Anciliary task deconstructions- Band Websites

Band Website deconstructions

This website for the band Maximo Park features a long bright red banner that is used for the external links. The banner contrasts with the white background and is easy to notice, so it draws the audiences attention. The video is placed in the centre and also contrasts with the white background very well, so this also attracts the audiences attention. Even though the iTunes advert for the latest album is in a red box, the bright pink stands out and is eye catching, which would benefit the band since it advertises their album. Due to this fairly basic colour scheme, lots of important sections (such as the music video, external links etc.) stand out a lot. It is apparent that one of the primary functions of the website is to promote the bands album and some of their singles, due to the album advertisements standing out so much from the rest of the website. This design is what I will base my website on, as it is a good design choice for a new band hoping to gain popularity.

This website for Interpol has a much more basic layout in comparison to the Maximo Park page. External links are located at the top of the page and are rather hard to spot at a glance, especially since the font size is rather small. The website is laid out like a blog, with text posts and some merchandise being advertised. The user can scroll down the page to look at past posts, however every post made is all on the same page, so it may be hard to find one specific post if needed. The text in the posts is also rather small, making the posts harder to reads as well as the external links. The primary function of the website appears to be to advertise anything that is new with the band, such as tour dates, merchandise, and general news. This website design may not be suitable for my band, as my design would be more based around promotion than information. However the basic black and white colour scheme would work with my design as it would be consistent with the colours used on the magazine advertisement.

This web page for Everything Everything has an interesting layout in that the artwork for the albums are also download links, as well as the tour posters. The links are very easy to spot and are very hard to miss. However because a lot of focus is on the centre of the page, it amy be hard for the user to see the external links at the very bottom of the page. It is also in a colour that does not contrast too well with the background colour. The band name/logo is also rather hard to spot, however it would be assumed that the user already knows the name of the band, so it does not necessarily need to stand out as much. Most of the links on the website lead to news about the band including tour dates and single releases. So it seems the main function of this website is to promote the bands albums, singles and live venue dates. While this design looks good with its' abstract layout, I feel that a similar design may not appeal to the target audience, as it may be too complex for a small and new band.