Evaluation Task 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Final Changes to Products

Here is a screen recording of the final version of our website, which demonstrates the main changes we have added after the focus group feedback. 

Firstly a big thing that we changed is some of the language that we used to title and label some of the components in the website. We researched other bands' websites, such as Catfish and the Bottlemen, to see what language they used. As a result, we changed the subtitle of the tour dates on the homepage to 'Tour Dates' and the 'band in action' caption was changed to 'Backstage photo'. The change in language seems to fit more in the conventions of indie/rock band style, as it has the the impression of being less formal and more relaxed, which is what indie/rock bands seem to expel in their attitude.

On the homepage, we deleted the Soundcloud audio and the Google Maps widgets as they seemed to have a random feel and irrelevant job being on the homepage. This gave the website a very unprofessional feel, and the focus group noticed this and said that we should get rid of it.


Additionally, we sorted out many small details in the website but are at the same time crucial in its' development. We added social network site links in the top right hand corner of the website, and also on the tour dates section, we added a link to 'Ticketmaster', which is a website focused on selling concert tickets to bands and artists at concerts. 
















Moreover, on our gallery section, we deleted a couple of photos which had too much colour on them as it clashed with our bands style. Our band is focused on being all black, however we had a few images which included blue and pink colour, which did not suit them at all. The focus group pointed this our further, as a result we got rid of them. 

One example of a photo we got rid of:

Additionally, we made a final version of the front cover of the digipak. We added a slightly faded and transparent golden lion which is the face of the website and digipak. This again is of direct response to the focus group, who said we should focus more on the golden lion and put it more on the digipak, so all three of our products linked together. We also changed the spelling of the album cover to remove the 'e'. 

Before:                                                                       After:

 
















Finally, we decided to get rid of the 'BIO' page on our website. This was because it was not necessary and again it did not really suit the band's style and tone of their track. It also makes our website a bit simpler, which again is a convention of indie/rock bands' website, as they have a 'don't care' attitude, so they prefer the simpler and more clean websites. 

Conducting a Focus Group

What is a focus group?

A group of people assembled together to participate in a discussion about a product before it is launched, or to provide feedback for the creators of the products to help improve the products.

How did we prepare for our focus group?

For our preparation, we had to print out many copies of our digipak, in different sizes and all stuck together as if if was ready to be sold. This is what the digipak looked like when we showed it to our focus group:

In addition, we had to finish a draft of our website. We published it in time for the focus group so that they were able to go through the website and provide sufficient feedback. Here are a few screenshots of the published website and a website tour:

We also finished editing the video and uploaded it to YouTube:

How did we run the session?

At the start if the focus group, we sat down and we handed out multiple copies of the digipaks around the focus group and we asked them a series of un-biased and neutral questions, to get as much fair feedback as possible. For example, we asked questions such as 'what do you think about the digipak?' and 'what do you think the genre of the band is?'. These neutral questions allowed for all of the feedback to be their own opinions, and not just agreeing or disagreeing with us. 

We then showed them through the website, showing them all of the pages we have created. Once again we asked them a series of questions, e.g. 'what do you think of the structure?', 'what do you think of our band name?' and also 'from what you have seen from the digipak, would you think that both match each other in terms of the type of music they play etc.?'

We wrote down down all of the feedback on a piece of paper:

Finally, we then showed the group our music video. We showed it on the projector to maximise the screen size and make the audio loud and jumpy to get the groups' full attention. 

What were the most significant findings?

For the website, it was found that the tone of the website didn't really suit the tone of the track. the focus group thought that the website gave the band a more funny/comedic vibe, whereas going on to listen to the song they felt it was a very serious and formal track. This means that they don't really match each other and that will need to be addressed. 

Additionally, there are a few elements of the website that do not fit well, for example some of the gallery pictures do not fit the band tone and style, and it gives an unfinished/unprofessional feel to it. 

The group overall really liked the video, so that is good for us. 

The digipak, in the opinions of the focus group, needs to be more rocky, as similar to the website it does not match the style and tone of the band. They also came up with the idea that the front of the CD should be a golden lion, as we use it on our website, so it will be good to match those 2 things. 

Here is the voice recording of the focus group session:

Evaluation of Website Progress

Here is the feedback video we filmed of our class giving feedback about our website. We showed them the website progress that we have done so far, and asked them to give any possible improvements that we can add to it, and also any good points that they liked so that we can keep them in it.
 I have summarised the main points that the class came up with:

• Change the background picture (was unfinished anyway) and fit with content

    Edit slideshow - move it up and show more of it

• Title needs to stand out more

• Don't feel name is 'rocky' enough
• Font doesn't match 'energetic' + 'exciting' band - more macho and bulkier
• Need logo to blend in

Need to match style of logo with style of title

However, some good points was that it is very clean layout - simple, straightforward and it looks good.


In light of the feedback, we have a few things that we have to do. 

Firstly, as a result of the feedback, we need to come up with a new band name, and when we have, put it on a chunky/bulky font which will make it stand out more and be the image of the website.

Also, we need to design an abstract image for the album cover of the band and this will also be used for the website too. This may then also become the logo of then band, in which we will then need to make it blend in to the website more and give it a more natural feel. 

Finally, we need a good background image for the website so that we can manage and fit all of our added components to that image to make it look more clean, slick and natural, which will give it a much more professional feel.

Tour of Current Website Progress

Here is a screen recording of me touring through our website that we have done so far. There is still lots to be done such as the News and Shows menus, and we still need to get a homepage picture of the band or abstract image.

My favourite thing about the website so far, is the picture of our guitarist Giorgio from a photoshoot we conducted. He looks cool and the vibrant colour of the graffiti wall background gives it a unique element. 

One thing I would like to change, is the background image as we need a picture of the band, or an abstract image. This will give our website some more vitality and will give it a unique element which will make it more successful. 

However, we are happy with the progress that we have made and we are excited to finish the website in the near future. 

Designing the website

Bertie and I have been selected from our group to design the website for our band.  As we have researched into other bands' websites, we are focusing our website to be quite dark, indie, and to have lots of pictures of the band in which the website will revolve around. Here are some examples we are using for inspiration:

Imagine Dragons, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Nothing But Thieves.

Each of the website hold typical conventions of alternative/indie rock bands. They are all dark, and have a cool font to the band name. Two of them also have an abstract image, which we are going to use for our album cover. We are taking all of these conventions on board and will apply them to our website.

Evaluation of Shoot Day