Design Reference (Tim Findlay u3026675)

When approaching the design reference, I went about finding websites that were specifically designed for promoting a product or media form. The website that I have chosen to create for my assignment is the Vans Warped Tour, which is an American punk rock festival. When thinking about the overall website and how it should look and operate I searched for sites that had a common promotional theme, the five websites that I have chosen all promote a product whether it is music or clothing apparel. My five websites include, the current Vans Warped Tour Page, the official As I Lay Dying (Band) website, ES Footwear website, Epitaph Records website and the Fat Wreck Chords website. Over all I was looking for websites which hold quite a lot of information but have been designed with a simplistic style. All five of these websites share common layout features and characteristics and also combine the promotion of music and clothing. In regards to the classification of these websites, four can be placed in the category of web 2.0, allowing the user to interact and be a part in the development of the website.

Design Characteristics

Header Bar

It is a common occurrence on all five of the websites, that there is a navigation bar at the top of every page; this being because it is generally the first item to be viewed on a website. Each of these sites has a clear header outlining the content contained within the website. This characteristic allows the audience to obtain quick information about the website and allows it to be searched in an easy and painless manner. As you can see below, each navigation bar may vary in content but all are very similar in terms of there layout structure.

Site logos/Flash banners

A common design characteristic in all five websites is the site logo or banner, some have been created using flash and others are just a stand alone image or symbol telling the viewer the page in which they have entered. The As I Lay Dying website has constructed a flash logo that moves while surfing the page. This is a good reference for me as the page that I want to create is going to have a flash banner that animates while the page is being browsed. This banner is simple yet effective, and gives a dark mood to the website, blending into the background very well. It is a simplistic design but effective element and characteristic for the page. As can be notice when surfing the page, the banner remains present on each of the websites pages, which is also something that I wish to achieve when creating my own site. The Epitaph Records website also has a flash banner which is located at the top of the page, in which a water effect has been created over the picture of the view of the Hollywood Hills, incorporated into the banner is also the Epitaph logo, which is also present in both the Es, Vans Warped Tour and Fat Wreck chords sites. Each of the websites logos without fail is a link back to the home page, a simple design convention that web surfers rely on.

Layout

In terms of the design layout all five sites are centred in the middle of the browser pages, which scroll down in a vertical manner. Most of the pages have been split into two or three columns; the Vans Warped Tour home page is split right down the centre with a majority of space allocated for advertising products. The As I lay Dying site, has three column display but is gradually altered as different pages are accessed. The greatest similarity in terms of page layout would have to be the table layout between both The Epitaph Records website and The Fat Wreck Chords site. Both have a long table that extends down the left hand side of the website, the rest of the space allocated to larger tables displaying information and media. The greatest consistency in relation to layouts and tables would have to be the Es Footwear pages, mainly consisting of a two column set up, with the navigation links always situated on the left had side of the pages. In terms of practicality of layout the Es Footwear page would have to win. The information, products/product advertising are very easy to access allowing you not to feel lost and in control of browsing the page, this is also evident in the Vans website. The downfall of the Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords sites are the fact that there is a large amount of information and media promotion displayed on each of the sites pages, you tend to feel lost and confused when trying to find a specific band or piece of merchandise. Also loading time in relation to the Epitaph site can be quite irritating when browsing each of the pages.

Displaying Media

Predominantly throughout the all five websites is the display of media, being websites that are designed for promoting music and clothing products this is not surprising. The Epitaph Records site has the largest amount of media content. This website displays mp3s, video, ring tones, photos and embedded music players that are previewing new release tracks. This is also a great site to use as a reference for our project as we have to create a site that will deal with uploading media. The problem with the Epitaph website is the amount media present on the pages, with the streaming audio, promotional banners etc, it seems to feel and run quite slow. Those accessing this page would have to use a broadband connection, as 56k would make for a very unpleasant experience. Es Footwear also displays a great deal of media, mostly in the form of videos that are embedded into the site. The layout and structure of the Es website seems to make you feel more organised, its not overloaded with stimulants like the Epitaph page. Also heavily represented is there footwear and clothing apparel, again there are a number of products on display but the website handles it well with categorised sections for both the apparel and footwear. The Fat Wreck Chords site has an elaborate MP3 section which allows you to downloading feature tracks to albums, which is one of the largest MP3 free download content that I have seen on a record label site. With again the left hand table displaying new featured MP3s from recently released albums, and a drop down menu at the top of the page allowing you to search for featured artists music. Media content is also relevant in regards to the As I Lay Dying website, as AILD tube streams video clips, live shows and interviews, which is located on the home page.

Displaying advertising

After dismembering these five websites and looking for design characteristics, similarities with layout etc, it became very apparent that design in relation to advertising was a main characteristic for all 5 websites. The Vans Warped Tour website for example dedicates more space for banners of advertising than content of information about the tour. I found this interesting as on the home page the majority of space is taken up by two large promotional banners for Vans shoes and the fact that the Vans logo at the top of the home page, is smaller and less visible than the advertising banner on the right hand side? This can tell us a great deal about the value that merchandise plays in the overall promotion of the music tour, which is funded by the sales of Vans Merchandise. On the Epitaph website, the largest item on the home page is the advertising slide show in the center of the page, displaying new featured artists and new album releases, which is similar to the Es website, with their large advertising slide banner being the largest and first thing the eye attracts on the home page. So in regard to planning a promotional website, advertising has to be a major item on designers mind.

Footer menu

The footer menu is also something that is present throughout all five websites, which is basically the links repeated that are present in the header tool bar. In some cases the footer menu is the area which website will give you a link to contact the company advertised in the site and also information about who designed to website. Again the footer menu is purely designed for a practical way to navigate around the site, without scrolling back to the top of the page.

Log in option

Log in options are present in all but one of the websites, the As I Lay Dying site does not allow you to log in as a user. All other four can be classified as web 2.0, each will allow the user to contribute to the website, through forums, polls, add as a friend, message boards to discuss topics either about the bands, new Cd’s, tours dates. The Es website has its own blog allowing users to comment on videos, images or anything else that is placed in the blog, also the idea of becoming a subscriber to the sites mailing list is present throughout all of the sites.