Mad Decent
Web design, development and social tools for a record label.
The rise of a new species.
Earthquakes are followed by aftershocks, so it was only a matter of time before the newly-settled dust from the music industry’s digital shakeup gave way to another tremor. The reverberations of blogging and social media uncovered a new breed of record label that mutated beyond the limitations of its forebears. This new label released music, of course, but it also reflected and contributed to a particular subculture lifestyle more directly than any label had before. It sold clothing, threw event after event, curated objects and, most importantly, offered an online destination for its fans. Mad Decent, the label owned by dj and producer Diplo, is the preeminent example of this species, leading a pack that includes Fools Gold and Ghostly International.
Taming the neon beast.
In 2008 we were approached to develop the brand’s first real website – they were living on a simple blog template until that point – and it had to become the one-stop-shop for everything Mad Decent. They had custom needs including a forum, photo and video galleries, user profiles, artist profiles, and complex sorting tools, so we customized our proprietary CMS, PilotPort, to fit their needs. There are aspects of the design that are loud, like the background and color choice, that are in keeping with their extremely in-your-face brand, but overall the site functions as a very usable framework for an incredible amount of wild and crazy content. Like the label itself, this site is a platform for personalities.
