Hitler hates Internet Explorer too - parody

Designmess.com is an online community of designers for the web. They hate Internet Explorer so much that they decided to re-sub and make a parody video from a scene of the movie 'Downfall'. They named this parody 'Hilter hates Internet Explorer too'.

The video is hilarious and is another example of Mozilla's large fanbase as advertising for Firefox has been added into the video.

Design Mess posted an article named 'Internet Explorer will be the downfall of man' along with this video. It is rather funny and they have created a few graphics and videos to support their statement. This article can be found at: http://designmess.com/article/internet-explorer-will-be-downfall-man

Design specification for website

Purpose of the website

The website is a web design portfolio to showcase my work under the name 'Dolltronic Designs'. The website is to contain:

• Introduction to the website
• Details and examples of past projects
• About myself, my experience, skills and education
• Different ways of contacting me

Who is the website aimed at?

The website is mainly aimed at businesses who are thinking of having a website to promote. However a small number of clients may request a personal site.
I chose my colourful design to attract creative businesses rather than corporate because I enjoy making colourful and interesting sites.

Points to consider

• Text needs to be clear, to the point and a reasonable size
• Website needs a clean, simple but not boring layout. The website needs to easy to navigate but not boring to the eye.
• Website needs to showcase my work in the best light

Software tools

• Notepad for writing HTML and CSS
• Corel Paint Shop Pro 9 and Adobe Photoshop CS4 for image editing
• Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers to test layout

Testing website in various browsers ensures that all types of potential clientèle can see the website properly. It is also a good idea to test the layout in various screen resolutions. I will be doing a liquid layout to combat resolution problems.

Navigation

Will be tabs to the left and vertical. Appropriate colours on hover. They will have a raised appearance on mouseover.

Colour scheme

The layout won't be too graphics intensive to increase performance. Each page will have a header image that changes colour on each page. The home page will be hot pink, the web design page will be violet, the about me page will be turquoise and the contact page will be lime green.

The header image will consist of the logo I designed as shown in a previous blog entry and a background of cherry blossom flowers with a circuitry design.

Advertising Firefox - a wallpaper

Mozilla's Firefox browser is so popular that many fans have created images, especially wallpapers to advertise and show their love for Firefox. Designs are everywhere, from buses in India to attractive women sporting Firefox t-shirts.

A desktop wallpaper made by a fan interested me the most. It is a photo of a beach that has been edited with surf boards that have parts of the design of the Firefox logo printed on them to create the full logo.

It also has a photo of a red fox added to the wallpaper and a ladies bikini. Even though the editing isn't very good and it's obvious it has been edited I like what the photo says.

The surf boards are progressive (see previous blog entry) and the image has the statement, "Firefox world class surf gear". The quote has a double meaning. Surf is associated with the beach, sea and surf boards. But you also 'surf' the internet. Surf gear is an object or objects used to surf, a browser is a tool to surf the net. I think the idea for the wallpaper is very clever and thought out.


References

1. Unknown. (). Binary Head - Firefox wallpaper. Available: http://www.aboutonlinetips.com/ultimate-firefox-extensions/. Last accessed 11 March 2010.

The semiotics/symbolism of Browser logos

I am analysing the logos of the two most popular browsers. They are; Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox.

I will analyse the names picked for the browsers and the semiotics/symbolism of the logos and how these help their respective marketing campaigns.


Internet Explorer

The logo is designed to look like a planet. The 'E' which we can assume stands for 'Explorer' is blue (like the sea would be on an image of the Earth) and is perfectly circular.

The yellow ring around the 'E' is much like a Planetary Ring like the one around Saturn for example, which makes the logo look like it represents a planet, or rather, the world, as in the World Wide Web. I also think the ring could symbolise the communication that is offered via the Internet travelling around the planet.

The name for the browser, Internet Explorer is self-explanatory, it's a piece of software used to explore the Internet.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer is considered to be the most commonly used browser in the world but according to W3Schools, Internet Explorer had the usage share of 35.3% in February 2010 compared to 46.5% using Firefox. However, for most non-technical users, the Internet Explorer logo is recognised unlike Firefox's and many don't realise that there is more than one browser available to surf the Internet.


Firefox

The logo incorporates the globe and a fox with a flame-like tail embracing it. The globe represents the World Wide Web. The fox with the flaming tail is a representation of the browser's name, Firefox.

Analysing the name Firefox, its name doesn't explain what the software is unlike Internet Explorer, which may be detrimental to Mozilla's marketing campaign. However, the symbolism of the name of the browser and the logo is clear. A fox is a small, agile creature and the common red fox is flame coloured which fits in with the 'fire' part of the word Firefox. Fire also symbolises strength and power. Mozilla claims faster (a fox is fast) and more powerful (fire is a powerful element) browsing which I think is both incorporated into its name and logo.


Conclusion

Overall I think Firefox's logo is better than Internet Explorer's. I like what the Firefox's logo represents and Mozilla and its fan base have created many images that reflect the plus points of this popular browser, more of which I will analyse later in this diary.


References

1. Microsoft. (). Internet Explorer logo. Available: http://www.microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx. Last accessed 02 March 2010.
2. w3schools. (2010). Browser Statistics. Available: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp. Last accessed 02 March 2010.
3. Mozilla. (). Firefox logo. Available: http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/. Last accessed 02 March 2010.