52. "Do's & Dont's" of Design Work

Do's of Web Design:

• Know your audience:

You need to understand who your target audience is so that you can attract them using your website. Knowing the target audience of our artist is 18-24 year olds, we can design the website using features that would attract that age group e.g. informal language. Also, this age group tends to be tech savvy so certain features, buttons or links on a website would be easy for them to use.

• Planning (Flatplans):

Planning the website before actually creating it will make the process easier. Also, planning allows you to research existing websites and helps you develop your ideas; when you begin to design your website, you roughly know what you are doing

• Choosing a good platform:

Choosing a good platform to design your website is important. People often use blogging websites to begin with and often buy domain names so that their website is 100% individual and unique. However, I will be using Weebly because it is an easy platform to start to design a website if it is something you have never done before.

• Visually Attractive:

It's important to make a website visually attractive using colours that correlate with the artist and your other ancillary products. The actual layout is important too, I don't want my website to be too crowded as that would make it hard for fans of our artist to find their way around the website.

Don't s of Web Design:

• Don't copy an already existing site:

This would mean that your artist's website has nothing unique about it (has no rightful place in the market). Ideas can be used from existing websites but it's boring and lazy to just copy another website. 

• Don't steal:

Don't steal images or writing from any other website without permission. It may seem like an easier option but it could get you in trouble for plagiarism

• Find a balance:

It's easy to get carried away with the actual design and colour of a website but it also needs to be functional. Don't make the design too overwhelming.

Do's for Digipak Design:

• Show Synergy:

Use a "theme"; make sure that the whole Digipak follows the same style (colours, fonts, images) so that it is clear that the Digipak is one whole product.

• Have a good layout:

Look at existing Digipak's and follow a recognisable layout. The song list (track list) is usually on the back of the album, The artist's name and album name is in the same or similar font so that they link well together. Usually, no more that three colours are used for the whole product. The spine of the album has the album name or artists name or both. You shouldn't forget to include the barcode, the record company and possibly price of the product.

• Choice of images:

Try and ensure the images you use are clear and of a good quality because you want your final product to look professional and sell.

Don't s of Digipak Design:

• Choice of fonts and colours:

Don't use too many colours or fonts - this can make your final product look busy and messy which may put off your target audience from purchasing it and prevents it from looking professional.

• Images:

Choose images that link to your artist/genre. Don't just use irrelevant images from the internet.