Digipack and advert research
- 1. Digi pack and advert research A digipack is a type of packaging for CDS or DVDS, usually made from cardboard, with a plastic holder for one or more CDS. What are the conventions of typical Indie digipacks? They tend not to feature the band or artist, but alternatively abstract pictures and colours which help the digipack stand out. If the digipack does feature the artists on the cover, it tends to be in a cartoon style. Such as in Blurs album. Some digipacks only feature the artists name and leave out the title. The text on the digipack is usually in strange and unique styles so that it is visually capturing and stands out. What are the conventions of a typical Indie Folk digipack? Often, the artist is made up as a smaller element of the composition of the photograph instead of using close ups which are sharp and bold in their nature. This suits the conventions of Indie Folk as it is suggesting that the artist wants you to focus on the artistic elements of their music and style as a pose to their fame and star persona. Photography tends to be made up of natural colours and natural lighting instead of bold and brash colours, again adding to the idea that the music is the main element they want us to focus on instead of a perfected and a conformist product. Most Indie Folk digipacks that do feature the artist on the cover tend to be shot at eye-level, instead of from a high or low angle shot. Many mainstream digipacks, such as Pop and Hip-Hop use low angle shots to connote power to the artist, and to emphasise the idea of fame and glory. Indie folk focuses on a much less arrogant level, by shooting these eye-line images which suggest that the artist and audience are on the same level, helping to create and understanding with their listeners. The back of digipacks typical to the Indie Folk genre is conventionally plain, with dull and quite uninteresting colours. It copies a minimalistic style, keeping everything simple, with the idea of nature recurring through the digipacks. Nothing too artificial is included in many Indie Folk digipacks, such as bold and brash colours which deter the attention away from the artistic element of music and draw more attention to the graphical artistry. The back also typically contains some artist information, including their record label, and usually has a barcode.
- 2. This first cover of a digipack belongs to Indie Folk group-Of Monsters and Men. This is conventional of the genre, as we can see that it consists of very dull, unsatured colours. It is in a black and white style, and is not eye catching, nor visually very interesting, which suggests the artists want their audience to focus more on the musical artistry. Furthermore, it also contains natural photography, the inside of the letters appear to show images of rocks, and natural land formations. As I saw in my research from Indie Digipacks, the cover does not contain a title but simply the initialised outlines of the group’s name. This keeps a minimalistic design and allows them to display only the essential information. Examples of some Indie Folk Digipacks: Gabrielle Aplin is the artist of the song that we have chosen for our music video; therefore I thought it would be wise to look at an example of one of her digipacks. I find this one interesting, from how there is a combination of black and white effects with the pastel colours in certain overlay elements of the pictures such as the umbrella and the balloons. The setting in the background of the images is all within natural scenery, such as fields, with the sky and clouds clearly in view. The monochrome colours suggest that the artists aim is to draw our attention to the pastel colours within the image.
- 3. This digipack cover is from the Lumineers album. The recurring theme throughout looking at these covers has been of dark and dull colours. Again, this digipack cover is based around black and white colours. The image is very quirky, and appears to be an image taken in the past or sometime in modern history. The cover is kept minimalistic, possibly done deliberately to keep the attention on the musical artistry. As I discussed in my evaluation of Indie Digipacks, only the band’s name is written on the cover, and the name of the album is left out, therefore fitting with these conventions. Furthermore, the photography looks more spontaneous than staged which again is conventional for this genre, which tries to stay away from fakery and appearing superficial. This is the back cover of a digipack from fleet foxes. The text on the back is very large and the text resembles something that would have been a recognizable font in the Tudor days. The text runs over onto the next line regardless of whether the song title has finished being written fully. This represents the alternative style of the music within the album. Furthermore, the image from the front of the digipack runs over onto the back, again another of the quirky features that is conventional for alternative genres. The back is kept relatively minimalistic in its design as it is simply text apart from the run over of the image.
- 4. This is the back of Noah and the Whales digipack. This is less minimalist than the typical styles, as it I not just plain but features an image. However this image is typical of the Indie Folk genre, from the styling to the scenery/setting. The colours used create a stark contrast, with the colours at the bottom being dark (black) and the colour at the top, which is the sky, being white. The image has also been edited with a vintage like effect, which is becoming more conventional within the Indie Folk genre. The barcode is unconvnetially displayed at the top, with all legal information such as record company, date of publication etc. displayed on the bottom. The colours featured on the back of this digipack are dull and vintage styled. The writing is in white which allows it to stand out above the sombre background. Again, the theme within the picture is a natural setting. The barcode is conventionally displayed at the bottom of the digipack, with the signature logo/band name displayed above the text of the songs.
- 5. Why have I chosen ‘Spirits’ as the title of my album? One of the definitions I found on the internet for spirits is: the non-physical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character; the soul. This album and our song choice is heavily based upon the emotions of the character and is very reminiscent about the past, such as in our music video: ‘please don’t say you love me’ which includes flashbacks to the artists memories with her childhood best friend and soon to be lover. Spirits doesn’t focus on physical beings and therefore removes the superficial factors of human life and strips things back to the spiritual side of life. Therefore, it is conventional for the genre, which doesn’t like focussing on the superficial factors of the music production process, such as extravagant appearances, and publicity stunts, but actually the words and overall, general messages that come from the songs which are portrayed subtly in the music.
- 6. The main artistic feature of this advert is of the central image of Lana, the artist. The image is very symmetrical such as the pockets on her shirt which create an aesthetically pleasing image. The colours used link to the natural themes throughout the digipacks I have analysed and the general style conventions from the genre such as a natural setting. These colours are white, blue and greens, all natural colours which we can link to the environment. The title of the artist is the main centre of visual interest within the poster, and is displayed in white which is striking above the blue background. The vital information is given on the poster such as the album release date. I like the design of this poster as it is striking yet still keeps a simple design and is relative to the conventions of the genre. This poster boasts a minimalistic design. It is kept simple through its use of colours, such as a relatively plain and naturalistic background with a splash of colour in the umbrella, to make the image visually stimulating and interesting. The font style is complementary to Gabrielle Aplins persona and musical attributes. The essential information is displayed conventionally at the bottom of the poster, such as the date of release and the songs included on the album. The poster consists of nothing too striking and therefore matches the conventions of Indie Folk by keeping attention focussed on the music and not the superficial, artistic and design factors of the album.
- 7. The main artistic feature of this poster is the large X symbol which consists of an abstract pattern. It is an unusual design, therefore eye catching, whilst still keeping the poster minimalistic. The xx is displayed on both posters which informs those who are unaware of the symbol and the band, as well as important information on the 2nd poster. Apart from the symbolic X, the poster is kept blank and therefore links to the indie folk genre as it is keeping the attention on the music by not distracting from it with bold and brash designs. This poster by Haim uses a typical Indie Folk style appearance. For example, the colours are mainly dull and dark colours, with nothing too brash or outstanding to the eye. For example, a black and white image is used on the poster, which covers half of the page. The title ‘Haim’ is displayed in a baby pink colour which perhaps represents the female sex of the women in the band, instead of keeping it ‘boyish’ by using a blue or white colour for the title. The essential information is displayed below in a stylish and clear font, with the most important text displayed slightly larger than some of the rest. The image is conventional of the genre, as the nature of it is quite abstract, we can’t easily infer what the image is of and what the artists are meant to be doing in the image. Furthermore, the poster is kept relatively minimalistic, with lots of empty space surrounding the black background. It incorporates a vintage style and feel by the editing that is used in the image and the black and white scheme used throughout.
- 8. This Mumford and Sons poster incorporates an interesting design into the poster. The colours used such as the green are representative of the idea of nature and the outdoors, conventional of the Indie and Indie Folk genre in particular. The text is visually capturing, as it is bold, and displayed over a white background which is separated off by a white bubble. This makes the text stand out more than if it was presented above the green background, therefore making the poster more effective for its purpose. The style of the poster makes it look like the poster is strung up with pegs, giving more of an artistic and alternative look to the poster than the others. Only a small image is used, which is perhaps significant when looking at the conventions of Indie and Indie Folk music as the main aim of the poster isn’t the artistic design however displaying the essential/important information and keeping the focus on the musical aspects of the artists.
- 9. The design style of this digipack is kept very minimalistic. For example, the song titles are displayed in a neat and convenient column. Nothing flashy or edgy is used to display the text on this back page. The colours used are black and white, which is practical as it makes the text stand out above the black background The analysis of the language of this digipack is interesting as I found a recurring theme that intertwines the artistic designs and the language used, the theme of nature. For example, words such as ‘flowers’, ‘sea’, and ‘morning’ are used which creates a semantic field within the lexis used. The barcode is conventionally displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the page, occasionally presented with some additional information, displayed at the bottom. The additional information provided at the bottom of the page includes legalize and offers essential information such as the name of producers& recorders, as well as copyright laws policies and the year of release. Some of the language used includes terms such as ‘produced and recorded by’, ‘additional engineering’ and ‘produced by’. These are all important displays of information that I will need to include on my digipack. The spine of this CD contains the name of the artist, in a different font from the other pieces of text from the back cover and the same as the signature artist name on the cover. The spine also presents some legal information such as logos of corporations and production companies. This is something that I should incorporate into my work to make it look authentic and professional.
- 11. This first mood board shows the type of colour scheme I like and can see on my digipack. The colours are quite subtle, yet still eye catching and visually interesting. Furthermore, a lot of the images contain natural scenery, such as the clouds, the seaside, and water, which would be conventional to the genre I am producing this digipack for. Some of the images show a colour gradient, and a subtle divide of pink and blue. I think this would work well with my album title ‘spirits’ and colour connote the divide between life and death and past and present which is something reflected in the album I am aiming to produce, which is something nostalgic and reminiscent.
- 13. This second mood board displays silhouette photography. I think this works well as it creates a feeling of nostalgia and also incorporates a lot of natural scenery. The photos also present quite a warm feel, as we can see a lot of the photos show couples, or childhood friends as the silhouette within the photography. I got this idea from the Brave station digipack cover which can be seen in the top left hand corner of my first mood board which presents a colour scheme that I like. However, I would need to research into how to produce silhouette photography before I commit to idea or alternatively learn how to superficially create this effect on Photoshop. This is only an initial idea, yet I think the silhouette's are both visually attractive and enticing and represent the feel of our song and the connotations that I would like to present.
- 15. This third mood board again shows the silhouette photography, but with a couple in all of the photos. The song that we have chosen ‘please don’t say you love me’ has a narrative largely based around childhood love and soul mates, as would many of the songs on the fictional album. Therefore it is important to reflect this idea through the photography and images used throughout the digipack. The sunset creates a warm feeling, creating a connotation of love and content between the partners in the images.
Editor's Notes
- #3: This first cover of a digipack belongs to Indie Folk group-Of Monsters and Men. This is conventional of the genre, as we can see that it consists of very dull, unsatured colours. It is in a black and white style, and is not eye catching, nor visually very interesting, which suggests the artists want their audience to focus more on the musical artistry. Furthermore, it also contains natural photography, the inside of the letters appear to show images of rocks, and natural land formations. As I saw in my research from Indie Digipacks, the cover does not contain a title but simply the initialised outlines of the group’s name. This keeps a minimalistic design and allows them to display only the essential information.