Individual Digipak Analysis
I created my own Digipak album for my artist 'Kerry Boyne' as part of the process of creating my own artist profile and music video. A Digipak is an advanced and bigger CD that artists produce for fans which contains more content and 6 sides rather then an standard 2 side CD. For my Digipak, I created 6 sides for the Digipak including a album cover, back cover, CD, message to fans and to sides of artist pictures. I have created my own individual Digipak for my own artist in order to make my artist look more professional and realistic. This is because Digipak's are created by major mainstream indie artists and in order to give my artist the same representation and take inspiration from them, I created a conventional indie Digipak. I also created the Digipak as it gives audiences and fans a more in depth and further representation of my artists character and music as by having 6 pictures and edited sides, I am able to give them an insight into the album and what to expect from my artist and the emotions she is expressing. Before creating my Digipak I looked at and took inspiration from other indie artists Digipak's that have a similar representation style to my artist. These include Ed Sheeran, Birdy and Lana Del Ray and I looked at the colour schemes, conventions of the genre and layout and structure of the Digipak's and took inspiration into creating a Digipak which looked similar and still conventional to the indie genre. Some of these inspirations included similar images and fonts to Lana Del Ray's Digipak and a similar colour scheme and artist representation to Birdy. By taking inspiration from these artists and implementing these ideas into my own Digipak, I was able to create a more successful and realistic Digipak which audiences will be able to relate to and appeal to more.
For the first slide of my digipak, my digipak and album front cover, I have used a close up image of my artist as the main focus and feature my cover. The photo shows my artist Kerry pulling a natural, simple facial expression which represents her as a suspicious and natural artist. She is wearing a purple jumper which matches the colour of the fonts and titles I have used across my whole digipak and it correlates with my colour scheme well and blends in to the background. The photo has been cropped out and enlarged for dramatic and editorial purposes and is conventional to the indie genre as it shows the artist as her natural self and she is not putting on a fake expression or making her look like something she's not, something Indie artists are known for as they are more focused on sharing their talents and creativity. As well as this I have also used faded photos of memories of the artist and her boyfriend as a connotation of 'memories' and to give the audience an insight into the album and the more personal side of the artist. The audience will also be able to relate to my artist through this picture as they will see the artist as a normal person who is just like them and is not afraid to open up or be herself. The colour scheme I have used for my front cover remains the same throughout the whole 6 sides to show it has a similar link and to make it all look realistic and professional. the first colour I have used is purple and this is to match the artists jumper in the photo and is used to fill in the title and names of my songs etc. The colour purple is a connotation of wisdom and passion, two traits my artist represents in her character and throughout the album so it therefore matches the concepts of my digipak and the indie genre. It also blends well with the clouds in the background and the glow around the main title is helps to make the purple title burst out and make it look more professional and appealing to the audience. As well as this I have used the colour grey as a background colour by darkening the clouds as it represents darkness which is a connotation of herself and some of her music. For my typography I used a bold and sharp font to make the titles stand out and as a connotation that the artist is bold and strong and its a stand out digipak. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists often like to remind audiences of the names of their songs/albums by having them bold and indie looking to add extra emphasis and dramatic effect on the audience. The artists name is shown as the largest feature by being shown expressively as the top of the digipak with 'memory lane' shown underneath it as a reminder on the album name and a hint into music. As well as this it features a 'LR' logo which is the initials for my record label company 'Lanyard Records', to give it that professional and realistic feature and to ensure audiences of their work and that it is the real deal. I have used all of these features noted on the front cover of my digipak on the actual CD side and CD for my digipak in order to give it the same realistic and conventional aspect as my front cover and so it has similar connotations and correlates with the rest of my album. The differences between this side and my front cover album is that the CD has copyright detailed information of the bottom of the CD as every other CD has this in the industry in order to show its professionalism and to make sure no one copies or takes the music for themselves. The name of the artist and album name have also been compacted to fit the layout and size of the CD and are instead shown across the artists face. For my back cover which displays the song names I have used a photo of my artist Kerry sitting alone in a field on a wooden tree swing with the tree branches appearing onto the cover helping to create an mysterious and in a way eerie feel as to where the location is and what the digipak's music is all about. It helps to represent the artist as natural and someone who wants to get away from everything and be herself and therefore shows how it is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists are often in their own worlds and minds and like to keep themselves to themselves. The fonts and typography of my back cover are different to the front cover in that the name of the album is displayed in a lighter and more friendly, innocent font to shed light on the fact it is a innocent and pure picture which therefore correlates with the concepts of the music and artist. The song names and the main focus and feature of the side and are in the same bold font as the album name and artist on the front cover to help them stand out and have that same dark, meaningful portrayal that makes the audiences think about what the songs will be about and creates that conventional indie feel towards it. There is a barcode displayed in the bottom corner to give it that professional and realistic feature as well as the pictures background with the clouds and hill correlating and matching the rest of the digipak. This is conventional to the indie genre as many indie artists tend to have deep and effective settings which aren't always glamorous or high end but more to give it a dramatic feel. The audience will be able to relate to this more as they will be more drawn into the emotional side of my artist, her music and digipak rather then the settings and features that don't support my concept. For my fans message side, the main feature I focused on was my fans message. The photo I used for this side was a picture of my artist Kerry sitting on a fence in an open field, gazing into the sky with the fan message surrounding it. I used this photo as it correlates with the theme and setting of the field that I used in all of my other side pictures so it creates the same dramatic feel for the audience. It also matches the concept of the 'fan message' well as her facial expressions look like she is thinking and in deep thought creating further emotional impact on the audience. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists often portray deep thoughts and convey a lot of emotion. For the typography and language of the fan message, I put it inside a thought bubble to show it as a clear representation of the artists thoughts and used a happy and light-hearted font to match the style of the language and so the audience and fans reading it take it in more and it means more to them. Other features I included in this fan message side include the name of the album which is seen in the back cover of the digipak, however I have faded it behind the artist and at the top of the side. This allows the audience to focus on the fan message more and get drawn in to the emotional concept of the digipak. One of the picture sides of the digipak is a picture of my artist Kerry standing alone in a field with her foot resting on a tree with the sun beaming down on her creating a reflecting shadow on the tree. She is also wearing a conventional indie costume of trainers, tights and a denim jacket and t-shirt. I chose this as I feel that the setting and background of the image creates a good backdrop for picture that primarily focuses on the artist, allowing the audience to witness a conventional and relevant indie setting that is seen in my music video and in other aspects of the digipak. I feel this picture is conventional to the indie genre as her expression of being unsure, thoughtful and deep and emotional is often common with indie artists and they often potray expressions and themes of deep and meaningful thoughts in their work, whether it is about love like mine or another deep moment.
For the first slide of my digipak, my digipak and album front cover, I have used a close up image of my artist as the main focus and feature my cover. The photo shows my artist Kerry pulling a natural, simple facial expression which represents her as a suspicious and natural artist. She is wearing a purple jumper which matches the colour of the fonts and titles I have used across my whole digipak and it correlates with my colour scheme well and blends in to the background. The photo has been cropped out and enlarged for dramatic and editorial purposes and is conventional to the indie genre as it shows the artist as her natural self and she is not putting on a fake expression or making her look like something she's not, something Indie artists are known for as they are more focused on sharing their talents and creativity. As well as this I have also used faded photos of memories of the artist and her boyfriend as a connotation of 'memories' and to give the audience an insight into the album and the more personal side of the artist. The audience will also be able to relate to my artist through this picture as they will see the artist as a normal person who is just like them and is not afraid to open up or be herself. The colour scheme I have used for my front cover remains the same throughout the whole 6 sides to show it has a similar link and to make it all look realistic and professional. the first colour I have used is purple and this is to match the artists jumper in the photo and is used to fill in the title and names of my songs etc. The colour purple is a connotation of wisdom and passion, two traits my artist represents in her character and throughout the album so it therefore matches the concepts of my digipak and the indie genre. It also blends well with the clouds in the background and the glow around the main title is helps to make the purple title burst out and make it look more professional and appealing to the audience. As well as this I have used the colour grey as a background colour by darkening the clouds as it represents darkness which is a connotation of herself and some of her music. For my typography I used a bold and sharp font to make the titles stand out and as a connotation that the artist is bold and strong and its a stand out digipak. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists often like to remind audiences of the names of their songs/albums by having them bold and indie looking to add extra emphasis and dramatic effect on the audience. The artists name is shown as the largest feature by being shown expressively as the top of the digipak with 'memory lane' shown underneath it as a reminder on the album name and a hint into music. As well as this it features a 'LR' logo which is the initials for my record label company 'Lanyard Records', to give it that professional and realistic feature and to ensure audiences of their work and that it is the real deal. I have used all of these features noted on the front cover of my digipak on the actual CD side and CD for my digipak in order to give it the same realistic and conventional aspect as my front cover and so it has similar connotations and correlates with the rest of my album. The differences between this side and my front cover album is that the CD has copyright detailed information of the bottom of the CD as every other CD has this in the industry in order to show its professionalism and to make sure no one copies or takes the music for themselves. The name of the artist and album name have also been compacted to fit the layout and size of the CD and are instead shown across the artists face. For my back cover which displays the song names I have used a photo of my artist Kerry sitting alone in a field on a wooden tree swing with the tree branches appearing onto the cover helping to create an mysterious and in a way eerie feel as to where the location is and what the digipak's music is all about. It helps to represent the artist as natural and someone who wants to get away from everything and be herself and therefore shows how it is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists are often in their own worlds and minds and like to keep themselves to themselves. The fonts and typography of my back cover are different to the front cover in that the name of the album is displayed in a lighter and more friendly, innocent font to shed light on the fact it is a innocent and pure picture which therefore correlates with the concepts of the music and artist. The song names and the main focus and feature of the side and are in the same bold font as the album name and artist on the front cover to help them stand out and have that same dark, meaningful portrayal that makes the audiences think about what the songs will be about and creates that conventional indie feel towards it. There is a barcode displayed in the bottom corner to give it that professional and realistic feature as well as the pictures background with the clouds and hill correlating and matching the rest of the digipak. This is conventional to the indie genre as many indie artists tend to have deep and effective settings which aren't always glamorous or high end but more to give it a dramatic feel. The audience will be able to relate to this more as they will be more drawn into the emotional side of my artist, her music and digipak rather then the settings and features that don't support my concept. For my fans message side, the main feature I focused on was my fans message. The photo I used for this side was a picture of my artist Kerry sitting on a fence in an open field, gazing into the sky with the fan message surrounding it. I used this photo as it correlates with the theme and setting of the field that I used in all of my other side pictures so it creates the same dramatic feel for the audience. It also matches the concept of the 'fan message' well as her facial expressions look like she is thinking and in deep thought creating further emotional impact on the audience. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists often portray deep thoughts and convey a lot of emotion. For the typography and language of the fan message, I put it inside a thought bubble to show it as a clear representation of the artists thoughts and used a happy and light-hearted font to match the style of the language and so the audience and fans reading it take it in more and it means more to them. Other features I included in this fan message side include the name of the album which is seen in the back cover of the digipak, however I have faded it behind the artist and at the top of the side. This allows the audience to focus on the fan message more and get drawn in to the emotional concept of the digipak. One of the picture sides of the digipak is a picture of my artist Kerry standing alone in a field with her foot resting on a tree with the sun beaming down on her creating a reflecting shadow on the tree. She is also wearing a conventional indie costume of trainers, tights and a denim jacket and t-shirt. I chose this as I feel that the setting and background of the image creates a good backdrop for picture that primarily focuses on the artist, allowing the audience to witness a conventional and relevant indie setting that is seen in my music video and in other aspects of the digipak. I feel this picture is conventional to the indie genre as her expression of being unsure, thoughtful and deep and emotional is often common with indie artists and they often potray expressions and themes of deep and meaningful thoughts in their work, whether it is about love like mine or another deep moment.
In conclusion, I feel that my Digipak conforms to the conventions of the indie genre as I took inspiration from many mainstream indie Digipak's. I also focused in detail of many aspects of my Digipak including using indie colour schemes and pictures by choosing settings for the pictures that indie audiences would relate with. I also used settings and conventional iconography etc. that can be seen in my music video and applied them into my Digipak in order for it to look more realistic and have that artist and genre link towards it. I also feel that my Digipak appeals to my target audience as it features a number of different images of my artist portraying different emotions so they can relate to her in a number od different ways and appeal to her as she is an open artist who has many different sides towards her. I also feel that my Digipak appeals to my audience as it looks professional and realistic so the audience would be more likely to pick it up and buy it if they saw it and not just fans of the artist so it appeals to a wide audience.
This post demonstrates a proficient understanding of the choices and decisions that you made to constructing your product. You have made some good points, by relating back to your product, but you need to ensure that you have given examples of the fonts and tools that you used in photoshop, to extend your understanding further.
ReplyDeleteAim-
1) Be specific with what your inspirations were and how it helped you to create your product
2) Discuss in more detail, what the link and relationship is between your 3 products