McFarland- Visual Hierarchy

One Web site that uses visual hierarchy in a subtle and yet extremely effective way would be the Starbucks Web site. On the homepage, the first thing that jumps out to the visitor is the Starbucks logo, which sits appropriately in the upper left hand corner of the screen. This is usually where the reader looks first, especially in the United States.

The homepage leads us to many different areas of the Web site, as there are both vertical and horizontal links to visit. The vertical links are organized in a legible and orderly fashion and pull the reader to them by the use of visuals to the left of each link. The variety of color and images keep the reader interested. This sidebar leads the individual to the bottom center of the page, where a link to visit the nutrition information is given. There is visual hierarchy present here, as the coffee is much larger than many of the other elements on the site. This entices the reader and influences them to crave their favorite java-based beverage.

There are many positive attributes of this Web site, such as making the most use out of the white space and creating an organized and cohesive arrangement of text and image. Also, the site does not make the product overly flashy, but rather pulls the eye in to specific visuals, such as the logo and the coffee to subtly persuade the visitor to be drawn to purchase coffee and also place value on the brand name, as it is not overly loud or hungry for their dollars. A few things that could be improved on this site would be that the text size could be increased, the colors for the vertical tabs could be brighter and the images that are supposed to be the focus of the site could be made even larger. By implementing these new strategies, Starbucks could increase their effectiveness with consumers.