 Designers use visual cues such as colour schemes and images to help draw attention to certain parts of a web page. The more emotive these are, the more chance for positive feeling and a greater connection with the visitor.
Ask someone for memorable mascots and they may mention the late Jeeves from Ask Jeeves, before his departure and resulting search engine rebrand.
Or the annoying paperclip from Microsoft Office.
Another is the kangaroo used in the Australia logo.
Emotional engagement or eye candy?
Far too many sites and web applications lack a personality in copy and image selection. I recommend this video presentation at Vitamin to highlight the importance of copy in building a likeable web application.
Evoking positive feelings can be particularly important in web applications where they are intended to be used regularly and often at length by their audience.
Mascots aren't going to work in all scenarios. They usually work best as animal or human-like creatures - as cute, fun creations.
We created a mascot for a Visit Britain campaign to promote a new B2B online service. The character, Mrs Pink, helped reach the audience in a friendly, innovative way and she is now used on offline material and e-newsletters.
The cute dog is a mascot we intend to use on a new site helping daytrippers find the best visitor attractions. We'd like to give name him, please send on any suggestions!
|
+44 1424 457844
