The Use of Banners to Convey Authorial Intent

For the past several weeks I have followed three blogs, each of which has addressed a range of issues and served radically different ends. The first, “Mode for Caleb,” was a hold over from a previous assignment. Hosted by a graduate student, its posts have addressed the author’s scholarly interests, and his experiences as a member of the academy. A second blog, “Jesus’ General,” represents an example of political satire, and constitutes a departure from the academic blogs I have followed in the past. Its authors have typically assailed members of the Bush Administration, and criticized doctrines embraced by the Christian Right. Like “Jesus’ General,” the author of “Orcinus," a professional journalist, has addressed an array of political issues, though in a less vitriolic manner. Rather than resorting to polemics, he has instead maintained a balanced tone, and constructed arguments supported by a range of evidence.

It should be noted that I came across two of the three blogs, “Jesus’ General” and "Orcinus,” while consulting a list of frequently visited blogs. Having been asked to analyze the reasons for which some blogs were more effective than others, I assumed that such a list would prove useful. This was not the case, however. As I quickly learned, the quality of blogs is not necessarily commensurate with the degree of frequency with which they are visited. Instead, the application of certain rhetorical devices can play a critical role in determining the extent to which blogs are (or are not) successful with readers. One such device pertains to their use of visual design. My experiences as a reader have led me to believe that effective blogs employ the use of banners that are consistent with their authors’ intentions, and that combine imagery, visual design, and text to communicate them to the reader. In other words, good blogs incorporate the use of banners to attract the attention of like-minded audiences.

Mode for Caleb

As explained above, the posts published on “Mode for Caleb” have typically addressed issues that are likely to appeal to well-educated individuals, particularly those who are members of the academy. To some extent the author has communicated this fact through the blog's banner. The banner incorporates a color scheme that parallels the cover of a well-known jazz album, Mode for Joe: Joe Henderson. An image of the album appears directly below the banner and to the left. In addition to sharing the same color scheme, the banner borrowed the album's title as well, though with an obvious twist. This may attest to an attempt on the author's behalf to establish a carefully cultivated identity, one designed to attract the attention of a particular audience.

The banner also incorporates the use of a slogan to further reinforce the writer's identity as an academic. Situated above the blog's title, it reads, “History/Academia/Religion/Culture/ Politics/Jazz.” The blogger's reference to these subjects, which are associated with various facets of high-culture, further reinforces his identity as a well-educated individual with cultivated tastes. As such, the banner might be thought to invite a like-minded audience (one that shares the writer's background and interests) to interact with the blog. Given that many of the comments attached to the writer's posts have been written by graduate students, the strategy would appear to have been effective.

Jesus’ General

Like “Mode for Caleb,” the banner that spans the top of “Jesus’ General” serves similar rhetorical ends. The banner employs the use of anti-Republican slogans, each of which is designed to attract the attention of an audience that shares the authors’ political views and values. The slogan “Treason: The New Patriotism,” for example, was posted amidst accusations that members of the Bush Administration had leaked information regarding a CIA operative's identity. A second slogan, “Save America: Operation Yellow Elephant,” provides a direct link to another blog, one that addresses similar issues and espouses similar beliefs.

To the right of these slogans is an image of Jesus, an icon that reflects the authors’ satirical intentions. Wearing a four star helmet reserved for generals in the United States Army, and set against the backdrop of an American flag, he grins arrogantly at the reader while signaling the “thumbs up.” Working collaboratively with the banner's slogans, the image reinforces the satiric nature of the blog, and provides readers with a frame of reference through which to read its posts. The posts themselves constitute a form of political satire as well, in that they mock the policies of the Republican Party, and the hypocrisy of the Christian Right. In this sense the image serves to attract the attention of a certain audience, one that will share the authors’ values.

Orcinus

Unlike the previous two blogs, the banner that adorns “Orcinus” is somewhat more problematic. It includes the title of the blog, as well as an image of a whale emerging from the water. Above the picture is the slogan, “Policy, Culture and Journalism in the 21st Century.” Yet whereas the slogan employed by the author of “Mode for Caleb” reinforced a particular theme and established a parallel identity, this slogan seems disconnected from the accompanying image and title. As such, the reader's ability to gauge the nature of the blog's subject matter is compromised. For example, when I first visited the blog I assumed that it was a personal journal. Only after I had read several posts did I recognize its political slant. Given this ambiguity, the blog runs the risk of losing potential readers, particularly those who are unwilling to invest the time needed to read its and determine whether or not they identify with their subject matter. This problem could be rectified were the author to incorporate the use of a more clearly defined banner, one that underscored the blog's central theme and established its author's identity.

By no means is this meant to suggest that the quality of a blog is synonomous with the design of its banner. I do believe, however, that effective banners have the potential to attract the attention of like-minded audiences while signaling the direction a blog will follow. Given the growing number of blogs from which readers are able to choose, the ability to do so should not be underestimated. Banners that employ a combination of imagery, text, and visual design have the ability to hook readers' attention, thereby inviting them to interact with a blogger's posts. To what extent they are able to do so, however, depends on the author's use of context clues, a subject that will be addressed in a future post.