Integrated Digital Publication Research & Prototype

For my ‘Digital Media Project’ I have decided on creating a community for

Fire Twirlers in the UK.

So What Is Fire Twirling?Fire Twirling is themed together by the use of flamed objects that are spun or thrown in complex ways to create interesting and aesthetically pleasing performance.

The origin of such talent as fire twirling (fire dancing) and circus go back a long time, for example fire dancing came from Maori people of New Zealand. It was the natives of these islands hundreds of years ago, the warriors that created the poi. These people were dressed in decorative clothing, tribal tattoos presented and used to cause fear for their enemies. It is also to note that women in the past used poi to keep their wrist flexible when working as weavers.

Original Poi New Age Fire Poi Original Staff New Age Fire Staff

My Interest in Fire Twirling?

I purposefully chose to set my project on the topic of fire twirling due to my involvement with the art. I have been a keen fire poi twirler for around six years, I am involved with a fire twirling company ‘ The Pyropirates’ now named ‘IlluminArty’. In June 2011 our twirling group was invited to open Glastonbury festival with a performance and then on to leading the parade at the stone circle on the opening Wednesday evening. Of this I am very proud, and as a result we have been invited back to Glastonbury Festival to perform on the Arcadia stage.

What’s Already Out There?

Currently ‘Home of Poi’, ‘Three Worlds’ & ‘Firepedia’ are the only Fire twirling community based websites, however, these sites are community to New Zealand, Canada and Australia.

There is a large amount of Fire Twirlers posting or creating pages on Facebook and YouTube, but there is no common ground in which they can link.

My Pitch line – Community/Curation

I want to make the United Kingdoms first online community for Fire Twirling & to curate a wide range of content around this theme.

Aims/Purpose

The purpose of my project is to create a community for fire twirlers online, the UK currently do not have an online site to share and post new skills, video’s

photographs or tips. I aim to create a site that links all the UK Fire Twirlers.

My Target Audience

The main reason for building this community is to connect the UK audience that is already out there, therefore I do not need to try & build an audience but rather

bring them to one place.

Home of Poi PlatformsHome Of Poi is clearly recognisable through the logo, ensuring links between the other platforms they use

The idea of a community is represented through this separate tab

Evidence of recognised Logo being used on all platforms, I intend to ensure this through my own website.

Unlike HOP I do not wish to include other specialities such as advertising or selling within my website.

THREEWORLDS PlatformsTHREEWORLDS is more of a company rather than a community and their beginning intentions were to represent and sell the makings of Drums and Fire Twirling equipment

Unlike the other fire twirling communities ThreeWorlds use a YouTube platform, something I wish to include in my UK community as I can then represent all UK Fire Twirling Videos through a favourites list and embed these into my website. This will also allow me to post video tutorials that are available to all twirlers, again this will help connect twirlers in the UK

I like the use of colour ‘FirePedia’ uses within their Logo and similarly their layout. I intend to create an aesthetically pleasing website that matches the imagery of Fire Twirling similarly to this.

FirePedia Platforms

I like the idea of daily featured videos, I will however monitor what is posted within my website and will remove un related posts.

Website or Blog?

I have been debating this decision and initially I decided on a Blog for the following reasons

•A Blog is easier to update/add to and change•A Blog can be presented clearer along your themed lines• A Website is harder to promote in the sense that there are so many out there•Websites cannot host forums•A Bog is free unlike a website•As I will be using a number of platforms there will be no trouble with posting on any sort of feeds

However after some discussion with fellow students I have settled on creating a website. I have been informed of free websites where I can create my community and solved the large issue of being unable to host a forum on a website by alternatively creating a separate blog. Although this means more platforms than necessary, this solution will allow me to monitor and change information and post’s in a more accessible way

What will I name my community & what platforms have I decided on using?

Because I will be using several platforms that will link to my blog, I will need to use a name that is simple to remember and to the point – ‘Fire Twirling Community UK’. This will ensure that I have confirmed my brief of setting up a community for Fire Twirlers in the UK only.

PlatformsYouTube – To curate all UK fire twirlers videos in favourites and to design tutorial videos on how to tricks

Facebook – I will use a Facebook platform as there are a huge amount of pages and groups that are spread out on Facebook however there is no base to these groups or pages and they are hard to find. If I create a Facebook platform that links to my blog I can then collect and join these Facebook pages, linking everyone in this interest.

Blog – Here I will post quality information, tricks and tutorials that have been sent or posted on Facebook, presenting videos through this that will be visible on the website

Website – To curate all platforms

Website In Progress.TitleMy chosen Title for my website has been decided as ‘FireTwirlingUK’, I have chosen this in replace of ‘Fire Twirling Community UK’, as it is shorter and easier to view, it also became clear that the community is apparent with the mention of the United Kingdom and I therefore did not need to repeat this idea.LogoThis Image appears on all platforms, Facebook, YouTube and FireTwirlingUK website in order to establish the clear connection of my Internet project.

Website ChoiceHaving first began designing my website on WordPress I began exploring other options as I found the site difficult to navigate and the theme options did not meet my intentions for the design of the website. I wished to use many different Photographs within the headers of my pages and this was not possible. I then narrowed down my options to Weebly and Wix . I found both of these Domains easy to use and accessible, in fact, both Domains are very similar and my decision of using Weebly was due to adverts appearing on Wix and I did not want this.

Other PlatformsI chose two supporting platforms for my website.

Facebook & YouTube

https://www.facebook.com/FiretwirlingukMy decision for using Facebook was primarily due to the volume of users and the accessibility for presenting posts, video’s and pictures. I can gather most of my website users via Facebook, through searching and tying my website to similar pages or groups, resulting in cumulating Fire Twirling in the UK as intended.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmnx6uLO3__hrKVX0YDadXgI decided on using YouTube as a platform; as my subject matter is largely movement based and many tutorial or photo’s are to be expected. I used my YouTube Site to host over videos of Twirling that were spread on YouTube in one solitary space. As my website progresses and gathers more user I intend to create my own Fire Twirling Tips and Video Tutorials that will be hosted on my YouTube sight and presented on My Web Site tutorial page.

FireTwirlingUK Logo & Its Uses

This photograph is one of my own, I love the colours presented in this image and chose to base my website reflecting this style. The text was created on Weebly’s Header editor and I believe it creates a strong image for FireTwirlingUK’s Logo.

Website Home Page Large Header Logo Example

Tips & Trick’s Page Example of Small Header Logo

Facebook PlatformObviously here there is an error with the FireTwirlingUK Logo, I found that although having a Themed Picture Logo was professional It did however, prove difficult when applying to different platforms and needed editing further.

YouTube Platform

Unfortunately, after every attempt it was still to apply a full background image on the YouTube layout – this is due to the image appearing full on a TV, this size on the web and an even smaller cropped image on a phone. Whether you resize the image or not, YouTube's photo editor automatically crops the image.

Due to the title written here, the issue of the text on the background is not too detrimental.

Above are links to FireTwirlingUK’s Website, Email and Facebook, allowing clear navigation of the sites platforms

YouTube Platform

Building an Audience

The core idea of my website came from the recognition that although there are many Fire Twirling website’s there are none based in or for the UK. I decided this subject matter due to the already existing UK audience that had no online based community. Although unlike many of the other websites I do not sell or distribute Fire Twirling Equipment, it has come to my attention that my website would be a fantastic place to help the UK sellers who do, displaying and linking their platforms and sites via mine.

YouTube is less of an Audience attracting platform but more of a storage and displaying platform, I am using YouTube to accumulate and share good technical and interesting Tutorial and performance videos that are displayed on my Tips and Tricks Website page. In time I intend to create and explore my own tutorial videos however this is a goal for the near future and an expansion on my first intentions.

YouTube Audience

Facebook Audience

A large base of my Audience has been gathered from my Facebook platform, this is mainly due to the large amount of users of Fire Twirling Pages being categorised, but also due to the instantly posted changes and post of my website onto my Facebook page. This advantageously keeps my Facebook up to date without needing a large amount of control over it.

Website Imagery

Fire Twirling is praised on its visual and movement, therefore a large part of Fire Twirling interest online is depicting this movement and emotion through photographs. Similarly any online domain should use imagery to catch the audiences attention as this is a key dawning point for online users.

Each blog post, Video, Event Calendar Entry and Questionnaires' include imagery aesthetics, this is to compliment the written word and draw in the eye of the reader.

Facebook ImageryReflecting my Website I have also hosted a large amount of Imagery on my Facebook platform, this has worked out extremely well as Facebook has grown to be an increasingly more developed Photo posting platform.

VoiceMy Website carried the same voice throughout – Professionally friendly and informative.

‘FireTwirlingUk ~ is a place for Twirlers of Poi, Staff, Clubs, Juggling Balls, Skipping Rope, Fire Fans and Fire Hula Hoops to connect and share skills. The intention of this site is to curate all UK tips & Tricks, events and information about fire twirling, allowing one space where all Twirlers can connect.’

My voice for blog posts’ differed, to create a change in dynamic and to allow the mixture of other users voices within their blogs to fit comfortably in with the rest.

‘Hello fellow spinners. Today I just wanted to spread the word about a great product that I’m sure you’ll appreciate as much as I do.’

My Facebook platform carried a more informal up-beat tone that encouraged and met the knowledge of all users. This tone was also welcoming for users to comment freely.

‘To Have Your Videos and Fire Twirling Photo's Hosted On FireTwirlingUK's Website: Please Post Them On Our Facebook Page :) Thanks’

‘Nice Contact Staff Demonstrated Here By - Clayton Allred’

Expectations & The Un-Expected

Before beginning my project my expectations for my Facebook and Website users were high, this expectation however has not been reflected. I now understand after creating and developing a domain and platforms, that progression can be slow. Having published my website onto my Facebook platform rather late on in the project had been a mistake. I had imagined that it would be best to publish the FireTwirlingUK website, when it had a solid and regular base. I was wrong however, as my Facebook users were my main source of audience and they also appreciated the progression within the website.

Skills Development 350 word overview.

FireTwirlingUK is an online community that encourages connection between the Fire Twirling performers and hobbyist of the UK. The online site hosts easy access to tutorial videos, events and tips in order to bring all UK Twirlers to one domain. Having based my online project on similar existing websites and platforms I was able to perform specific research into what techniques worked or failed in terms of presenting an online domain for Fire Twirlers. From this information I concluded that as with all online presence linking of Platforms and clear recognition was largely important, alongside more specific vitalities to Fire Twirling such as: use of imagery and video interpretations. Unlike other Twirling Domains I ensured that all content on my website, YouTube and Facebook platforms were related to Twirling only. I steered away from mixing Circus into my project as to represent Fire Twirling as clearly as possible. This allowed me to capture a well regarded image of Fire Twirling and kept the site as relevant as possible.

Initially having chosen to display my project on Wordpress, due to the opportunity of creating a blog, my progression was slow. I had difficulty deciding on a theme and struggled with the layout. Had the Website not have been my main Platform I may have took longer with Wordpress and developed my skills within using the domain, however my website was the core of my project and needed to be solid. Although having not used Weebly before I found the site extremely accommodating and accessible. My skills were challenged when undertaking a blog, previously I had little experiences with blogs, after extensive research and trial and error, I found the importance in the presentation of a blog. My first attempts at blogging contained too many word characters and large paragraphs. I now believe I have developed my skills, creating short snappy comments or instructions, with the use of imagery and sub titles to keep the written work accessible. I have thoroughly enjoyed the design of my online presence and I intend to develop and extend this project until the amount of users will allow the site to run itself, as I for one intend to become a reader of FireTwirlingUK and not just the platforms host. I would also integrate Pinterest as a platform, due to its links with Facebook and my projects demand for images.