The Vue to The 922 - Shilling/Harms

     to 

The 922 Place has been very rigorous with their residents in the recent years, infamously expunging their preceding name The Vue. The website was designed for a certain audience of people, mainly students and parents that are helping their children get situated for the coming academic year. Though many of these students come to Arizona State University for the prestigious academic name that it has held for many years in the past, The 922 Place has been known throughout all of the University to be home to some of the best parties and social life that the University has ever seen. The website that was developed to represent the face of The 922 Place has been very thoroughly thought out to distribute principal information to make the navigation of the site easily operative by anyone. The structure is a simple layout of fourteen elaborately designed apartments that are used to hold a solid number of top students within the University, if you have the money for the costly rent.

As the community is aware of the popular student housing commonly known as The Vue, it recently changed its discreditable name and gone under new management to become the academic beacon, The 922 Place. It has the potential to be amongst the many other luxurious student housing and campus housing options. In the recent months, Arizona State University has made a great stride towards establishing yet another great academic and social asset or resource to the students of the University by taking over the management of The Vue, taking it from the preceding reputation of The Vue into a more modernized and academically acceptable 922 Place. By doing this, the school has developed their own website as a representation of what they wish the community to see and hopefully be able to promote a healthy, well managed, and of course luxurious type of lifestyle that is available to students. The website has been recently examined and reviewed by the school to revamp its exterior image towards the city of Tempe and yet the entire academic community of the Universities in the area and country.

The termination of the Vue’s representation to the community brought about the creation of the 922 Place’s website for future residents and parents to view and evaluate whether or not it is the most desirable place for them to spend a small portion of their college experience and small fortune. The first impression is everything when it comes to websites and homepages. The homepage starts off well, with a great mixture of contrasted hue colors with a certain tone of brightness that helps move ones eye from left to right, top to bottom on the page. The designers of the site have also done a great job at filling in what is commonly known as “white space” throughout the entire site by substituting empty space with pictures and summarized outlines of what will be read next. This is a vital and necessary contribution to the end result of the entire page as a whole.

Without the correct accumulation of all the proper web design basics, the website begins to lack and the reader/viewer(s) can become aggravated and potentially get to the point where they don’t want to be on the site anymore, and decide to leave and not return. Another point to be made about how the design is well organized and is thoroughly thought out is the types of font and typeface that is used throughout the homepage. It is not all one specific type; it is a mixture of numerous typefaces that not only blend well with each other. They all have specific notations that they contribute when it comes to the mood and the mentality they instill within the reader. When first viewed, the page’s font gives off a very welcoming and homey feel. Partially based on the fact that the titles of the information are in Arizona States colors with a dull blend to them, an immediate eye attraction. They as well were able to follow one of the most fundamental rules of designing a website which is, less is more where the basic ideas are broken down is the ultimate goal.

The 922 Place is home to a wide variety of different styles of rooms as well as the amenities of these rooms that of course, only the residents have access to. These luxuries seem very upscale on the website, but we all know that a college-based apartment complex is not going to have all the nicest things. According to the website, the fourteen different stylized rooms have all the amenities any college kid could ask for! What else would you need when you’re a college student with a fully furnished apartment with a private bedroom/bathroom and many more awesome features? One feature provided in the rooms that is very different to most, is the balcony. However, these balconies have caused a lot of problems because people decide to smoke or drink on them, usually resulting in some dumb person throwing something off. What the website doesn’t insinuate is all the injuries resulting in this one amenity. From a recent news article about The 922 Place, one girl was so frightened to get an MIC from the cops when they came into a room, that the girl tried to jump from one balcony to another. This resulted in the girl going to the hospital for quite a long period of time to recover. As a whole though, the website does do a good job advertising to get people to move into the apartment complex, but what people should know is that this is no 5-star apartment complex.

Two of the biggest moneymakers for this unique living headquarters are the fact that this apartment complex provides its residents with a top-of-the-line gym, and a trendy pool. On the website, the images provided are clean and upscale that endow the viewer with a sense of, “hmm I think I kinda want to live here!” However, what the website doesn’t offer the viewer is what really happens here. The 922 Place pool and REC center room may have provided residents with good times, but most of these good times have usually resulted in various fights, or MIC’s/MIP’s due to the absurd amount of alcohol that is in the vicinity. On the website, the photos include a beautiful pool with a beach volleyball court, and a dynamic gym setup, but it doesn’t include the various arrests or injuries that result from these “pool ragers.”

This website should probably put some information on it so that those who do know what goes on here, at this “luxurious, academically-oriented student housing”, don’t think so low about The 922 Place. The website should include all of the repercussions that they enforce upon those residents that decide not to follow the set rules and regulations, so that the people that know what really goes on here aren’t so disgusted by the website. 

            Another great resource of the website is the special relationship that the ownership of The 922 Place has with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  They have established numerous side sites and linked options that will take a parent or a disabled student to the Hud.Gov chain of sites that offer many different and unique options and information on specific topics that many people might find to be quintessential to the decision process and possibly the accommodations to certain people. This is available to the parents of many children as well as the students, faculty, and the entire community as a free amenity. A great tool and very useful contrivance that every student and parent should look at in order to help them with their final decision of residency or not.

            With all of the recent changes and advancements to the new website and lavish new name of The 922 Place, the University has made great strides towards a more developed and structured learning and living environment for students by providing great security both mentally and physically. The new homepage has great aesthetics towards the incoming students and their families to provide a classy layout that helps promote the economic, social, and academic aspects that The 922 Place has to offer to its residents. The amenities offer a great leisure as well as the necessary components for the mutual success of all its residents, both socially and academically with the security of living in a sub luxurious residency. Although some of the amenities have had a significant impact on the behaviors and decisions of some residents for the better and worse, they are there to help promote the wellbeing of the residents and image of the complex to the surrounding academic and civilian community. The site also has a branching structure of websites tied to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that provides an abundant amount of guidance towards those specifically in need of it. There are potential flaws of the interface that move the user to the register page, along with small deficiencies throughout the site, not to include the color orientation of the site or the graphic designs. Lacking in certain aspects of a perfect website it is fairly close to the upscale image of the absolute college community and living grounds.