Below you will find both James’ and my own moodboard that we separably created for or digipak. Our digipak will focus very heavily on the star image that we are trying to create for our artist.

I personally liked the idea of visually enhancing photographs as I felt that it creates and extraordinary feel to the star that the digipak has been created for. Furthermore, I also included images that I though would be useful to take inspiration from when designing our digipak. For example the bottom left image in my moodboard is symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing due to the cross that has been overlayed on top.

James however thought that a more simplistic studio shoot would suit our artist very well. He felt that we could make the images themselves more interesting rather that enhancing them using photoshop. In particular he like the idea of using smoke in a studio when shooting as he feels it would give some form of enigma to our artist’s star image. You can see examples of his smokey photoshoot idea and the bottom right hand corner of his moodboard.

To help get ideas for our digipak I decided to analyse some previous students work that got a good grade and I thought looked good and suited their chosen band and genre.

Framing a shot

First of all, all four panes have made good use of framing. I would grade them a high level 4. On the front cover the band is evenly spaced out along the pane. This is good as there was no wasted space left over. In the back cover they took a picture of a wall and a window. The framing of the picture works well and keeps the back cover interesting. It is an interesting back cover because just like their front cover they did not waste any space. The wall half of their cover they filled up with all the song titles and the other half is of an old rustic window that suits the theme of their digipak and artist.

 

Variety of shot distances

Secondly, they have used a good variety of shot distances and styles. In particular I like the deliberately blurred inside panel. (bottom left image on the image above.) I like the shot distance as you can see there is a sign close up to the camera. I feel that the framing of the image gave you a good awareness of what the image was. The blur that they imported of the image could have been made one of two ways. Either by blurring two images together of using a slow shutter speed on a camera. It is a cool effects that I feel really added to their digipak and I will take into consideration when making my own. Again I  would give their use of shot distances a level 4.

 

Appropriate to task

In regards to whether their digipak was appropriate to task I think that in every aspect it was. They kept a theme throughout that suited their artist and genre. They had a theme of decay throughout. This allows the audience to focus more on the relationship of the band and their music as there is no other distraction for the audience to focus on instead. Their product had a professional finishing look throughout. However, there is one inside panel that I feel could have been more interesting. This could have been done by perhaps using a closer shot of the wall (the top right pane). Because of this I would grade this section a low level 4.

 

Mise-en-scene selection

The mise-en-scene that the group used for their digipak was very suitable. To fit in with the very mellowing colour pallet of the rust. The band wore browns and dull colours which made them relatable as they were not portrayed and too extravagant.  This opens the band up to becoming part of their audiences life, and creating a fan base. Overall the mise-en-scene fit perfectly and I would grade it a high level 4.

 

Manipulating photos

I like the colour correction that they have used on their front page. Making it slightly less vibrant by taking away brightness and contrasts from the image allowed their front cover to look very paper like. This works well as for their titles they have chosen to have the name of the band etched into the cover. Having the image look more paper like makes the etched titles look more in place and suitable. I would grade their manipulation of photos a high level 4 as I feel it was very appropriate to task.

 

Language and register

Voice, tone and genre of the band can all be picked out by an audience through looking at the language and register of the artist’s digipak. For example, on this album they have named songs informally but not too informally (i.e they have not used slang). ‘Misty Hill’, ‘Hello’ and ‘Turn To Dust’ are very everyday terminologies that seem just a little more deep than normal. For example ordinarily someone would say ‘The Hill’ but they have used ‘Misty Hill’ which makes them seem extraordinary as well as ordinary. I feel they thought through well what tone they were going to give their chosen artist and therefor would grade them a high level 4.

 

Layout and page design

The layout and page design has been very well thought out and because of that it works really well. It reflects the genre and the artists style. I like how they have used the bands faces on the front page but not the rest of the digipaks panes as it allows the audience to become familiar with the band but does not take away from the music by making the bands image key. I would give their page layout and design a low level 4 as I feel one of their inside panes could have has more thought behind it and been more interesting.

 

Fonts and text sizes

I like how they have created their own font for the front cover. The etched in titles of the front page gives the band a rustic feel that feels very relaxed and relatable. The size of the bands name is very large on the font. In fact it is even larger than the band members themselves. I feel that this works well as it means the eye is drawn to the bands name, which means the audience will focus more on what the band produces rather than them as people. For the back cover I like how they have gone with the simplistic idea of writing all of the song names on a piece of paper. It works really well with the overall theme of the digipak and adds to its simplistic look. The sizing is not overbearing but is also not too small. I would give the font and text sizes a high level 4 for their digipak cover.

 

Use ICT appropriately 

Lastly, I feel that they have made appropriate use of ICT in their digipak. Everything is presented really well and matches. Nothing is over or under-sized. And the band image is clearly represented throughout. I would give their use of ICT a high level 4.

 

To help understand the conventions of a pop genre digipak I did research on other male pop artist’s digipaks. I then chose to do an analysis of a digipak cover to help me understand why the cover was designed the way that it was. For example, through analysing this digipak cover I came to the conclusion that the artists name is always bigger than the album name on the cover. This is so that the artist gets more promotion and stands out more.

In the image below is a link to my analysis of Shawn Mendes’ album cover for illuminate. Please click the image to view the PDF file.