Discuss the content and visual strategies Essay

Discuss the content and visual strategies - Essay Example Despite the authors portraying different cultural and political issues, there are similarities between the two graphic novels. In the story Maus, Spiegelman explores the experiences of holocaust survivors. The author is able to achieve this through an interview, which involves his father. The sentiments and experiences of the author’s father are instrumental in the novel since he was a polish Jew and witnessed the holocaust(Hungerford 28). The author depicts the experiences documented from the interview with his father using a postmodern approach of animal characters. For instance, the Jews are likened with mice characters while the Poles and Germans are pigs and cats respectively. The political and social situation experienced in the period is evident in the characterization of Spiegelman’s work. The work is unique since the political events are inclined towards the Jewish perspective hence portraying the experiences of the victims. In Spiegelman’s work, the mos t salient inclusion is the use of animal characters. It is apparent that the author has employed a combination of symbolism, allegory and imagery in order to illustrate the story. The animal choices are deliberate since they have symbolic intonations. Considering the perspective of the author, the symbolism of rats, which was the animal character of Jews depicted the negative perceptions of the poles and Germans towards the Jews. The character suggests that the Jews were viewed as pests. The symbolism of Germans as cats showed that they preyed on the hapless Jews, while the character depicting the Poles as pigs was based on the Germans referring to the poles as such. This symbolism also suggested that the poles were cunning and only sought to serve their interests. There are other characters in the book whereby the Americans and the French are represented by the animal characters of dogs and frogs respectively. The novel also involves allusion off actual incidences and places that w ere experienced during the holocaust. This can be attributed to the contribution of his father who was a witness of the holocaust. It is safe to make the assumptions that the information in the book is presented with accuracy. This is evident in the character of Vladek whereby there is evidence the events presented by the character coincide with historical fact. In addition, the author includes an actual map of the infamous Auschwitz a concentration camp a venue that was used during the holocaust (Hungerford 31). The map of the camp is instrumental in depicting the dire situation the Jews faced during the period. From the picture, the audience can tell that it was impossible to escape from the camp reiterating the helpless situation, which the Jews experienced. The comic strip in Maus was instrumental in reinforcing the author’s sentiments. The use of illustrations made it possible for the audience to connect emotionally with the work. Some of the emotions, which can be exper ienced in the comic strip, include frustration, despair anticipation, anger and relief (Hungerford 32). The art appears to spill from the frames illustrating excitement. This is an indication of the feelings being experienced in the characters in this instance the birth of Richiev. In order to increase the effect of the art to the audience, the author fractured, interconnected and broadened slides according to the message he was willing to send. In the novel Palestine, Sacco

Factors Affecting Customer-Centric Website Design Essay

Factors Affecting Customer-Centric Website Design - Essay Example The paper concludes that website designers must exploit Cloud technologies and use teams that are multicultural and gender sensitive when designing their websites if they truly want to make their customers the centre of their work. Introduction The infrastructure known as the Internet has been at the heart of globalisation, flattening the world, and causing disruptive change in business bringing about new models and new products and services. At its core the web browser has been the most visible interface for consumers and businesses to enjoy these changes brought about by the Internet. With increasing use and time spent on the internet, and with the accompanying information overload, businesses are seeking to capture differentiate themselves through website designs that attract and engage customers. It is within this context that web designers are being tasked to come up with customer-centred websites. Customer-centric web design aims at creating a website that is intended to meet t he specific needs of customers as opposed to all web visitors. When considering customer-centred design, Schneider (2011) recommends focusing on the customer buying process. Garrett (2003) suggested that there are six key areas that the web designer will need to focus on to enhance the users’ experience: visual design, information architecture, information design, navigation design, interaction design, and content. Given the highly fluid nature of the internet and its associated technologies, web designers are finding it difficult to design the much desired customer-centric websites. In the next section, the paper begins by trying to understand why customer-centric web design is so important for any individual or organisation that is putting up or has a website. After that the paper discusses three factors that make achieving customer-centric web design difficult. First it discusses the effect of culture and gender, then the impact of the emergence of the mobile web and f inally the rise of prosumerism. The paper then concludes with suggestions on possible techniques that web designers could use to tackle the challenge posed by these three factors. Literature Review Importance of Customer-Centric Web Designs Naturally, one would ask why is achieving customer-centric web designs so important to warrant its discussion? Porter (2001) argued that the internet weakened industry profitability by influencing the five forces that underlie industry structure. The Internet reduced switching costs and shifted bargaining power to end consumers. The web essentially changed the dynamics of the relationship between organisations and their customers. The customer is now more empowered and more in control of the relationship than ever before (Perfetti, 2006). The web has not only made it easier for customers to find alternatives but it has also lowered the costs they incur either in searching for alternatives or moving to them. Customers only care about that whic h is important to them. This means that if they cannot find the products, services or information that brought them to a particular website, they will simply go elsewhere. To prevent customers from going elsewhere makes it necessary for organizations to design their websites with the customer as the core focus. Also, it has been found that there is a big distinction between the numbers of people who visit a website and those