RESEARCH: Zedd & Flume websites

Zedd's website

 Zedd's website first takes you to a homepage which is purely for the promotion of his singles made with other well-known artists.

Bold colours that complement the large images are used to take up the entire screen, and users can scroll through the different singles, each with a different colour scheme. Each of these screens has links to Zedd's social media and music platforms, as well as a direct link to watch each single's music video or to stream it on Spotify.

A slick, contemporary font is used which is kept consistent throughout the entire homepage, and his logo is not shown, however the font and entire style of the website changes when the main website is reached. This also matches his target audience of teens and young adults, as well as the use of eye-catching colours that help to engage the audience.

On a large, sliding banner, the same singles are promoted using the same colour schemes and fonts as the homepage, as well as new events being promoted too.

Below the banner on the first page of the website, there are tour dates, latest news, music and a place to sing up for updates from Zedd or his record label. The 'Latest News' and 'Music' sections both have colourful images and album covers which are links to either articles or individual pages about the song/album. A fine-lined, sans serif font is used on all of the web pages except for the 'Store' and 'Vegas' pages, which are external websites and have their own themes. The store has a similar theme which also uses a sans serif font and a plain background, but has pastel red accents which complement the colours on his merchandise pieces.

The menu bar offers links to all of his social media and music platforms, as well as having links to his online merchandise store, music videos, photos, tour and another opportunity to sign up to get updates, as well as a login page for fans.

On most of his web pages he has the 'Zedd' logo at the top on the menu bar, which when clicked takes users back to the homepage with large pictures promoting his singles. On the majority of his web pages there is a light grey background with darker grey writing and mint green accents.

Flume's Website

Flume uses a bold blue background which is from one of his most popular single covers, as the background for his website. Users are first presented with a loading screen with only a pulsing logo on, which fades as the homepage loads. 

The logo is seen on all the web pages in the top left hand corner, creating  a consistent brand which becomes easily recognisable to fans.

The homepage consists of a large image which is a link to his documentary trailer, which also features his logo, as well as direct eye contact being used in the image to engage with users and lure them to watch the trailer for the documentary, then leading them to want to watch the full documentary which they have to pay for.

The link to the documentary is in the same font as the logo and is surrounded by a lilac box which stands out against the blue background but also matches the flower in the background as well as the logo on the thumbnail of the documentary video.

The homepage has a subtle menu bar which uses a very simple and clear sans serif font, offering links to information about his tour, his online shop, and a link to sign up to his newsletter. All three of these pages encourage fans to become more involved with the artist, which seems to be the goal of this website, compared to Zedd's website which seemed to be more about promoting his music, as well as having some money-making features.

Flume has all of his links to all of his social media and music platforms, as well as his record label's website. These are all linked by easily recognisable icons that a young audience are likely to engage with. The icons are a simple white which stands out against the background.

The first image users are presented with when they click on the shop link is very large and depicts the artist himself sat with two models, wearing his merchandise. This engages with the audience not just because of the direct eye contact he is making with the camera but also because it makes fans feel closer to the artist if they see him wearing the merch, making them more likely to buy the clothes etc.

The shop has its own menu bar that narrows down the options of merchandise to apparel, accessories and music. It also has links to the homepage of the shop and a link back to the main website as well as a help page, a search bar and basket.

The individual shop pages follow a similar theme to the main website by using the same sized logo in the top left hand corner, as well as using images from another of his most popular single album covers and using this as a base for the colour scheme of the web page. This helps to create a strong brand as fans become familiar with these images, colours and styles, and associate them with the artist.

Another simple and crisp sans serif font is used across the entire shop website which, as well as the contemporary album covers and image style used across both the main website and the shop, represents the artist as being a modern artist who is aiming at a young audience.

At the bottom of each of the shop webpages there are opportunities for fans to keep updates by signing up to the newsletter. This banner is created again using the sinlge cover and the signature lilac that is used across all of his websites and on his merchandise.

The purple colour scheme is further reinforced through the display of the logo in a block form when the shop we pages are loading.