The website samedayessay.com is designed to sell essays to college students. Its appeal is based on the premise that a student’s time is more valuable than learning. The visual details support this viewpoint.
The first thing I noticed was the large amount of white space. The site is clean and not cluttered. Most of the headlines and graphics are blue, with splashes of yellow.
Towards the top of the page is a rectangular box containing shifting graphics and text. The pictures feature attractive college-aged women. One of the graphics shows the woman looking at a clock, while in another corner there is a clock with rapidly spinning hands.
Above that box is the logo and phone number for the company, in the same dark blue color. Next to the logo is a picture of a white man in a business suit running. His shoe is on fire, and there is a giant stopwatch behind him. On the other side of the logo is a graphic in the same blue color of people in outline. These graphics visually divide the top of the page from the rest.
Below the rectangular box there are a couple of paragraphs of text in a moderately small black font, with some words in the prevailing blue color. A graphic next to the first paragraph features a pen, an essay, and a clock. Below those paragraphs are three boxes of gold/yellow with graphics of a trophy, an essay, and a file folder. Bullet points with yellow arrows are contained within a light blue shadow box below these icons.
A couple more paragraphs of text follow, and a thin blue with a graphic of a file folder creates another visual divider. Below that divide is a graphic of a prize ribbon. Below that are icons for credit cards. A thick yellow line divides this from the dark blue section at the bottom containing fine print.
On each side of the paragraph there is text with yellow bullet points. There is a photo of a young white woman with a cell phone on one side, and another depiction of a clock on the other side.
These details all point to the attitude that the student’s time is more important than learning. The clean white layout requires very little concentration to understand. The layout is easy to follow and the blue text stands out against the white and within the mostly black-text paragraphs. This would appeal to someone who doesn’t have time to puzzle through things.
Because it is at the top and shows movement the rectangular box is the most prominent feature. There is no hint of writing, only concern for time, as evidenced by the woman looking at the clock and the spinning hands on another clock.
The running man reinforces this perception. Time is literally bearing down on him. He is running so hard his shoe is on fire. There is a sense of urgency that does not leave room for the sustained thinking writing requires.
The text in the middle seems serious and business-like. It is similar to the font found on many legitimate academic sites. It is arranged in conventional paragraph structure. This would be reassuring to buyers who want their essays to look like proper academic writing.
The graphics of the trophy and the award ribbon are also intended to inspire confidence. They suggest that a reputable outside authority has evaluated the company and approved of its services. There is no suggestion that this authority has academic standing. The focus is consistently shifted away from actual learning.
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