Nicolette on the Road (Hashtag Cyberstar)

INTRODUCTION

This website, part of the brand ‘Nicolette on the Road’, will display videos and photos taken from the dash-camera inside my car, which includes both front and rear cameras. The website, running alongside an Instagram and Twitter page, offers users more information on who is behind the camera, along with extra content and information. The website and its content is inspired heavily by the YouTube channel ‘Dash Cam Owners Australia’ (DCOA), which showcases events on Australian roads, submitted from owners all across the country. Perhaps in the future this website will branch out into showcasing other followers’ videos and imagery, however in this initial stage, all videos and images will come from my own dashcam, offering my own experiences on the road, from my extreme road rage, terrible singing and compilations of the best clips to random events that I have experienced while driving. The forefront of the website will be the videos, however an image gallery and a dashcam recommendations page will also feature on the website alongside a biography about myself and how I began the ‘Nicolette on the Road’ identity.

PURPOSE OF WEBSITE

The purpose of the website is to build the brand of ‘Nicolette on the Road’, showcasing more than just video compilations (which is currently seen on the initial Instagram page). It aims to provide another source of entertainment, offering images, videos grouped in categories for easier access and extra information about each video and image.

Secondary to entertainment, the website also attempts to promote safe and alert driving through humour and engagement, giving off the idea that you are never 100% safe on the road and other road users can be unpredictable. Additionally, through these videos and images I hope to encourage followers to invest in a dash-camera, more for their own safety and insurance guaran tees than entertainment. To enhance this, the website has a component that provides those interested in obtaining a dash-camera for their car some recommendations and specifications of a small handful of cameras (note: this is not an e-commerce section, rather it guides users to external pages for more information).

TARGET AUDIENCE

How?Why?Who?

Teenagers

They are future drivers who should be aware of what occurs on the roads. They are also avid users of social media and the Internet so they are ideal to spread the word.

Young Drivers

Australian Drivers

The most vulnerable group of drivers on the road who think at times they are invincible. Also strong users of social media and the Internet. They are the ideal age to be purchasing a dashcam, with efforts to persuade them to have one for life.

Users of the road in Australia can easily relate to all of the posts and can learn where danger locations are and are again able to buy a dashcam for their own vehicle.

Hopefully they will also be encouraged to improve their driving to avoid being showcased!

- The humour and content suits their age

- Many social media links

- The humour and content suits their age

- Many social media links

- Ability to purchase a cam for themself

- Content easily relatable

- Easy navigation and colour palette

- Humour and images from known places

Anyone living near roads

If you are living near a road, it’s good to be aware of its happenings. They might get a laugh out of it too, as a bonus!

- Content easily relatable

- Easy navigation and colour palette

Functionality

Logo, which if clicked will take users back to the home page

Menu Menu Menu Menu

LOGO

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External social media links, taking users to either Instagram or Twitter

Hero image for display only, unclickable. May potentially become a scroll through gallery showing my best pictures

Images will open in a new tab with more information if clicked on

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General Page Layout (Desktop)

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Video powered by Vimeo (will not open up in a new window)

LOGO Menu Menu Menu

Navigation links will replicate those in the footer. Similarly, logo will take the users back to the homepage if clicked on

External social media links, taking users to either Instagram or Twitter

Functionality

In the body paragraph, it will be explained that I am no expert with cars and dash-cameras and can give a very simplistic opinion based upon the cameras I have seen and experienced

Images on this page will not be my own, they will be other people’s images, followed by a statement giving credit to the original photographer

Buy a Dashcam Page (Desktop)

Videos will likely be YouTube links to dash-cam review videos from channels not associated with my brandcredit will be provided

Links will lead out to an external site, giving more information on the dash-camera and an opportunity to purchase one

Functionality

Image (Clicked) (Mobile)

Horizontal mode will be supported for each page within the website, with small differences in the design to better fit the smaller screen

The 3 lines will open up the menu, consist ing of the same navigation options as the desktop version. This menu will open on the left-hand side of the screen

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LOGO

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Note: mock-ups section.

Design - Websites

DESIGN RESEARCH

The Maximalist - www.themaximalist.com.au

Header scrolls the changes fitting to the colour scheme

Simplistic colour palette, very clean and clear

Engaging and appropriate hero image which scrolls and is linked to articles

The Maximalist blog displays personal work and despite its name is a very minimalistic and clean design.

Good logo and header Colour scheme simple yet effective

Steward Auto-Repair posts video blogs in a nice concise linear format, which would align well with Nicolette on the Road.

Steward Auto-Repair: Video Blogs - www.stewardautomotiverepair.com/video-blog.html

Clear structure and flow of website Colour scheme matches content

DESIGN RESEARCH Haven

O The

Interesting and hero image

Clear colour scheme

Off the Throttle has an attractive hero image that encompasses the page’s contents, with a good choice of colour.

Good use of grid structure not ‘in your face’

Little Haven utilises the grid structure well. Its logo is centered and its navigation is simple, alike to my wireframes.

Design Research Websites

Dash Cam Owners Australia: Videos

- www.dashcamownersaus.com.au/videos

Consistent with fonts and colour palette

Provides real-time information on customer purchases

Techradar: Dashcam Reviews

- www.techradar.com/au/news/best-dash-cam

Information clear Consistent colour scheme and typography

Good contrasting

Two headers Page unengaging

Dash Cam Owners Australia is the prime inspiration for my website, however there are some designchang es that could be made. Though, the content is terrific.

Does not make use of entire web-page space, too much scrolling

Techradar’s dashcam reviews have a structure similar to what my recommendations page should be like, although the info could fit the screen better.

Design

Bang Shift’s Humour page has a lot to work on, though their content is exactly what I’m aiming for, just with a slight change in target audience.

Bob in Oz has an outdate outlook to it, however he gives good insight into life in Australia from a personal perspective. ANDShift: Funny Stu

Logo difficult to read

Girls Auto Clinic has the right idea but poor execution. Most car pages are generally targeting males, so while it is a breath of fresh air, it just misses the mark a little bit for me.

Links to social media not immediate upon entry to homepage Research

Girls Auto Clinic - girlsautoclinic.com/blog

Some outdated features (SEO tags visible, stereotypes)

Bliss and Mayhem - www.abitofblissandmayhem.com

Inconsistent use of typography

Bliss and Mayhem, another lifestyle blog, has too many incosistencies in its design. However I enjoy the personal and very friendly way in which posts are written and pictures are upload ed.

Below is a moodboard based on key themes that will feature in the website, primarily dash-camera related. The mood board was an important component in moving forward with the project as it is where the inspiration for typefaces and colour palettes derive from.

DESIGN, AND - Moodboard

Typefaces are an important part of any design - they must be readable and t with the overall feel of the website. I have opted for simple sans serif fonts for the headers and the text, which looks professional and is clear and suitable for the content that will be on the website. Headers are in Oswald, a bolder font, while general text is regular. News Gothic is uncommon enough for the website to stand out, yet simple enough for the reader. The header phrase had to pop, so using a chunky font in Cooper Black along with a bright colour will draw users’ attention. The logo font is explained on the next page.

From the get go, I wanted to make use of the play on words in ‘Nicolette on the Road’, thus having my name literally on the road. Initial logo designs built from that point, with the colours being primarily black and white. Various fonts were tested, for example the ‘sketchy’ font (see primary logo designs top and bottom left) was exper imented with, however it came across too childish and unprofessional.

Finally, Riffic Free Bold was used for the final design, which is very simple. A catch phrase was added to give the users more of an identity on who is behind the page and its content, making it more memorable.

Final Logo Design

Primary Logo Designs

Favicon Design

on the road on the road on the road on the road

Mock-ups

Initial designs explored a vastly grey interface, with little other colour demonstrated in the background. Header and navigation layout changes were tested. The ‘freeway driving’ colour palette was the main inspiration.

The footer (see bottom right of page) made use of the ‘sunset rage’ colour scheme.

Upon further inspection of similar websites in the design research phase, these were later scrapped for a more modern design utilising white space. It also displays a simplistic palette with a splash of colour. Mock-Ups

Mock-ups

The home page will feature a hero image, followed by a stream of all posts on the website, with newest posts at the top. The header and footer will be present throughout each page. Page

NICOLETTE on

NICOLETTE the road a girl and her dashcam.

All Posts

Menu Menu Menu Menu

Menu Menu MenuMenu

Mock-ups

About Me & Contact Page

The about and contact page is quite simple with only a small amount of information, hence the biography and contact details have been grouped together into one page. An image of myself will be present along with some background information. Contacts will contain basic links to the social media sites and an email.

About Me

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Menu Menu MenuMenu

NICOLETTE on the road

Just a girl and her dashcam.

Mock-ups

Image Gallery

The image gallery will be represented in a grid format. Clicking on each image will result in another page with more information on each image, while the rollover gives the image title.

Image Gallery

A Picturesque View in Southbank

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All pages will contain a header and footer (consisting of: logo, navigation, social media links).

Note: Base page URL subject to change if web-building platform is changed.

Page URL:

Page Type Media

Text Meta Title Meta Description

Home

Videos Videos (Categories)

Image Gallery Image (clicked) a Dashcam above) /videos /videos/best-of /videos/road-rage /videos/singing /videos/random /images

About & Contact

Home Page (all image and video posts) Video Gallery

Video Gallery

Image Display - Dashcam Image - Image Description Image (Grid) Gallery

Information and Recommendations

- Product Images - Product Videos - Links to dashcam websites - Headshot

Personal and Contact Info - Hero Image - Dashcam Videos - Dashcam Images - Social Media Feed - Dashcam Videos - Dashcam Videos - Dashcam Images

- Video and Image Descriptions - Video Descriptions - Video Descriptions - Image Descriptions - Product Descriptions - Product specifications

- Short bio - Social media and email details

Nicolette on the Road | Just a Young Aussie and her Dashcam Nicolette on the Road | Videos

Experience a young (and angry) 21-year-old drive the streets of Melbourne through her dashcam.

Recently uploaded videos on the road, from rage to random.

Nicolette on the Road | *Category*

Recently uploaded *Category* videos from the road.

Nicolette on the Road | Image Gallery Nicolette on the Road | *Image Title* Nicolette on the Road | Buy a Dashcam Nicolette on the Road | About Me and Contact Info

An assortment of images from Nicolette’s time on the road.

*Image Title*. Taken during Nicolette’s time on the road.

Looking to buy a dashcam? Here are a few of Nicolette’s recommendations. A bit about Nicolette and her dashcam inspiration, as well as her social media accounts and email.

Implementation

The website will be built using either SquareSpace or Adobe Portfolio. Both provide good basic features however Adobe Portfolio is free with my Creative Cloud account, whilst SquareSpace requires a payment to branch into more features. Further, more in-depth research and design mock-ups must be done in order to determine which option is best to portray Nicolette on the Road, however at this stage SquareSpace is more likely.

Videos will be uploaded onto Vimeo before being embedded into the site. These videos may be censored if there is swearing - if so, it will be noted to users that uncensored videos can be accessed via the public Instagram page. They will be edited using a simple movie-making software (e.g. Windows Movie Maker), as the work requires little more than adding clips together and cropping them in order to give followers a real, un ltered experience.

Images will be uploaded directly onto the web-page, edited only slightly through Photoshop and Lightroom to help match the colour scheme of the website. These photos will all be taken using a dash-camera (apart from head shots and images to help convey the brand).

An important thing to note about this website and the Nicolette on the Road brand in general is that nothing is taken too seriously. Photos and videos will not be edited to look or sound pretty, swearing and silliness will occur and the professional component of this brand is to simply be myself and to rst and foremost provide the audience with humour through driving experiences. Anything overly fabricated will not be tolerated nor posted!

IMPLEMENTATION

NICOLETTE on the road

Just a girl and her dashcam.