Making my website appeal to a younger age.

This image shows one of my final designs for my website. Before I didn't have the clouds in the header included. I was told it looked too 'corporate' and needed to add something to my design that would appeal further to the age range I'm working for (16-18).

My final design is a bit more refined and minimalistic. There isn't much going on which means eyes will be diverted to the text and small amount of imagery (these have captions in them).

Information will be much less in quantity so younger aged people would not have to read so much.

Researching my choice The Open University.

A screenshot taken from the current OU website. 

Their website doesn't really cover the needs of 16-18 years olds - there is too much going on and it's too cluttered. While the websites they have available don't look horrible, there is nothing about them that really would connect with someone the age of 16-18 as there is nothing in their designs that really looks 'fun'.

There is a lot of information however this information is not easily found and would look very confusing to the average 16-18 year old.

Expanding on my concept for Sega.

I have more confidence in my in my ideas for The Open University therefore Sega, which is my second opinion, will follow a similar route.

 - A website that shows of Sonic as he changes through time from 8-bit Sonic to 3-D Sonic. The website would be clearly Sonic themed using a Blue colour scheme. It would be a very simple site with less of a focus on content as showing Sonic from start to finish would best be done visually.

- I could split the website up into different stages by using the different era's/generations. (By generations I mean game console generations - each generation shows a significant change).

- Some sort of animation would likely be needed to accompany the site. Maybe a Flash animation or something done in After Effects.

- I'd include print in the Campaign in the form of an A3 poster. Poster would reflect site, I'd have it related to the same campaign.

Expanding on my concept for The Open University.

So firstly for this campaign I want to build a website that provides key information on the benefits of a student aged 16-18 studying at The Open University.

- The website would get straight to the point - in other words it will be specifically for the younger audience and won't contain any information that would not be useful for these younger students.

The functionality must be there. This is very important because it would be a real issue if it wasn't - people would get fed up and lose interest very quickly.

Visually, the website must be appealing to that particular audience. In other words vibrant colours must be included with very easy to read and understandable text.

- The next part of my campaign for The Open University is the print. This includes a billboard print and a magazine print. This will clearly be part of the same campaign and is there to promote the website.

My concept for Sega and The Open University briefs.

Both briefs have made it clear that any method is allowed to be used when trying to communicate the message across.

So in other words I am free to take any route I please - a website, poster, advert etc.

For The Open University brief I have decided to:

Build a website
Create a print campaign to support this website - This could involve a billboard advertisement or a magazine advertisement (or both). They will be clearly part of the same campaign.

For the Sega brief I have decided to:

Build a small online site.
To go with this a poster and/or a print for magazine.

My YCN Brief choices.

After looking at and analysing both briefs, the two briefs I have decided to pursue are:

Sega -

'Create a piece of communication that celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Sonic'

The Open University -

'Persuade 16-18 year olds to study for a degree with The Open University'

These are the two briefs I have picked from the other choices available. They're both been highlighted as green so both are valid choices for use in this project.

New Project - YCN

Commencing a new project from the agency YCN who have provided different briefs for us to look at.