Strawesome Schools

Overview

Strawesome Schools is a campaign to ban plastic straws in colleges/universities.

The campaign uses a website and social media (Instagram) to reach students and raise awareness.

Visit Strawesome Schools Website

Role: Web Design, Writer, Project Leader

Date: October 2019 - December 2019

Behind the Screen

This campaign was a group project for an Audience Analysis class. There were 4 members, including myself.

I was web designer/writer meaning I was in charge of building the site and filling it with all of the campaign's information, as well as updating it regularly. I was also the team captain meaning I had to ensure the work was divided equally and helped any team members to make sure we would deliver on time.

The Vision

The website's goal was for it to be a hub for all the information and links regarding our campaign. I wanted it to contain powerful images and videos along with facts about plastic straws in order to influence the audience.

The Design

I created the website using Wix because it was simple to use and free. Additionally, we were given a short timeframe to complete the campaign.

The template I used is called Environmental NGO

In terms of the color scheme, I used variations colors of my school (navy blue and gold) because the campaign's primary target audience would be the school.

Logo:

I designed the logo using Canva. It is meant to be a straw in the shape of an S. Since the name of the campaign is Strawesome Schools (double S) and the audience is students I decided to make the 'S' squared; a cool math function, I know.

The Development

In comparison to the original template, I reduced the amount of tabs on the site. This was in order to simplify the campaign information so that students can easily navigate through it and find the information they need as fast as possible. I also added two sub-pages in order to simplify the content in each page.

Tabs:

Home- self explanatory

Who We Are- the goal/mission

Alternatives- alternative straws

What We Do- the methodology

Analytics- campaign data

Get Involved- follow our social media, take our survey, etc.

Learn More- resources that support the cause (articles, website, videos, etc).

The home page contains a video made by one of my team members which contains the powerful images and text to move readers as soon as they visit the site. I decided to gave a video on the home page because it is the simplest way to appeal to pathos, rather than bombarding visitors with data and graphics.

The Takeaway & The Future

With this project I explored the differences between making a site for fun, like a blog, and making a site that is meant to persuade viewers to participate or join a cause. In order to raise awareness and move the audiences I had to use images that evoked the audience. I also had to consider perspective because filling my site with facts can bore viewers. Therefore, I had to pick specific facts that gave the audience perspective in order to convince them of the magnitude of the issue.

As of now, my team and I will not continue the campaign. However, I now know the different steps I have to take when it comes to a site that has to persuade (campaign, business, etc).