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.