Digipak - Finished version

The front cover consists of a Guy Fawkes mask background created out of words with two masks in the foreground set out like the tragedy and comedy masks, both with their own represented class through the ribbons and string, I chose to do the title in that font because I was attempting to go for the circus type of look, where the title is on show as a proclamation  with the band name on the bottom right, cage being represented as how the lower class writes it, elephant being the upper class style.
Our original idea for our inside cover was to do a card with the main character as the king in that card, however due to lack of time and resources I had to opt with an easier option to put a Guy Fawkes mask on the king instead, this represents superiority.
I was unsure of what to do with the disk space, as we had the idea to replicate the front cover in some ways by showing the two masks facing each other with the ribbons and string reaching out to each other, however yet again I could not take any of my own pictures to implement these scenarios and so I opted for pictures off of the internet.
Finally, the back cover is of the train station that was filmed in during the music video we created, here I have put the track listing, copyright information and most of the logos and insignias of the companies involved in the digipak's production, as well as the barcode. I chose to use the train station as a background for the back cover because it was one of our original ideas which scored relatively high on the vote so I decided it was best to use it.

Digipak - Editing update 3

So far, I have researched and put in all of the relevant information needed to go on the back of my digipak, such as the copyright information and logos for companies that helped produce the song, I have also completed the spine for my digipak which took a while to do due to adding in small details.
What I think I have done well so far is the spine and some of the smaller details I paid more attention to such as the small mask at the top of it, I believe that the smaller details are just as important as the bigger details.
What I still have yet to do is the barcode and disk space of which I think I am going to replicate aspects of the front cover of my digipak to increase the emphasis of the representation of the song.

Digipak - Editing update 2

I have completed the backgrounds for the inside and the back cover for my digipak, along with completely finishing my front cover I believe over the past few days I have made very good progress in the creation of my digipak. Although I have yet to include all the relevant logos and copyright information to make it look more realistic the digipak's finished version is starting to come together. What I think I have done well so far is the presentation of the two masks on the front cover, as it emphasises the subject of the music video.

Digipak - Editing update 1

So far I have pretty much completed the front cover of my digipak and with the inside, disk space, spine and back cover still to create I believe I have made relatively good progress so far.
I decided to go for the circus/dramatics-type of look for my front cover as I believe it shows off some of the better features of what our song represents, as the masks relate to the theme of tragedy and comedy.

Digipak draft comparisons

During our media lesson today our class gathered and as a group we gave our opinions on each other's digipak drafts.

Throughout the duration the class took a vote on each other's digipak drafts as to which ones we liked most, as most people had around three potential drafts.










These are the four drafts that we came up with that we showed to the rest of the group:

This is the outcome of the vote and which drafts were most popular:















In conclusion the four final drafts that I am going to use for my digipak are (As seen on the picture above) number 8, 5, 4 and 6.
Number 8 is of the two tempter masks set in the way the tragedy and comedy masks are, the upper class one covered in ribbons, and the lower class one covered in rope.
Number 5 is of a simple playing card set out in such a way to see Simon (our main character in the music video) with a tempter mask on either side.
Number 4 is of the two tempters edited and put together so there is only half of them but they make one person.
Number 6 is of the two tempter masks again with ropes and ribbons reaching out to each other on the disk.

Digipak Generic Conventions

What we are looking for within our digipak is a unique style of artwork that catches the audiences eye through the lines of intricacy and abnormality.

Genre:

The genre that we decided to use for our music is indie/alternative rock as we think it is quite a niche music genre but is also very unique in its artwork for album covers.

 

 

 

Lettering/font styles and sizes:

The lettering and font styles we are aiming to use for our digipak are surreal and unique types of fonts which show off our actual genre within our music. The actual font used on the Cage The Elephant album cover is unique by the fact that it is not neat or tidy and looks messy as if a child wrote it. Tis is also influenced by the paint around the sides. The size of the font also is not big enough to take up lots of space and not small enough to be difficult to read, meaning it is not the entirety of the album cover and leaves plenty of space for an eye-catching image. However there are exceptions to this:

This album cover by Mika presents a surreal and unique look into his music and shows this clearly by adding intricate designs and drawings colourful and eye catching to the audience who would view this CD cover.
Although the artist's name takes up quite a lot of space on the CD cover it is also integrated into the artwork which for me increases my interest in that album instead of it deterring me.

 

 

 

 

 Image:

For my album cover I believe that an image of the artists is not a good idea to include as it is unoriginal and I deem it as quite lazy, for my album I would like to create an image of authenticity to the types of songs as well as something unique and interesting to the audience.
An example of this is:

 This image for an album cover interests me because it shows a lot of effort has been put into the patterns and texture, especially the water and to me this shows a devotion to the music instead of plastering a picture of someone's face on the front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stars/Icons:

Because this music genre is quite unique within its artwork it is uncommon for the artist to just post a picture of him/herself, but usually they would portray themselves in some sort of way, for example:

This is an image of the artist Psy, who has portrayed himself as a mermaid which I find quite abnormal and odd, although he has not taken a photo of himself but instead is drawn in an animated way.
To me this shows some effort has been put into his album cover as it makes his unique, because not many artists portray themselves as mermaids.
This challenges the audience's perspective on Psy, because he has shown that he is passionate about his music not only through his songs but also through his artwork.

Representation:

Artists are represented in different ways within this msuic genre, as it is seen as quite niche most artists have to do more to be noticed, or to attract public interest, this means using different techniques with art, such as using more intricate designs, attractive patterns or textures, etc.
Such as this album cover, it's design is so unique and intricate in ways such as it being eye catching to an audience seeking to buy an album.
Although I would not want my digipak to be as complex as this due to a matter of time issues, the patterns and textures used on this album cover compliment the artists name "patchwork quilt" as patchworking is seen as using a lot of detail and time to complete.

Audience:

The audience for the alternative rock/indie genre are stereotypically seen as regular people who do not like mainstream music such as pop but prefer an entirely different section, artists within this genre know this because they often portray their artwork and their band name towards their liking as these artists can often relate to being a member of the audience.

In conclusion:

The genre is indie/alternative rock.
The lettering and font size/style has to be relatively big, but not big enough to take up the entirety of the album cover and instead should be just big enough to be eyecatching but not too small to read, the font has to be unique and relatively odd or intricate.
The album cover will only show images representing and relating to the subject of the song and the artist's image will not be presented anywhere on the digipak.
The same goes for the stars/icons.
The images shown on the digipak will act as a representation of the song and artists. Particularly the comedy and tragedy mask layout on the front cover.
We can easily relate tot he audience through this genre so the audience that would most likely view this music as appealing would be our own age.

Digipak Conventions

Front cover:

This is to be included on the front and spine of the digipak. However I am aiming to keep letters and wording minimalistic on the front cover of my digipak, for example:

This CD cover has a small amount of wording on it's front in the bottom right corner just enough to tell the view which band and album it is and this is ideal because the picture is relevant to the band's name which creates a good representation, however I am not looking to create something as big and intricate as this, it is still a step along the lines of what I am looking for to create my digipak, through the patterns and swirls that create a scene within a scene.
The layout is in a way what I am looking for in my digipak, as I want the name of the band to be out of the way of the actual picture, in the corner of the cover or along the bottom so the words have a small effect on the picture, and the viewer's eye is firstly attracted to the picture and not to the words.

What I am not looking for is an album cover that revolves around wording to carry it's message across, attract the viewers attention and tell them which band and what album it is.
For example:
This is what I believe to be a bad album cover as it resides on words and nothing else, although the words are in a strange and erratic font with different colours which possibly make it attractive to some audiences I would deem this as quite bland and an everyday type of album cover.





Spine:

The spine is where I am aiming to put all of the relevant information to tell the audience what band and what album it is:

For example, this digipak has a minimalistic front cover in terms of wording with it being only on the top and bottom of the front cover instead of within the picture, and has an eye catching picture on it's front, whereas its spine contains all of the wording to tell the viewers which band and album it is.

Track Listing:

I am aiming to put this on the inside of the digipak on one side as associated with the picture above, although I would like to put some intricate designs behind the list of tracks to make it more appealing, but many artist's digipaks have only a blank page as shown above with a list of songs contained within the CD.
Although one possible idea is to free up space on either side and put the tracks on the actual disk itself. For example:

This digipaks uses the disk for it's track-listing and in doing so frees up space on the other side for messages and notes etc.
I believe that using the disk for track-listing may be more useful than putting it on one of the side pages.

Barcode:

The barcode is most common on a digipaks and is located in the bottom corner on the back of the digipaks, it is essential if it is to be sold in stores:

The barcode is usually always situated on the back of the digipak but can either be at the top or bottom corners.

Parental Advisory:

This image is only given to digipaks and albums which contain inappropriate content for those under the age of 16:

It is usually for explicit lyrics, so anything containing drugs, sex, violence etc.

Image of the artist/image that suits the genre:

Digipaks can contain either of the two or even both, for example the picture situated above represents an image of the artist and also an image that suits the genre as the big words 'Lunatic' at the top show the type of mood the artist is going for which is insanity or angst and furthermore shows this through the minimalistic use of colours, black, white and grey.


For example, this CD album has lots of different little designs and figures on it, with many different colours and differing levels of intricate patterns. In my eyes this would attract more people than the one above due to it's brightness and complex design.

These three CD covers show each individual artist from the band Green Day.

 In my opinion I believe that releasing three individual albums with each of the artist's faces on is a way of increasing publicity and sales, but it is also designed for brighter colours in order to attract an audience, even though Green Day's genre is more along the punk rock line.
















Record company information:




You can usually find the record company information  on the back of these albums, for example:
"ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC."
"Warner Music Group
An AOL Time Warner Company
75 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10019
Pinnacle Building 3400 West Drive
Street 2nd Floor,
Burbank, CA 91505"

This information is usually on the back of every CD cover giving the recording studio and it's address.


All CD covers should also have copyright information on the back of their albums such as the one above:
"Copyright 2003 Elektra Entertainment Group Inc. for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States. Warner Music Group. An AOL Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A WARNING: Unauthorized reproduction of this recording is prohibited by Federal law and subject to criminal prosecution."

Most albums also give instructions on its usage as well as system requirements and extra information about the band itself, e.g. websites to look up upcoming releases, tour dates and locations etc.

More digipak cover ideas

There are a few more ideas I have thought up that are relevant to and also relate to the subject that we have committed to our music video:
This type of image we could do something with as we used two Guy Fawkes masks, as this resembles old English dramatics which we could link in to the development of our music video and could include within our digipak, possibly as an intricate design.








Another design I am thinking of also includes using the two tempters as a front cover photo, but using half of each one and putting them together.

This is an example of the type of idea that I am going for to include on the front of our digipak cover.

Ancillary Brief

In order for our project to progress we must create our own digipak, which is a CD cover, back, spine and inside.
We must include:

• A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package).
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

Digipak includes:

• Front cover
• Back cover
• Spine
• Inside (including disk impression)
• Consider lyrics, poster and leaflet.

We are aiming to create quite a unique digipak, for example:

I believe that this digipak is quite unique due to the patterns and intricate designs inside the case and on the disk.

We must aim to analyse:
3-5 digipaks with a minimum of 3 from our own genre.
One from our original artist and an ex-student.

Write about:

• Conventions of digipak covers (and reverse).
• Conventions of our genre's digipaks.
• List what you need to include.
• Think: Colours, expressions/poses, font, props, composition.

Conventions:

• Name of the artist and album, to be included on the front and spine
• Tracklisting
• Barcode
• Image of artist
• Parental advisory
• Image that suits the genre
• Lyrics

Brand Identity:
Ensuring that both ancillary tasks can be easily associated with each other. E.g. the 'Golden Arches' is associated with McDonalds.
Brand image is associated with:

• Same image
• Font
• Colours
• Some information
• Names

CD cover update

Me and Lewis have decided one of our ideas for our album cover should be along the lines of these three photos above, as we have the general idea that we want something unique and intricate, that we could possibly integrate the meaning of the entire video i.e one or btoh masks in some way, as well as a bottle of alcohol or cigarettes to represent what the music video is about.

Student Feedback

During the course of today I completed a final version of my music video.
This was shown to our class as part of peer assessment and feedback from the rest of the class as to what I could do to further improve my video, as well as what some of the better features of my music video was.
Overall I am satisfied with the outcome of my music video, and although there are some elements of it that could be done to improve it they are small details within the video.
Specifically, what I could have done better in the video and what one of the points of improvement are is to try and reinforce the entire picture of the upper class/lower class tempter idea by using more scenes where they offer Simon luxury goods of richer and poorer quality, unfortunately due to lack of time and arrangement we were unable to complete these scenes and are using what footage we have.
Furthermore, one good point of my music video that the class believes I have conducted well on is shots and transitions, as parts of my music video vary between reality and imagination, and they believe that I have brought that idea across to the audience well.