Back cover Front cover
Digipak Conventions
Before designing the digipak, we wanted to look at the common conventions in dance pop digipaks. This would perhaps give a clearer idea as to what is usually seen to interest the audience. What was found was that different artists all had different styles making it more so personal to the artist and audience. Although,by analyzing 2 digipaks of the same genre I have seen the following convetions:
On the front cover:
- Plain Background to emphasise the artist
- Different fonts used
- Close-up/Mid shot of the artist
- Features the artist
On the back cover:
- List of all the songs
- Bar code,copyright information and record company logo
- Image takes up roughly half of the back
- Follows the colour scheme
Evaluation
I created a PowerPoint and to be able to embed it I had to put it on Google Drive and it`s not the same anymore(in terms of transitions) so when I saw this I emailed you a copy of the PowerPoint. Please check that one.Thank you 🙂
Photoshoot Digipak(First Try)
My initial idea for the front cover of the digipak was inspired from Rihanna`s videoWe found love.However we didn`t have a projector and I had to edit the picture to add this effect. It was quite difficult to position the tripod and get the perfect shot as we had to use timer because we didn`t have a camera person so I wasn`t very content with the framing( the male artist`s head is cropped).Also my right middle finger is not positioned well as the message isn`t visibile as on the left finger.Through the use of body language I wanted to express the need of privacy.
Inspiration
Unsuccesful shots
Final outcome after editing
Another idea of editing and posing
Before editing
However I decided not to use any of these shots as I felt I can do better than this.I decided to use the college studio and I think this will benefit me greatly as it will look more profesional(almost all digipak front cover photos are shoot in the studio) .Another reason why I didnt use this shoots is because the male artist is of almost equal importance as the female artist I felt like I have to promote him more as the purpose of a digipak is to promote the artist and his/her music.
First cut
This is my first cut.I have included various different shots, angles, scenes, lighting, actors/actresses and editing techniques. Upon creating this video I have asked for general feedback from my media teacher. The teacher I asked had a few changes and improvements that I could have made. One of the changes was to take another look at the shots that I’ve used and think about how many times I have used them as some shots seem to be repeated. I agreed with this, and have since been looking of ways I could improve the error. The teacher also thought that the shot I used at the very beginning could have been held slightly longer so in my second cut I will change that.He thought I could improve my editing skills so I can manage to blend each shot together in a more successful way. The overall feeling he got from viewing my video was that the video successfully showed an easy to understand narrative, various different shots, good use of skills to match the beat with the order of shots, an average performance from the actors/actresses and overall a good quality of filming. I was happy with my feedback and I have been working today on improving and tweaking necessary parts of the product. I hope to have the finished product by January
Digipak initial ideas
Institutional research
Robyn Rihanna Fenty born on February 20, 1988, in Barbados signed with Def Jam records which is American record label, focused predominantly on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group. Current artists include Iggy Azalea, Logic, Big Sean, Kanye West, Leona Lewis, 2 Chainz, Axwell Λ Ingrosso, Mother Mother, Jeremih, Ludacris,among others.
The first releases with Def Jam Recordings catalog numbers were LL Cool J’s “I Need a Beat” and the Beastie Boys’ “Rock Hard,” both in 1984. The singles sold well, eventually leading to a distribution deal with CBS Records (which would later become Sony Music Entertainment) through Columbia Records the following year. This created a short-lived subsidiary label called OBR Records.
In 2001, Lyor Cohen announced Def Jam Germany, the first international Def Jam company. This increased the label’s presence around the world.
Under Jay-Z’s leadership, Def Jam launched the successful careers of contemporary R&B singers Rihanna and Ne-Yo.
On March 14, 2012, it was announced that former Warner Bros. Records executive Joie Manda would become the first President of Def Jam since Jay-Z
Rihanna has “left” her longtime label, Def Jam, joining the label company Roc Nation. The singer’s next album, the follow-up to 2012’s “Unapologetic,” will still be distributed by Def Jam.
Advertising my product
Where am I going to advertise my product?
I have nearly completed my music video and I have to start thinking where I could advertise my music video, digipak and poster. I thought that it would be good to advertise it where teenagers would normally spend their spare time.
These are the industries that I thought of advertising my products:
- Viva, 4 Music
Viva and 4Music are the most popular channels where teenagers would normally watch and listen music videos. They are mainly playing pop music which is the same genre that I have chosen to do.I thought that I should advertise our music video in their company because I am aiming at the same audience. Young adults also like to watch music channels but also like to watch the soaps on an evening, so the best place to advertise on the TV to target all our target audience would be on music channels. It would be ideal to advertise it after school as well so the teenagers that goes to school would be able to watch and see how it looks like.
- Heat, OK
These are the industries through which I am going to advertise my digipak. After the research I did for our target audience, I found out that this are the magazines on what my target audience wants to read and buy. Heat magazine is also the company that made a compliments about the same types of videos as my music video which implies that the audience would buy it. Also they tend to be more sociable people who enjoying keeping up to date with fashion trends and the latest music out.
- Twitter & Facebook
I thought that I should advertise our magazine advert on social networking sites such a Facebook and Twitter because this is how teenagers spend more of their time. They are more socialable people they liked keeping up to date and talking to their friends all the time. It is going to be placed on the side of the page so they would be able to see it. I also want to have animated banner of our music video so it grabs the audiences attention. Also teenagers are more active nowadays so it would be beneficial if we would do it as well.
My poster
Editing digipak cover-the process
Initial images
We have used InDesign while creating our digipak because we want to delete some parts of the photo that we don’t want to include. These are the tools we have used while editing photos:
- We have created a new layer and used magic wand tool to select the parts that we want to cut off.
- We also used polygonal tool as we want to make sure that the edges are straight so it makes the photo look tidy.
I created the title by overlaying the same 2 fonts but in diffeent colour.
I have used contrast to make the colours on the photos vibrant and colourful so the audience won’t get bored of looking at it.
I change the colour of the background in white as I think it creates more contrast and makes the artists stand out more.
The black and red colours of the fonts and the dark clothes of the artists contrasts with the white background.
I placed the names of the artistsin the middle to reinforce their brand identity and make thir names easy to see and memorise for the target audience.
