A level Digipak development Presentation
- 1. Digipak Development Andrea D. and Andjela R.
- 2. Analysis of a digipak The front cover of Rihanna's album 'Loud' features a close up picture of her face showing her with her eyes closed. This could be to illustrate her being relaxed and calm. The buyer is instantly drawn to the boldness of the red colour on her lips and hair which can convey love and heartbreak. The expression on her face looks extremely passionate which shows the audience she is passionate about the album she is producing and therefore engages her target audience. The font used for the her name is smaller than the album name which is unusual for albums as they want to promote the artist more than the album itself. However the reason behind it may be that Rihanna has chose to have her album name shown as the most important showcases how much she believes in her album and how she wants her fans to like her for her music not just her status in the music industry. The font style and colour could represent the innocence and emotion of the albums content. It contrasts the name of the album ‘Loud’ as the font used is quite thin and barely noticeable.
- 3. The back cover of the album continues with the theme of pink and red colours which is illustrating the love/heartbreak inspiration again like on the front cover It features another image of Rihanna looking vulnerable which makes her relatable to her audience. The back cover of the album includes a list of songs and the names of the producers and co- producers on the right-hand side. It also includes information such as the record label name and logo, production company and the bar code for purchase in the shops. This information is usually on the back cover as it shows which production company and record label Rihanna belongs to. This promotes the record label, as when one of her album sells the record label make a profit from it and status. The colour of font on the back cover is partly the same with the white font however the song names are in a red colour to make them stand out the most on the cover. The style of font stays the same throughout both covers which is effective as it shows there is a continuity. The colour of the CD and cover for Rihanna's album is mainly a strong use of red which demonstrates that the album is full of strong emotion such as love, anger and a sense of danger. This could be inferred that the songs on the album may have emotional attachments. Rihanna is shown on the cover as wearing a white dress, connoting innocence and vulnerability. The physical CD disc is designed to look like a flower which also reflects the image of love and vulnerability. Th CD colour is a pretty light pink colour which could represent femininity and innocence.
- 4. In another example, Harry Styles appears to be drowned in a pastel pink bath. The shot is a close-up shot on his back which is the least tattooed part of his body giving off a feeling of additional nudity. The only thing he seems to be wearing is a double necklace which is almost the main point of the album as wearing pendants is used as his identifications. The necklace is of a lotus flower which fans have associated with the lotus in Buddhism which states a symbol of purity. Albums have either the name of the artist or the title of the album or both but on this album neither is displayed. This keeps the album very minimalistic and simple. Harry is a very identifiable person due to his huge following and fanbase, therefore he does not need his name on the front as people will be able to tell who it is simply by the photo. On the back cover, the picture is similar to the previous one as Harry sits deeper in the pink water however this time he is shot from the front, displaying him fully in this album from the back and front. Around him are lotus flowers floating in the pink water which links to the lotus flower pendant he is wearing on the front cover. The image on the back cover of Harry is very small. Conventionally, the back cover image would take up the entire space, however for this album it doesn't as the majority of the back cover is white. Again, Harry is going against the conventions of a pop album cover by keeping it very minimal. The tracks are listed to the left of the photo in a simple black font keeping to the minimalistic theme. Similarly to other album covers, the production details are kept at the bottom as his audience would not be interested in this.
- 5. The CD is plain white with only some writing around the outside of the CD and the logo of the record company he is signed to. The CD again sticks to the simple, minimalistic layout. Throughout this whole album, Harry has showcased his unique style by not following the conventions of a pop album cover but instead putting his own twist on it. This could largely be due to the fact that this is his debut solo album so he wants his audience to see who he is and recognise his own style. Before this, Harry would've been restricting his creative side as his other band members in the band One Direction would have to agree on what the album looked like but as this is his solo album, Styles could be as creative as he wants to be.
- 6. First idea FRONT The front page is created in a way to display the main message of the ‘Other Wings’, Otras Alas, album - leaving everything behind to find my other self. The woman sitting on the couch alone with her dog creates the image of finding oneself, away from the rest with the things that truly make an individual happy, in this case the dog. The telefone next to her shows how even though she may be waiting for a call from somebody important she is focusing her attention towards her dog, showing that she does not need anybody else to find herself. Underneath the picture is the name of the album ‘Otras Alas’ with the year of the album release and song list. It informs the customers what they will purchase, specifically which album and what songs are played in it.
- 7. The backpage of the digipak is decorated with an image of a women and man holding hands while red wine is poured into the glass. In this album many songs are on the cliche topic of heartbreak, for example ‘Nana triste’, therefore the picture presents the sadness; painted in low dark colours and melancholic aura. The red wine presents the blood - sadness and hardship - however as once the glass is filled, the ache will stop and once the wine is drank, the relationship will end. In the upper left corner we have placed the actual information from one of Natalia’s albums in order to have the actual true information. Underneath there is a barcode for when purchasing the digipak, however instead of the usual numbers we replaced them with the word ‘original’. In the lower right corner, Natalia Lacunza’s autograph is shown for the purchaser to know whose album they are buying. By placing the autograph instead of her full name would increase her popularity due to the more people acknowledging her simply by her short hand written signature. BACK
- 8. The left page inside of the digipak is in most cases decorated with one of the songs in the album and its lyrics. We have decided to do this with the song we are using for our project - ‘Olivia’. The lyrics are placed on the right side of the page next to the title in a smaller font due to the length of the song. The picture we chose to use displays a women leaning against a wall turned away from the audience, staring into the distance. This enables the audience to experience the loneliness Olivia must feel as the lyrics of the song advise everyone keep a big distance from her. The scratches show the damage she has done to the people around her, coming back to her and therefore hurting her back. FIRST PAGE INSIDE
- 9. The disc we have designed shows facing our fears. Natalia sings about not being afraid to face reality, such as in her songs ‘tarantula’ and ‘otras alas’. In reality people are most brave with an amount of alcohol in their blood, therefore we symbolise that by inserting a picture of an alcoholic drink, also adding continuity as our previous message with the red wine. We made sure to label the dics with the artist’s name and the title of the album in an classy minimalistic font, not distracting from the main idea. In the lower right area of the dics we decided to place a kiss stain, mimicking a kiss Natalia left for her fans - the niche consumers - making them feel more connected to the artist. CD DISC
- 10. Final Digipak Development The front page focuses on our main character - Olivia. The actress I have casted allowed me to make a quick photoshoot in order to develop this page. I focused on hiding the actress’s face as in my storyline, Olivia does not recognise her true self and doesn't want to accept that fact. I insisted that the actress shows up in more open clothes, exposing her neck, to give off the sensual atmosphere as my character Olivia does so. Underneath the photo, I placed the name of the album, the release year, and each song played in the album with its number. The overall look of the page orbits around dark and feminine aura as Olivia herself is categorised within it.
- 11. Similar to our first inspiration, The first page inside of the digipak is in most cases decorated with one of the songs in the album and its lyrics. We have decided to do this with the song we are using for our project - ‘Olivia’. The lyrics are placed on the right side of the page next to the title in a smaller font due to the length of the song. The picture on the left displays our actress’s reflection in a mirror, however only a mere part of her. This is done as to show that she to herself is not fully uncovered yet and can’t see the full image of herself in the mirror; in addition wearing a less revealing sweater to show how much she hides the rest. FIRST PAGE INSIDE
- 12. CD DISC I had two options for the disc design, however in the end I chose to develop the second design. The disc I have designed shows facing our fears. Natalia sings about not being afraid to face reality, such as in her songs ‘tarantula’ and ‘otras alas’. In reality people are most brave with an amount of alcohol in their blood, therefore we symbolise that by inserting a picture of an alcoholic drinks and a group of people cheering with each other, also adding continuity as our previous message with the red wine. We made sure to label the dics with the artist’s name and the title of the album in an classy minimalistic font, not distracting from the main idea. In the lower left area of the disc we decided to place a kiss stain, mimicking a kiss Natalia left for her fans - the niche consumers - making them feel more connected to the artist.
- 13. BACKPAGE The backpage of the digipak is decorated with an image of a women holding a wine glass with the red wine almost fully drank. In this album many songs are on the cliche topic of heartbreak, for example ‘Nana triste’, therefore the picture presents the sadness; painted in low dark colours and melancholic aura. The red wine presents the blood - sadness and hardship - however once the wine is drank the ache will stop. In the upper right corner we have placed the actual information from one of Natalia’s albums in order to have the true information. Underneath is a barcode for when purchasing the digipak, however instead of the usual numbers we replaced them with the word ‘original’. In the lower left corner, Natalia Lacunza’s autograph is shown for the purchaser to know whose album they are buying. By placing the autograph instead of her full name would increase her popularity due to the more people acknowledging her simply by her short hand written signature.
- 14. I think that it is important to mention that we have changed the storyline as it was too challenging to film and therefore needed to bring slight change to our digipak design too. All the digipak designs have been created using the application ‘Picsart’ and the IOS gallery filters.