The Mystery Guest Web Design - Music Related Business


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Music Related Business A natural progression from designing sites for bands was to branch out into music related business. Recording Studios, record labels and distribution companies are all covered here. As with most arts based sites visual design is equally as important as practical design and these sites show how that can be done with both Flash and standard HTML.	If you are looking for an example of something particular the 'Features' section under each title summarises the main techniques used on the site. The text goes into more detail regarding the design ideas behind the sites, and the screen shots link to the actual site so you can have a look for yourself.
	Let me know what you think about the sites in my portfolio - sign the feedback book.

One World Music - www.oneworldmusic.com.au
Features: Flash, Real Audio, MP3 downloads, basic online ordering
One World Music is a new record label dedicated to global chill out/world beats music. The site was created to promote the first release on the label, 'Zen Connection', as well as to provide basic information on the company. I used a smooth Flash based interface designed to creating a laid back feel that would both match the vibe of the company and appeal to the people that would be visiting the site. The site has basic ordering facilities allowing visitors to either submit an online form for cheque/money orders or print a fax order form for credit card purchases. Any orders made online are emailed automatically to the company.

SDS Records - www.sdsrecords.com
Features: Completely owner-updateable, advanced online ordering, shopping cart system, streaming audio, message board, chat room, mailing list subscription, flash games.
SDS records is an online music distribution company, based in Los Angeles. The client wanted a cutting edge feel for the site and I wanted to create a site that could cope with the expansion of the artist list without becoming cluttered and confusing. The site uses a 'TV' design to make sure that only the most relevant content is displayed on the screen at one time while still maintaining easy accessibility to the other parts of the site. Another major requirement of this site is that it was completely owner-updateable - and it is. From a password protected admin section new artist profiles can be set up, modified, deleted, updated - including the relevant images, mp3 song samples and downloads. Member details can be viewed as well as all purchases and transaction histories. Purchasing is based on a credit system where visitors set up a free account and add funds to it using either Paypal or cheque/money orders. Paypal payments are processed immediately, updating the visitors credit straight away. Once people have credit in their account they can browse through the artists and add songs to their shopping cart. The site also features a bunch of extra features like a message board, chat room, mailing list and classic flash-based arcade games (thanks to some great open source Flash scripts). If you are looking to include a shopping cart on your site check out this one for a very unique example.

Velvet Sound Recording Studios - www.velvetsound.com.au
Features: Flash navigation, owner-updateable text, email contact form, guestbook, HTML & Flash versions.
There's nothing more inspiring for the design of a site as a great looking physical location and Velvet Sound Recording Studios definitely has that. Located in the lower ground floor of a building in the Sydney CBD, the studio has a great cozy purple atmosphere which I replicated through the text colours. Given the choice of places to record music in Sydney I felt that it was important to let visitors to the site know that this is the studio that would make their music sound that much better (and I wasn't lying either - The Mystery Guest had their best ever recording session there) The flash based navigation bar is one of my favorite Flash creations, replicating a studio console slider. For those visitors that don't have Flash I created an HTML version of the site with a static slider. The gear section is a great example of how Flash can be used to present large amounts of information in an easy to use interface.

Red Ferret - www.redferret.com

Features: Humour

I loved building the Red Ferret site because I could have some fun.

The promotion of Red Ferret's audio services is basically just an excuse to provide a great site where people can have some fun and have a laugh. Not to mention the Flash designer's revenge...

The best way to experience this site is to visit it so if you're interested in a more non conventional experience please have a look.

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