erica's banner

Overview Writers and Developers Audiences and Users Format and Organization Level of Formality Use of Visuals Range of Variation My Future Tribute page



Overview

For my genre analysis I chose to look at the website of West Elm, a company that provides contemporary, simplistic furnishings for the modern home.They also have a catalog, so the website is a secondary source for West Elm, supplementing that actual catalog which directs customers to the site. I chose this site because not only am I obsessed with the company, but I think ther site is very successful because it's easy to navigate, visually appealing and strongly resembles the overall style of West Elm and its products. From an advertising perspective, it's an example of good branding and a consistent image because their various marketing materials all reflect the same style and design.

Writers and Developers

The writers and developers of the West Elm website are completely "invisible",meaning that the site is not attributed to any specific writers or individuals of the web development team. It is my understanding that there is no attribution for several reasons.

  • The writing is not the emphasis of this genre. It consists mostly of brief product descriptions which are often not even full sentences.
  • Although this is very successfully designed, the website design is not the focus. Emphasis is placed upon the design of the products, not that of the site.
Most likely, the visitors of such sites are not thinking about who wrote the product descriptions or who designed the site, simply because they are more concerned with the products.It is therefore not necessary to acknowledge the writers and developers, as it may be for a news site with much more writing or a site about graphic design.

 table and chair

Audiences and Users

West Elm has various audiences and users that potentially visit their website.

  • Primary Audience

    I think the primary audience that West Elm is targeting is middle to upper class home-owners. I say this primarily because most individuals typically do not make large, expensive purchases in regards to home furnishings until they have actually purchased a home. Being that the products offered are a bit expensive, I believe the primary target is at minimum, individuals of the middle class.

  • Secondary Audience

    This could include competitors, interior decorators or other individuals looking for ideas. Those that simply like to browse just for the purpose of seeing what's out there and to keep up on the latest trends.
The West Elm website is organized very effectively in terms of convenience for their audiences, as there is a menu bar at the top presenting the different categories of products. Each category then has sub-categories, allowing the consumer to easily locate the product desired. This site will most likely be searched and possibly bookmarked. I do not believe it would frequently be printed out because individuals that would like a hard-copy would most likely request a catalog.

Format and Organization

The format of this website is very conventional, comparable to that of Pottery Barn. Some of the traditional design features found within the West Elm website are:

  • A menu bar at the top featuring the categories of products
  • A menu bar at the bottom addressing customer-service needs
  • The logo in the upper left-hand corner
  • A product search option in the upper right corner.
There are also a few aspects of this site that are a bit more unique and specific to this company.
  • The viewer is provided with various means of navigation.
    If an individual were to click "furniture" on the top menu bar, the next page displayed would be one with images representing the different furniture categories. However, if one simply places the mouse on "furniture", a pull-down menu appears listing the different furniture categories. This is an important characteristic of the website because it appeals to both visual and analytical users. Those who don't like to read will probably navigate through the use of pictures, while others will simply click on the word that represents the desired category.
  • The use of type as a design element.
    Almost all of the text is in lowercase, san-serif font. There are particular headings that are distinguished by the words being in all capital letters, however other than the product description, the font is almost always in lower case. This is non-traditional, but fits the site really well in that the products are unique and unconventional as well.
Although this is a highly structured sight, it has a very simplistic feel, again depicting the tone of West Elm itself. There is very minimal text and a lot of white space, which makes the sight very easy to navigate. The use of visuals is obviously very important for this audience, as they desire to see the products they can place in their home and the way it will transform their personal space (as depicted in the visuals).

Level of Formality

This website is very similar to others within its genre. This is accomplished with the layout of the website which is organized through the use of tables. This is also accomplished through the use of visuals, which are very professional and formal still-lifes,giving the website a formal appearance. With middle-aged customers, it is necessary that they convey a specific formality that is going to appeal to them. The products themselves are highly sophisticated, so it only makes sense that the website itself mimics the same qualities.

Use of Visual Cues and Images

This website is obviously a highly visual website because in order to sell the products, consumers need to be able to view them. Some examples of visual cues are:

  • The setting of white type against a gray box. This makes the link very noticeable and distinguishes it from the rest of the page.
  • Some headings are bolded and in gray.
  • Type that is resting over a picture is in a vibrant shade of blue in order to visually cue the viewer to the link.
  • The images themselves are very dynamic and possess a soothing quality about them, due to the use of subdued colors and simplistic compositions.
Almost all of the products have very clean lines which relates to the grid-structure of the website itself. There is a heavy use of tables on every page of this website, keeping the visuals and text in a highly organized structure. Since everything has a very specific place on the page, it keeps the information from becoming cluttered and disorganized. Overall, the most basic method used in this site to draw attention to something specific is done through color. It's easy with a site like this to gain the user's attention to something specific since there is so much white space and the visuals are in subtle hues. Any slight contrast immediately stands out.

Range of Variation

In looking at sites within this genre, there is not a lot of variation amongst them as far as layout ot content. Since they all have similar audiences and are trying to accomplish the same goal (selling the products), they all possess minimal text and have a lot of pictures of the products. Most of them are highly organized with a grid-structure. There is of course a different feel to each site, but that is because the sites have to reflect the style of the furnishings that are being offered. This simply applies to the image of the specific company. Overall, the sites I found within this genre possess a lot of the same features.

My Future with This Genre

Being that I am an advertising major, I would someday love to do campaigns for companies such as West Elm. Looking at this genre helped me to understand the overall design methods used in this industry, the way in which they organize their information, and the strategies used to supply their users with the information desired. This will help me in the future if I end up working on such a client because I understand their web strategies and I know the fundamentals of how to create similar sites.

There's no place like Home