silent sheffield myspace

www.myspace.com/silentsheffieldalbum

this is the myspace page i made for the silent sheffield album and i have put my banner and logo on there, as well as a sample song and some example charity festivals and details about the royalty free album project.

advertising the album

i thought that using the same technique to advertise the album would be a good idea so i made a simple advert to be displayed on myspaces hompage to show the album was out now and show the album cover, then this would be linked back to the silent cities page where people can preview the album and buy it online. 

my final album cover

album cover

another part of the project was to design an album cover. and because these cd's will be compilations i decided to number them like the now cd's e.g now 41, now 42 etc... so i decided this album would be silent sheffield 1 or 01. when looking for inspiration for the album cover i was thinking about the chevrons used in the corporate identity and thought of peter savilles work for the hacienda so researched this and created my own versions ... i liked the idea but the bright yellow and black or orange and black chevrons werent working as well as i'd hoped so i ended up having black chevrons with an orange label and think this works a lot better, these could even be made to look better with a print finishing technique such as spot varnishing or embossing.

examples of the badge

the badge idea was mainly used as a bit of free advertising on each bands page but it also gives something to the band thats involved with the project to show on their page to show they are a part of this and have helped a charity, making them sound good to their fans and also their fans might be encouraged to visit the silent sheffield page and potentially buy the album

this is an example of the badge on the artists page, i have placed a larger version underneath their buttons on the left of the page so when people are scrolling down looking for their pictures and videos they will see the silent sheffield logo and want to click on it. i have also decided to add a smaller version of the badge next to the song that they have donated. so when people are playing their music they will see that a particular song has been donated to silent sheffield and this badge will also contain a link to silent sheffields page. 

animated advert

using the same technique i did for the banner i animated the advert just to make it grab peoples attention more. i think this is more effective as an advert and in each of these adverts there will be a link to the silent sheffield page so as soon as someone clicks on it they will be redirected to the main page.

adverts

another good feature of myspace are the adverts, so i created a simple advert to be shown around the various pages and the myspace login page. this way it would be seen by every band logging in to myspace.

I just used the logo as the main imagery, using the same colours as the silent sheffield page to keep it consistent. i just used a quote about the aim of the silent sheffield royalty free album as the main copy in this advert

animated banner/marquee

The main way i thought would make my banner more interesting was to animate it. i did this in photoshop by making it an animated gif file and using frames to make the movement. i think that this simple bit of animation makes the banner more interesting but before the end of the project i need to go back and change some of the timings to make it look better.

myspace banner/marquee

one of the main reasons i thought myspace would be an interesting and effective way to communicate with the local bands is the use of banners. myspace banners are displayed at the top of the page and are the first thing on the page that grab your attention. i have seen some very effective examples in my research on other bands websites.

this is my first banner/marquee design, just using simple type in the corporate colours to get the attention of the bands visiting silent sheffield myspace. i think the although the simplicity of this design is effective i am going to look into ways to make it more interesting and eye catching.

my main logo

this is my main silent sheffield logo, it uses the original layout and typeface but using different colours and containing an image in the background to show the musical connections. (ignore the grey box around the edge, this was a screenshot because the real image wouldn't upload to blogger) this logo will be displayed on the silent sheffield album's myspace page and at events organized by silent sheffield such as charity gigs and festivals.

my plain logo/badge design

this is my plain version of the silent sheffield logo, it will also double as a badge for the participating bands to display on their pages and will contain a link to the silent cities page. so this will work as free advertising for silent sheffield because it will be displayed on all the different bands pages for all their audiences to see.

silent cities logo

quotations about silence

extended banner

when researching banners on myspace i found out that it is now possible to make extended banners that fill the page, i came across a good example on lady antebellum's myspace.
The banner goes behind all the information on the page and the lines of colour that fade out go almost to the edge of the page.

an example of a music myspace page, i like the use of a simple background with the orange menus

I typed silence and silent into a thesaurus to get an idea of alternatives that i could use in my album name

some more examples of existing myspace banners

research

I looked around on the internet at similar projects to this, different charity albums or occasions where artists have donated tracks or even all the profits of a song to charity. nothing has been exactly the same as the silent sheffield royalty free album idea but there are a few good examples of charity work through music

some existing myspace banners and adverts

These myspace pages for some of the bands and even the homepage have interesting banners at the top of the pages and even large images below the main content. these are the kind of things i will be using to grab the attention of the local bands encouraging them to get involved with the project. I may also be making a myspace or website for silent sheffield that would have images or illustrations in the background.

my initial proposal

Project 5 - silent sheffield royalty free album

When I think of unsigned bands I think of myspace, so when it comes to trying to get the word out to local unsigned bands about this opportunity I think that the best way to do it is through myspace. So I think that if I created some banners and adverts that could be displayed on myspace, especially on the home page everyone would see them when they logged in. These adverts would show the bands how they could help the project and the charities and also get themselves noticed and get their music out there. 

Then through the silent sheffield myspace page they can contact us and offer their tracks. Once they have donated a track they would have the opportunity to post a special banner on their page saying that they have helped charities and contributed towards this project. I think the most sensible format for this album would be download and possibly CD but not really vinyl. It could be sold online at places like amazon and maybe on a seperate website that is linked to silent sheffields myspace. There could also be samples of the songs available to listen to on the silent sheffield myspace with links to the bands, giving the bands the publicity they need. 

The album would mainly be advertised online, through more myspace banners on each bands websites. There could also be posters or stalls at charity events and gigs. In addition to this we could go to the charities more directly by emailing them or sending a letter explaining the album and the benefits to them. 

What I will be producing for this project

 Create Myspace banners and adverts to get the attention of unsigned bands

 Create a banner for bands to display on their page to show that they are involved with this project and have helped the charities.

 Posters/banners to advertise at various charity events and gigs

 Banners for the bands to display on their pages to advertise the album they are on

 Design album cover/artwork for the album

 I could also create a myspace for the silent sheffield royalty free album