Inspirational Bits and Bobs

First things first. What does country music look like? Well, from research it seems the undisputed home of country and western music is Nashville, TN. So lets go there first.
The Country Music Association (CMA) holds a big music festival in Nashville every year. This is what there website looks like:

Instantly we see a style: Red and Black with beige whites and a blue highlight colour. The logo is a badge design centred in the menu. There are elements of eroded lettering but is balanced with smooth edged graphics, with a slick gradient in the main-content area. The background image is a stage photograph that remains static while the page rolls down. This site mainly uses type and colour to make it feel "country".

In Australia, Tamworth is the home of country and it too holds a huge country festival every year. Here is their website:


Similar concept but used in a different way. Again, same colour scheme: Red, off-white and Black. Instead of eroded lettering, this uses a paint-peeled background. So instead of using colour and type to emulate country, this uses colour and texture and is balanced by refined typography.

But this country style can be found on lots of websites that range from country fashion outlets to cottonseed oil.

www.cottonseedoiltour.com

www.thefarmerandthechef.com

www.rmwilliams.com.au

www.storypixel.com

It's clear from these examples that the elements I talked about previously are common among a lot of country inspired websites. Harsh blacks and whites are out, rich earthy colours are in. Typography is essential and imagery and texture are just as important.

But I’ve also been looking at sources from the real world. A lot of inspiration was drawn from photos and objects and ephemera such as labels from bourbon and wine bottles. Also of particular interest for their typographic layout were hand painted signs and woodpress posters so often associated with the wild west.

And I can’t forget this Rawhide Annual I found under the house. Starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. Again the hand drawn typefaces and the colours scream wild west:
And finally, last semester I went on a photoshoot out at the Yass Rodeo. A heck of a lot of fun because everything takes place so darn quickly. The colours from the costumes and the surrounding area again provide a good source of inspiration. Again, looking at the photos, the predominant colours are reds, browns, some blues (from jeans), gold-yellow, soft-black and off-white. It seems this colour-theme is one of those unbreakable rules.

Web Design Project quick links:
Post 1: Country and/or Western - Project Choice
Post 2: Inspirational Bits and Bobs - Research and Inspiration
Post 3: Initial Layout - Website Flat Graphic
Post 4: Now Showing - Website Link
Post 5: The Making Of - The Making of the Site