Craig Newton designed a digipak and promotional poster for the indie rock artist Dill. The digipak and poster feature a monochrome photo with a "dust" effect to match indie rock conventions. Font style and colors were chosen to clearly identify the genre. Information is arranged using principles of advertising design to guide the eye across the materials. These elements are intended to attract the target indie rock audience. Minor adjustments were made from the initial designs, but overall the digipak and poster achieve the intended genre identification and audience appeal.

1. Craig Newton
I have designedmyDigipakinordertofitthe conventionsof the Indie Rockgenre due tothis
beingmyartist’sgenre of music.The frontcover of my digipak clearlydisplays the conventions,
due to the locationbeinganurban environmentwithnatural aspectssuchasthe riverand
reeds. Ihave useda monochrome filteronthe picture asthisisfeaturedheavilyinthe Indie
Rock genre,easilyidentifyingit.
I have useda contrastingcolourwiththe fontcomparedto the monochrome filter.Itisalsoa
colourthat is usedina lotof Indie Rockmusicdigipaks makingiteasyfora respective audience
of the productto identifythe genre of the product.Thiscombinedwiththe handwritten style
of fontthat reflectsthe core ethosof Indie Rock, beingthatyoutry and doeverythingyourself,
consolidatesthis. Whilstalsobeingpredominantthroughthe genre;aidingarespective
audience asto the type of genre the musicis.
I have chosenmy actor inthe picture to wearclothesthatare familiarwiththe conventionsof
the Indie Rockgenre,suchas the blackskinnyjeans,longsleevet-shirtandtrainers.Thisagain
helpstoattract the correct targetaudience astheywouldbe likelytohave the same fashion
sense andidentify withactor(Artist) on the digipak.
I have alsochosenfor himto pose witha guitarinthe picture asthisagain linksbackto the core
ethosof the genre,allowingthe correcttargetaudience tobe drawnto the digipakastheycan
identify these conventionsof the genre andwouldtherefore be appealingtothem.
My initial sketch/ mock-upof the frontcoverof the digipakisverysimilartothisfinished
product.However,the postshooteditinghascausedme tocreate slightadjustmentstothe
final product. Suchas the albumtitle beingonthe otherside of the picture inthe bottomright
corner,insteadof the left.Thiswasbecause of the exposure of the photocausingthe title tobe
lesslegible againstthe brighterbackgroundwith the lightcolouredfont.Ihave alsoremoved
my initial ideaof includingthe artistDill’slogoonthe frontdue to itbeingtoochaotic and
clutteredfora respective audiencetodecipherall the informationataquickglance.I therefore
replaceditinsteadwiththe artist’sname (Dill) beneathhimtomake itclearhe is the artistand
“BurningBridges”isthe title.Ihave alsoapplieda“Parental advisory”sticker tostaytrue to the
genre’sconventionsthatoftencontainswearwordsin the music,aswell asadheringtothe
legal aspects.Ihave alsoincludeda “dust” effectontopof the image ineditinginorderto
makerthe image appearmore worn and uneditedtocorrelate withthe ethosof doityourself.
To create the “dustlayer”I usedthe pentool withthe opacityat 100% alongwiththe hardness
at 100%, at a size 1 thisallowedme tocreate marksthat replicateddustoverthe topof the
image.To reduce the severityof eachmarkandcreate variationI usedthe erasertool withthe
same settingsappliedandpartiallyrubbedsome of the longerlinesout.
I thenalsoappliedablackand white filtertothe image,adjustingthiswiththe amountof red,
yellow,green,cyan,blue andmagentacolours.Iappliedthe “dustfilter”andblackand white
filterlike thisoneach coverof the digipak.

2. Craig Newton
For the same reasonsas the front coverI have selectedthe same fontandcolourforthe
inside cover, monochromephoto, “dust”effectandthe actor’sclothes. Toensure the
fontwas clearon eachcover I appliedastroke effectthroughthe blendingoptionsusing
size 8 outer.Thisalongside usingacomplimentingcolourof the actual fontaidedin
makingitmore legibleandclear.
I have chosenthisshotfor an audience toeasilybe able toidentifythe artist as“Dill”.
Meaningitwouldattract the correcttarget audience thatalreadyfollowthe artist,and
allowotherstoidentifythe name Dill toaperson.
By havingchangedthe focus of the photoI have made the foregroundsharperand
clearerthanthe background.Thisisso that youare immediatelydrawntothe actor’s
face and therefore immediatelysee whohe is.Italsofollowsadiagonal eyeline pathasI
have positionedthe lyrics of asong of the artist’s inthe top leftandmidrighteitherside
of the actor’shead.This guidesanaudience,toafterinitiallylookingatthe actor, to look
at the lyricsonthe top leftthenfollowadiagonal pathdownwards.
Thisshot iscompletely accurate tomyinitial sketch/mockup. Includingthe postshoot
editingwork, Ihave done tothe image.

3. Craig Newton
Thisagain withall the previouslymentionedaspectsthatthiscovershares have beendone to
stay true the core ethosof Indie Rockand itsconventions.
Thiscover was successful atbeingexactlyasIhad plannedinmyinitial drawings.Ittakes
inspirationfrommanyIndie Rockartists andothergenres artiststhatare linkedtoIndie
Rock, suchas Mac DeMarco andBruce Springsteen.
By havingthe handcentre in the image, ithelpstoguide anaudience’seyeline focuswhich
wouldthenbe drawnto the track list.
Below there isthe legal informationwhichisrequired,alongside the recordlabel logo;being
Columbiarecordsasthisis relevanttomyartistas a majorityof theirsignedartistsare Indie
Rock. Aswell asthe barcode whichis requiredformarketingpurposes. There isalsothe
CompactDisk Digital Audiologothatisrequired.Thesehave all been positionedcarefullyat
the bottomof the image so thattheydo not drawattentionawayfromthe track listand
picture itself.

4. Craig Newton
Thisdisc coversharesthe same qualitiesasthe other coversforthe same reasons,andis
therefore alsofittingtothe Indie Rockgenre.
The cover didnot needtobe alteredinanywayfrommy original sketch/mock-updesign
and issuccessful inbeingthe image Iwantedforthe digipak.
Thispage beingblank of wordscausesa perspectiveaudience tolookatthe rest of the
othercoversof theyalbumwithmore informationonwhichismore usefultothem.
Overall mydigipakwas successful andhasnothad to be alteredmuchif at all from my
original sketch/mock-up.Thismeansthatmyplanformy shootwas effective baraslight
error of my initial designof myfrontcover and not takingthe picturesexposureinto
account.

5. Craig Newton

6. Craig Newton I have createda promotional posterthatwill work symbioticallywiththe digipak,asit
usesthe same fontand colouras well asusingthe same front coverimage and
monochrome effect.Thiswill workeffectivelyasitallowsaperspectiveaudience of the
posteror digipaktoimmediatelybe able tomake alinkbetweenthe two.
The font colourand picture will againattractthe correct target audience,Indie Rock,
due to the settingof the image and fontbeingprevalentthroughoutIndie Rockmusic.
I have craftedthe promotional posterinsucha way,afterhaving explored“Zpattern
advertising”andlearningthe importance of eye linefocus,sothatyouare guidedasan
audience tofirstlookat the name of the artist“Dill”,thenthe artisthimself,thenthe
albumtitle thenthe reviewof the album,finishingwiththe album’sreleasedate.Ihave
chosento presentthe informationinthiswaysothat the informationiseasily
decipherableata quickglance froma perspective audience.
I have placedthe Parental advisorylogoandColumbiarecordsinlarge atthe bottom
rightof the posterinorder to attract the correct target audience due tothe Columbia
recordslogo.Thisis because,Columbiarecords hasa large followingfrom othersigned
artistsmeaningfansof the record label who see the logomaypique theirinterestto
lookat the posterand lookintothe artist.Whilstalsowarningan audience of the type of
musicthe artist producesdue tothe Parental advisorylogo.Thiswill alsogive aclear
indicationtoa perspectiveaudience the genre of musicthe artistDill producesand
therefore attractingthe correcttargetaudience astheyrecognise the conventionsof the
Indie Rockgenre onthe poster.
To allow the targetaudience tofindoutmore about the artistafter havingdrawnthem
in, I have includedthe social mediaoutletsthatthe artistcan be foundonin the bottom
leftcorner.
I have useda “dust layer”like howIhave incorporateditinmy digipak,usingthe same
settings.Ihave completedthe same processwiththe fontasIhave done on my digipak.
However,Ihave usedsize 13 stroke outerinorder to make the writingappearmore
bold.Thisagainmakesit more legibletoread.
Overall thisposterworkseffectivelywiththe digipakasthe twoare clearlyrelatedand
can be linkedif youhave seenone orthe other.