Peer Review One: Developing an Online Self. Featuring a year of mess.
For the first peer review activity, I got the chance to browse and analyze Mika’s website: Year of Mess
At first glance, I feel like I got an honest read of Mika. The front page provides a young photo (which I perceive to be a young Mika) of a child looking content with food all over the place. The tagline underneath states, “when did messy stop being okay?”. The sidebar mentions the inspiration of the webpage with a photo of Mika underneath.
The front page is organized and clean. The title at the top is short and sweet with a simple tagline. The organization of the page is intuitive and simple. It demonstrates presentability and perfectionism with the contrast of messiness in the cute photo. I love the balance!
The front page presents a quick overview. I loved the short paragraph on the sidebar. As a fellow Shonda Rhimes fan, I appreciated the mention!
The first page I looked at was the about page. The about page was great! I loved the naming/branding of it being “It’s *About* to get messy”. I appreciated the accessibility of having a voice-over of the paragraphs. The voice-over provided so much personality! I thought I got to know Mika’s humour and personality just from listening to the sarcasm in her voice and relatable narrative. I enjoyed Mika’s candidness about therapy and their journey with being a perfectionist. I thought the dialogue was humous and real. I felt like I wanted to know more about Mika in general and hear more about the experience.
I wonder if the dialogue was indented or sectioned separately, would it read differently? I felt when I read it over the first time, I did not get the same effect as when I heard Mika’s voiceover. Meaning, I read it differently in my head than how it was read aloud. I found Mika’s voiceover provided more of an in-depth introduction to her online version as it showcased her sarcastic self.
Since I was able to read and listen to the about page first, I feel like I was able to get a good sense of Mika’s intentions with the website.
As I was reading the process posts, Mika’s intentions for the colour scheme, theme, and font selection became apparent. Although Mika states she stumbled upon the fonts by mistake on google fonts, I think the font is consistent with her style and overall aesthetics. I think it looks great!
I appreciated reading about the inspiration for the website, it showcased Mika’s journey. I also loved reading about Mika’s thought process regarding the decision-making of building and designing the website.
I appreciate the openness and honesty of Mika when discussing her audience. I think she touches on important aspects of the “why” in creating a website. With her reasoning and exploration, I can see the connection to Watters’s perspective of providing students with a platform and an outlet to document their journey.
For navigational purposes of Mika’s website, I was a bit lost on some of the postings and tab bars. For example, the about page is connected to the navigational bar of about, public content, and Mess under the lesson category. I loved the about page, I just felt like it got lost as it was linked to everything.
I think the overall branding and site objective are well demonstrated throughout the webpage. Mika’s narrative is relatable and likeable throughout. I feel that Mika’s personality shines through! It showcases her warmth and sarcastic humour in her online self.
I enjoyed looking at Mika’s website. I am truly excited to read more about her “mess” and see what is written in the lessons and practices! I wish there was more to read 🙂
Thanks for sharing Mika!
