Website Comparison: Type Usage

Anti Monkey Butt vs. Dove

The Anti Monkey Butt homepage uses all serif text except the copyright information at the bottom of the page. Hierarchy is very evident based on color and size of the text. The largest text is the headline, the company name, in red. Where the company name is repeated (sub-headlines), the same red is used. The sub-headlines are smaller than the headline, but larger than the body text, which is black. Serif type in black is more easily readable against a light background, which is what this site has used for the body text. The copyright text, however, is white, sans-serif type on a dark background, which is more difficult to read. Being that the copyright text is not as important as the body text, the website can get away with this.

The Dove body lotion website maintains the same sans-serif type throughout, except for the Dove logo. Again, hierarchy is evident based on the size and color of the text, even though the same font is used throughout. There really is no body text. The text for other sites linked to this website are smaller and placed at the bottom of the page because they are not as important as the rest of the type. They linked type at the top is small as well, but they are related to the current page, so they are at the top, more easily found by the viewer. The type may be sans-serif, but because it is large and dark on a white background it is still easily readable.

Website Comparison

Anti Monkey Butt vs. Dove

I am giving a general description of two websites and comparing them to each other based on design and content. They are both corporate websites.  The first website is the home page from the Anti Monkey Butt corporation in which its focus is selling its product to the consumer. This corporation sells a powder that is used for reducing chafing during activities. It uses a cartoon character, large and centered on the website, to gain the attention of their audience. Since the character is a monkey, their primary color is brown and secondary color is red to illustrated to color chafing creates. Because AMB Powder is not a well known corporation or product, it is unclear what the product does, therefore, an explanation is given that is easily found, along with some testimonials to encourage the consumer to buy.

The second website is the coupon page for the Dove corporation. This site, in particular, deals with giving coupons to the consumer for a specific product, which in this case is body lotion. This corporation deals with many products, so the coupon must be specific toward a certain product. When the site is first opened three things happen: first, a drop of lotion falls (showing motion) to an image of the product and coupon; second, an introductory line is given; and third, the intro line disappears and the rest of the site appears using a dissolving feature. The colors are their corporate colors, which makes the site more recognizable to the consumer. Because Dove is a more recognizable corporation, a description of the product is not necessary.

In the end, the corporations have the same goal, which is getting the consumer to buy their product. However, they go about this in entirely different ways. Anti Monkey Butt uses a direct way to communicate a reason to buy their product, whereas, Dove uses coupons to persuade the consumer. They both use ways to catch the eye of the consumer. AMB uses bold, flashy colors and characters, whereas, Dove uses simple, clean colors (both play to the emotion the product portrays). Both sites have links to other pages within the corporate website for additional information.