88rising (Academia)
Alex Luowan
Brand Designer
Interaction Designer
Visual Designer
Adobe Premiere Pro
Figma
88rising
Reimagining 88risings website experience for fans to engage with their favourite artists and stay informed.
CONTRIBUTION
Art Direction, UI Designer , Researcher, Decision Maker, Facilitator
CREDITS
Justin Yu, Luke Do, Terrence Xu, Claret Egwim-Nwagbara
Project Overview
88rising stands as a multimedia record label committed to bridging the cultural gap between the East and West. Through the promotion of Asian and Asian American culture across diverse media platforms, the company aims to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation. This redesigned 88rising website serves as a touchpoint for fans, offering an enhanced experience to explore details about their cherished artists, while also extending support to lesser-known talents, thereby expanding their influence.
I was responsible for conducting user research, content strategy, visuals, and interaction, while also facilitating a design sprint.
Research + Framing: Business Opportunity
Despite a successful debut, they have struggled to maintain momentum, losing over 2.6 billion viewerships in the past 4 years. To find the root of the problem the team conducted user interviews and surveys involving 89 respondents spanning from casual to die-hard fans, we aimed to delve into the core issues surrounding music-sharing habits and perceptions of 88rising and its roster of artists.
Research + Framing: Uncovering Engagement Gaps
Our findings revealed a notable lack of engagement attributed to a substantial awareness gap, as 62% of respondents were unaware of 88rising’s monthly releases. Despite the consensus uncovered by user surveys regarding a decline in popularity, 41% of casual fans linked it to perceived low engagement from the brand.These fans expressed interest in discovering new talents and experiencing the signature sounds associated with 88rising.
"The big names seem stagnant, while many new artists lack exposure, creating an opportunity for more variety. This introduces people to different sounds beyond the usual big names, providing something new to discover and listen to."
- Survey Respondent
Research + Framing: Framing the Problem
From a business perspective, my team and I identified that 88rising fans were struggling to engage with the diverse roster and collaborative content scattered across various platforms. We proposed an intervention leveraging 88rising’s unique Asian American identity and diverse artists to enhance fan discovery, connection, and provide visibility to artists who were previously overlooked.
Result: Cultural Familiarity
Landing on the homepage, we provide a starting point to help draw in casual audiences through the use of language. Artists are organized by their respective home countries, additionally indicated by the menu bar below. The word “Rising” is repeated in different languages as a way to immediately draw a fan’s attention to a country they have a personal connection to, with catchy music videos playing on hover to encourage exploration of the rest of the countries.
Result: Artists Listings
Clicking into a country reveals all the artists from that region, introducing fans to artists who may share a similar cultural background. On the right side of the screen, highlighted collaborations offer exposure for lesser-known 88rising artists, providing fans with opportunities to connect and discover new talent and music.
Result: Breaking The Grid
Each collab song is given its own page, highlighting artist voices and behind-the-scenes content to give fans more ways to personally connect with their favorite artists. By breaking away from traditional grids, our distinctive style crafts a vibrant and memorable experience, emphasizing how 88rising sets itself apart from conventional artists. The use of opposing motions as you scroll through the page reflects 88rising's clash of Eastern and Western cultures.
Result: Adaptable Individuality
Individual artist pages allow fans to dive into an artist's discovery in a unique and immersive format. A biography section features an intimate photo stack motif, organizing large amounts of relatable and personal artist content into a single screen, allowing fans to easily go down a rabbit hole for the artists they find intriguing.
Additionally, fans can explore an artist's song discovery and merchandise page, with the artists' music videos playing in the background to help provide an immersive environment
Result: Upcoming releases
As our user research pointed out that a majority of 88rising fans were unaware of the label’s newer releases, a central touchpoint on our redesigned website is our upcoming releases page. New songs can generate excitement within fans and help keep 88rising relevant, thus this page offers an easy way to access their latest drops, organized in a linear calendar inspired by waveform lines. Additionally, the page teases what might be coming up for the label, generating anticipation and awareness within 88rising’s fanbase.
Stakeholder Value
(Business) 88rising
Fostering a loyal fan base through increasing song engagements and merch sales. Highlighting lesser known artists to deepen their talent pool all while further promoting Asian American media to mainstream global audiences.
(Consumer) Fans
Helps create a more diverse music & artists range through enhanced discoverability and deeper artists engagement. Fans gain an appreciation of the artist’s creativity, influences and personal experiences.
Lessons Learned
My key learning from this project was learning to effectively frame a problem, taking into account not only the fans perspective but also considering the business side. I came to the realization that an issue like post-concert depression is applicable to any company, not just specific to 88rising itself. Consequently, it took us 3-4 weeks to pinpoint the problem space, as my team and I aimed for perfection rather than settling for “good enough.” This pursuit extended the timeline until the final three weeks when we focused on sprints, creating and refining the design.
I am grateful to both my team and the teaching staff who helped me stay grounded during the challenging weeks. :)
