2. Digipack
I need a digipack that will represent the artist
and the genre of music in the best possible
way. In order to do this effectively, I need to
research into similar products so that I can get
the best possible final product that appeals to
my target audience (teenagers/young adults
who are fans of folk/acoustic music).
3. Front Covers
There are two ways in which I can create a front cover that depicts the style of music I am creating. The first is to have a
photograph of the artist with their instrument behind a simple background (as shown in the first two covers). Both covers
show the artist wearing suit like items, which juxtaposes the independent and free spirit of the music they make. The
typography in both covers is very assertive and shows both the artist name and the name of the album/EP. Both of these
covers have the name of the album/EP in larger font, and this is something I might want to consider in making the front
cover of my digipack. The other thing I could possibly do to give a sense that my digipack is that of an acoustic artist is
come up with some quirky artwork and use that instead of a photograph for my front cover (as shown by the third and
fourth covers). The first of these is very simple, a stick figure holding a flower drawn in black on a white background. The
second of these is much more detailed, however there is still a sense of simplicity about the overall piece (this may be
because there is still a lot of background space shown). Both of these covers have an aspect that connotes youth, the first
being the stick figure and on the second the actual typography looks as if it has been drawn by a child. What’s also
different about these covers is that the name of the band in both cases is more prominent over the name of the album/EP.
These are all points I will consider when creating my digipack.
4. Insides
Again, these two styles are very popular in creating the inside to a digipak and they conventionally depict the style of music that I
wish to create. The first is a digipak created for Kings of Leon, is a 4x4 tile pattern of different black and white photos. I think that
this would be quite clever, especially as I want my video to have some kind of montage effect, different pictures from different
events might carry this theme on in a subtle way. The second digipak was created for Mumford and Sons, and is a very simple
picture of the band sitting in windows. This digipak was also created with a pocket to hold a booklet, which I’d assume carry
information about the band and the songs and maybe even have lyrics to the songs inside. I think that out of the two I would
personally prefer to create a digipak that had the tiles because it would fit in with the general theme of the song and
video, however this also depends on market research and what my target audience would prefer to see.
5. Preliminary Product
In order to test that I could create the conventions of a digipak, I decided to re-create the front cover of a pop artist. For this task I
worked in a group, and we decided to re-create Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ single cover. The process developed my skills in
photo shop, and taught me how to get photos onto different backgrounds. It also taught me how different icons are used to
convey different genres – for example bright colours such as red and yellow are used in this particular cover because it’s a
pop cover, however I wouldn’t be tempted to use those colours in particular for an acoustic front cover. Overall, this task
really did help in figuring out and developing the skills I would need to create my final digipak.
6. Market Research (Front Covers)
I asked ten males and ten females from my primary target audience (13-17 year olds) which style of front cover/inside cover
they would prefer to see as part of a digipak. I asked them to choose between the four front covers and two inside covers
that are shown in the previous slides and then asked them why. The results are as follows:
2-M 3-F 5-M 4-F
0-M 2-F 3-M 1-F
“I like that it is “I like the artist
very simple and and album name (male response) “I really like the
shows only the being the main “It looks childish artwork, I could
artist.” focus.’ and makes me spend ages looking
think about at it while listening
“I like the lighting “I think it’s cheesy music that to the album.”
and how the important the I wouldn’t want
artist is the main artist is to listen to.” “It’s just too busy.”
focus.” shown, and this
does it well.” “It really makes
me smile.”
7. Market Research (Inside Covers)
4-M 4-F
6-M 6-F
“I love the photograph of the band. The
“I really like the tiles, it’s nice to have white house is so elegant and they look so
something interesting to look at cool!”
when you’ve spent the extra money
on something physical.”
“I like how all the photos are in black
and white.”
8. Magazine Advert
I also have to create a magazine advert as part
of my ancillary tasks. Again, in order to make
sure I create something that is appealing to
my target audience as possible I will have to
do some research into similar products in
order to decide what kind of style I wish to
use.
9. Similar Products
Again, I could either create a very simple photograph of the artist, or draw something quirky to be the main focus of my magazine
advert. If I chose to do a photograph, as the majority of these product show, I could either chose a photograph of the artist or
something different that depicted my genre. The first magazine advert shows only a wall and a beat up bike. The photo is very
isolated and has been edited so that the lighting looks very cold (especially compared to the other 2 photographed adverts) – the
xx make very mellow music and the photograph does connote the empty and isolated atmosphere that the music creates. If I
chose to take a photograph of the artist for my advert, it would be conventional for the photograph to be a medium close up, or a
close up. The rule of thirds is vital and generic in this situation, because it makes the reader acknowledge the artist above
everything else on the page. I could also, like with the front covers, draw something that depicted the artist and the genre of
music. A magazine advert for an artist is either about a new single or album, or about a new tour. Obviously, to fit in with my
package the advert will about the digipak. It is conventional, therefore, to have at least one review on that page, and also to show
links to where it can be bought (for example, on the xx advert the amazon logo is shown to depict where the album can be
bought). I would personally prefer to create an advert that was a simple shot of the artist to show who they are, however I will
have to carry out market research in order to tell me whether this is the most effective way of depicting my artist and genre.
10. Market Research
Again, I asked the same group of people from my primary target audience which magazine advert they would prefer to see and
why. The results are below:
7-M 5-F 0-M 0-F 1-M 3-F 2-M 2-F
“I really like the “It’s really “I like the “I like the close up of the artist and the
photograph used weird.” typography in this lighting of the photograph. I think the
in this advert, it advert best” typography is really cool too.”
would make me “I don’t really
want to find out like the “I don’t like the “I think it’s too simple.”
who the band was drawing.” photograph – and
and what kind of I wouldn’t want to
music they made.” find out about the
artist.”
11. Conclusion
Taking both my analysis and market research into
account, I think that I will try and make a digipak
where the front cover is a photograph that focused
on the artist, the inside was a collection of
photographs that will fit with the montage theme of
the video and the magazine advert will also be a
photograph that connotes my particular genre of
music, without necessarily being a photo of the
artist.
