Week 2: Lupton "Text" | Davis

Let me start by saying I love Skittles. Now that I've got that out of the way, I can focus on the website. For years, Skittles has had the slogan "Taste the Rainbow." Skittles (or rather, their creative agency) has created a quirky, incredibly unique site that allows users to experience the rainbow. I am not quite sure what it means to experience the rainbow; really, it could mean a lot of things. The Skittles website plays into the idea mentioned in Lupton's book that people don't want to do much reading, but instead lots of clicking. The website contains various links and pictures (all of which seem really random and unrelated) The result is a sensory overload of sorts. But, for a product that doesn't really need a formal website, I think it works really well. The design leads people downwards through various colored pages. Interestingly, it's just one page that scrolls down and down (infinitely, I believe...I didn't really want to try and find out). The site also does a good job of incorporating social networking - clearly they're trying to boost their following online. All the different colors are quite pleasing to the eye, and make the site a joy to look at. I would be surprised if a user got impatient with this site (although, perhaps there are too many links and visuals for some people...not me).

This site plays into society's needs of instant gratification and diversity of content. We are used to being bombarded with a multitude of pictures and videos and sounds, all of which are usually unrelated. In order for people to pay attention to content, it needs to stand out and be different. And this website certainly accomplishes that.