Looking at two websites (comparing, audience, conventions and ideology)

 What is the point of a website and homepage? 

The point of a website and homepage is to show the audience what overall message the artist is trying to portray to intrigue there target audience aswell as giving as much information as possible about the artist. A website acts as a data base to store everything about an artist that a audience member can research and find at the click of a button. It also promotes the artist so that audiences can be intrigued by the artist they have an interest in.

THE XX HOMEPAGE

 What does each band/ artists home page need to have?
Each band or artists home page needs to have eg photos, news, lyrics to songs, contact, links to social media sites, tour dates, shop for products linked to the artist. All of these are key factors so that the audience feel that all the information they are looking for is there in one place.

ONE DIRECTION HOMEPAGE 

 Who would visit The xx website? (audience age gender and interest)
I think The XX would have a wide audience as the website is plain and simple and i think this attracts different people. I think there specific target audience would be both boys and girls from the ages of about 17-23. I think the target audience would be interested in this music as it is all different, simple yet has a different edge and i think these people would have interests such as Art and photography as the homepage is not overwhelming it is simple but has something intriguing.
For example the picture below shows the shop full of clothes that are marketed for the band and they are for both men and women in simple black and white but have something extra that intrigues people the symbol of the x in different colours that all fuse in to each other that adds an edge.

What conventions have they used? Both technical and symbollic? 
For technical conventions the angles of the photos on the homepage and other parts of the website eg linking to social networking site such as instagram are all very 2D there are no tilts or angles again keeping it simple and showing what they have for real and not trying to make it constructed. For symbollic conventions although each part of the website layout is very simple always using the colours black and white to display, there are always extra bits of colour added in for an extra edge that would appeal to the people who are interested in music that is slightly different and edgy for example these photos are displayed with simple balck and white boarders but draw your eye to the colour inside eg the sunsets, the sky and the pictures, this gives the audience an idea about what the band is like and gives a very naturalistic effect because of the beauty of the photos, this also shows they are what is known as an organic ideology as they are not trying to be a constructed image but they are true to themselves. This also exists for the photo below as a link to there social site they are not smiling which gives the audience the idea that they are genuine and its not fake at all. There symbol of an X that exists on there homepage again is simple but inside it there are colours such as red and orange which hold connotations of fire which could represent that all that is important is there music and not how they are constructed

What is the overall message/ideology the site is trying to express?
I think the overall message that this site is trying to express is that the band are trying to show the audience that they are what they are and it is all about the music that is for a audience with slightly different music taste and they are not trying to construct a fake image. The simplicity of the website with an added extra of colour and the bold X symbol shows this idea clearly.

 Who would visit the One direction website?(audiences age gender and interests)

I think the types of audience that would visit this website would be young teenage girls as it is a band that is all boys so girls would look up to them. As they are standing infront of a crowd holding guitars and musical equipment smiling directly at the camera breaking the fourth wall girls would feel hope that they are looking directly at there audience and because they are at a concert it shows how popular they really are.


What conventions have they used? both technical and symbollic?

For technical conventions they have used a slight low angle on the faces of all the band members with the background of the crowd at the concert which makes them look bigger against the crowd to show how popular they are and how many people love them. The lighting on there faces is always over exposed to show that they are the most important people and that there audience aren't really there. For symbollic conventions they have a more detailed layout for there website, with a bolder font that looks handwritten that could suggest a personal value that the audience can relate too. There is a photo underlayed and they all have different facial expressions which is different to The xx page because all there photos of them seemed genuine and not staged which is known as synthetic ideology rather then organic which makes this band appear almost godly.

 There is a lot of colour on both there home page and all there photos this attracts young audiences as it is fresh and appealing. Here a photo of each band member specifically harry,these  are symbols to the audience members of each band member to show them what makes them all different and so different people can take interest in different people in the band and makes them feel connected to them.

Compared to the xx this information with simple text and colour about tickets seems more constructed and fake which attracts the audience more because they desperately want to connect in a personal way with the band where the xx post more personal information which gives clues of there personality instead of this which is less personal so they are less relatable.

What is the overall message /ideology that this site s trying to express?

I think the one direction site is trying to express there fun and fresh way of life as a band but it comes across in more of a synthetic way as they are all constructed like godly figures that appeals more to there target audienece of young girls because they have more drive to connect with the band members then people who are attracted to the xx because they like them for different reasons and for what they are which is completely genuine. However they do give information about the band to intrigue there audience as they feel they are closer to connecting with the band members.