Digipak DO's and DON'Ts

DO:

- have two (maximum) clear fonts; make sure they are not random, fit each other and you are able to actually read what it says. Also that it fits the genre of the artist and appeals to your audience!!!

- have no more than three colours throughout the promotional packages, make sure they also fit together and look appealing to the eye. Otherwise it will appear to be too colourful, no matter how cheery your artists image may be!

- use good quality photos, which are the right size and once again are merely appropriate for the artist in terms of body language and possibly lighting, and also appeals to the right target audience

- rule of thirds to be followed

- information such as; bar codes, copyright information, titles, record company logo, website and artist website

DON'T:

- use too many and unnecessary effects as it won't look professional or well thought of

- stretch images (because you lose marks) and also it makes the face or object look bigger/longer etc than it really is! That is not realistic and bad promoting!

-place text in the wrong spot such as the artists face, once again just doesn't look right and professional

- have photos on every single panel, DO have some variety! It'll look boring and the audience may want their money back..

Practicing (GIF)

This was a trial and error attempt in making my digipak. However, as you can see the quality of the photos given to us by the teachers was purposely of a very low quality, the size was also extremely small. Our task was to make this look as good as possible considering the limitations.

Practice Digipak

Weak: Quality of the photo and possibly a better angle/pose of artist

Strengths: There are no random colours that do not match, record label, bar code, and production of album information all present, including the 'available on iTunes' which is helpful as lately more people buy music on iTunes. Audience would then recognise the album.

This was through trial and error and simply to refresh my memory on Photoshop and practice for the real deal! Although this does look a little bland I am still happy with it considering my intermediate skills of the software.

PLANNING : Preliminary Digipak Task

Audience / Class Feedback

Feedback on the music video

Weaknesses: The lip syncing had been a slight problem during editing and was still visible in the final piece

Strengths: - The variety of location and how it fit with the story telling, it was never the same repeated location but always new.
- The variety of costume and use of colours (Southbank)
- Simply fit the genre and style of the artist that we tried to portray!

Music Video PREMIERE

Magazine Advertisement analysis 2

These three magazine advertisements, all hold the same image as shown on their albums which they are advertising.

Olly Murs advert uses three colours, white, red and black which is the same used on his album, but it includes his album release date in bold white on it's own, it also shows his recent single releases and his artist website, which is important to include because it means fans and followers of his music know where to find out about future events and news.

Jessie J's advert uses large bold silver/grey writing up against a white background this makes it stand out. It also says 'Platinum Edition' this would make a fan want to have this album so it makes it more sellable, because it makes it more interesting. 

Lana Del Rey's advert isn't as bold as the other artists, it uses a lot more softer colours such as a light blue and white. Using these types of colours instead of black or red doesn't make it stand out as much, and probably a lot less noticeable. 

Magazine Advertisement analysis 2

Calvin Harris is a very similar artist to our one 'Prototype' as they are very similar is terms of music genre. This is Harris's magazine advertisement for his album I created Disco , this looks exactly the same to the cover of his CD, it uses the same colour and fonts as well as the same image, which is strong because its the best to link it together, otherwise it will look a little odd, and as if it's not for the same thing. This advertisement presents the album release date which is the most important aspect for this advert, I think it could of been a little bolder though, the information below which is quite poor to see, because this image isn't a very good one, I think that could of also been bolder, but it does show the Amazon icon at the bottom, indicating where the main place to buy is.

Magazine advertisement analysis 1

 

This is the advertisement to Examples album 'Won't Go Quietly', this uses the same font as the CD cover, and it also uses the same image. Although it advertises the actual album it also indicates that its available to purchase on iTunes, along with this at the bottom it gives links where people can follow the artist, and also find out about tours dates and other events. Using the bold font catches peoples attention, and makes them interested. 

Digipak Analysis 3

James Morrison - Songs for You, Truths for Me

 

James Morrison is a slightly different artist generically, but I do really like him as singer and thought it would be interesting to search up his CD covers, this one I liked the most, because it's simple, and its quite different to what I want to do because its shot in a location whereas I want to use a studio shot, but this could of been from a location used in one of the songs on the album.

 

These two albums are the same but obviously one is the original and the other is a deluxe edition, which probably consists of extra songs, but I think it could of been written on a sticker on the front of the album, with what extra contents it held therefore the audience will be more intrigued with it, or it could of been a lot brighter or bolder, but I do like how simple it is and it's also very personal with the artist, as he's starting straight into the camera.

 

Research: Reflection

Inner Panel of my CD

Front Panel of my CD

Strengths: 

1. The colour of the font matches the red door, which according to my memory would've have originally been in the video - so synergy is included there
2. Barcode and record label is included

Weakness:

1. Photograph is very weak and unprofessional although the quality is high
2. Front panel CD alignment is uneven
3. Unclear position of the spine on Front Panel of CD
4. Positioning of information and lyrics is not appealing to the eye
5. The whole digipak is simply unappealing (unless you're a cat lover and don't mind the poor design) 

Digipak Analysis 2

Example - Won't go Quietly 

 

This CD is also by 'Example' who produced the song Evolution of Man , again I thought it would be useful to look at him because the genre of music is completely the same, therefore the image, font, colours used would give me a really good idea.

This stood out to me because of how crazy and bold it is. He's chose to make his name the biggest and boldest aspect of the cover, which is a good idea because if people want to buy it in stores then it's bold enough to catch someone's attention, however I don't like how small and blended in the name of the album is. I think it could of been a lot larger, also because of how much is going on in the image it takes your attention away from the name of the album, which could of been the effect he was going for.

The photo's would really catch peoples attentions, because it's interesting and there is a lot to observe on one album, but the images kind of link the name of the album Won't go Quietly , he's decided to do the opposite and do a load of mad things instead.

 

RESEARCH: Digipack/Pomotional Advertisment Analysis

RESEARCH:

Digipak Analysis 1

Example - Playing in the Shadows

 

'Example' is the artist who produced the song which we made a music video for, and therefore he was the first artist which I thought would be good to take some inspiration from their personal albums, because the genre of music is exactly the same.
This was the first album cover to stick out to me, because it carries the same colour scheme that I want to use which is the black and white, and I also chose to have a border around my artists name, but in purple, because this would link to the purple hoodie, which 'Prototype' wears in the music video.
I want my Digipak to be really simple, but with bold writing, so it contrasts. I'd like to use a black and white image because it would go really nice with the colour scheme, I did think though once or twice that it's going to look really boring and dull because it will just be black and white, and that's when I decided to go with the bold, purple border on the artist name, so it stands out as well as gives a bright, pop of colour to the album.

Digipak Analysis 3

her debut single 'Roar' uses settings of nature and pure wilderness, so it is fitting of the flowers, bright colours and sunshine for the front of her album cover. 'Roar' was also released before this whole album, by then audience would have seen the music video, and would notice the familiarity between the two products.

all conventions of the visuals from the CD cover are used in this magazine promotion of her and the album, unmistakably/most likely from the same photo-shoot.

Once again that is for the audience to easily identify the artist and their product.

This will be the aim in all my promotional packages with 'Prototype'. It will be focused on a colour scheme of black and white and the yin-yang necklace, which is featured in the music video.

form of advertisement for her album

Digipak Analysis 2

The font, style and majority of colours here is followed through and used in the advertisement. This is crucial as the visual similarities will help the audience identify their artist.

Additionally, the original music video of 'Kickstarts' begins with multiplying split screens and is a song in the album, therefore that can be viewed as another convention on the visual style which influenced the advertisement above.

The style of the panels here also suits the way the split screen was included in the final music video edit, and can also be a potential idea for the advertisement of 'Prototype'.

The simple conventions of colour are used because they fit the image of Example as modern and laid back. Additionally it fits the vast genre of his, one of which is dance-pop.

Digipak Analysis

Both artists which inspired the style in my music video have a resemblance here, in the colours more than anything else. The main idea of the 'yinyang' and everything black and white will be the main focus for all promotional packages. Currently this is even more influenced by this advert above, and cd cover below.

The black and white fits very well with the image of this artist, Example, also because the name of the album is mirroring what is represented visually. The yellow is simply very effective and bright against the black and white as it grabs attention.

Font Ideas

font ideas for the cd cover and advertisement. Because I like all of them, I will simply try each of them on and see what looks and represents the artist better.

As the style of our artist is simple, laid back and modern, the font should mirror that image.

I think I will most likely go with the middle option, 'Dellutante' and 'Arial' 

Planning Ancillary - Font & Colour Idea's

These are a couple of the fonts which I was playing around with, seeing which ones may suit my groups artist and album the best. I came to a decision that the second fonts are my favourite, I like the bold print because it links to the artist name Prototype, because it sounds quite futuristic and bold. I also liked the purple border, this links to the purple jumper worn in the music video, and also gives a pop of colour to the album as my colour choices are black and white.

Research - What is a Digipak?