Intro Statement

Hello viewers, my name is Liam and I am 17 years old. I am currently studying A level media studies. Part of the course entails the production and creation of a Short film so I have decided to create a music video. So this blog will be a portfolio of my work, which includes all of my own research, planning and production of said music video. This in turn will show the journey of the development and creation of my music video. This will be an independent project. I will use all of the skills that I have learnt and developed from my previous experiences working with media, film and photography.

I am planning to create a music video for the rock genre. I have decided to make a music video on this genre because it is my favourite genre of music. The selected genre is broad so I have a large selection of songs to choose from during the planning stage. I have been inspired by many artists like Cage the Elephant and Twenty One Pilots. In addition to the music video, I will also be creating a website in the style of Raury's website as I like the simplistic look that focuses on the music rather than the artist. I will also be creating a Maltese cross style digipak.

Rock music has historic roots as it is derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlier blues, jazz and swing music, and was also influenced by gospel, country and western, and traditional folk music. The diverse background of rock music means that there is the largest potential audience who like this genre of music, so appealing to my target audience may prove a challenge. This is because the audience is split into many different groups e.g C1 and E. This means that it will be challenging to firstly, appeal to each of these groups of people simultaneously and secondly, convey the deeper metaphors and imagery in a way that every member of my target audience can comprehend.

Evaluation Tasks

https://liam6656.wixsite.com/myfinevaluationsite

I decided to use prezi to present my response to evaluation task 4 because it can convey a lot of information easily in a stylish fashion that is visually stimulating. It also demonstrates good use of media technologies as it would be boring and bland just to use blogger to present my response to the evaluation tasks. Please click the following link to see my evaluation tasks, thank you, I hope you enjoy!

Time Plan Evolution

1st time plan:

Red Week = Half Term/Christmas Break


This was posted on the 19th of September 2016

2nd Time plan:

My initial time plan shows naivety as i planned to have 6 Weeks as buffer weeks. I have changed this to a more realistic time plan that I plan to follow. However, I am behind on the creation of the storyboard and the digipak plan as i underestimated how long they would both take. As a result I have left one week blank so that I have time to do finish them off. Moreover, I have also changed how many tasks that I planned to do in one week as I found myself being overwhelmed with work. I have also changed the estimated finish date to a more realistic date as I initially planned to be finished by the 30th of January. So, I hope to follow this time plan more closely than I did with the first one.

This was posted on the 7th of November 2016

3rd Time plan:

This time plan is similar to the previous one, however i have added an additional section for the evaluation. This shall be completed once the main tasks are finished.

This was posted on the 9th of November 2016

4th Time plan:




I made a third time plan for myself around mid January to see how much I had missed and what was left to complete. The time plan changed again as I had to revise for my mock exams and so I was not very productive in producing my media coursework. So I rearranged my plans so that I would finish on time. I had to change the storyboard multiple times due to technical difficulties and audience feedback, which consequently pushed back all of my other plans so I had to make time for everything and do multiple tasks in the same week. At school I would focus on the technical side of things, editing and photography, whilst at home I would focus on the tasks that I was behind on, like the digipak and website plan. I wanted to leave at least two weeks for editing as from previous experiences, I know that it is the most time consuming part of the process. It also determined the quality of my main product - the music video, so I didn't want to rush it as it was a crucial step in the process.

This was posted on the 27th January 2017

Final Time plan:

This was posted on the 14th of March 2017

I was just about able to stick to my Final time plan, however some minor changes had to be made. For instance, I had to spend more time than I had expected to make the digipak and website as my target audience provided a lot of feedback to improve both of them. 

Since completing the project, i have reorganised my blog so that the posts are in a step by step order so that the examiner/viewer can follow the design process of each product easily. This also makes all the changes that I have made to the product clear to the examiner so the individual can see that I am responding to and incorporating audience feedback to make sure that my products appeal to my target audience. I have also changed the dates of my blog so that they can follow this order. Moreover, I have made the homepage my introductory statement so they viewer instantly knows what this blog is about, however it meant that I had to make it my most recent post.

Final Website

Website Prototype 2 – Adjusted to Audience Feedback:

This is the website I created for my artist, which is currently live at: https://liam6656.wixsite.com/myfinishedsite
Home page:



I have made the promised changes to the website. I have added a description of the album underneath the buttons that take the consumer to a page where they can buy the album. The description contains hyperlinks that the audience can click which will take them to a Wikipedia page explaining the word / term in detail, for example there are some links to information about the artist’s song “Fairly Local and “Ride.” This fills empty gap on my homepage whilst at the same time making my website more interactive. Moreover, I have also fixed the links that send the consumer to the store, thus further increasing interactivity.



I have also added a Latest News feed about the band, as it is a convention of music websites. I have created stories based on the official band’s news feed. I have created a timeline from may 29 2014 where the consumer could pre-order the album “Blurryface” to March 2nd 2016 where the official band went on Tour promoting the release of the new album. I intentionally made all of the news focus on the release of the new album as it is what my website is promoting and acts as a form of promotion that modern artist’s websites utilise. However, I have included some images from the official website to enhance the visual appearance and attractiveness of the page. The poster of the emotional roadshow, the gif promoting new merchandise and image of the pre-order bonuses are on the official Twenty One Pilots website and I have used them on my website. Additionally, I have added some clip art to the pages to improve the visual aspects of each page to make sure that they don’t look boring. Furthermore, to improve interactivity and navigation for each page, I have added little arrows that can move the view of the consumer’s page to different segments so that they get an idea of what the important parts of the page are.



I looked back at my research of websites and found that I had overlook a key convention of the website, the option to subscribe to stay up to date. So, I have implemented this at the bottom of the home page so the consumer has the option to join the mailing list so that they can stay up to date on the latest news about the artist, be informed of the tour dates and have the chance of wining free tickets. By following conventions my website becomes closer to a realistic product that looks professional and authentic.



The final adjustment I made to the homepage was the inclusion of the artist’s logo. I put the logo in the top left hand corner of the page and embedded a link to it so that when it is clicked it takes the consumer to the homepage. However the website didn’t have this font so to get it I had to take a screenshot of the text that I wanted and added to the website as a picture. I then positioned it in the top left hand corner to follow conventions.






Music:



As promised, I have changed the image on the music page to a picture of myself. This allows the audience to put a face to the artist’s name. The picture is a medium shot portrait taken with high key lighting so that all of my features are clearly visible. Furthermore, I am looking directly into the camera – trying to grab the audiences attention as it means that I will be making direct eye contact with them, so they may feel a personal connection between the two of us, helping build a fan base for the artist. Moreover, he is wearing the same clothing that he wore during the music video and during the shoot for the digipak cover, so continuity between the three products is strengthened. I have also fixed the button so the song now "Stressed out" now plays if the viewer clicks the play button underneath the digipak cover image.



Also, I have changed the image of the abandoned swing-set, so the one shown in the screenshot is the image that I have taken and edited. The connotations of this image can be seen in the Design Journey for the first website prototype. I have also added three arrows on the music page to make navigation simple and easy, the first arrow takes the audience straight to the music video, so their attention is direct to the main focus of the website. This is especially important because the audience can lose interest if the website is too complex. This makes the main points of each page easy to find, so the delivery of information is quick and concise. There are four arrows on the music page to aid in navigation. I have also used some clip art lines to separate the different anchors of the website, so the page has a better and sharper structure that is easy for the consumer to follow. I have done this with every page on the website, to make the layout of each page look sharper and more organised.



Additionally, I have added the two most recent music videos from the official Twenty One Pilots, as this is a convention of these websites. I discovered this whilst researching websites. It acts as a form of promotion and promotes other work from the artist so the consumer has a wider choice of songs and gets a broader sense of the diverse genres that the artist can cover in their work. This provides an insight into the artist and shows the consumer the artist’s unique style of music/sound.

Tour:



There were no adjustments to be made to the tour page. However, I have added an arrow that aids in the navigation of the tour page. Clicking the arrow will take the consumer to the main focus of the page, in this case tour dates, saving them time and stress of trying to find a specific piece of information.




About:



As promised, I have changed the image on the about page to a picture of myself. As with the image on the music page, I am wearing the same clothing as I wore in the music video and digipak shoot so continuity is established throughout the media products, but especially the website. The image is a medium shot of myself looking to the right. This was an intentional move, as I wanted to divert the attention of the audience to the information on the right as it describes the background of the artist in detail. His appearance is rough, reflecting the effects of the trauma that he went through at the end of the music video (Mental breakdown). His hands are in his pockets connoting that he doesn’t want to be noticed and is uncomfortable; this idea is reinforced as he is trying to divert the audience’s attention away from him. The roguish clothing will look cool to the target audience and will improve their perception of him, as on the outside he looks like a regular teenager (denotation), but if you look closely at his body language (connotation) you can see that he is suffering and has had a traumatic past.

Contact:



Another convention of a website that I forgot to include was the contact section. I found that this was a common part of websites when I was researching them. I have made a simplistic page where the consumer can get in contact with the artist’s managers if they want to book them for a venue / concert / festival.



Merchandise:

As requested, I have removed the merchandise page as it didn’t really add anything to the website. And undermine the professional and classy look of the website.

Website Prototype 1

Website design Journey:

To create the website I used Wix.com a cloud based web development platform that allows users to create HTML5 websites and mobile sites.

In order to obtain the desired outcome of my website, powerpoint was inappropriate because of the restricted layout and lack of options. However, I used the ideas from my mock up as guidance, which made it much easier to create. Moreover, feedback from my target audience about my website mock up revealed that Powerpoint lacked the interactivity which is critical for a website to be effective.

I used my digipak’s front cover image as the main image on the home page, and there is also a similar shot featured in my final video. This links my tasks together, which establishes continuity.

In order to put images on my website they had to be a certain size. The maximum size the images could be was 15mb, some of the images I had were raw files, which meant they were too large. Wix also recommended personal images should be: 1920 px in width and 1280px in height. To alter this I used the crop tool in Adobe Photoshop resize my images to these requirements. This enabled me to include what I wanted in the recommended frame. I then saved the files as a JPEG to make sure they were less than 15mb.

Homepage:

This mid shot of the artist on the digipak cover enables the audience to clearly see who the artist is. This in turn provides information to the viewers, so they know who the website is about. The long exposure gives the image a mysterious look and connotes that the album is going to be very thought provoking and unique. The artist’s facial expression is extremely intense and is looking directly at the camera, thus making a connection with the audience and captivating their attention with the mysterious visuals. Moreover, the image is in black and white, suggesting the album will include dark themes, which adds to the mystery of the artwork, as it applies a sinister twist. It could also be argued that the black and white colour scheme connotes that the artist has regrets about his past, thus adding to the sinister undertone of the artwork. There is only a little lighting on his face, which gives an enigmatic connotation to the artists making the audience want to find out what may be on his mind.

The sans-serif typography is large and clearly states the name of the album and the artist. It makes the cover look modern and is emphasised by contrast of the colour of the text (Orange and white) and the black and white image. The sans serif font of the title of the album (Bad behaviour) looks handwritten – so the connotation is that it looks like the artist wrote it on the album at a time of desperation, most likely during one of his mental breakdowns which makes the album feel more personal and unique which acts as a unique selling point and makes it stick out from all of the other albums. The scribbles suggest that the artist wrote this during a time of suffering, intensifying the deep, dark meaning behind the album and highlighting how this music is the artist’s form of escapism. Moreover, the sans serif font (Distortion Dos Analogue) of the artist’s name is distorted and looks irregular, connoting that it doesn’t conform to normal typefaces that display artist’s names. This is reflective rebellious attitude that is often explored in alternative rock music, so the genre of the album is signified to the audience through the presentation of the font. On the music page the same image is used and there is a button underneath that gives the audience the option to listen to the album. My research showed me that this is a standard convention of artist’s websites and acts as a promotional tool.

Slideshow of images on the homepage:

In response to a comment from my target audience, I filled massive gap in the homepage. Initially, I filled it with merchandise like I said I would in the website mock up, however it looked really bad and undermine the professional, elegant and authentic look that I wanted to website to have, so I replaced it with a slideshow of images from the shoot of the music video. I included a slideshow on my homepage, which shows my personal images. These images were from scenes in the music video, connoting that the main focus of the website is the music video. I saw the slideshow as an opportunity to link my tasks to my final video. I included shots from the video, which would build suspense and make them want to watch the video. It also allows the audience to get familiar with the artist. The images have changed slightly to the ones that I had planned from my mock up, additionally in response to audience feedback I have reduced the amount of images that are in the slideshow, in order to keep the main focus of the website on the music video. The first two images are close ups of candles as they play a pivotal role of symbolism in the music video, so they are key scene in the music video and their connotations from the storyboard are still relevant here. These images were taken during the video shoot and link the website to the music video, maintaining continuity. Image three and five depict the past, which is another key theme that is explored in my music video. Again, the connotations seen in the storyboard are relevant here. One image is a close up of the baby picture of the artist and his brother, whereas the other image is a long shot showing the two sitting on a bench at the location that symbolises the past in my music video. There are two pictures showing the past on my homepage to connote its importance throughout my whole media project. The final picture is a high angle close up of the drumsticks hitting the drum – which provides an insight into the action that is displayed in my music video. This attempts to steer the viewer to watch the music video. The viewer can click on any of the pictures to bring up a window that lets them view the images at a much better quality but at a lower resolution.

Social Media:

Included on the website are various hyperlinks to all forms of social media that the artist is on. As I found in my research, most social media tabs are in the top right hand corner of websites so this is where I positioned them as I wanted my website to follow modern conventions so that it looks more professional and authentic. Also, by doing this I am responding to my audience feedback as it makes the website more interactive. I made the hyperlinks by going to the official page and copying the Url (Uniform Resource Locator) from the browser and copy pasting it into Wix’s navigation system. I had to get each individual Url for each corresponding social media platform.

Navigation bar:

The wix template included a generic navigation bar. I changed the bar so that each page corresponded with my website mock up. These buttons make it easy to navigate around the website, allowing viewers to get to where they need to within two clicks. This is important as interest can be lost if the site is too complex. Moreover, my research informed me that the navigation bar is a convention of websites.

Music page + Video:

By clicking the music hyperlink on the navigation bar the audience will be taken to the music page of my website. I have embedded my finished music video from my YouTube channel onto the website. This automatically plays when the music page loads – this instantly grabs the attention of the audience member and draws their attention to it. The auto play feature is also a very easy way for people to listen to the artist’s music without listening to the whole album. It will draw the audience attention and showcase the artist’s talent. I have stuck to my plan of using a grey-scaled image of a swing set as the background for the video – reinforcing the theme of the past. The background picture is a photo of an isolated swing set to reinforce the feeling of nostalgia. The picture is black and white to connote that it is lost and is in the past, which is reflective of the longing for the past that is explored in my music video thereby connecting the two products. I also have a device that gives the audience the option to listen to the full album by clicking the play button, however, it currently does not work and will need to be fixed in the final tweaks to the website. This will be fixed when I adjust the website to the feedback I get from my audience. I have also included the actual retail price of the album to reinforce the realism of the website. Furthermore, I have introduced the new album on the music page as it is the first thing that can be seen, just like it is the first thing that can be seen on the home page, the connotation of this is that it highlights the importance of the music and how the music is more important than the artist. It also acts as a promotional function that websites tend to use to promote new releases from the artist. I also plan to include an image of myself so the audience can identify who the artist is and can put a face to the name. The contrast between the Serif and sans serif font connote that the album doesn’t fit in with a set genre/style, as the songs in the album are diverse and cover a variety of genres, thus highlighting one of the albums unique selling points. The sans serif font above the image of the artist connote that he is a unsophisticated and is a more regular and rough teenager, reflecting the style of music that he plays. The connotation of the bold effect of the font is that suggests that there is something dynamic about this person that makes him stand out, it is alluding to his mental illness (MADD) that is explored and fleshed out in the music video and digipak. The image of the artist will be a long shot so the audience can clearly see him, he will be wearing the jumper that he wore in the music video, and that he is wearing in the digipak cover. This creates continuity between my three media products.

Often people just want to listen to one song before listening to an album. Having a promotional music video draws people in, allowing them to get to know the artist.

Tour:

As requested by my target audience, I have simplified the layout of the tour page and I have also removed the image that was distracting the audience’s attention away from the tour dates. I have also connected the Bandsintown account to the official Twenty One Pilots so that the tour dates on the website are the official tour dates for the actual band. This adds a level of realism and authenticity to the website. I have stuck with the black, white and orange colour scheme in order to establish continuity between the three media products and to promote the artist’s brand (as the colours associated with the artist are Black, White and Orange). These colours ensure that the dates stand out on the page so that they are clearly visible to the target audience.

About:

I have changed the layout of the about page slightly as I wanted to continue using a black background on every page on the website to establish continuity. I have kept an image of the artist but it is a much smaller size, however he will still be clearly visible and identifiable so the connotations don’t change. I have also included a few paragraphs of information about the artist. There are hyperlinks in the writing that the audience can click if they want to know any more about that specific detail. This improves the interactivity of my website, making it a useful resource that provides a detailed background about the artist. I decided to change the font of the title to sans serif in order to coincide with the text on the other pages as it maintains continuity throughout the website.

Merchandise:



The merchandise page looked really bad and my target audience agreed with me, as a result i have decided to remove it as it doesn't add much to the website.

Audience Feedback:

Home page:

“I think you should add a little description of the album in the space underneath the buy now buttons as it will fill the empty space, or include something along the lines of #1 Best seller to fill the empty space as it is distracting and look unprofessional.”

“You should add the logo of the artist (Twenty one pilots) to the homepage, as it is a convention of homepages and will make the website look more authentic.”

“The Homepage is lacking in terms of content, I think you should add something to develop it as in its current state it looks unfinished, include something like the latest news about the artist as that seems to be a convention of website like these.”

“I think you should make the background black and the text white as it would make the site look more classy and polished.”

“I think you could improve the website by making it more navigable, for example making it so that navigation through a page is faster and easier rather than just making it easy to get to the page.”

“The links on the homepage that are suppose to redirect you to the sites where you can purchase the album don’t work, you should add these links as it would improve the websites interactivity.”

Music page:

“You need to change the image on the music page to a picture of you – the current one is not you and is misleading as I got confused about who the artist was”

“You need to change the image of the swing set to one that you took as it is misleading and adds to the atmosphere of the website.”

About page:

“You need to change the image on about page to picture of you as the one there is not you so its unclear who the artist actually is”

Merchandise Page:

“The merch page looks really bad and takes away from the sophisticated design of the website, you should either change it completely or just remove it as it doesn’t add much to the website.”

My Response To Audience Feedback:

Here is what I plan to do change in order to appeal and adjust the website to what the target audience have said:

1. I shall add a small description of the album on the homepage to fill the gap.
2. I will add the logo of the band to the website and put it in the top left hand corner as that is traditionally where the logo of the band goes on the website.
3. I shall add a thread of the latest news about the artist to flesh out the homepage.
4. I have Changed the background of the website to black and the text to white to make it look more elegant, classy and sophisticated.
5. I will add more features to improve the navigation of the individual pages to make the website more interactive.
6. I will fix the links on the homepage that are meant to take the audience to the respected page where they can purchase the album.
7. I will change the image on the music page to a picture of myself to establish that I am the artist and so that the audience can put a name to the face.
8. I will change the image of the abandoned swing-set to one that I have taken and edited.
9. I will change the image on the about page to an image of myself - for the same reasons as why i'm changing the picture on the music page.
10. I will remove the merchandise page.

Website Mock up

I created a mock-up of my website using PowerPoint. The purpose of this mock-up was to develop and experiment with my ideas. I also wanted to get an indication into which layout I would be using.

Homepage:

The first thing seen on the website is the new album from the artist. This is deliberate as the music is the unique selling point of the artist and it tends to be what the audience like the most about the artist. As a result of it being the first thing seen on the website, it informs the audience of the release of the new album. However, the album produced on the mock up website is rather small, so it needs to be enlarged as it is the main point of attraction. I may also decide to centre the album on the page to signify that it is the main point of attraction. This also acts as a form of promotion for the album. This is a common strategy that is implemented in most modern music websites. This in turn encourages more streams and downloads which in turn will increase the revenue that the artist and the label will receive.

Moreover, feedback from my target audience has shown that they don’t like the font of the artist’s logo, as it looks too childish considering the genre of music. In response, I will change the font to a more simple and rugged/ sharper font to reflect the connotations associated with rock music, being associated with aggression and violence. Furthermore, the audience also didn’t like the empty space on the home page, so in response I will make the digipak larger and feature some merchandise in order to fill up the unnecessary space.

Also, I have provided links to websites where the album can be purchased as this tended to be a convention, which I gathered from my previous website research. I researched My Chemical Romance’s website in the past which used their newest album on the home page so it can be considered to be the inspiration behind the layout of my website. By following conventions and having a layout like this, my website becomes closer to a realistic media product which in turn makes it look more authentic.

I have used a white background on the website to contrast the dark colours featured on the digipak to enhance the artwork and to make it stand out. From my research, I learnt that, most websites have a horizontal navigation bar across the top of the page for easy navigation around the website. So, I too have used a horizontal navigation bar across the top of the page that utilises hyperlinks on my website so that the audience can find what information that they are looking for easily and quickly. It also enables the audience to find the artist’s music instantly. I learnt that the use of hyperlinks are a convention of music websites from my research so once again my product is close to a professional and realistic website as it follows conventions.

From my research, I learnt that the primary photo on most websites is one of the artist. This can be the photo that is used on the cover of the artist’s newest album, or a collage of photos from tours, gigs and photo shoots used for the promotion of their album. In some cases the main image on the website isn’t linked to their newest album, for example, if they are an established artist and have been successful for a long time, their image might be one that generally matches their known star image and style, like P!NK’s website. So, I have decided to feature a picture of the artist on the homepage, which can be seen on the cover of the digipak, this instantly creates a connection between the artist and the brand name so the audience can put a face to the name. the artist will also be wearing the same clothes as the ones he wore in the music video in order to create a sense of continuity and brand between the three products.

My website research showed that the artist’s logo is usually consistent with the font and colour of their most recent album cover. This is used to promote their new album, as the artist will want to gain as much exposure as possible to increase the sales of their new album/song. The logo also tends to match the overall theme of the website. As a result I have kept the same font and colour scheme of the artist’s logo on the website and the digipak, moreover I have used the same black and white colour scheme for the two products too. However, my target audience didn’t like the font so both will be changed to a different font that is more suited to appeal to my target audience.

Additionally, there are the artist’s social media links on the homepage. The social media tab is full of hyperlinks, which will take consumers to Twenty One Pilots’ social media account pages. This includes; Soundcloud, Spotify and Youtube. Consumers will be able to find the artist’s music on these sites. Furthermore, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are featured, these sites enable the audience to keep up with the artist’s lifestyle.

The black and white colour scheme continues throughout the website to create a sense of continuity. It also connects it to the digipak as they both follow the same colour scheme; this reinforces the idea of the two products being a part of a brand.

Music - Slide 2:

My website research taught me that more often than not, there is a page dedicated to music videos, or videos of live performances. This use of multi-media encourages the audience to view more of the artist’s content, especially on YouTube, because YouTube views have recently become another measure of popularity and success, as well as album sales. Sometimes the music videos are restricted to one page on the website, however, other times the music videos are a feature on the homepage, where consumers can view them in a small section.

In response to this I have created a page dedicated to my music video in order to follow modern music website conventions. By doing this my website looks more authentic and genuine.

Clicking the music hyperlink will take people to the music video page. For the mock up I have just put in a screenshot of a video that is about to start playing so that I could get an idea of how the spacing would be. As of right now my video can be activated by the clicking on it, however, for my final website I want to make my videos play automatically as it will hopefully draw the attention of the audience to the music video which is the main focus of the website. The music video will be from YouTube and will be embedded on my site. This will be the final version of my music video and will link the three tasks together.

The background picture is a photo of an isolated swing set to reinforce the feeling of nostalgia. The picture is black and white to connote that it is lost and is in the past, which is reflective of the longing for the past that is explored in my music video thereby connecting the two products.

Gallery - Slide 3:

This will be a slideshow of some pictures from the music video shoot. However, feedback from my target audience showed that they thought that there were too many pictures so I will no be including the close up of the artist or a picture of the student’s room. Instead I will have a close up of the artist on the about page as it seems more fitting. This will provide an insight into the actual music video and some of the visuals that are included in the video.

Tour - Slide 4:

The ‘Tour’ hyperlink takes the consumer to a list of dates and venues. I used an image of the official twenty-one pilots band on tour however, my target audience didn’t like this as they said it was distracting and the main focus of the tour page should be the providing the consumer with the dates of the tour. In response to this, I will remove the picture and fill up the space with extra tour dates when making my final website.

About - Slide 5:

The ‘about’ hyperlink will take the consumer to a page of information about the artist with an image of him in the centre to show that he is the main focus point and centre of attention of the page.

Slide 6:

The ‘Merch’ hyperlink will send the consumer to the official Twenty one Pilots merchandise page where they can buy official merchandise form the band.

Audience Feedback:

Good:

- They liked the Colour scheme, they said it looks very sophisticated in Black and white

- They liked the way I promoted the digipak on the home page as it is the first thing being seen

- They also liked the pictures


Improvements:

- They said that the website could be more interactive – My response will be to make the website more interactive by imbedding links onto the site so navigation is easier. By doing this the website also becomes more interactive

- They said that there were too many images in the gallery section, so many that it was distracting the audience from the main focus of the website, which is the music video – My response will be to reduce the number of pictures in the gallery section on the website so that the focus is restored back to the music video

- They also commented on how I should fill up the empty space on the home page – My response will be to fill this space with some merchandise which will act as another form of promotion which in turn may boost sales of the artist’s merch

- One member of my target audience suggested that I could create a slideshow for the pictures that are in the gallery section – My response will be to use this idea in my final design for the website as it will make the website look more professional and authentic

- One member of my target audience said that they didn’t like the cover image for the digipak as it was too grey and looked bland and boring – My response will be to use a lighter shade of black and white so that the greyscale is not overpowering.

- As seen on the digipak feedback – some members of my target audience didn’t like the font that was featured on the digipak as it looked childish – My response will be to run a tally with 15 people from my target audience to see which font they like the most and the winner of the poll will be used in the final design. By doing this I know that I will be appealing to the majority of my target audience even though the sample is small.

- They also didn’t like the image on the tour page, they said it was too big and recommended that I either remove it or use a smaller image as it distracting – My response will be to remove the image as it is too distracting from the main focus of the page, which is the tour dates.

Target Audience Feedback Tally:

Conclusion:

My results show that the majority of the Target audience like the font Bad behaviour, so in the end I wont be changing the font. However, by doing this I now know that I am appealing to the majority of my target audience.

Twenty One Pilots Website Analysis

Home Page:

A mid shot of the two band members that make up the band ‘Twenty One Pilots’ is used as the main image on the home page. This establishes who they are, allowing the audience to identify the band’s members whilst conveying their appearances and personas through a still image. The image of the two members takes up the entire page signifying the importance that they hold in relation to the band. The name of the band is positioned at the top of the page to illustrate the fact that these two men are the members of the band called ‘Twenty One Pilots’. 

Furthermore, this is the bands logo which means that the consumers will be able to recognise the artist’s brand. Additionally, there are abstract patterns featured on the page in the upper left and bottom right corners of the screenshot. These are patterns that feature on the cover of the band’s new album ‘Blurryface’, Tyler Joseph (The lead singer of ‘Twenty One Pilots’ stated in an interview that each pattern represents a song on the album and that these patterns add a deeper layer of meaning to the art as each pattern has a special meaning to him and the drummer of the band Josh dun. So this acts a promotional feature on the website as it is promoting their new album in an obscure and subtle way and acts as an easter egg for the more diehard fans. All of these elements come together to create an aesthetically pleasing, simple and effective website layout.

The two are positioned very close together which connotes their chemistry and strong connection. The overlapping shoulders and closeness unites the band as one making their relationship appear strong which suggest that they have known each other for quite some time and are comfortable around each other.

They are dressed in white clothing which is an oxymoron as their music explores dark themes like depression and loss. The clothing that the lead singer wears is reflective of the character that he plays in the music videos of the songs featured on the new album. He plays a character who is insecure about everything however he is especially insecure about the songs he writes and sings, so to represent this he wears black paint on his neck and hands. Tyler also wears the paint in the music video for ‘Stressed out’. 

The other insecurities are connoted as he wears multiple layers to cover his body and a hat to cover his hair. The other character that is depicted throughout the album is Blurryface, he is the opposite of lead singer Tyler Joseph. Blurryface would be Hyde if Tyler was Dr. Jekyll. Blurryface’s presence is connoted by darkness and the colour red and the red hat that he wears connotes that Blurryface is trapped inside his mind where he is constantly tormenting Tyler. This is seen in the song ‘Fairly Local’ as during the bridge Blurrface sings ‘Yo, this song will never be on the radio’ which indicates that Blurrface wants Tyler to change the music style whereas Tyler sings “I’m fairly local, I’ve been around.” This is an indication of him still staying true to his roots and how he feels a connection to his true fans who have been with him from the beginning. ‘Fairly Local’ is the 4th track on ‘Blurryface’.

The aggressive facial expression of Josh dun is reflective of the passion and energy that is expressed in their music. Moreover, this also portrays him as a dominant and masculine man which are qualities of a stereotypical man, so the female fans of the band may feel a sense of sexual attraction towards him as he is being presented as a hooligan. The use of direct eye contact with the camera captivates the attention of their target audience and stimulates a closer, almost personal connection between the band and audience members. So the bond between the two are strengthened and fans will feel more passionate about them due to this feeling of a connection. The non-revealing outfits also reflects the age of the audience as it is a youthful age range from 10-18.

Webstore:

Immediately after the home page is the webstore which is accessed by scrolling down the page or by being inactive for about 30 seconds, at which point the site will automatically scroll the page down. It is the first page that appears after the home page. The pictures act as a hyperlink which sends the user to the band’s official store page where they can purchase the artist’s merchandise, music in various forms including CD, Digital, Vinyl and even Cassette; this indicates that the band is also trying to appeal to an older market as they still produce their music on ‘old media’ like Vinyl and cassette. This acts as promotional coverage for the band’s merchandise.

Hyperlinks:

The hyperlinks are in a menu that is on the left of the webstore page, the mouse curser can be seen hovering over it in the screenshot. This in turn means that the hyperlinks are slightly difficult to find, however, it makes the websites layout look more clean and professional. The hyperlinks make the website navigation simple and easy for the consumer. Everything about the band is categorised and easy to access. The font that the hyperlinks use is the same font which is used in the band’s logo which indicates that the content featured within these categories are a part of the ‘Twenty One Pilots’ brand. On the other hand, the content may just be information about the band itself.

Music:

The music hyperlink takes the consumer to Twenty One Pilot’s discography. It shows their first studio album ‘Vessel’ and their newest album ‘Blurryface.’ Clicking one of the albums redirects the consumer to a page featuring the release date of the album, the track list and provides 3 links where the consumer has a choice of downloading, streaming or going to the site’s store to purchase the album. This allows the consumer to access the information that they want to know easily and quickly. The albums are laid out chronologically with the latest album ‘Blurryface.’ This allows the audience to see and listen to the progression and continuity of the group. It also allows the audience to hear how their sound and style of music has evolved over the years.

As I have previously analysed the cover of Blurryface, I shall now go on to analyse the cover of ‘Vessel’. Vessel is the third album released by American musical duo Twenty One Pilots, which was released on January 8, 2013. It is the band's first studio album released via Fueled by Ramen, and their major-label debut album. As of July 2016, the album sold 569,000 copies. The two elderly men pictured on the album cover are Joseph and Dun's grandfathers. This signifies that they have a close bond with them as they were chosen feature on their first studio album. All of ‘Twenty One Pilot’s’ albums don’t feature the band on the cover, which suggest that they are not concerned with their image.

News:

The news section of the website allows consumers and fans of the band to stay up to date with all the news surrounding the band. This helps strengthen the connection between the band and the target audience. The news includes new releases, events, streaming news, new merchandise and information about some of the songs that feature on the new album. The black and white and orange colour scheme shows continuity throughout the website.

Pictures:

The band also features professional quality pictures on the website to depict the emotion and passion that is expressed during their live performances which aims to encourage current and new fans to go and see them live. The pictures are all in black and white, which is used to reflect the dark themes that are explored in their music.

Tour:

There is a hyperlink to all of Twenty One Pilots’ tour dates on the webpage. This informs all of their fans of the venues that the band will be performing at. It also gives them the options to buy tickets and tells them which shows are sold out.

Social Media:

‘Twenty One Pilots’ use social media in order to make it easier for their fan base to find and follow them. This allows them to stay in contact and feel a connection with the artist.

There are a variety of options because different age ranges use specific sites; for instance Facebook is associated with the older generation, as they are the prime users whereas Twitter is associated with young people as they primarily use it. So by doing this, the band has the potential to appeal to the widest demographic as the band has a profile on most mainstream social media networks so all age ranges will have the option to follow them if they want to.

The band’s presence on social media is important as they are now considered a mainstream band so the fans will want to connect, learn about and keep updated on one of their favourite bands. The social networking sites can also be used as a marketing tool which is more effective than the actual website as it reaches the target audience directly and quickly. So this can also be considered as a smart business move as it is another effective form of promotion for when they release a new song, album or when they are touring. Additionally, the band also features a link to their YouTube page, which will direct the consumer to the ‘Twenty One Pilots’ channel, where one of their songs will automatically play so the band will gain some money from advertisement revenue. Moreover, the consumer might want to explore some more of their music, increasing the revenue that they will receive.

Also the band can update their following using social media. Through technological convergence these sites have become accessible on most devices making them able to see when are where he uploads images or videos.

They feature this option at the bottom of all of the pages that are on their website. There is also the option to submit your email address. This will put said email address on a mailing list, where the website will send out emails about tour dates, video premieres, special announcements. In addition, the consumer will receive a special offer on their birthday.