GIF Article Response

                         I Have always viewed GIFs as a quirky yet eye catching technique to draw attention to the picture or advertisement which they are a part of.  Much like Olia, in her blog, “In memory of Chuck Poynter, user and GIF maker”, GIFs to me always have an amateur feel to them but I don’t believe this to be a negative characteristic.  I also agree with the blog author Olia that certain inconsistencies make GIFs feel all that much more original.  Olia used the single pixel on the bottom of the famous dancing girl Gif as an example of this.  Some of the most humorous online content I have seen were in the form of GIFs.  Additionally, GIFs can be effectively used as advertisements to draw the viewer’s eye over to the moving image.  After reading the articles I have even more respect and admiration for GIFs in general.  I found it interesting that GIFs existed before the internet and can appreciate Chuck Poynter’s works (and people like him) much more knowing that he started out doing them just for the love of it.  

                In today’s social landscape the GIF has retained much of its original appeal.  These simple yet poignant animations still strike the same emotions as I am sure Mr. Poynter had intended.  In 2017, GIFs still are the perfect accompaniment to a well thought out webpage.   There is no doubt in my mind that a webpage with a GIF will draw more attention than one without it.  One must be careful however not to include too many so the viewer does not get distracted.  For example, a company’s logo on the top of a webpage that is animated could be a great advertising strategy even today to reinforce the company image.  However, because of their amateur feeling nature many large companies tend not to use them.  However, if a webpage uses heading, animations, logos, and other forms of GIFs simultaneously, the webpage becomes difficult to read, as the reader can become distracted.  The blog created by Sha is a great example of this.  I found this blog very difficult to read and navigate through without being distracted.   To me, Gifs work best for informal or humorous applications, like political campaign remarks, social media posts, and other similar applications.   

                I don’t think we have seen the end of GIFs, with the small file size and appeal, they are perfect for certain applications.  It is sad that to save 24 bytes Mr. Poynter’s signature was removed from his files by ungrateful patrons, but I am glad that Mr. Poynter’s son has recreated his father’s works on a webpage so that history is preserved.  His legacy will be continued and his original works will always be the foundation for which they are built.