Website Draft

For our website design we had problems creating a live website with the original program we chose. We decided then to create a website with Serif PagePlus 11, as it would be an easier option. This meant we had to redesign our plan for the website,as our original idea couldn't be achieved on serif. We took the main image we aimed to use on the front cover of the digi-pack and put it on the home page to achieve a consistent brand identity. We also used the house colours of blue, red and white on the homepage for a similar effect.

This is the draft of the homepage for our website. At this draft stage we have difficulty making the website live with the images still visible, so when we complete the website i will post a link on my blog to the live site. At this stage there are a few conventions we would like to meet typical of an artist's website, such as a YouTube video of the music video we created on the homepage as we saw this featured on many other websites. Other websites i've analysed also include a wider layout, whereas ours is more vertical so i'd adapt our website to fit this convention.

Website Planning - Typography

To give our artists a brand identity we will have to keep a certain style with them and show the band displayed in a certain way one of the ways we can do this is by the typography , the font, logo and house color. Here our some samples for logo : They are all in black at the moment but we will incorporate the house colours of red blue and white when we chose a logo.

For the website font we have analysed other website designs and decided the font needs to be basic but inkeeping with the artists brand identity we are creating. We may use a maximum of 2 of these fonts so not to confuse the audience and make it look messy, here are a few fonts we like and will ask our target audience to decide their favourites; these will be the ones we use.

Website Planning - Design

As we have chosen to create a website displaying our artist we wanted to use a programme that will help us produce a website that appeals to our target audience and also fits in with the genre of our artist. Using the website Bandzoogle.com, we created a template of the homepage of our website. As you can see from the image here we took a screen grab from our music video and embedded it on the tshirt of the girl on the homepage. This relates our music video to the website therefore tieing together the different aspects of our artists material. The house colours we are using are blue, cherry red and white which feature heavily throughout our music video and will also be seen on or digipack. We will also use these colours for our font and in the header on the website to keep the aspects of the video and website consistent.

Website Flat Plan

Genre Research

I have chosen two bands that are of a similar genre to our artist, "Two Door Cinema Club" which is of the indie genre of music. I will analyse theses artists websites and promotional material and compare them to the ideas we have for our band and how we can incorporate typical features of that genre into our material.

The first artist that has a similar genre and style as our artist is Vampire Weekend, an indie rock band from New York City signed to XL Recordings. Their latest album "Contra" is shown here:
As you can see the house colours are muted, light colours such as pale yellow, violet and white. The mixture of pale colours suggest a wealthy, vintage theme especially with the young woman wearing Ralph Lauren polo shirt that doesn't appear to be new. The large, straught edged font contrasts to the vintage look to make it stand out against the muted background. The woman fills nearly all of the space on the cover, with her eyes staring directly at the audience engaging them with the cover. However, she is set back from the text showing her lack of importance against the artists name and album name.






This is Vampire Weekend's website. They've clearly displayed the woman on their album cover again on their website, to tie the two together and establish the brand identity. They've focused on the eyes to draw the audience in again but placing the text over her face so people concentrate on what's being said. They've used hyperlinks on "click to buy", "listen" and "lyrics" to allow people to fully engage with the new album and give them as many opportunities as possible to view it before buying it, therefore gaining repect from their audience. The house colours are shown again here to provide consistency across their products, and as the image is zoomed in we can see the grainy effect of the picture, reinforcing the vintage theme.

Friendly Fires also has a similar genre and style to our artist, they are an indie-dance band and also signed to XL Recordings. Their latest, self titled album is shown below:
This album cover is very different to that of Vampire Weekend's. The house colours are considerably darker; black and dark green, however white is also incorporated here to act as a contrast to the dark colours. The typography is simple and delicate, an opposition to the striking image below it. The broken shards of the mirror seem to be reflected a natural scene, blurred through editing, with what looks like a snake behind it. I believe the idea behind this album is to allow the audience to decipher it how they wish as it's a confusing and subjective image. Maybe this is a reflection of their music?






The artists website links well with their album cover, establishing their brand identity. The same delicate font used for the logo is used again here, and the same shards of glass and splattered paint are used to relate the two together further. The dark, earthy house colours are also shown again in their website, establishing a connection between the website and album cover, one that the audience would remember and recognise as theirs.

Through the analysis of other artists of a similar style and genre to mine, i can see that similarities between both my ancillary tasks is pivotal for establishing a brand identity for the artist and also the audience im aiming my product at.

What Makes an Effective Album Cover?

An effective album cover reflects the the genre and individual brand identity of an artist. For example the White Stripes album "The Hardest Button to Button":

The layout for the White Stripes album is very simple; the black and white layout makes the red typeface stand out and therefore highlighting it's importance. The contast of black and white also draws your attention to the centre of the album cover where most of the detail is focussed.
This cover holds a clear connection between the music video and promotional material, house colours are seen across all their products for example. The button created in the O's in "Button" could be an image motif as it also appears in their music video.
The album cover also represents the the rock genre of the artist, through the uneven lines, sharp edges, and harsh, in-your-face style colours.

The designer has therefore made this album cover effective through:

• The clear relationship between the video and album artwork - through colours, images and themes.
• The choice of image, font and colour.
• Making it interesting/desirable overall.
• Developing the artists star image and brand identity.
  
• Reinforcing the genre of the brand.
  

What is a digipack and how we aim to use it

A digipack is the same as an album/cd cover but with all the dimensions and folds, to make it into the cd packaging. The most common dimensions of a cd cover design are 57cm x 14.5cm . 57cm is for 4 panels of 14cm each and a spine. The digi pack can flip open like a book can have three parts so that one side opens to the left and one side opens to the right .The digipack must have an envelope or casing- usually a plastic press to store the dvd/cd , this is usually encased in front of a piece or paper. We want to do ours as a three fold , here is a template i found on the internet.