How my website used, developed or challenged conventions

1. HOW MYWEBSITE
USED, DEVELOPED OR
CHALLENGED
CONVENTIONS

2. Layout
The layout of an artists’ website can allow someone to infer a
lot about the artist. Many similar artists to Jay Harper who are
indie and organic, such as James Bay and Hozier, welcome
people to their website with a very large image of the artist.
This reminds their audience what they look like so that they
can be recognised in the industry against mainstream synthetic
artists whose images are flaunted everywhere. Our website
therefore conforms to conventions of the indie genre in this
way. There are also commonly many options at the top of the
website that will lead people to different pages on the website
like the store. This enables easy navigation round the website
which is important as it lets the audience form more of a
connection with the artist as the different options can help
them learn more and become more involved. This conforms to
conventions of the indie genre because these artists often have
more relatability with their audiences which can be shown
through their websites to help sell their music.

3. Social media
On websites of similar artists to Jay such as
George Ezra, James Bay and Tom Odell, in fact
on most artists’ websites, there are social
media links somewhere clear on the website.
We have conformed to this convention on Jay
Harper’s website as it is important for the
artist to connect with fans due to a lot of the
indie genre’s popularity coming from people
being able to identify with the artist. It is
important for the target audience to keep up
to date with what is going on so that whenever
something happens concerning the artist,
people know about it and so this relationship is
formed, while also providing new ways to
promote the music.

4. Choice of images
It is a common convention of the indie genre to
keep on promoting their music with things like
reminders to buy their albums on their
websites. The choice of the image on the
homepage of Jay Harper’s website did this in
another way. On the website for James Bay, an
indie artist like Jay, the image that takes up the
homepage is the same image as on his album
cover. Although the image that takes up the
homepage of Jay’s website isn’t exactly the
same as his album cover, it is almost identical.
This provides a way of connecting the website
to the music and therefore sells the music
more, and so Jay conforms to this convention.

5. In addition to the image on the homepage,
there are also other pictures of Jay on the
website just like on other artists’ websites
similar to Jay, like George Ezra. Like on
George Ezra’s website, a great portion of the
photos we chose to put in Jay’s gallery
involved him and his guitar. This advertises
his musical talent as he is able to sing and
play an instrument. As a result, is authenticity
is emphasised as well as connoting that he is
an organic artist and therefore his place in the
indie genre is reinforced, and therefore his
website conforms to conventions of the indie
genre.

6. Colours
The colour scheme that is chosen for an artists’ website is a
key element in establishing their genre and attracting their
audience. Like Tom Odell and James Bay, artists in the same
genre as Jay, their website’s are not vibrant, as are their
digipaks. These relaxed and toned down colours, which we
have taken inspiration from for Jay’s website, connote them
to be natural, organic artists, in comparison to the bold and
bright themes that are common conventions on many
synthetic artists’ websites. Jay, therefore, is indicated to be
serious about the music, not style, and so this conforms to
the conventions which are seen on the websites of other
indie artists like Jay.

7. Font
The font of a website can connote the kind of artist it is used for
and their genre. The fonts used on the websites of artists similar
to Jay all use capital letters throughout most of them. This
suggests that they are indie artists looking to get their names
into the music industry so that they can compete with bigger
synthetic mainstream artists. However, Jay subverts from this
convention as less of his website uses capital letters than the
other similar artists. However, his name is still written boldly so
that it is noticed, while some other words are in capitals, but less
bold. This can signify that he is an organic artist due to the words
being quite soft. They all conform (including Jay), though to the
convention of not having complicated, over-the-top fonts which
shows that they are organic indie artists who are not over-
produced, unlike manufactured synthetic artists who may have
over-the-top fonts.

8. Merchandise
A common convention for indie artists is that
their merchandise selection is not as extensive as
for synthetic artists. We conformed to this
convention with Jay Harper as it shows that he
cares more about the music and his target
audience should feel the same way. Similar
artists to Jay, such as Hozier, have more
merchandise that are regular items of clothing,
whereas synthetic artists typically have more
extravagant items like perfume or toys because
they care more about image and money.
Therefore Jay conforms to the simple clothing
convention of indie artists as well as the
convention that most are plain colours. This is so
that he appeals to his target audience who are
likely to also like similar artists and so also won’t
be a fan of vibrant clothing and would probably
have a similar sense of style as the artists.