OUGD504 - Studio Brief 4 - Final Website & Evaluation

Desktop Site

Below is a video of the website that I created in a prototyping program called Justinmind. I used a video so you could see all the animations and events that I used to make the site more dynamic. The final website works really and I am pleased that I did use the software to mock it up as it makes it a lot clearer to see where the hover animations are rather than using still images. It also means that if I was to create this site for real, I could hand this over to the coders and they would have a clear view of what goes where as well as the interactions that need to appear. 

Mobile Site

For the mobile version I simplified the site down to the key elements. I added the fixed pre-ordered button to all of the pages which would redirect to the store. I also worked with the hamburger icon which is widely recognised as a menu bar for use on mobile sites to minimise and expand the navigation. If I was to do a tablet version of the website I think that I would just use a slightly smaller version of the desktop website, perhaps using the hamburger icon in the navigation bar. 

This brief was my first time tackling digital design and web design, so I am quite proud that I managed to successfully complete the website. Initially I struggled with coming up with a campaign idea for the release of the album and so I focused on the design rather than the concept. However when I came up with a concept finally it made everything a lot easier to do. 

I really liked experimenting with the laser cut machine using different types of wood. Also I quite enjoyed experimenting with creating the gif for the enter page. I haven't had much experience with 2D animation so the final result was really pleasing. 

I think after reviewing my website and development that I need a lot more practice with this sort of digital design. It took me a while to get used to the constraints of web and digital design. The layouts that I produced weren't very dynamic so if I had more time or if I was to do this brief again I would have played about more with the animations and making the site more interactive. Although I did manage to teach myself how to use a prototyping software for the construction of the site that I haven't used before. This meant that I spent a lot of time trying to work around this software which could have had a detriment to my final design as I spent less time developing it and more time trying to animate the hover overs etc. 

Overall in this brief I think that I have managed my time quite well. I aimed to get most of the website complete for the final crit with Only and I achieved this which meant that I got a lot from my feedback. 

Although I felt bittersweet about my final website. I was pleased that I had completed it however I felt like the site itself could have been a lot more polished . I'm not sure whether this is down to lack of time or lack of knowledge about digital design. 

OUGD504 - Studio Brief 4 - Final Crit with Only

We had our final critique for the digital design brief with Only studio. There was a lot of general feedback that other people received that I thought was relevant for me as well. Such as to remember to check whether the fonts are web compatible - some fonts are not available for web use. My custom Seasick Steve font wouldn't be compatible either so I would have to construct eps files similar to how Only did on the Lost Village website. Also he recommended that certain heading sizes should be set for the site ranging from H1 to H6, H1 being the biggest heading size and H6 being the smallest heading size. Then on top of that there would be the paragraph text size. This makes the type on the website a lot more streamlined and cohesive throughout each page. Another reoccurring theme that seemed to come up in everyone's critiques was that there should be a constant button throughout the site for the visitors to be able to preorder the album. 

The specific feedback I got on the other hand was also very helpful. Tom said that he liked the contrast between my hand drawn typeface and the cleaner one, he mentioned that every font like this should have a contrast. But he also mentioned about the accessibility and readability of the type used within the laser cut elements and that I should check it against a site called snook which would test its compliancy (from AA-AAA).

As the current wood that I am using on the site was just a mock up until I laser cut the real more distressed looking wood I will have to try this out once that I have done the laser cutting. 

When I talked about my concept for creating a buzz on social media as well as in the 5 main target countries. They said the idea of a treasure hunt was a good one however the QR code method may come with flaws. Questions were asked about whether it could be scanned more than once to win a prize or whether people would go on social media and spread the word so lots of people would take advantage of this. Also my idea of giving out physical merchandise wouldn't be economically viable or create enough interest for the event. Samples of the new album or cover art would be a more gradual way of building anticipation. 

OUGD504 - Studio Brief 4 - Treasure Hunt

For the campaign itself I wanted to do something that wasn’t just digital to include the older part of the target market who aren’t that tech savvy. I feel that if fans could find something in the real world and then take pictures of it they would be more likely to post about it on social media and therefore create buzz about it. I wanted to use the concept of found objects as well. So I thought that doing a treasure hunt of sorts to find QR codes so that the fans could find samples of the new album or win prizes. This would involve lots of little objects scattered around the 5 main cities of each of the 5 target countries where people could find them and scan a QR Code to found out something about the album. Above is an example of what someone might find - I laser cut a QR code into a piece of wood that links to his website. Below the QR code is a hashtag that would prompt the people who find these objects to  post their find on Twitter or Instagram and get the hashtag trending.

Also when the QR code is scanned and a sample is found it will make more people want to go out and find it for themselves to hear the sample track. Below are some mock ups I did of how they may appear in the target market cities. 

OUGD504 - Studio Brief 4 - Lasercutting Wood

I found some old wood in my garden and was inspired to try and laser cut on them in order to make some pieces to put onto the website to make it look more rustic and authentic. So I took my custom made typeface to the wood cut facilities and got it engraved into a piece of wood.

The end result is really effective, because the wood that I found had been painted and then 'aged' in my garden it created some really nice neutral colours to contrast the burnt type. I quite like the asymmetrical-ness of the plank it adds to the quirkiness of the piece and reflects Seasick Steve as a musician in my opinion.

I also tried to create a mock up of the sort of thing that could be found on the treasure hunt and they would scan the QR code to find the prize. However I didn't set up the file correctly the first time so it only printed out the outlines and not the filled parts. So I tried to print over it again after I had fixed the problem but I misaligned it. I'm pretty disappointed about this because the fixed QR code and it looks really good.

I tried re-doing the QR code on a scrap of wood in the wood shop and it worked with no issues. But unfortunately because it goes across the knot of the wood it doesn't actually scan. 

I also tried a more decorative piece to represent the album. I cut it out of plywood so originally the colour of the wood didn't look right at all - it looked too clean in comparison to all the other laser cuts that I had done. So I tried to distress it myself, I used indian ink and then sanded it back for the first stage. I then took it home with me and stained the wood with coffee. I'm really proud of how well this aged the wood in such a short about of time.