Front Cover:

 

 

Above is our first draft for our front cover of our digipak. This draft is nowhere near perfect but has allowed us to gather an idea of how our images will work on our front cover. When producing the first draft there was certain citeria which could be followed:

• Use of camera and Photoshop to take & manipulate engaging images.

• Selection of mise-en-scene in the photos and the meaning it communicates.

• Creative use of DTP to integrate images and text and  use colour / typefaces.

In order to start to put together our first digipak draft we ensured we followed the criteria above. The use of a close up shot and direct mode of adress helps to engage the audience and make them feel a sense of involvement. In order to achieve our star image that we hope for (exciting, fun, mysterious, edgy) we had the star to use a neatural face to give away no emtion helping the audience to keep guessing what the album will involve. The bright colour pallettte also connotes a sense of excitment and fun characteristics towards our star imgage. The lighting and MES also helps to create a mysterious and ethereal atmosphere towards the image and the star. However the last section of the criteria is still a work in progress and will be shown more throughout the next draft of our digipak.

Back Cover:

 

 

Above is the first draft of our back cover fro our digipak. The same assessment criteria follows for the back cover as seen above. Within the back cover of our digipak we have included photography from our shoot however an effect has been added in order to give it an illustrative element. We have also included the song titles featured within the album aswell as a barcode on the backcover so far.

When it comes to doing our next draft we need to include the Music Group our artist is signed too as well as copyright information in order to follow the typical conventions seen. It is also important to consider playing around with other images, designs and colours to ensure what works best for your digipak, so therefore now we have time we will do this. Within our next draft we will also hope to complete the inside two planes aswell as the spine of the digipak to have a complete digipak so we can then focus on the whole thing and see how it comes together with different elements.

Draft One Assessment:

Focus Forward:

Now we have produced a basic draft of our digipak this will enable me and my partner to then go forward and continue to design our digipak and changing any necessary elemts within it. Although this draft is extremely simple and far from finished it is important not to rush into designing such an important project for your star and brand. As you go elements will fit together and certain parts are going to change to suit your genre and star within the post production aspect of the digipak.

 

 Photoshoot Contact Sheets:

Below are all of the images taken throughout or didipak photoshoot:

Above are all our images taken during our digipak photo shoot. It was important to consider all the typical convetnions we wanted to follow when shooting for the production of our digipak. Thes included bright colours which we used through a projector and low key lighting. Within our digipak we hope to display a unique and ethereal atmosphere towards our audience which we believe shows within our images.

As well as this it was important to gather some shots from various camera angles in order to give us a wider choice of images to use when experimenting with our digipak design. Therefore we gathered photos which used direct mode of adress, close ups, long shots, different gestures and poses as well as colours displayed in the background. the amount of images achieved will enable myself and my partner to have a varied choice of what we can use within our digipak helping to achive our visions to the best of our abilities.

Overall the shoot ran smoothly due to our pre organisation before the initla date. Everyone knew what they were responisble for in relation to costumes, props, makeup and lighting helping to use our time effectively and sufficiently.

Production Metting Agenda For Digipak Shoot

To stay organised when producing our digipak it is important to create a PMA so me and my partner both know what is happening and when. This will help our shoot to run smoothly whilst using our time efficiently.

PMA Analysis:

To share the responsibilites equally between me and my partner we have alloacted specific areas for us to be responsible for during our shoot. As I am the model for the shoot I will be responisble for providing my costume and doing my makeup whereas my partner will bring the props needed. We will both hold responsibility for bringing the equiptment needed; camer tri pod and lighting sources.

As our shoot is within the school grounds neither of us need transport during this time. A risk assessment is also not needed as we are within the school premisies and minimal risks will be involved during the shoot.

Digipack Mockup:

In order to be able to visualise how me and my partner want our digipak design to look like for our star’s new album it is important to produce a deigipak mockup. This helps us to stay organised when it comes to producing our product; having set plans for photoshoots, all images we need to take as well as any fonts we would like to use.

Mockup Analysis:

When producing our mockup, certain elments were inspired from over album covers and blueprints. Although we have used inspiartion from these sources we have no intentions of copying them and will make our digipak original. When designing a rough draft of our digipak we had to think about key technical conventions of our genre in order fro our audience to accept the text, these include, bold fonts, the star featured on the cover, colour palette, songs titles and digital design.

For our front cover we hope to feature the cover star in the centre of the page using a direct mode of adress to connect the audeince with the product. A bold blocky font will be featured to display the album name, this allows it to stand out whilst following the repetoire of elements found on similar products. In order for our audience to decode our product to give of a mystifying and onbsure connotations we aim to use a projectore to give of a ‘trippy’ effet on the background and star’s face. This will help to connote the star image we our aiming for which is energetic, fun, mysterious and emotive.

The back cover will also feature our star, however it will be a long shot. The back cover will include both photography and digital design. The image above shows the star who will be in a fun gesture leaning on an old TV. The tv screen will have faces displayed it it which will be done by digital design, following a theme of our album name. The song titles will be featured on the left hand side with around 12 songs on the album. The star will not use direct mode of adress on this page but more to the side in order to intirgue the audience of what she is looking at.

The inside two pages of the digipak will purley feature digital design. The first page will feature an eye looking into the audince to help make them feel involved. This will also bring a sense of emotion into the image. The background will be mixed colours from our colour palette seen below helping to create a ‘psychedelic’ approach. On the second side will just be the same background used as the other side to ensure continuity, with the CD covering the most part of this area.

Representation Of Our Colour Palette:

 

In order to understand the technical conventions and repetiore of elements usually seen on a Pop/R&B soul/Electronica didpak it is vital to analysis a media text of the same genre. ‘Tinashe’ ia a an american singer, dancer and actress who describes her music as rythmic pop. Below is one of her albums, ‘Aquarius’ which was released in 2014, which has been analysed focussing on the blueprint, colours, conventions and what these connote towards the audience.

Digipak Analysis:

From this task, I have gained an understanding for the typical conventions/forms and repetoire of elements seen within my chosen genre. Analysing the design choices I have found that in order to connote a mysterious and ethereal atmosphere the use of lighting is typically used throughout this genre. Low key lighting is a huge element helping the audience to gather a mystifying feeling.  As well as discovering the typical tecniques used I have realised that doing ‘extraordinary’ conventions can work too in order to make your digipak be different and stand out. However if this is done it has to be done carfully and not be too dramatic in order for the audience to accept the text and not reject it. Within my group we hope to use slight ‘extraordinary’ conventions to represent out star within the media helping to portray the star image we want to.

Focus Forward:

Now understanding the repetoire of elements seen on Pop/R&B soul/Electronica digipaks, I will be able to follow these conventions when designing and producing our own digipak’s for our star. Being able to know what these competitors connote and denotate will help dramatically when producing our digipak, being able to portray similar meanings towards our audince with a individual unique style towards our star.

MoodBoard:

 

 

MoodBoard Reflection:

Above is a moodboard created by both me and my partner to show what would be appropriate towards our package. Included in the mood board is album design, fonts, colour pallettes, tour posters and artwork. To gather inspiaration towards our package this task is extremely important, it has enabled us to gather an understanding for what other competitors within the industry produce and how they design their porducts. Our strar’s genre is primarily pop however it also involves R&B sould as well as electronica. Therefore it was important for us to gather a range of images that represent theses genres and see what repetoire of elements they hold.

Representing your star within the media is a careful task, through the use of integrated advertising ,every apearance they have within the media allows audiences to form opinions and viewpoints about your brand image and star. Therefore we need to ensure that the style of our prodcuts connotes what we want our star to portray. As seen above in the designed moodboard, we have a range of core values and aims for our star to be represented as; emotive, quirky, playful, dramatic, powerful, commanding, high-spirited, eccentric and freakish. These descriptive words are what we aim for our star to be portrayed as towards our audience. Therefore the blueprints chosen above all display this through the photography and design. The theme throughout genreally involve vibrant colours, emotive gestures, constrasting images, good use of MES, direct mode of adress, psychdelic vibes, and good use of lighting to create atmosphere.

In relation to our overall mission statement our inspiration photos match this perfectly, creating an ethereal and emotive atmosphere. When looking at our digipak we want our preferred reading to have feeling of connection throught the use of emotionn and lighting. As well as this we want them to feel involved within the product and gain an extraordinary effect within the image in order to create excitment and a mysterious approach. We want our audience to accept the text and not reject it therefore we are folllowing simailar conventions and repetoire of elements typically seen within theses genres but wil be mixing them and adding our own approach.

Focus Forward:

After gathering a forming a mood board with inspiration blueprints on me and my partner now have a clear understanding of how we want both our star and product to be represented as. We can now also begin to start thinking about what we would look our digipak to look like through the use of these designs; do we want photography and design or just design, what lighting we will be using, the MES, and what fonts we can use in order to get our preferred reading across to the audience.

Our Slideshow Showing Our Mission Statement:

Slideshow Reflection:

Creating a star image is vital when promoting a new album, a star’s presence within the media is extremely important, every appearance an artists has online accounts to how cosumere view them and create opinions on the. To create a brand for your star or group there is a variety of techniques that take place; marketing stratagies e.g guerilla marketing, viral marketing and synergy, promotion and intergrated advertising. We have decided to display our star as a known but upcoming artist with the release of a new album being a major project for them in hope of growth of audience.

Our mission statement is as follows ‘ Freya offers a multi-genre vibe into the pop world. Mixing R&B soul, pop and electronica, freya’s emotive atmosphere and tones give an ethereal and quirky perfromance style, providing fans with an ocular kaleidoscope with a multicoloured and freaky aura. This new album ‘Faces In The Crowd’ features the new hit song ‘There Isn’t Much’ along with the most unique new songs. This extrordinary album is destined to rise to the top of the charts, connecting emotionally with fans across the world, leavinf everyone to want more.’ This mission statement leaves an extraordinary feeling allowing the audience to know what to expect from the artists but still leaving a snese of suspense. This allows people to understand what they are going to recieve in order for them to then not reject the text when it is released. As well as this the mission statment provides an insight of the package of our brand which will also be represented in our social media page.

As seen in the presentation above are unique selling point will include extraordinary convetions typicaaly seen in the pop genre industry. Our star is already established however is not one of the main name’s within the industry, this new album is one of the biggest projects she has done yet with the hope of gaining a wider and bigger following. This will feature both a mix of photography and design, which is untypically seen within this genre. To make these design ‘extraordinary’ we will use some different conventions, creating a meta narrative. This will include a slight ‘psychedelic’ look within the design to create a more mysterious and powerful atmosphere. By mixing different genre conventions will open up wider demographic of audiences, helping to gain a mass following. The inspiration pictures we have chosen all feature vibrant colours but with low key lighting, this helps to portray the emotion within the image, connecting the artist to the audience on a deeper level. The design aspects on some of the chosen pictures are trippy and freaky with the use of direct mode of adress, enticing incidviduals into the image, which we aim to do within our digipak. This USP is crucial when creating a package brand, if your artists products are the same as everyone else’s, people will become bored, they want something different and by mixing these elements and conventions will do just that.

As well as this the team behind and artist need to use conventional marketing techniques in order to gain intrest and for the product to be successful. Our main marketing straegy will be the use of synergy; this will include collaborating with different brands in order to gain a wider audience, benefitting both the brand an the artist. As well as this our products will aim to follow the Uses and Gratification theory, by Blumler and Katz, to help entertain, inform, create personal identity and create social interaction amongst the audience. However whilst doing this we will not inform the audience with too much both on our social media page and digipak, so there still lies a sense of mystery to intrigue the audience into finsing out more.

Focus Forward:

Creating a mission statement and package brand for our artist was a crucial aspect when wanting to increase a star’ audience and portary their star image in a certain way. This has helped us to gather an understading of how we would like our star to be portrayed within the media and what steps we will take to do this, creating a clearer path for this journey.