Warp’s new website – “we wanted the UI to pretty much disappear”

Record label Warp has launched a new website design, following its 25th anniversary last year.

The “subtle diversity” of the new design was a collaboration between Berlin studio HelloMe and Stinkdigital, taking on board Warp’s history as a home for innovative electronic artists such as Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada.

Intended to “adapt the label’s online presence for today’s globally connected audience”, the new site looks to appeal to mobile users with a focus on content, according to Warp.

The design incorporates a minimal grid look with a diversity of pages that cater to Warp’s roster of artists and is the biggest update to its website since 2009.

In collaborating with Warp and HelloMe, Stinkdigital’s art director Blue Bushell says that the focus was on the audience more than anything, with the team working for nearly a year on the project.

Bushell says: “The main objective was to create an experience more suited to the way the Internet works today; more mobile, more flexible, and making smarter use of aggregated content from other platforms like SoundCloud and YouTube.”

As well as updating the label’s synonymous purple look for the site, the team incorporated a Warp Media Player and integration with online independent music store Bleep.com.

Bushell says: “Warp’s design aesthetic and eye for incredible visual projects have always been a massive part of who they are. They were clear from the outset that the site needed to keep some of the idiosyncrasies that were synonymous with the previous versions of the site.”

He adds: “Our aim was to strike a balance where the user interface could pretty much disappear, and at the same time make sure people could find what they were looking for.”

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