Analysing Promotional Websites and Fansites

I am thinking about doing a website for one of my ancillary tasks, so I have decided to research other websites to give me ideas, and also what their target audience are fans of.

Ellie Goulding - www.elliegoulding.co.uk

The main conventions of her website are:

• Music player - it plays her tracks which appear on her album which is out in stores. Also if new listeners are looking at her website, they have a chance to listen to her music before they buy it.
• Internal links - there are 10 links below her name banner, which indicate where they will take you to. Home, About, Videos, Ellie Cam, News, Gallery, Tour, Forum, Store and Free Download.
• Links to external websites - these are links which will take the user to her fan pages on other external sites. Youtube, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, We7, Spotify and The Hype Machine. This is a use of Web2.0.
• Mini Store - on the right side of the website, there is a small list (under the music player) of her single and her album. This is a link to the store, where you can buy them.
• Scrollable Image Links - the main part of this website is the scrollable picture links in the center, across the screen. These show various news about her, new videos to watch and tours/festivals she is playing at.
• Background - the background of her website is a image of her eye, which fades in and out very slowly. It is almost unnoticeble, but it links to her album art in a way by using the same similar colours and lighting.

How colour, images and typography has been used to signify the artist's style:

• The colour is fairly dark, but the fading background image is very effective.
• The colour's, font and images used are similar to the ones that have been used on her album artwork.
• Both her myspace and her website have similar designs, which continues the brand that she is trying to portray.
• The hyperlinks which are used have a roll over colour, white turns to pink. These are colours which show up well on the black fading background and show that the links are being hovered over.
• All the font which is used is the same, this shows that the fonts are continuing on all her products and websites.

Elements of the website that are successful and unsuccessful:

• I find the scrollable images are successful, because your attention automatically goes to them to find all the newest event that are happening with Ellie Goulding. I like the fact that it is scrollable, because it makes it easier to show lots of information in a small place.
• I think the music player is a good idea, although itwould be better if it could start automatically. I find this, because some people who go on websites prefer it to start when they enter it rather than looking for it to start.
• The external hyperlinks make it quicker to find her other websites and fan sites which show her music, photos and recent events.
• I think the background is very effective, with the way that it glows and fades in and out. If you wait and watch it, small sparkles will pop up which relate to the ones on her album cover.

Wolfmother - www.wolfmother.com

The main conventions of their website are:

• Animated design - their website has a very simple design making it easy to navigate, but the design that the have done is animated. It starts off with just the landscape background and then the links fade in. The egg emerges from the water, with an animated water effect and then the egg starts to glow with multicolours. This glowing effect loops, which birds flying around it. The band name and album name fade in and this relates to a similar design for their album artwork.
• Internal links - there are links which go to other places in the website. Home, News, Live, Music, Photos, Videos and Store.
• Mirrored effect - A mirrored effect is used on the animated design, this fills the screen and also continues the theme of their album artwork.

How colour, images and typography has been used to signify theartist's style:

• The Wolfmother logo is their name, and that is in the same font as it has always been. This keeps their theme and also makes it memorable to their audience.
• The album is called 'Cosmic Egg' and this is used on the website, this is also the same font as it is presented on their album artwork.
• The internal links that have been used are in a simple font and are presented in capital letters, when the mouse is rolled over it they turn an orange colour. This is effective because it shows that the user is selecting that link.
• The images which are used are animated and they are animated in a very simple way, which works well with the theme. If the animating was too complex, it would be hard to go with the fonts which are simple.

Elements of the website that are successful and unsuccessful:

• I found the use of animate very effective and it keeps the user interested in the page for that 2 second period which should strike their attention.
• Where the internal links are, at the bottom, the Store link seems to be cut off with a black line. This seems to be a border and goes around the image. I think this makes the page look a bit disorganised and messy.

You Me At Six - www.youmeatsix.co.uk

The main conventions of their website are:

• Internal links - there are 7 links below the bands name banner, which indicate where they take you to. Home, News, Band, Tour, Media, Backstage and Store.
• Music Video Player - there is a video to the right of the bands name banner which is in a retro games console frame. The frame fits in with the theme of the website. The video is of one of their recent singles.
• External links - below the internal links there are 3 links that take you to different websites. The left being their tour dates, centre is a application for an iphone and the right is a polling station to vote for them. If you scroll down the page, there are more links at the bottom which include: Flickr, Facebook, Bebo, YouTube, Twitter and Myspace.They have been made to look like ripped pieces of paper on the webpage. This uses Web2.0.
• Band Members - at the top of the page, where the information starts, there are 5 pictures of the band. They are made to look like polaroids and beneath them is their recent activity on their twitter pages. This is useful for fans to follow them, or find out the latest news in their lives.
• News Blog - a blog for what is going on with them. It will show recent events and stories about tour dates, album and single sales and general news about the band.

How colour, images and typography has been used to signify the artist's style:

• The background is made to look like old paper which is ripped and with coffee/tea stains. This is a retro design the links, pictures and videos have been fitted well into the style of it.
• Both the album artwork and their website share the same themes. Where the bands name banner is, it is the same one which is on the front of the album cover, just without the album name.
• Following on with the design of the album artwork and the website, their myspace is a similar theme as well, accept the colour scheme is slightly lighter at the top of the page. The video with is on their myspace, at the top, is a different one to the one of their website.
• The internal links are hyperlinks, and the colour of them are red, which fit well into the theme. When the mouse rolls over them, they go a dark red colour, this works well and shows which link is being clicked on.
• The font all over the website is the same and the colour of the font is: red for links, dark brown for text and a grey/white for the 'Sitemap' section at the bottom of the page.

Elements of the website that are successful and unsuccessful:

• I think the bands name banner at the top of the page is very successful. It is big and bold and can't be mistaken for anything else. It has followed the same theme on both the album cover and their myspace, this makes it more memorable to their audience.
• I really like the idea of the music video player, and the retro games console frame for it, but it seems that it doesn't have the latest music video up, so it should be updated more often, although this might be hard to do for the way it has been coded.
• The polaroid pictures of the band are helpful, because they show what they look like, who they are and their Twitter's. There is also an option to follow them on Twitter if you have the need to. This is much quicker than actually searching for them.
• The external links are a very helpful feature and makes it quicker to find their other websites. The store is an internal link, but it makes it a lot easier to purchase products on the site. There is also exclusive products that can only be bought from their site.