Draft analysis

1. Analysis of Digipak and
Magazine advert Drafts
Abigail Downes

2. When making the Digipaks
 When creating the digipaks I tried to stick with the audience research I had
got, trying out the colour combinations and styles that they liked.
 I also tried to follow indie conventions like having an artistic design and not
featuring the artist/band.
 At first as a group we planned the drafts so I knew everyone would like the
drafts but then when making them I tweaked certain things to make the
digipaks either suit the audience feedback more or follow the indie
conventions more closely.
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3. The final drafts
 Made on Photoshop, these four drafts are all very different with various
meanings behind them but I think all four could be considered as our final
product.

5.  I really like this digipak because it reflects the theme of love really well and with love being
the main element in our music video, it helps to link the two media products together.
 The Wombats’ is not the main focus of the digipak because a common convention of the indie
genre is to have the artistic front cover to be the main focus because it is not the band
which is more important, it is the music which is important. This is also why not many
indie bands include a photos of themselves on the front cover.
 However to develop this and make the album accessible to new fans, I positioned ‘The
Wombats’ centrally, at the top of the cover. I chose a handwritten, script font for a curly
font which would fit into the bend of the woman’s back. This placement creates flow on
the cover making all the elements look connected.
 I then used a smaller, thinner font for ‘1996’ to address that the band is more important than
the album.
 Furthermore, I didn’t want the text to take away from the image so I kept both fonts quite
small compared to other indie digipaks.


6.  The wavy, watercolour texture back ground with pinks and purples adds contrast to the
front cover making the cover stand out however the colours used do suggest a more
female audience whereas this isn’t reflective of indie genre audience because it is
enjoyed equally by both male and females.
 I considered mise-en-scene thoroughly when making this digipak. I chose to use a couple
silhouette because the use of little space between the models connotes a loving,
passionate and close relationship which is how the couple in our music video start off
and end. Also this will clearly demonstrate to the audience that the album has
encompasses the theme of love.
 I chose to use silhouettes instead of real people because it creates a focal point on the
digipak because the solid black of the silhouettes draws to the negative space around
the models which results in your attention being drawn to the silhouette. Also the
black of the silhouettes creates a contrast between the black silhouettes and the
bright background. The off central position of the couple also draws attention to the
couple
 This digipak was designed to fulfil the audience feedback where 52.63% said they
preferred an artistic design compared to one featuring the band.


7.  This digipak was created to see how bright colours would work as the colour
scheme for the front cover because in the audience survey we conducted,
we found 31% of the audience liked bright colour schemes.
 The bright colours are effective for making the digipak stand out by creating
a contrast. Further the pink and purples further connote love.

9.  This digipak is clever and artistic because the main image is a picture of a wombat,
which is what the band is named after. This is clever and imaginative because it
creates a link between the digipak and the band.
 Furthermore because the wombat image is real and not a cartoon it emphasises the
authenticity of the indie genre where bands play their own instruments and write
their songs.
 Another artistic design has been used for the digipak because the audience feedback
we received said they preferred an artistic design to a picture of the band,
admittedly the two options were close but the indie genre doesn’t conventionally
have the band on the front cover therefore when creating the digipaks I am
focussing on artistic designs.

10.  The colour scheme for this cover is very different to the last because from
the audience feedback we received, the second most popular option was
pastel colours therefore I used a light blue as the pastel colour for the
front cover.
 I contrasted the light blue with white to define the wombats features
however I feel the light blue and white combination does not stand out
compared to the other digipaks which will be on the shelf.

11.  The wombats positioning is protruding because it is walking towards the front
of the cover creating a 3D effect, this does make the cover stand out and
look intriguing.
 The eyes of the wombat look past the ‘camera’ this adds mystery and
maintains the fourth wall to prevent the album cover from seeming
confrontational.
 ‘The Wombats’ is positioned in the top right corner of the digipak
demonstrating that the logo is not the main focus this reflects the indie
genre because it shows how the band are relying upon the image to sell
the album compared to pop which uses the artist’s face or name as the
main focus in order to sell the product to a mainstream audience.
 ‘1996’ is positioned below in a smaller font, this creates a simple, minimalist
layout so the text does not detract from the image.

13.  The digipaks back cover uses ripped paper on one side of the t-shirt for the track list
and the use of the hand written script font reinforces the idea that Indie music is
authentic and made by the band themselves, for example most indie bands play
their own instruments.
 For the DVD panel I used a crumpled paper effect for the background to continue the
theme of using paper for text backgrounds. However if I was to do this cover again
or use it as my final piece I would make the paper more yellow to match the other
paper used on the other panels.
 I wrote an introductory paragraph for the DVD panel to introduce the audience to what
the DVD is about. Then I included the locations of where the band had performed
on their tour because it will encourage fans of the band who went to see the tour
to buy the DVD because they will want to see what else happened on the tour.
 For the CD and DVD I made them look like records because having albums on vinyl is
becoming increasingly popular among the indie audience. To allow the audience to
distinguish between the disks, I put the DVD or CD logo on the corresponding disk. I
also had the band name and title put on the white part of the record.
 Another key feature I put on the digipak was a picture of the band on the last two
panels because they connect when the digipak is folded away. Therefore by putting
two band members on each panel when unfolding the digipak the band will be
together like a long horizontal photo.

14.  When making this digipak I was trying a different approach to the audience
feedback of wanting bright colours. This time I used a real life photo but
through adjusting the saturation, I made the denim skirts and yellow tops
brighter.
 I carried on using bright colours for the whole digipak by using the yellow t-shirt
as the background for two of the panels. This was effective because it created
a consistent theme throughout the album.
 For the back of the CD I re used the front cover but posturized it to make it more
eye catching. For the DVD I used a denim background to resemble a skirt.
These all helped to maintain a consistent theme.


15.  This front cover uses real-life models but in an artistic way, incorporating the
audiences feedback because we found 47.37% liked a photo of the band
and 52.63% wanted an artistic design. Despite not using a photo of the
band I have used real-life models on the front cover which would satisfy
the audience, then I made the front cover artistic through the placement
of the band name and album title on the t-shirts. Also not including the
people’s face draws more attention to the text.
 Furthermore I chose to use real-life models because it connects the audience
to the CD more, especially because I have chosen models with the same
dress code as ‘Indie Fashion’.

17.  This digipak was not made to satisfy any audience feedback, instead I used it
to communicate to the audience and be relatable.
 The use of the doc martens as the main image is a key piece of clothing many
indie people wear and a staple look of the ‘90s’ which is what the album is
titled, therefore I thought this communicated well the message of the
album and appealed to my target audience.
 Also the position of the feet connotes love which is another theme of the
album and relates to the music video I created.
 The colour scheme of the album is quite neutral with the docs being black
and the background being grey and with tones of copper and brown. This
makes the album more gender neutral so it will appeal to both male and
female indie fans. However the purple font does suggest more of a
feminine audience.
 I used the same photo for the disks because this creates continuity between
the album but to separate the disks between the CD and the tour DVD, I
put text across the DVD saying ‘European Tour’ in the same style as the
tour dates and song titles are written on the other panels.


18.  Unfortunately for this digipak, I feel there is too much empty space and for my
final digipak cover I will use larger images and text to make the impression
there is less space.
 However a feature I do like is when the end panels meet they create the front
cover image, I think this is an effective layout and creates continuity
between the album however I think for the final digipak, I will use this for an
image of the band rather than re-creating the front cover because this will
incorporate the band but won’t have the band as a central element which is a
key convention of the indie genre for the band not to be featured on the
front cover.
 Another way the digipak reflects the indie genre is the DIY style embossed tape
which the lyrics and tour dates are written on, this represents the rebellious
and youthful audience which follow the indie genre.
 Furthermore throughout the digipak there is a consistent font used across the
album which helps build a professional and consistent digipak.