1. Integrated Digital Publication
Research & Prototype
For my ‘Digital Media Project’ I have
decided on creating a community for
Fire Twirlers in the UK.

2. So What Is Fire Twirling?
Fire Twirling is themed together by the use of flamed objects that are spun
or thrown in complex ways to create interesting and aesthetically pleasing
performance.
The origin of such talent as fire twirling (fire dancing) and circus go back a
long time, for example fire dancing came from Maori people of New
Zealand. It was the natives of these islands hundreds of years ago, the
warriors that created the poi. These people were dressed in decorative
clothing, tribal tattoos presented and used to cause fear for their enemies.
It is also to note that women in the past used poi to keep their wrist flexible
when working as weavers.
Original Poi New Age Fire Poi Original Staff New Age Fire Staff

3. My Interest in Fire
Twirling?
I purposefully chose to set my
project on the topic of fire
twirling due to my involvement
with the art. I have been a keen
fire poi twirler for around six
years, I am involved with a fire
twirling company ‘ The
Pyropirates’ now named
‘IlluminArty’. In June 2011 our
twirling group was invited to
open Glastonbury festival with
a performance and then on to
leading the parade at the stone
circle on the opening
Wednesday evening. Of this I
am very proud, and as a result
we have been invited back to
Glastonbury Festival to perform
on the Arcadia stage.

4. What’s Already Out There?
Currently ‘Home of Poi’, ‘Three Worlds’ & ‘Firepedia’ are the only Fire twirling
community based websites, however, these sites are community to New
Zealand, Canada and Australia.
There is a large amount of Fire Twirlers posting or creating pages on Facebook
and YouTube, but there is no common ground in which they can link.

5. My Pitch line – Community/Curation
I want to make the United Kingdoms first online community for Fire Twirling & to
curate a wide range of content around this theme.
Aims/Purpose
The purpose of my project is to create a community for fire twirlers online, the UK
currently do not have an online site to share and post new skills, video’s
photographs or tips. I aim to create a site that links all the UK Fire Twirlers.
My Target Audience
The main reason for building this community is to connect the UK audience that is
already out there, therefore I do not need to try & build an audience but rather
bring them to one place.

6. Home of Poi Platforms
Home Of Poi is clearly
recognisable through
the logo, ensuring links
between the other
platforms they use
The idea of a community is represented
through this separate tab
Evidence of recognised Logo being
used on all platforms, I intend to
ensure this through my own
website.
Unlike HOP I do not wish to include other specialities
such as advertising or selling within my website.

7. THREEWORLDS Platforms
THREEWORLDS is more of a
company rather than a
community and their beginning
intentions were to represent
and sell the makings of Drums
and Fire Twirling equipment
Unlike the other fire twirling
communities ThreeWorlds use a
YouTube platform, something I wish to
include in my UK community as I can
then represent all UK Fire Twirling
Videos through a favourites list and
embed these into my website. This will
also allow me to post video tutorials
that are available to all twirlers, again
this will help connect twirlers in the UK

8. I like the use of colour ‘FirePedia’
uses within their Logo and similarly
their layout. I intend to create an
aesthetically pleasing website that
matches the imagery of Fire
Twirling similarly to this.
FirePedia Platforms
I like the idea of daily featured
videos, I will however monitor
what is posted within my website
and will remove un related posts.

9. Website or Blog?
I have been debating this decision and initially I decided on a Blog for the following reasons
•A Blog is easier to update/add to and change
•A Blog can be presented clearer along your themed lines
• A Website is harder to promote in the sense that there are
so many out there
•Websites cannot host forums
•A Bog is free unlike a website
•As I will be using a number of platforms there will be no
trouble with posting on any sort of feeds
However after some discussion with fellow students I have settled on creating a website. I
have been informed of free websites where I can create my community and solved the large
issue of being unable to host a forum on a website by alternatively creating a separate blog.
Although this means more platforms than necessary, this solution will allow me to monitor
and change information and post’s in a more accessible way

10. What will I name my community & what platforms
have I decided on using?
Because I will be using several platforms that will link to my blog, I will need to use a name
that is simple to remember and to the point – ‘Fire Twirling Community UK’. This will ensure
that I have confirmed my brief of setting up a community for Fire Twirlers in the UK only.
Platforms
YouTube – To curate all UK fire twirlers videos in favourites
and to design tutorial videos on how to tricks
Facebook – I will use a Facebook platform as there are a huge
amount of pages and groups that are spread out on Facebook
however there is no base to these groups or pages and they are
hard to find. If I create a Facebook platform that links to my
blog I can then collect and join these Facebook pages, linking
everyone in this interest.
Blog – Here I will post quality information, tricks and tutorials that have been sent or posted
on Facebook, presenting videos through this that will be visible on the website
Website – To curate all platforms

11. Website In Progress.
Title
My chosen Title for my website has been decided as ‘FireTwirlingUK’, I have chosen this
in replace of ‘Fire Twirling Community UK’, as it is shorter and easier to view, it also
became clear that the community is apparent with the mention of the United Kingdom
and I therefore did not need to repeat this idea.
Logo
This Image appears on all platforms, Facebook, YouTube and FireTwirlingUK website in
order to establish the clear connection of my Internet project.
Website Choice
Having first began designing my website on WordPress I began exploring other options
as I found the site difficult to navigate and the theme options did not meet my
intentions for the design of the website. I wished to use many different Photographs
within the headers of my pages and this was not possible. I then narrowed down my
options to Weebly and Wix . I found both of these Domains easy to use and
accessible, in fact, both Domains are very similar and my decision of using Weebly was
due to adverts appearing on Wix and I did not want this.

12. Other Platforms
I chose two supporting platforms for my website.
Facebook & YouTube
https://www.facebook.com/Firetwirlinguk
My decision for using Facebook was primarily due to the volume of users
and the accessibility for presenting posts, video’s and pictures. I can gather
most of my website users via Facebook, through searching and tying my
website to similar pages or groups, resulting in cumulating Fire Twirling in
the UK as intended.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmnx6uLO3__hrKVX0YDadXg
I decided on using YouTube as a platform; as my subject matter is largely
movement based and many tutorial or photo’s are to be expected. I used
my YouTube Site to host over videos of Twirling that were spread on
YouTube in one solitary space. As my website progresses and gathers more
user I intend to create my own Fire Twirling Tips and Video Tutorials that
will be hosted on my YouTube sight and presented on My Web Site tutorial
page.

13. FireTwirlingUK Logo & Its Uses
This photograph is one of my own, I love the colours presented in this image and
chose to base my website reflecting this style. The text was created on Weebly’s
Header editor and I believe it creates a strong image for FireTwirlingUK’s Logo.

14. Website Home Page Large
Header Logo Example

15. Tips & Trick’s Page Example of
Small Header Logo

16. Facebook Platform
Obviously here there is an error with the FireTwirlingUK
Logo, I found that although having a Themed Picture Logo
was professional It did however, prove difficult when
applying to different platforms and needed editing further.

17. YouTube Platform

18. Unfortunately, after every attempt it
was still to apply a full background
image on the YouTube layout – this is
due to the image appearing full on a
TV, this size on the web and an even
smaller cropped image on a phone.
Whether you resize the image or
not, YouTube's photo editor
automatically crops the image.
Due to the title
written here, the issue
of the text on the
background is not too
detrimental.
Above are links to
FireTwirlingUK’s
Website, Email and
Facebook, allowing
clear navigation of the
sites platforms
YouTube Platform

19. Building an Audience
The core idea of my website came from the recognition
that although there are many Fire Twirling website’s there
are none based in or for the UK. I decided this subject
matter due to the already existing UK audience that had
no online based community. Although unlike many of the
other websites I do not sell or distribute Fire Twirling
Equipment, it has come to my attention that my website
would be a fantastic place to help the UK sellers who
do, displaying and linking their platforms and sites via
mine.

20. YouTube is less of an Audience attracting platform but more of a storage and
displaying platform, I am using YouTube to accumulate and share good technical and
interesting Tutorial and performance videos that are displayed on my Tips and Tricks
Website page. In time I intend to create and explore my own tutorial videos however
this is a goal for the near future and an expansion on my first intentions.
YouTube Audience

21. Facebook Audience
A large base of my Audience has been gathered from my Facebook
platform, this is mainly due to the large amount of users of Fire Twirling
Pages being categorised, but also due to the instantly posted changes and
post of my website onto my Facebook page. This advantageously keeps my
Facebook up to date without needing a large amount of control over it.

22. Website Imagery
Fire Twirling is praised on its visual and movement, therefore a large part of Fire
Twirling interest online is depicting this movement and emotion through
photographs. Similarly any online domain should use imagery to catch the
audiences attention as this is a key dawning point for online users.

23. Each blog post, Video, Event
Calendar Entry and
Questionnaires' include
imagery aesthetics, this is to
compliment the written
word and draw in the eye of
the reader.

24. Facebook Imagery
Reflecting my Website I have also hosted a large amount of Imagery on my Facebook
platform, this has worked out extremely well as Facebook has grown to be an increasingly
more developed Photo posting platform.

25. Voice
My Website carried the same voice throughout –
Professionally friendly and informative.
‘FireTwirlingUk ~ is a place for Twirlers of Poi, Staff, Clubs, Juggling
Balls, Skipping Rope, Fire Fans and Fire Hula Hoops to connect and share
skills. The intention of this site is to curate all UK tips & Tricks, events and
information about fire twirling, allowing one space where all Twirlers can
connect.’
My voice for blog posts’ differed, to create a change in
dynamic and to allow the mixture of other users voices
within their blogs to fit comfortably in with the rest.
‘Hello fellow spinners. Today I just wanted to spread the word about a
great product that I’m sure you’ll appreciate as much as I do.’

26. My Facebook platform carried a more informal up-beat
tone that encouraged and met the knowledge of all users.
This tone was also welcoming for users to comment
freely.
‘To Have Your Videos and Fire Twirling Photo's Hosted On FireTwirlingUK's
Website: Please Post Them On Our Facebook Page :) Thanks’
‘Nice Contact Staff Demonstrated Here By - Clayton Allred’

27. Expectations & The Un-Expected
Before beginning my project my expectations for my Facebook and Website
users were high, this expectation however has not been reflected. I now
understand after creating and developing a domain and platforms, that
progression can be slow. Having published my website onto my Facebook
platform rather late on in the project had been a mistake. I had imagined that it
would be best to publish the FireTwirlingUK website, when it had a solid and
regular base. I was wrong however, as my Facebook users were my main source
of audience and they also appreciated the progression within the website.

28. Skills Development 350 word overview.
FireTwirlingUK is an online community that encourages connection between the Fire
Twirling performers and hobbyist of the UK. The online site hosts easy access to
tutorial videos, events and tips in order to bring all UK Twirlers to one domain.
Having based my online project on similar existing websites and platforms I was able
to perform specific research into what techniques worked or failed in terms of
presenting an online domain for Fire Twirlers. From this information I concluded that
as with all online presence linking of Platforms and clear recognition was largely
important, alongside more specific vitalities to Fire Twirling such as: use of imagery
and video interpretations. Unlike other Twirling Domains I ensured that all content on
my website, YouTube and Facebook platforms were related to Twirling only. I steered
away from mixing Circus into my project as to represent Fire Twirling as clearly as
possible. This allowed me to capture a well regarded image of Fire Twirling and kept
the site as relevant as possible.

29. Initially having chosen to display my project on Wordpress, due to the opportunity
of creating a blog, my progression was slow. I had difficulty deciding on a theme
and struggled with the layout. Had the Website not have been my main Platform I
may have took longer with Wordpress and developed my skills within using the
domain, however my website was the core of my project and needed to be solid.
Although having not used Weebly before I found the site extremely accommodating
and accessible.
My skills were challenged when undertaking a blog, previously I had little
experiences with blogs, after extensive research and trial and error, I found the
importance in the presentation of a blog. My first attempts at blogging contained
too many word characters and large paragraphs. I now believe I have developed my
skills, creating short snappy comments or instructions, with the use of imagery and
sub titles to keep the written work accessible.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the design of my online presence and I intend to develop
and extend this project until the amount of users will allow the site to run itself, as I
for one intend to become a reader of FireTwirlingUK and not just the platforms
host. I would also integrate Pinterest as a platform, due to its links with Facebook
and my projects demand for images.