Ideas I chose against

As part of my branding, I considered using the iconography for the four elements themselves to fit in with the magical theme, I decided to try and create a rotating image but I didn’t think it looked quite right, and I thought it wouldn’t fit in my marketing scheme so i chose against putting it in. This would be places against a black background so therefore only the icon and word would rotate.

Another idea I had was to invert the colours of the elements and let them appear normal when user would hover over them, this could be used as navigation, but I chose not to do this as it didn’t work with the overall theme I was trying to achieve and the marketing scheme. You can see the elements below;

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Design Influences

These user intefaces have also influenced my design so I thought it would be important to note them. They are directly related to alchemy apps that I have experimented with.

MOODBOARD

This moodboard should portray the mysticism of the exhibition itself. Not much is known about the art of alchemy itself, therefore the exhibition itself will a dark room full of spells and interesting artifacts that don’t immediately make sense, this moodboard portrays how magical the experience should feel to the user.

User Journey & Wireframes

The first thing the user sees when they visit the website is a landing page. It contains the Title screen with the quotes “dark magic of the ages”. They then press the enter button below which takes into the main page. This main page contains four different spells which are specified below;

AIR – Invisibility
EARTH – Resurrect
WATER – Breathe underwater
FIRE – Inflammable

When visiting each of these pages they will be greeted with images of the elements, the recipe to create a spell and an example of it being used. This causes intrigue for the user, making them want to find out more and then finally the last option on the main page is the exhibition. The exhibition page contains information about how alchemists created gold from other elements, a booking form and also a way to share the experience with friends on social media.

Alchemy

This exhibition will be viewed by many people both young and old. Needs to be very accessible and have and dictation content that is easy to understand for a wide audience. I need to create a website that not only creates a magical feel and experience for the user but also inspires the user to go to the exhibition, this can be done through use of a really powerful marketing response. I have chosen topic of alchemy because within crates an feel of mystery, with many of their spells relating to making gold from other materials and creating a philosophers stone that extends life that creates immortal human beings. I have read “Alchemy and Mysticism” written by Alexander Roob and “The philosopher’s Stone” by Peter Marshall. Both of these books have emphasised the point of unrealistic spells to further prolong their life. All the elements within the spells are made up of the four elements earth wind water and fire. Below are my initial notes I made;

– Story of the preservation of Lady Tai.
– Charcoal & Mercury Sulphate creates perfect body preservation.
– It was believed that mercury could be turned into gold.
– Adding Mercury to copper would make it look like gold
– It’s a symbol of pure consciousness of the journey of your mind to enlightenment