn the “blanket” into a top suitable for work was also troubling. People like options, and when it comes to styling something unconventional, the more options the better. Finally, Gledhill did not include a full-body shot of the end result of the piece. After the belt was placed around the model’s hips, the camera stayed on that area as she placed her hands on her hips. Doesn’t give the reader much of a visual and, as one, I am in no way tempted to mimic this style.

While this piece has potential, especially with the cold fronts looming, it is lacking much. More ways to style the scarf into a top, changing the word blanket to scarf, and having a full shot of the end result would have benefited it greatly.

Lea DeLaria preaches to her own choir

DeLaria shuts down subway preacher in New York City while on her way to Queens. Photo credit: Times

By Yessenia Chavez

Orange is the New Black star Lea DeLaria was caught on tape last week shutting down a subway preacher while he was spewing his beliefs to the riders of a New York City subway.

While subway spectators ignored the proclaimed preacher, DeLaria spoke out claiming he ‘had no right’ to force his religious beliefs amongst those on public transportation, and was outraged when he proceeded to call her a derogative term for gay people.

“Religion fanatics are the reason America is in trouble,” said the openly-gay comedian.

The outspoken actress received a round of applause as the preacher defeatedly vacated the train, and everyone went about their usual business.

The Times released a short article and posted a short video of the clip to give the reader a better idea of what exactly went down in the subway between the actress and the preacher. I noticed the times logo in the corner of the video, and it reminds the reader what source news they are using when watching the clip.

The writer added dramatic words like rant, loud, outspoken and that meshed well with the article. The cutlines beneath the video was great because it was a quote that DeLaria had said, although not everyone knows who Sodom and Gomorrah are, but thats what google is for. It created an overall dramatic piece that kept me interested.

‘Land Art’ at risk of extinction

By Justus Flair

The Huffington Post had a recent article by Katherine Brooks that discussed the current state of land art. According to Brooks, land art is work by artists that includes natural features like bodies of water or mountains in aesthetic creations. Land art faces issues like weather and declining budgets, as many cities are no longer paying to maintain the works.

Brooks did a fantastic job including photographs of each artwork she discussed, which is crucial to the success of an article so heavily focused on art. It was especially important to this topic, as many readers will likely not be familiar with land art.

By dividing the article into sections devoted to one piece, Brooks is able to capture the unique problems surrounding each work. Saying water damage was a complication for land art when some are located in the desert would have been too general and misleading, ruining Brooks’s credibility with some readers. I also enjoyed that she picked geographically diverse pieces to allow readers across the country to understand how land art functions in their area.

The article could have benefited from a few quotes from city officials or artist who had created land art. Brooks states that funding for public art is down in recent years, but did not speak to any city officials from areas with the selected land art to find why the funding had been cut or decreased. It also would have enriched her story to include insight from artists on why they create works using the landscape, which they know is more fragile and changing than a painting or sketch.

How to Travel on a Budget in your 20’s

By Bree De Souza

As I was busy browsing through multiple travel sites in preparation for the upcoming holidays, I stumbled upon this rather interesting blog post by Rick Stevens. The post is called “How to Travel on a Budget in your 20’s” and the reason this blog caught my attention was because of its headline. You see, as someone who loves to travel and who is in her 20’s, the post spoke out to me the moment I saw it on my Google search page. There is nothing to rave about the headline, but just for the fact that something as simple as that had caught my attention, proves that it is an effective headline.

The post itself is relatively simple. It consists of eleven short paragraphs with in-text links. The writer also writes from his own voice and draws examples from his own experiences. I believe bloggers should always write in their own voice, it makes it easier for us readers to connect  with them, plus it allows for easy and light reading. Other than that, the writer provides useful tips for young travellers that have little money to spend. Furthermore, as I mentioned before, there are many useful in-text links that will take readers to other websites that offer cheap flight tickets for students or tips on how to safe on accommodation and how to get the most out of your travel experience.

Multimedia wise, there is nothing all that interesting. The photo that the writer had included was just one of a girl, looking intently at a map. On the bright side, there were many travel related posts that show up at the bottom of this one, advertising more tips on travelling. There isn’t a comment section on this post but there is a button where readers can connect with the writer through Facebook and Twitter.

All in all, for a online blog post, I find it to be rather sufficient. It provides just the right amount of information along with useful links that cater to those who want to find out more. Also for the fact that, bloggers are usually their own editors, this blog portrays the personality of the writer.

You can call me “spatula” for short

By Kelsey Sopchyk

This week, in the life of the Bloggess – headlines. It looks like some hilarious fans or friends have decided to put their own twist on her Wikipedia page.

This really proves that we shouldn’t Wikipedia everything when we don’t know the answer, students! But that’s beside the point. The fact is that even though this is a funny story on its own, her headline really pulls the reader in.

A bizarre title is something we can expect from Bloggess and this point, but telling her readers, “You can call me spatula,” really makes me want to read. This headline might not show up easily for people who are looking for why this Wikipedia fiasco happened, however, if they are reading the Wikipedia page, they probably know who the Bloggess is, so it does work in her case.

In this brief article, she has a lot of other strong components as well. Such as in-text links and the photo I have attached to this post.

Overall, I find this headline to be the strongest of her posts due to the quirkiness and humor of it.

 

Women and fashion: a changing concept

Women in power have had to blow off questions about the designers they are wearing, their favorite brands, and the like to avoid having their power seriousness, according to Vanessa Friedman’s article “How Women Use Fashion to Assert Their Power” on The New York Times. The Design Museum in London is working to change this with their exhibit “Women Fashion Power.”

The exhibit was designed by the first female Pritzker Prize winner, Zaha Hadid. According to Friedman, the exhibit has three parts: 16 of the most powerful dressing women (from Queen Hatshepsut of ancient Egypt to Hilary Clinton), a timeline spanning 150 years of change in the styles of dress, and a gallery of current women in power positions that participated in a question and answer for the exhibit.

Her description of the exhibit was detailed, but not in a way that gives the reader a clear visual of the exhibit. There are only four pictures from Women Fashion Power included in the post; more would have been most beneficial to the story.

Friedman discusses the trouble she has had in the past recruiting big-named women in discussing what they wear. She cites an interview Michelle Obama did on Good Morning America three years ago, in which Mrs. Obama states that she does not give any thought to clothing.

The background of Friedman’s own experiences with women in fashion gave the story great background. What it was lacking was descriptors and visuals, which would have brought the story to the next level.

 

New Hunger Games Trailer Mockingjay– Part I Excites Fans

By Yessenia Chavez

–The latest Hunger Games trailer, MockingJay Part I has been released to the public this mid-October. The newest trailer features Katiniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Gale(Liam Hensworth) leading the revolution against President Snow and the Capitol.  Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has reappeared after a long-anticipated wait from fans.

The article was well written. The pictures added a great effect and impact on what the writer was trying to express to the readers. The photo at the bottom should have been a different one because it looks like they took a screenshot of the video and enlarged it. It seems to be a bit blurry.

The video is placed in a good location for those who haven’t seen the newest trailer can be informed on what it is before reading the article. It focuses on the important parts of the trailer and emphasizes the main characters. It’s great that they mentioned the soundtrack to the movie and provided the list down below. Overall it was a decent article.

Haters gonna’ hate, but T.Swift is here to stay

By Bree De Souza

Taylor Swift has taken the world by storm with the release of her first ever pop album “1989”. The album was released on Monday and since then, Taylor has been the talk of the town putting all her musical peers out of the spotlight. Not only that, this has been the first album release for Taylor in two years.

The article that I have chosen is one from CNN.com. The article is titled “Finally, Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ is out” and the reason I chose this article is because I liked the multimedia elements that the editor had included into this piece.

Due to the fact that this is a news article and not a blog post, the writer lays the news out in a reporting style rather than a free and easy blog style. Despite that fact, I find the writer had composed her article in a way that would attract readers and fans everywhere. I mean, I was definitely attracted to it. Among the information the writer had included were quotes from music magazines and good reviews of her album.

Not only that, the article is relatively short and that was definitely a plus point. Looking at it from the perspective of the reader, most would prefer short, concise and informative articles rather than lengthy ones. Looking into the multimedia aspect of the article, the editor included a slideshow that showcases empowering and motivational quotes by Taylor Swift. I really liked the slideshow because, the pictures of Swift at different events really appealed to me. Plus, her style is just amazing! Or should I say that her stylist has great taste.

In addition, the article features a YouTube video of Kelly Clarkson covering Taylor Swift’s “Shake it off” at her recent concert. Being a fan myself, I found the cover very interesting to watch. Also for the reason that Kelly Clarkson is a very well established artist herself and having her cover a Taylor Swift song is kind of a big deal.

Taylor on Ellen

Cover of ‘1989’

Still shot from Shake it off

Bringing Up Baby (via Preserve.us)

By Kelsey Sopchyk

Do I still have enough time to die so I come back to life as Blake Lively’s kid? Everything she is and does is perfect, so I don’t even know why I’m acting surprised that her baby shower would be anything short of that.

If it weren’t enough that she has the body and face of a goddess, or that she was Serena Van Der Woodsen, or that she got to kiss Tim Riggins in Savage, or that she’s married to/carrying the baby of one of the hottest men in Hollywood, SHE. DOES. THIS.

For all of you not as obsessed with her as the rest of us, Lively, 27, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, 37, made us all very happy when they announced in early October that they were expecting.

Then, to make us even happier, Perserve.us, a for-profit philanthropic business, graced us with this story and these gorgeous photos this week of her baby shower.

Blake and her also cutely-pregnant friends, ate cake, dyed onesies, and opened gifts. I’m still pissed she didn’t even think to invite me.

As I began reading through this story and looking through their photos of her shower, I went on to other stories by Preserve. They do a great job with visuals. Not only have they edited the photos to fit their site’s style, but they have used graphics and placement to enhance the visual impact and pleasure to the eye.

I ate a caramel apple like that one last night and it got stuck in my hair. Ugh.

Photos courtesy of Refinery29.com via Preserve.us

Oscar de la Renta Through the Years

Fashion lost a great one this week. Oscar de la Renta, who founded his own high fashion line in the late 1960s, passed away in his Connecticut home October 20 at age 82. Media sources have gone wild with the news, going as far as posting pictures of the gowns he designed worn most recently by celebrities, his most popular gowns, and timelines of his life.

The New York Times has done all of these, but the timeline titled “Oscar de la Renta’s Life Through the Years” is what stuck with me the most. The timeline is very informational. It covers the major highlights of de la Renta’s life, including the beginning of his fashion line, the awards he won in the fashion world, and his marriage.

While the timeline is full of information, it is severely lacking in visual appeal. Along the top of the article is a timeline of years that were important in de la Renta’s life. As you scroll down the informational paragraphs pinpointing the exact year the detail took place, a line on the top timeline toggles the place you are in his life. Personally, I found this more distracting than helpful.

The imagery, especially for a fashion designer, is severely lacking. When there are pictures, they are located only on the right hand side of the article. This is not visually appealing. It makes the article seem very static.

A major news source such as The New York Times should have timeline templates in its back pocket in case of such an event. A designer as celebrated as Oscar de la Renta could have been covered in such a way to highlight his major accomplishments in more than just a fairly static timeline. Videos of his most popular runway lines, having the background of each informational paragraph change to a new picture of de la Renta or one of his designs are two such ideas that would have brought more visual attraction to the multimedia piece. The information is there, the imagery just needs to brought up to par.

By Danyal Nokes