Funny Garbage: 10 Years of Making the Web Worth Watching
RCA Victor Group Site
Project Overview
RCA Victor Group approached Funny Garbage to create web sites for their Bluebird Jazz, Windham Hill and RCA Red Seal & RCA Victor labels that would market both their frontline artists and vast catalog of classic recordings. Our goal was to create three individual, visually-appealing sites that captured the essence of each label and provided a channel of information for, and communication with, the audience for each.
Another objective was to allow each label to update and maintain its site without any knowledge of programming languages or HTML. To that end, FG created an extensible XML-based Content Management System (“CMS” ) that provides a common web-publishing platform that can be used by the labels’ marketing and promotions staff.
FG’s XML/XSL implementation approach provides a total separation of presentation layer and data. Template designers can make changes to the templates without having knowledge of the data or programming logic. Each page of the web site can be implemented as an XSL template that references XML data. If the display needs of the site change or a redesign is necessary, an HTML programmer would only need to modify the XSL templates.
RCA Victor’s artist, album and other label data can now be repurposed across multiple platforms to be shared with internal or external syndication partners, as data is stored as XML data that can be rendered and cached via XSL into formats of choice, such as HTML, PDF, or Wireless Markup.
Working closely with RCA Victor marketing, product development and other staff, FG assisted each label with the task of gathering, organizing and prioritizing their content. The result is a selection of the best of over seventy years’ worth of music across the RCA Victor Group labels, giving audiophiles and casual fans an easy way to connect with their favorite music.
Another objective was to allow each label to update and maintain its site without any knowledge of programming languages or HTML. To that end, FG created an extensible XML-based Content Management System (“CMS” ) that provides a common web-publishing platform that can be used by the labels’ marketing and promotions staff.
FG’s XML/XSL implementation approach provides a total separation of presentation layer and data. Template designers can make changes to the templates without having knowledge of the data or programming logic. Each page of the web site can be implemented as an XSL template that references XML data. If the display needs of the site change or a redesign is necessary, an HTML programmer would only need to modify the XSL templates.
RCA Victor’s artist, album and other label data can now be repurposed across multiple platforms to be shared with internal or external syndication partners, as data is stored as XML data that can be rendered and cached via XSL into formats of choice, such as HTML, PDF, or Wireless Markup.
Working closely with RCA Victor marketing, product development and other staff, FG assisted each label with the task of gathering, organizing and prioritizing their content. The result is a selection of the best of over seventy years’ worth of music across the RCA Victor Group labels, giving audiophiles and casual fans an easy way to connect with their favorite music.
- WHAT: Art Direction, Content Management System, Information Architecture, Production Design, Programming
- WHEN: April 25, 2001
