2

Whats new?

• New layout of text for the back page which makes the overall page look more aesthetically pleasing as a whole and helps identify the words better now everything has been spread out.
• We also added the artist’s name and album title onto the spine with a transparent white box behind so that the colourful text stands out in front of the kaleidoscope background. Having a colourful spine with clear text is super important as the spine will be the first thing to capture a consumer’s attention and draw them in.
• The artist’s name ‘Riff Raff’ has also been changed as it is more catchy to say as well as the meaning behind the name before was a lot more complex to understand whereas Riff Raff has a simple meaning referring to a person who is described as scummy and are not considered very respectable. This works due to the rebellious nature of electronic dance music and conveys that this dj is someone who is proud to be scum as this is an empowering feature that encourages less fortunate people to respect and be prideful of this artist.
• On the front cover we have also changed the font colour to a blue to enable the consumers to distinguish between the album name and title. This is important as ultimately the artist wants people to remember and recognize his name as this will lead fans to discover more of his music, content, merchandise, etc…
• Lastly we also warped the imagery inside the digipak into a CD shape to mimic where the actual CD will be placed.

Reflection

The overall fonts that have been used are sans serif and have been typed in capital letters, this addresses an informal manner and portrays that this album is simply shouting at you to buy it as well as it reflects the typical atmosphere of a typical EDM song and the hype. The colour palette also supports the conventional attributes seen in other EDM albums that I previously analysed to receive some inspiration for our own digipak. Due to the use of mainly purples, yellows, blue and pinks on many other EDM albums I decided to include these colours as I now associate these colours with the genre. Within the imagery and design I included many visual signifiers that are a result of semiotics (de Saussure) for example the design’s include: a figure with headphones on and an open cage positioned on the forehead of the figure. This symbolises that the music this subject is listening too, opening up their mind; the rising phoenix signifies renewal, hope and enlightenment which is a result of this newly unlocked mind and the cloud behind the bird is to emphasise this holy and heavenly outcome achieved through listening to music; Lastly the circular frame around this design filled with kaleidoscope patterns connotes the the viewer is looking down the eye of a kaleidoscope and perceiving the words through a fresh, changed set of eyes. All of these signified images relate to one another to create one huge meaning which is focusing on how EDM can help to to let go, open up your mind, be freed and change your perspective however this design is open to many different interpretations and encourages you to think twice about what exactly you are looking at which supports Barthes theory when studying the relationships between these individual signs about Active Audiences.

 

Introduction

For our draft 3 we included multiple alterations including finally adding text on the front and back cover. We then printed off our draft 3 and assembled the images into a digipak so that we could see how we thought once it became a whole piece. Most importantly though this was our chance to get feedback from our peers and to test to see if our designs really reflect our genre. Here is our draft 3 printed out into a CD:

Here is a survey that my partner carried out amongst our peers. This survey includes the classes opinions about what genre they recon our digipak reminds them the of the most:

Reflection

Although the majority of votes were for trance music this isn’t a bad thing as EDM is so vast so it is very hard to pinpoint specific features towards this genre due to electronic dance music having various subgenres such as techno, drum and bass, house music etc… Therefore due to trance being a sub genre I think we did a good job at trying to imitate similar conventions however due to our messages that we wanted to send through our designs it suits more trippy and down to earth illustrations anyway which is typically seen in trance. Despite this our second most selected genre in this survey was EDM meaning that our efforts have not been a miss. Overall I am really happy and proud of the digipak so far, however I feel that on the back cover all the writing has been grouped too close together and needs more spacing out just to give a more aesthetically pleasing look that has been distributed much more evenly. Not only this but I think that the album title and artists name should have different fonts so that you are able to establish they are two separate titles and not just one big title. Lastly inside the digipak on the left hand side the imagery would also look much better if it was rounded so that the design suits and incorporates the shape for where the CD will be inserted.

 

Introduction

Finally After finishing my graphics I have added them onto the digipack as well as covering the spines with the kaleidascope images. Here is what the digipak looks like so far:

Here is my assessment of the digipak for this first draft:

Reflection

I have still got some things to alter such as the back cover bird outline filled with a transparent white. I believe it will look much better if the actual bird is there instead and this will just mean that I will have to add some white text around the bird when writing the tracks, instead of having it inside the bird. I need to also find a really cool graphic/handwritten font in capital letters that I can use for my title and artist’s name. This will hopefully be curved around the circular graphic in the middle. For the back cover I need to add more conventions such as barcode, record label symbol and name, copyright information and tracks. This will be a challenge to fit everything on but hopefully the album will actually begin to look like an album. Lastly I need to add two more photographs/graphics/illustrations on the inside of the case.

 

Introduction

As an individual task we looked at similar artist’s social media pages and explained the different terms that are typically included across most social media platforms and why these terms are helpful for an artist. I chose a DJ called Chris Lake. We included screenshots of the top of the stars page (first thing you see), first nine posts and one individual post. Here is Chris Lake’s profile and my analysis of terms included:

Reflection

Learning some of this key terminology has helped me to understand basically what the point of having these components on my future social media platform. I have also been able to receive insight into how a similar artist to mine chooses to personalise these components for example thinking carefully about hashtags to entice certain audience members from similar scenes. Overall this was helpful and has given me some ideas on what content and information to include that would spark my target audience’s interest.

Introduction

Finally I had my illastration done and had a narrowed down selection of kaliedascope images that I needed to decide which one I would use. After deciding with my partner which photo we preffered I went onto Abobe Photoshop to alter the incorporated colours. I also needed to increase the vibrancy of my illastration on photoshop and merge it with the kaleidascope image. Here are some editing pages that presents what I did on photoshop to make the back graphic and front graphic:

Reflection

I am very happy with how my front cover graphic turned out I know that this graphic will be placed on the center of my front cover on InDesign. All that will be left to do for that page will be to add the name of the artist and albumn which I want to huge around the circle. For my back cover graphic I am not so sure, I worry that trying to fit the text inside the bird may be a problem and may also not look right. However I can always try this and if it does not work I may go back the the orgional merge I did without overlapping two birds, one being fully white. This would simply just mean that I would have to use white text and add the song names around the bird.

Introduction

After photographing the kaleidascope patterns, I began sketching out and painting the illastrations that would be combined for the front cover using Adove InDesign. Here is a contact sheet of the kaleidascope patterns:

Favourite 3 images from shoot:

These images were my favourite due to the fact they had the most detail and looked rounded off. Also I wanted to make it easier for me when it came to editing and playing around with my colours as our colour pallet consisted of purples, yellows, blues, pinks and oranges so I also tried to pick the images that already had the most of these colours incorporated.

Process of illastration:

Reflection

Now that we have our chosen image and finished illastration the next step is the combine these on  Photoshop. The plan is to fill the white space inside the circle of the illastration with that kalleidascope patterns which will make it look as if you are peeping through a kaliedascope at the painting. I also will need to boost the saturation and colour of the bird as adding in the extra details has weakened the vibrancy of the bird. I would also like to enhance the colours of the kaleidescope patterns and selectively change specific colours so that the colour pallet will mainly consist of purple, yellows and a hint of blue, orange and pink. Once all of that is complete I can then take the combined images and starting assembling the front cover on Indesgin.

Intoroduction

For our digipack I filled out a production meeting agenda form and risk assessment bellow. Click on each title to see the whole document:

 

Reflection

We felt that an illustration would be best fitting for our genre therefore these forms were not exactly necessary however that does not mean we are not involving some photography it will be a mixture of art and photos. These photos do not require much thought about shot distances and angles however as I want to just capture the kaleidoscope patterns which means I am restricted to only photographing through the eye hole.

 

   

 

 

 

Introduction

From our previous research on EDM media and conventions me and my partner already knew what we wanted our colour pallet to be. We wanted to include purples, blues, pinks, yellows and maybe some oranges. We also knew that we wanted our typeface to be sans serif and in capital letters as it reflects the hypergentic atmosphere of the music and people. Lastly we discussed the art work that we wanted to include on the front and back cover. All we knew is that we wanted some sort of hand drawn/early gamer graphics sort of pop art. Here are our very brief sketches of our potential front and back covers for our digipack:

Reflection

For our front cover we decided to name our album Kaleidoscope. This reflects how primarily everything before seemed dull and boring, but the kaleidoscope provides a fresh pair of eyes which interprets the world under a new light/perspective with new found bright colours and patterns making your outlook on life feel more intriguing and exciting. The kaleidoscope relates EDM as it is a tool to help you escape from the tedious and ordinary reality by raising your frequency on a whole other level unlocking senses and feelings that we are unable to understand or describe, luring you into a whole other fantasy and wavelength. Underneath the mast head we have included the stars name which will be in the same caps lock sans serif font will both be white text to stand out from amongst the colourful background.

There will be a frame in the shape of a circle with the imagery inside it, this will imply that you are looking into the round kaleidoscope and what you will see is the kaleidoscope patterns as the background, the colours will be purple, blue, yellow pink and orange. In the centre there will be a balck figure on a head with headphones on and musical notes around them representing this figure is listening to EDM. There is no imagery of the actual artist because the focus is purely dedicated to the music. There is an opened cage on the forehead that has yellow beams of light coming out and a colourful phoenix flying out. There is a cloud behind the pheonix to install this enlightened heavenly idea. The imagery illustrates how your mind has been unlocked and freed from listening to EDM. The bird coming out of the mind demonstrates letting go of all of the worries and negativity and rising up from all of that and ultimately spreading your wings and taking a look at life from a higher (birds eye) perspective. The colourful phoenix reflects those indescribable mix of feelings, energies and emotions felt as a result of the music. A phoenix represents renewal, enlightenment and is also associated with the sun. The sun relays a clear vision due to the light and describes happiness and being able to unravel (like a wildfire). Fire also forces you to have to let go of things such as material objects, and in this case the ego which latches on the social expectations, especially when it comes to your own identity and what is considered ‘normal’.

For the back cover this is where we wanted to include more information such as the collaborations, copyright information, barcode, record label name and record label logo (which has been properly drawn on the front cover but we have decided we now want it on the back). There is also a plug on the back that will spark more of our target audience to want to buy the album as it aligns with their morals for wanting to help the environment.  Around the edges of the back cover are the kaleidoscope patterns which gravitate toward the middle and form an outline of a phoenix. The insight filling of this phoenix is just plain white but includes sans serif caps lock purple font that lists the names of the songs included within the album. For every song name we wanted it to relate to the same topics that we are preaching within the music video introspective that relate to a corrupt, artificial world that has human beings happily living like guinea pigs who have lost sight of life’s beautiful wonders. We forget and ignore our opportunities to experience and live our lives to the fullest and have replaced work and fitting in with society as our main priority. The songs include the artists names that have been featured next to different song titles. All of these chosen artists are very alternative and awakened people who have the same interests and beliefs that our artist wishes to preach. This will also attract a broader audience from our featured artists fans. The last finale song number 10 is Introspective. It is written in yellow text to highlight that this song is our summary for the artists message, it is like the album ‘Pink Floyd, Another Brick In The Wall’, the album was named after a single song included which was their main message and what they wished would be the main establisher that interested the audience to buy the whole album. Lastly on the spine of the digipak we have included more kaleidoscope colours along the bottom half and on the top half we created our own logo to denote the star’s brand as well as the album title and star’s name. Our logo is of the phoenix with a music note tail, this might be altered a little but the idea is for the music to be the key to preach the symbolic attributes of the phoenix and what it stands for. Overall I think for our first brainstorm I am very happy with both front and back cover and we now have a clear plan and idea of how we will achieve this, this will includes hand drawn images as well as some graphic design and photography of a kaleidoscope patterns that I will be taking, however the kaleidoscope I own does not include all the desired colours for our colour pallete therefore will will also have to alter the colours in photoshop.

Introduction

Today we learnt about what you would conventions you would find on a digipak and how the conventions may also relate to our specific genre.  For example one convention would be a masthead (the title of the album), however what font and colour will you used to resonate with your genre of music? Here is my analysis of a front and back cover from an EDM album by M.I.A:

Reflection

After doing this task it has not only helped me to understand to conventions of an album cover but has also helped me to use these conventions in certain styles that would help relate to my genre of music. For example a typical EDM albumn art style would be a blend of many different art methods such as Russian propaganda, early gamer graphic deisgns and pop art. EDM covers also tend to use sans serif and capital letters a lot as well as including many vibrant colours onto the page (most notibly purple). I love how over the top this cover as if someone who was really hyper was going crazy with patterns and colours on the page which reflects the EDM scene well as listening to it and being in that atmosphere makes you also feel very hyper. This has given me a lot of inspiration for my album colour and I will definately be using simlar features.