Website research

The homepage of the band 'The Killers' is there to try and market the band. The first thing that stands out on the page is the name of the band, this is helpful as it will stick in the persons mind and they will immediately relate it to the band



This is something which Sam and I want to try and integrate into our websites as one of the aims will be to promote the band. Furthermore, the background image shown below, on the homepage is another example of iconography. The image is similar to the album cover for the bands album 'Day And Age' which is show below, and again in order to promote the band the image is there to try and gain the audiences attention, consequently when the image is seen in the shop they are able to instantaneously relate it to the band. Again, this is the idea of iconography something which Hollie and I are wanting to base are website around. We both think that as pictures of the band are important, it is not as vital as images which relate to the bands products.



The homepage is relatively plain which encourages the audience to concentrate on the bands name and the album image. There is a news feed as shown below, which I believe is a good idea but it should only take up minimal space on the homepage in order to not diver the audiences attention away from the main icons, such as the bands name and the background image.


The font used to display the different links on the webpage is very contrasting to that of the website. As you can see from the image below silver is seen as a unique colour on the homepage and it is able to stand out from the website. By doing this, the layout looks clearer and easier to read. This certainly something Sam and I need to consider when designing our website as a clear layout we believe is vital. Furthermore, the different link options on the homepage our seen as being 'indie' and therefore attract the attention and will make the audience curious to see what happends when clicked. As you can see below, terms like 'sweet talk' and 'the victims' can be seen to be aimed at the younger audience, something which Sam and I will be aiming to do.




Arctic Monkeys





The Arctic Monkeys homepage is similar in the layout to The Killers, Sam and I will be trying to aim to find the right balance between the two. Instead of using a background image The Arctic Monkeys use a plain black background and then contrast it with white font.
This is true for the whole web page apart from the bands name and the links available at the top of the page. By doing this, it is the bands name which stands out above anything and is bought to the audiences attention. This is able to then stick in the audiences mind and they will remember the bands name.A key difference between the title and the website is the change in font. Again this sets apart the bands title away from the rest of the webpage. The actual font chosen is seen as being very 'indie' and certainly helps it stand out. It also links in to the idea of youthfulness, which falls in to Dyer's theory on stardom. Furthermore it enables them to reflect their music genre and aim it at their target audience by using an alternative style.


Furthermore, by having the links available the website looks clearer and is easy to navigate around for the audience. The layout is vital in a website, and Sam and I will be aiming to create a layout which is easy to view for the audience, and will hopefully use basic colours similar to the the ones used on the Arctic Monkeys website. The links themselves are mostly different font sizes with the larger ones aiming at promoting the bands. These include 'gigs', 'releases', 'photos', 'videos'. All of these links are there to try and promote the bands income, and again this is a factor that Hollie and I find important.



On the homepage there some of the more important links are expanded into more detail so the audience are able to see what is contained in each link. Again these are the main promotional links, which include gigs which is shown on the right, album releases, news and a blog. The title of each link is again in the exact same font as it was shown under the Arctic Monkeys title. This adds to the impressive layout of the website and again makes it easier for the audience to navigate around. The text underneath the titles is very basic and contrasts highly with the title. Although this would seem a bit plain and boring, I believe it contrasts well and makes the layout seem easy on the eye and makes the text easier to read for the audience. The font used can be seen in the image on the right.


The promotion continues on the homepage with an image of their album. Again with the dark background the album image stands out to the audience so the image stands out in their head. This is important as it then becomes easier to recognise in shops if they wish to purchase. The way the album isn't presented as clearly as in 'The Killers' website, where they use the whole background image, however Sam and I believe that contrasting it with the background increases the chances of the audience recognizing the album.
Written by Sam