The first website I looked at was that of 'Arctic Monkeys'. When looking at their website, I realised that the navigation system was located at the top, with all the pages listed in order. One page that stuck out in particular was the 'photos' page (first image below), which contained a various amount of images from all different things associated with the band, the purpose of which is to give the viewers the opportunity to engage with the band in an interactive way and see pictures of past events, e.g. gigs, to which they can relate and possibly save/use. Another page, which heightens the use of multimedia features and user interactivity, was the 'videos' page (second image); this gives the users the ability to view videos in their primary source, and saves them having to go to external sources, e.g. YouTube, to view videos associated with the artist that they want to view. The last image below shows a part of the website that displays all of the upcoming gig dates of the band. This, as with the videos, gives the users the information they require/want to know on the website and deteriorates the need to get this information elsewhere. Another thing that stuck out was the use of black text on a very light colour background - the two colours compliment each other extremely well, and the size and style (as well as the colour) of some of the text makes it sharp and catches the attention of the users quickly.
The second website I looked at was that of Taio Cruz, and this one differs highly to the one above. As the two images below demonstrate, a heavy use of various colours has been used which could either draw the users into the website, or disturb them from it. The home page of this one (first image) contains a lot of content, in that it has links to the other pages and shows samples of what can be found of them, thus giving the users a feel for the website and allows them to see what it contains. Also, it gives the users the option to purchase the artist's latest song from iTunes, which is very user-friendly and could potentially make the users want to return to the website in future. The second image is the 'about' page, another way in which this website differs from the above. This page provides the user with information about the artist, which is beneficial particularly to users that haven't heard of the artist or don't know much about him.
The third and final website I looked at was that of 'The Courteeners'. This website is similar to both of the websites, firstly in the way that it makes use of a black and white colour scheme, and both colours go very well together. The links are again displayed at the top of the page, and samples of what can be found on these pages is shown on the home page, with which a connection to Taio Cruz's website above can be made. Further similarities to the above two can be seen in the about page - as with Taio Cruz, this provides the users with information about the artist; not exactly necessary, but it supports the artist's image and gives the website a bit of bulk. Also the use of a video page is similar to that of the Arctic Monkeys which, again, allows the users to view the videos whilst on the website instead of having to navigate to another website.
From looking at all the above, it is clear to see that the most common features on websites of an artist are a gallery, an 'about' section, and videos. It is also evident that black and white are very commonly used colours, and having conducted this research, we as a group now have a clearer idea on what to include on the website - a page about the band, a gallery page, and a video page being the main features, as well as a thorough and consistent house-style that will draw users' attention. All of the above artists are listened to greatly by teenagers, our target audience, and we now know what we will have to do in order to first of all capture, and then maintain, the needs of the target audience when they are on the website.
Written by Jack.
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