Progress on our DA has definitely slowed since working on our Beta assignment, however we have made lots of great changes to Astrology Lane throughout the prototyping stage.
Instagram is where most of Astrology Lane’s content is based.
During the prototyping stage we have made the following changes:
- new aesthetic. We moved on from our earthy tones and have decided on a more pleasing pastel palette.
- new series. We have created a new series of posts using information from our blog, which we have decided to discontinue due to poor engagement.
- engaging with followers. We have done this through creating discussion in the comments of our posts as well as asking questions on our story.
- collaboration. We worked with Lucy at Into Our Garden and created Instagram posts for both of our accounts about plants and astrology.
SPOTIFY
Our Spotify playlists were posted during the prototyping stage. This was in an attempt to expand our DA as well as create astrology content on a non-traditional social media site. We have received positive feedback from followers and other BCM114 students and tutors about these playlists and hope to continue to develop these through the next phase of our DA.
The only issue with our playlists was that Spotify also released similar playlists just after ours were posted. This was a bit disheartening due to the attention they received.
We created a Twitter account for Astrology Lane around the time our Beta was due. We hoped to use this platform to connect with a new community of followers, as well as post content that was different from our Instagram, such as memes. This has remained fairly inactive since creation, so we hope to begin posting on there soon.
WORDPRESS
During the prototyping stage we realised that our WordPress blog was not attracting a lot of attention, despite posting content our followers had asked for. We have decided to discontinue the blog. To not waste the work we put into it, we have used the information we posted to create a new series on our Instagram.
FUTURE…
- We still currently have stickers and prints in the works and hope to release these in the near future. We have tried to work on ways to make these items affordable and accessible to everyone, and have been trying to follow the FIST ideology closely.
- We have the opportunity to expand to other platforms such as Tumblr and Pinterest.
- IGTV is something we are definitely interested in making content for.
- We have plans to create more collaborations with other DAs such as Baking Bad and Enventure.
abbbey.home.blog 
Hey Abbey, Nice stuff. It is interesting hearing about how progress has slowed down since your Beta, because i would say it has for me as well. I really like how over different platform there is a cohesiveness to your work (similar colours and just general vibe). Perhaps you could have gone into more detail about the feedback and responses you have received. Just checked out the Aires playlist and excited to listen. You are doing great and am looking forward to hearing more. 🙂
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This is really cool. I really like how many platforms your DA is on and it’s great to see not only how much feedback you have, but you’re using that feedback to improve your DA and broaden up your content. Good to see how successful the prototyping stage has been for you. Keep it up!!!
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So the idea of Baking Bad sounds pretty great. Loving your astrology content on instagram and seriously impressed with the playlists on spotify. If you guys are looking to make stickers, I have seen a few people do that, such as Lorena Ferras. Maybe you could collaborate with her. You can always find her on twitter, her handle is her name. And setting up an Etsy shop should be your target since you can reach a bigger audience there. Good luck!
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Hey Abbey! Looking forward to our collab that’s coming soon! I love what you have created so far, it has been really interesting to learn more about astrology and you should be proud of what you have created so far! Also, your Spotify playlists are way better than the official ones, the Sagitariun one did not have any songs I have ever heard of, but you have a playlist full of bangers!! This DA has really stood out for me as you continue to publish content on a regular basis and promote the channel regularly, also the new aesthetic is really appealing and makes it stand out even more! You seem to be really passionate and enjoy producing content, which is great and definitely reflects in the work you have produced thus far. Have you considered creating a TikTok account to make videos about astrology? It is a quick and easy way to reach a wide audience and it is easy to gain followers when you post regularly, I know a lot of people on the platform enjoy astrology based videos and they always seem to get a lot of attention in comparison to other videos! Keep up the good work girl!
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How Exciting! I absolutely love your DA. Your aesthetic on Instagram and blog is so appealing and I really love the consistency that you’ve created. You’ve spread yourself amongst a range of platform which is impressive to keep content rolling through all of them and keeping your audience wanting more. I think it’s so outside the box that you’ve chosen to broaden your DA to Spotify as well, with it being quite trendy at the moment, I think it was a great decision on your part due to the mass of people looking out for playlists surrounding zodiac signs and astrology. I think the idea of stickers and prints is wonderful definitely see that being successful!
Excited for your future plans!!
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Hi Abby,
I am genuinely intrigued by your DA and love your idea. I think the change into more pastel colours was a super beneficial choice as its extremely pleasant to look at. Also those kinds of colours reflect relaxation and evaluation which i think suits the vibe of your digital artefact. The colour combination in conjunction with bold fonts makes your page aesthetically pleasing to look at but also intriguing and unique.
I have noticed with my DA also that engaging with followers through instagram stories has been really helpful in understanding what your followers want to see. I think a cool idea for your DA could possibly be creating a compatibility quiz to see which astrology people relate to best or match with.
I agree that the FIST ideology is super beneficially in the prototyping stage and I am super excited to stay updated and see exciting things to come. 🙂
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Hi Abbey,
Great post and your DA looks like it’s doing well!
I love your plan of implementing a colour palette to create aesthetic, we have also tries to implement this with our website and Instagram for ENVENTURE as it makes things more appealing. It’s unfortunate that you have had to discontinue your blog, however I understand how difficult it can be to maintain multiple platforms, and experienced this when working on my original DA – At Home with Heidi…it is better to narrow down your platforms and put more effort into fewer areas than be too broad and stressed by many. I am also sorry to see that Spotify have had the same idea with astrology playlists recently, however … I still believe that you had a good idea, and like that you have done your own work and research in this area. I would rather listen to your “Gemini” playlist than that of Spotify anyway! I also agree with your inclusion of the FIST concept, it is much easier when you are able to use platforms free of charge and Instagram is a great tool, it is good to see you have utilised it well. I also really enjoyed your collaboration with Into our Garden and look forward to working with you on our upcoming collab. Looking forward to your future content.
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Love your instagram feed! Give stories a try, I found that most of my engagement from my DA last semester came through them, using polls, sliders and stickers etc. The new pastel colours are amazing and compliment your feed really well, although be careful of white text on a really pale colour ie. Jupiter, it may get too hard to read! You’ve really nailed the idea of prototyping = iteration, everything new you make keeps getting better and I can see the improvements you are making from your feedback, something that I’m really trying to utilise when I’m editing my videos for public consumption. Keep it up!
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