link to site

link to site: www.arch.usyd.edu.au/~elum8153/webart/guava_space/index.html


The theme that I settled on and built upon was the notion of musical space. I took this to encompass a few different areas of space and portrayed this theme through representation in art and design on the web.

The topic/theme that I developed to portray musical space was that of a local band Guava. I had the desire of creating a site that would reflect the space of a band and how each member has his or her own space and role in the overall sound. When each instrument plays their role and does it well, only then will a coherent sound space be detailed.

I chose to illustrate and emphasis space through separating band members into their own respective spaces. The home page reflects this separation however the band as an entirety can be visualised. The setting is all black and white as the page is silent. I chose to use black and white for several reasons. Black and white creates a space in itself. In my opinion it communicates a full space but not necessarily a complete space. I used is as a means of design and art to draw the user deeper into the site. I then used rare splashes of colour to highlight an area of space that an instrument would take hold of and utilise.

I chose to stick with a structured look and feel because musical space has structure. This does not mean it does not have freedom and I chose to use subtle changes in graphical location to illustrate that no instrument covers the same space in the band but each has a distinct area to cover.

The theme is further highlighted through images, text and sound. The images isolate an instrument/band member’s space while the text subtly weaves into the design and subliminally communicate the role/space covered by that particular sound. A single sound can be produced to further highlight what space that instrument covers. The goal of this is to show in combination with the black and white theme that musical space is filled with a variety of different elements.

As space is a term that is broad in meaning I determined that space conjures up a sense of exploration. Exploration through a space, in this instance exploring through a musical space. In that sense I made this site with the hope that curiosity along with subtly visual prompting would allow the space of this site to be searched in its entirety.

site evaluation

/structure:
the construction of my site is quite defined with a degree of interactivity involved in order to heighten the users experience. The website develops its theme through a black and white colour concept. A distinct white background provides a backdrop for the whole site illustrating the fact that this space is clean, open, inviting. The page takes you on a journey through the musical spaces of each instrument in the band Guava. The idea being that as individuals the space would never be as complete as when they all join together to create a combined texture of musical space.

Splashes of colour are used in this site to indicate and draw the user to certain distinct elements of the page. In developing the concept of musical space further I decided to have the site rather structured as music has structure. The site can also be seen as organic because of the flow giving power to the user but the basic structure is there at all times.

In regards to aesthetic structure this site bears hold on several mediums of multimedia. I did not want this to become overbearing however so used each sparingly with the desire that (like music) simple is often best. The site finds its character through images. The images provide structure and meaning, while the text conveys a message but also works as an outlining border to encapsulate the “art” of each page. Rollovers and flash are splashed around and sound is found deeper in the site to emphasis the musical space theme.

/interactivity:
as all sites go this site responds and builds upon interactivity. The site relies on curiousity, a desire to find out more about the band and the theme and also through aesthetic appeal and structure.

The most notable forms of interaction are seen through the coloured instruments. The mouse is drawn to these contrasting objects and on a click the sound of the band member can be produced and stopped.

The site also responds to the mouse moving around and subsequently illustrating where they will be taken on a click. Steps were purposefully taken so that each element had a purpose in its interactive nature.

/identity:
I believe this site has an extremely strong identity. So much so that it could be used as a site to promote the band. The theme however has always been to promote and educate on musical space and sound. The identity of the band is a by-product of this theme as each band member and instrument in introduced in order to fulfill the primary objective. The identity is also produced not just through visual means but through the music that is a direct reflection of the bands musical space and identity.

/technology:
The technology of this site is quite standard. Although most appropriate for high-bandwidth users due to the flash elements and heavy focus on images and text as an art form being relatively download intensive.

The role of this site and technology as a whole in the world wide web would be an educational technology experience. One to be explored and enjoyed – much like the concept of space itself. Explore, enjoy and discover in the musical space of the band Guava.

website goals

reflection on website goals

After reviewing the marking criteria of this project i had to refocus a few of my goals for this site. obviously this site has a personal attachment to it, being about a band that i am part of and enjoy. however to keep with the theme of space i had to include and not-include many aspects you would otherwise expect from a band website. with this in mind i tailored my efforts into producing a strong theme of musical space - how the band has its space. this space constitutes its music and product and how each band member has their space and role to play in the band. i attempted to illustrate this in a few ways.

->firstly i played with the concept of black and white design. i wanted this to reflect the open space of the band. each instrument has a "colour" or a flavour to bring and i drew this out through the contrast of bringing in colour to the page.

->secondly i focused strongly on aesthetics in layout and structure. i wanted to communicate the concept of space as strongly as possible so i used the page "space" or layout to produce a strong front. I tried to implement slight changes in each page to reflect the corresponding changes of space in the band.

->thirdly i used music to convey musical space! i worked with single tracks and bareness to really emphasis the goals of this theme.

Technical proficiency:
I didn't have too many problems making this site. In terms of consistency there is still one "mistake" i need to rectify which is the border that is produced around a link. For some reason it appears in IE but not in safari so i will try and had that changed. Kinda stuffs up the look of the site pretty majorly with it kept in. Overall though i think this site is rather consisent across platforms.

Interest:
In my personal opinion i really enjoy the aesthetics of the site. I love the black and white concept and the layout. I think it's bold and focussed on the theme but still provides visual consistency and interest.

Storyboarding musical space

Storyboard/flowchart
The idea for my site is to use images as concepts in themselves. Each person has a role – their own “space” as you might see it. Their respective images from the home page will take you deeper into their musical space in the band. Once this has been established a greater understanding of the musical space as whole will be achieved. The site will be structured as a hierarchy with the home page being the source of navigation. This will force users back to the home page in order to go to other places. This is desired because I want the user to be learning about each element of the musical space and then comprehending that as a whole when returned home.

musical space development

link to mock-up:
http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/~elum8153/webart/music_space/index.html

the idea of musical space that i wanted to develop found its foundation in the ipod. I wanted to evolve this concept and implement it to convey a message of space that music takes in everyday life. I spent time structuring and working on a dynamic home page that would reflect this message.

As i built the site i can across a few hurdles. Namely how to achieve what i wanted to produce. I found that i constructed the page in image ready and photoshop, combining the two with their layer capabilities and compatibility. I created rollover animations and links in an attempt to utilise the interface and aesthetics of the ipod.

I was quite pleased with the aesthetic and user-friendly notion of the site however discovered that using popular material was not advised. None the less i learnt a rather lot about structure, colour, layout and also efficieny in Adobe Image Ready.



In relation to structure i found that i appreciate consistency and and strength as opposed to organic and exploritory sites. I think there is definately a place for those elements on the web but for what i want to achieve i have decided to rely on strong and finite structures. When observing the mock-up page i built i liked the simplicity of colour. Although in "full-colour" so to speak, i think there is an evident contrast of the black and white concept with the colour, which elaborates and emphasises the vibrance. This is a concept i would like to further develop in my final site.

Layout has a very strong message to play in all sites and i think the central alignment really draws the user into the "space" I like the idea of using placement as a tool to greatly emphasis the theme of space. The eyes find rest in the consistency of the site and in terms of musical space i would like to implement that subliminal idea.

Research

Research
When looking at musical space I thought of no better place to start that apple.com and itunes. I found the two sites quite starkly contrasted. The itunes “page” is an integrated part of itunes music player. As well as being a player it is a browser, catalogue and informative tool. Although in a certain sense it portrays musical space – I believe it takes a much broader approach to where my ideas lie. It choose musical space as a global medium, always moving, updated and in your face.

I then looked at the apple website and the all popular ipod. I found this site to be much more targeted at what I was looking to achieve. The ipod presents a clean sleak design. Open and white backdrops to the highlighted and powerful colour of the ipod itself. Although obviously with the intention to sell, the ipod page (in my opinion) has a lot to do with musical space. The ipod is a distinct musical figure, its space in the world is growing and in terms of musical space each different model of ipod holds a different part of that space. E.g. the small shuffle and the larger ipod for more heavy going music listeners.



I was intrigued by the common flow of white in the apple site and it reminded me of the google website. With google being such a huge website I did some research into its design. In terms of space google would present a strong case for global space – nearly any space being possible. The white background conveys this in that it’s a blank slate. Any search can be made, the opportunities are endless and at your fingertips. I really wanted to incorporate this idea of freedom and elegance in my theme to portray the fact that musical space as I was to interpret it is free, open and in its own sense endless.

storyboarding

the storyborading of this site has not yet been defined completely. But the idea of how it will flow from page to page will be based on the previous blog entry and around this window concept. This is a mock nav bar of how it might look. Each letter of the word "space" or possibly another word will provide a separate link to each window of space to be explored. With a mouse hover on the square, the last square will have an animation or rollover image that will detail where that link leads.

This is a nav bar concept and could also be used as the title page for each space area. More thought and effort needs to be put in place at present, i'm rather behind schedule but this is the idea thus far. Space...still a broad concept in my mind. I aim to think through ideas and have a mock website/draft in progross by next week in order to encompass my thoughts and ideas together. Another idea i had was lots of ambiguous pictures of myself that provide the backdrop for each element of space in the site. e.g. me with friends, at church etc.

The space elements and text will therefore be revolving around these "thoughts" or captures of time.

E-space

This concept design came from the idea of ellispace once again. One development i would like to implement is taking photos of things that make up my life. My faith in Christ, love of music, sport, family, friends etc. I would like to structure these in a way that all can be easily navigated to from the home page using the "blocks" or "squares" - a window into my space. The idea is that when you move the mouse over a letter then another box will operate a flash animation describing what link that letter represents.

I would like to keep to minimal colour schemes. Black and white and maybe one other colour to ambiguosly portray that this is just a glimpse of my space. A black and white representation of what is otherwise real, living and coloured.

Project proposal

/structure
I have decided that the construction of my final project will be portrayed through the simplicity of black and white as a reflection/representation of my "space". I think that black and white (with the possibility of single colours) is attention grabbing, stylistic but also an analogy of thoughts. Memories and image captures, snapshots into the space of my life.

Black and white as a colour scheme is a rather defined medium. It smells of definity and therefore i propose to create a structured site. One which is obviously negotiable but also interesting and interactive.

/interactivity:
In terms of interactivity the images, animations and black and white interface will encourage interactivity. Albeit a structured site as opposed to organic, it will rely on user curiousity and testing. Interest will be drawn and experimentation encouraged, but where the user will be taken after this experimentation will be clearly defined and navigation will be easy.

I think i will aim to combine typography, graphics and animation in support of one another for ease of navigation, site aesthetics but more importantly useful and beneficial interactivity in the form of entertainment, keeping interest and efficiency.

/identity:
I believe this site will have a clearly defined space. Very "space" and ellis oriented. Possibly bordering on narcissism but a strong sense of identity will be portrayed. I think colour scheme, stylistic interpretation and structure will all add to the identity. Consistency (or possible lack of) will give a relfective identity of the persona creating it (me!).

/technology:
I have decided that based on current skill levels the site will be mainly constructed using html/dreamweaver and incorporating graphically edited images and small amount of flash animation.

window space

b+w space is an idea i have to reflect my space in my website. The "theory" is that being an online representation is really just a skeleton/grey portrayal of my space as compared to the colour of real life

design.concept

It was required that we start creating a design concept. I for one am not the greatest at embarking on these things as i appreciate the spontaneity side of design especially in the case of web design. It was a good experience however to sit down and reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of web layout and content. With an open brief being "space" i concluded (being the narcissist i am) to go along the latest crazy of "myspace" and look at ellispace.

When musing over past examples in class and also "good" and "effective" websites, it came to my attention that i do have a desire for vector act. I really enjoy the simplicity of it as i have spoken about earlier. However my illustrator skills do not match up with my desire so depending on time feasibility that may take a back seat. I prepared a little mock up anyway to see where my skills lied.





My personal evaluation of this is that it isn't the greatest. It meets criteria but aesthetically i think it is rather poor and definately in its current state as a static image it can be rather boring. I like the organic feel however, the freedom of search "myspace". The concept behind it is also that is is "ellispace" so a new digital or fantasy persona expressed in cyberspace is the goal. It allows an insight into my space, my values and beliefs.

s.p.a.c.e concept...

ellis.pace...

this week neseccitated a mock-up concept for a website revolving and drawing inspiration from the theme of "space".

when considering space and "my-space" i brought together a few ideas to communicate the space around me and my life.  another inspiration was the idea of "representing" a new persona or reflecting ones self onto a website and using those elements and functions to structure a website on "space".

my concept was centralised on important areas of life that encompass my living space.  "mind, body, faith, spirit, soul, work, play" etc.

to illustrate my conceptual space i wanted to do it through graphics that encouraged thinking and imagination.  a space of fantasy that still connected to reality through the content held deeper within the site.  my precedents came from an appreciation of vector graphics.  these appeal to me cause of their simplicity in colour and "depth" but richness in highlighting imagination and originality.

reflections on donniedarkofilm

reflections

Through researching the website of donniedarkofilm i have gathered a few thoughts, ideas and learnings from art as a medium on the web. In my opinion this site has a strong art focus as it reflects the art of the film itself. As someone uneducated in the film i found this site rather confronting and and interactive artform as it draws the viewer in through layout use, colour contrast and curiousity.

I learnt from this site being an "art" website as i discovered new means to engage and interact with the viewer. In many ways it is an organic site - free to be explored and taking the user on a journey through the plot of the film. At the same time however it seems the site is directing you in a certain direction. What i liked about this site was the role each element of design had to play in the structure of the site. The flash animations and static images re-enforced the theme while text was relied upon for conveying the true message of the site. What i found interesting was that the text is an informative means however it still seemed to tie in nicely as a support for the art aspect of the site.

Dislikes:
I didn't like the amount of text needed to be read. I found myself getting bored and not wanting to go deeper into the site because of the reading effort required. If i had seen the film i'd possibly have stayed more attentive.
On that note the site seemed to taylor to just those who'd seen the film - not much there for others.

I don't think i enjoyed the site. Its an arty site and it seemed to lack really interest and punch. Rather bland in my opinion.

art//design website...

donniedarkofilm...

for week 3 we were to look into a website that was either/or (or combining) art and design.

the website i decided to explore was www.donniedarkofilm.com - i chose this site as a recommendation from a friend. i found it intriguing and rather frustrating when browsing. i believe the site was developed in support of the film or perhaps to promote it.  the website had many interesting features to it, as it engaged the user with a unique layout and structure.  i believe it contributes to development of the internet and identifying possibilities for contemporary art/design practice in its usability and interactivity.

some notably things:

/structure: 

construction is rather grey and bleak. the initial attention is grabbed through flash movement but there is still no direct and concrete point of structure. the site is rather organic as you get deeper as options are given and "power" to the user is allowed.

/interactivity:

the site really relies on interactivity. it relies on user curiousity and therefore interactivity for the site to be experienced in its fullest.

the art in my opinion is progressive, encompassing sound, typography, text, animation and storyline to develop the site as opposed to structured links and familiarity. by some means the site produces suspense and works on this through interaction through both sound and visual stimulation.

/identity:

this site i believe has extremely clear identity for donniedarko fans and viewers and yet the same realisation would come across to non-viewers and in that sense produces an identity to that audience as well.

/technology:

the site's construction is heavily reliant and centralised on flash animation.