Case Study 7: Bon Iver

For my next review, I will be looking at the official website for the band Bon Iver (boniver.org).

There is one navigation system on the home page.  The groupings are standard for a recording artist.  They include: News, Tour, Downloads, Message Board, Discography, Blog, and Contact.  I sometimes wonder if sites like this could combine the blog and the news sections.  I understand the reasoning in keeping them separate, but I feel like more people would read the blog if it was the first thing one sees on the homepage.  It also makes it feel like the entire site is the artist’s.  WHen the blog is separate, it feels like the official site is made by the marketing team of the band, and the blog is the only authentic section.  Because there is only one navigation system, there is no hierarchy.  The look of the navigation items does not change after you click on them.  Instead, the section name appears directly beneath the navigation as a header.  I feel like the site could save space by just making the navigation system indicate what page you’re on, only because they’re so close anyway.  The site has only two levels, the home page, and then all the other pages. 

Because the content is fairly limited, there isn’t a need for a breadcrumb or anything to indicate where you are, besides the page title.  You can get to the home page at any time by clicking news.  One issue I noticed is that the banner with the band’s name does not link back to the home page, and the label NEWS in the navigation doesn’t necessarily indicate that that was the page you started on.  The only indication of that is that NEWS is the first item located in the navigation bar.  The site is very shallow and there is no need for a site map.  The site is also flat.  I do think this is good thing.  One problem I noticed is that the message board and blog are outsourced, that is, hosted on other sites.  I think the site would be much more cohesive if these features were embedded on the page.  For one thing, once you are on those pages you lose the navigation system.  The links open in new windows, so you aren’t completely lost.  However, you also lose any branding you were going for with the website.  The looks of the blog and messageboard and completely different.  

The typography is clear, but I don’t know if Times New Roman is the best choice.  Also, the band’s name in the top banner is handwritten and scanned in, but the image is very pixelated, which really brings down the look of the site.  The only real difference between headers and body text is boldness, which works, but isn’t necessarily the best choice.  The grid remains the same (left column has tour dates, and the content changes in the right column).  The focal point is the generic banner, which is a distorted image of what looks to be stepping stones.  The imagery doesn’t really reflect anything about the band.  It’s very boring.  In the background there is a floral etching, but again, this doesn’t really say anything about the band.  There aren’t even any pictures of the band on the website, which I think is a huge downfall.  I know I have come to a band’s website before solely looking for a picture of the band.  There are no icons, photos, or symbols (only the banner and the background).  This is one huge area for improvement. The color is black on light blue, which looks nice, but a little bland.  I’d add one more color to the palette. The colors were chosen to reflect the nature of the band’s music (lo-fi, pretty, soft, folky) but it isn’t the most attractive palette.