I saw the The Story of Stuff video in my Global Experience class freshman year, but I watched it again just to refresh my memory. And I remembered it correctly: the system that exists in this world needs to change or we and our planet will die. It’s certainly a great thing to remember on a lovely Sunday afternoon.
But, awareness is key to initiate change and this website is an excellent start. It doesn’t attack you with scary facts and intimidate you, but it invites you in to learn for yourself. The website is engaging and fun, despite the seriousness of the content. It’s created so the visitor gets involved.
I don’t think I would’ve looked at the movies without the short directions on Moodle. The front page doesn’t have much to interact with and doesn’t give me a great sense of what exactly the website is and what it can give me. I do like how the menu has different types of media listed, so if I were in class I could read the blog, or I could watch a movie or listen to a podcast if I have time.
The movies break down more complicated subjects and use great info graphics to illustrate a point. But their simplicity is what’s really attracting. It’s just Annie on a white screen with mostly black graphics put up behind her. The way she talks is easily understood and the graphics emphasize her points.
One of my favorite parts of the website is the social media buttons. They look hand illustrated, but not in a sloppy way. It’s very fun! It flows nicely with the graphics in the videos, the logo, the font and coloring of the website. I love the black, white and dark blue as the website colors. They are not at all boring, but attention-grabbing because they add emphasis to certain things on the pages. I’m a big fan of more minimalistic coloring for websites.
This website has some really great information, but I’m scared to watch the rest of the videos because while I do want to be aware, it makes me feel so helpless since I’m not in the government, or a part of a huge corporation, or powerful in any way. It’s extremely important information and I will probably watch all of the videos after I finish this post, but I often lead toward the “ignorance is bliss” side of things.
Annie seems pretty great, though, so I think I’ll go watch those videos now.