Evaluation Task 1

Media Conventions in our Website

What are media forms and conventions?– A media FORM is the overall shape of a media product such as a music video or

a comic book.

– A media CONVENTION is like a set of clues in a text that we associate with, for example if you see cowboys, a desert setting, horses and tumbleweed you know you are watching a Western film.

HomepageWebsite

Because our artists are new to the music industry, we put a group photo of them on the homepage, so that their fans could know who they are listening to. This challenges a typical convention that indie-rock artists and bands do not into their appearances but due to the fact it is their first album, they need to get their faces out there so they don’t need to do it again. Oasis has also gone down the same route as us although due to their large budget, they have obviously hired an accomplished website designer. This is because they have a video as their background for the homepage. It is unclear whether the men in the video are Oasis, or just people dancing around in a club. This doesn't matter though, because it sparks curiosity with their fans and they are encouraged to find out ”what’s the story” that is so boldly written on the homepage.

HomepageWebsite

Because our artists are new to the music industry, we put a group photo of them on the homepage, so that their fans could know who they are listening to. This challenges a typical indie-rock convention artists promote their appearances over their music, but we made an exception considering this is they are a new band. Death Cab For Cutie has gone along with the common convention as they have not plastered their faces on the website’s homepage. The band’s name is smaller than their current album which heavily suggests that they want the people who visit the website to pay more attention to the purchasable album as opposed to their name. This also follows the convention against narcissism as DCFC are putting more importance into their new album as opposed to their name.

MerchandiseWebsite

Because our band are new to the music scene, they do not have a large enough fan base for them to create and sell merchandise. However, if they were more well known, then they would most likely sell t-shirts, CDs, key rings and other various accessories.Due to their long stint in the music industry and their obvious popularity, Oasis have a large online shop as part of their website. In this shop they sell music, clothing and accessories that will no likely have images of them, previous album artwork and names of popular songs strewn all over the merchandise.

MerchandiseWebsite

In the future we would like to sell merchandise such as vinyl's, t-shirts, key rings and posters, but do to the newness of Nothing to Kings, their little fan base means it is unrealistic to produce and distribute merchandise. However, due to their longevity Death Cab For Cutie have a large online shop included in their website. In this shop they sell mostly sell music, but also stock clothing and accessories. Their stock means that fans can purchase differing items and raise even more visibility for the band by wearing/using their merchandise in public. For example, if someone wore a DCFC t-shirt outside, then people will see the bands name written across it and possibly go and listen to their music.

TouringWebsite

Touring is a very prominent aspect of the music industry as it acts as the primary way of artists and bands making a large sum of money, especially seeing as more and more people are buying album on iTunes rather than a physical copy. This meant that we were keen to include a touring page for Nothing to Kings fans to buy tickets from. This page included dates for concerts, the venues and a link to a buying page for tickets. Seeing as the band is relatively new to the music industry, we opted for only a few dates in smaller cities, rather than lots of concerts in all the major cities across the globe. This way, they are more likely to sell out concerts without spending too much money on booking the venue. Oasis have been a popular indie-rock band for several years so they have been able to track their concerts for a long time. On their website, they have links to maps and lists of upcoming gigs, as well as highlighting their most popular gigs of the past. This is only possible due to the fact they have been so successful in the past. This way of laying out their touring page has meant that die-hard fans are able to go back and relive the best Oasis concerts years after the event.

TouringWebsite

Touring is a very prominent aspect of the music industry as it acts as the primary way of artists and bands making a large sum of money, especially seeing as more and more people are buying album on iTunes rather than a physical copy. We were therefore keen to include a page for Nothing to Kings fans to buy tickets for upcoming gigs and tours. This page included dates for concerts, the venues and a link to a buying page for tickets. On their website, Death Cab For Cutie also have a touring page where fans can buy tickets for various venues around the world. Their touring page is very straight forward. It tells the buyer when the gig is, what the venue is, and where in the world it is. You can then click “buy tickets” and the rest is history.

Typography

– Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs (kerning).

– The two main categories are “serif” and “sans-serif”, however, there are several subcategories within those two brackets. For example:

Website

TypographyWebsite

Although things like font may seem like an insignificant detail to a website, it is actually incredibly important and can be highly influential. This is because once a font is chosen, it usually becomes synergistic with the rest of their products and that font becomes known as “that bands font”. With all of Nothing to Kings products (album and website) we have gone for a mix between “old-style” font and “grotesque” font because firstly, it suits the styles we have gone for with the album and website, but also the mix of typography is a physical representation of the mix of influences the band has had. Oasis have only used lower-case lettering on their website, which is supposedly easier to read. This choice, however; shows that the band are laid back with their music as well as the appearance of the website. This calm approach to the font in their website shows that they have followed the guidelines of the convention that indie-rock bands aren’t narcissistic.

TypographyWebsite

Although things like font may seem like an insignificant detail, it is actually incredibly important because once a font is chosen, it becomes known as “that bands font”. With all of Nothing to Kings products (album and website) we have gone for a mix between “American Typewriter” and “Avenir Next” because it suits the style of the website, but also the mix of typography is a literal portrayal of the mix of influences the band has had (rock and indie music). Death Cab For Cutie have only used upper-case lettering on their website. This choice shows that the band are confident in their music as well as the appearance of the website. This bold choice in font for their website shows that they have followed the guidelines of the convention that indie-rock bands aren’t narcissistic, and that they want their bands to follow their music.

LinksWebsite

In the online age, social media has a massive say in the success of a media text. It has provided new, cheaper methods of marketing and distribution of products, which means new bands like Nothing to Kings stand a chance of surviving in the music industry when competing against famous bands like Oasis. Because sites like YouTube and Twitter are free to sign up to, we created a Twitter account and posted the music video to YouTube in order to increase visibility for the band. We then linked these pages to the website (see left image above) so that avid fans can keep track of the group and learn about upcoming events sooner. Oasis has also done this, but because they have been around longer than Nothing to Kings, and they have a larger fan base, they have linked more social networking sites. Linking social media sites to a band’s website it not uncommon in today’s society and is a convention seen not only in the indie-rock genre, but in all genres of music. This is because

it helps a band to send their music to their fans and also to get news out to the world in a cheap, easy way.

LinksWebsite

In the online age, social media has a massive say in the success of a media text. It has provided new, cheaper methods of marketing and distribution of products, which means new bands like Nothing to Kings stand a chance of doing well with their music. Because sites like YouTube and Twitter are free to sign up to, we created a Twitter account and posted the music video to YouTube in order to increase visibility for the band. We then linked these pages to the website (see left image above) so it makes it easier for fans to follow them. Death Cab For Cutie has also done this, but they have linked more social networking sites like Instagram and Amazon because they are more well known and therefore, have more fans to follow their whereabouts. Linking social media sites to a band’s website it not uncommon in today’s society and is a convention seen not only in the indie-rock genre, but in all genres of music.

PicturesWebsite

A gallery of images laid out in a grid is common for easy access to photos of the band. This common grid system has become very popular due to social media sites like Instagram famously utilising it. Although we used a grid layout, we didn’t edit the photos so they were all square like Oasis have done. This is because we wanted the fans to be able to see the entire photo instantly, but also because it is less expected that a typical square grid, thus following the indie-rock genre and the convention of not being predictable.

PicturesWebsite

Like our website, Death Cab For Cutie have gone for a grid layout that doesn't crop the images out. However, instead of inserting photos, they have linked every one of their music videos. This follows the convention that indie-rock bands don’t promote their face, and the band have put more importance on their music and the videos by linking them on the website.