Just this year, I’ve made the switch from bottled water to filtered water from home. It is a really interesting topic and definitely one to consider for environmental conservation reasons and the future. Free Range Studio’s take on the issue was very well done. First of all, their website has some very appealing aesthetics; the color theme is easy on the eyes and the use of drawing in their layout and video is a nice gimmick. Having said that, I wasn’t too thrilled with their use of a real person being the spotlight and narrator for the video; it stood out against the sketchy and fun whiteboard drawings. It really reminded me of those Blue Cross and Blue Shield advertisements that started a few years ago. They just leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Now that we’re past what I disliked, let’s get on to what I liked. Again, the whiteboard drawings were a nice touch. They are always fun to watch and the artists can perfectly portray what they want. The interactive bar below each video is extremely nice as well. It allows for users to quickly go to a chapter within a video and it provides some written text to accompany the video if you wish. The video itself included or referenced even more media including brands, quotes, advertising compaigns, facts, and audio. And boy – that audio sure was a nice choice. The repetitive sound of a person drinking water made me extremely thirsty. And of course, their writing was persuaive, interesting, and thought-inducing.
Overall, their blending of media was a successful one. It wasn’t too noisy either; I wasn’t really overwhelmed at any point on their website. Looking ahead at our syllabus, I believe an interactive infographic could be an additional piece of media the video page could have used. If anything, it takes away that annoying narrator.
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