Guns 'N Roses Official Website
I spearheaded the speedy redesign of Guns N' Roses' news delivery system gateway to ticket sales during the band's 2016 reunion tour. Collaborating with LiveNation/Ticketmaster, I developed a responsive, circular news feed that incorporated the band's logo and was dubbed the "news-bullet-in-chamber."
01 Problem
Live Nation and Ticketmaster together handled ticket sales for Guns N' Roses and managed their web presence. When they needed a new homepage at the start of the band's reunion tour, they hired me on as the sole designer and creative director on the project on the 3-month project.
One of the key criteria was to avoid using recent band photos, as one of the members had sustained a temporary physical injury that became distracting in photos.
In addition, . Google Analytics revealed a vast majority of users access the site via mobile devices, so using a highly responsive design became critical.
02 Approach
Collaborating with LiveNation/Ticketmaster, we engaged in whiteboard prototyping to evaluate different layouts for the homepage, navigation system, and ticket sales portal.
An early plan prioritized concise tour-related updates, strategically placing announcements near the GNR logo for visual impact.
And instead of using photography to engage audiences, we focused attention on the band's highly detailed, illustrated logo to anchor users' attention and make a strong, trustworthy first impression.
03 Solution
The final design introduced a circular news feed with a prominent GNR logo, providing context to the chamber design. It also introduced a supersize version of the band's logo surrounded by a rotating gun chamber.
Finally, using lots of circular containers and centered layouts translated impeccably to mobile devices.
Process
Documentation
Outcome
Even though the homepage design is unusual, I created three layers of safeguards to improve usability. First, users could navigate through band updates using arrows. Second, they click on any visible photos. And finally, and perhaps most entertainingly, they could navigate the news feed by clicking the gun barrel and rotating. In all three cases, the website made a sound similar to gun click
Though I can't take personal credit, I think it's worth mentioning that GNR ended up being the fourth-highest grossing tour in the world that year.