First Draft of Digipack Cover

Digipack Cover idea

This is my first initial design for the digipack cover. I like the image of matilda used, because she is smirking and she is wearing bold make-up and a leather jacket that makes her look tough, but I don't think it has enough to show a contrast between sweet and girly, and tough and rebellious. I also think the font I used is more suited to the 'dance' music genre rather than pop. I like that the colour of the font matches her lipstick because it brings more attention to her mouth and the position that its in.

I think to improve this I will have to find a font on the internet and download it to use for the cover, because most of the fonts on photoshop look too generic. I also think that this cover is too simplistic and I need more going on in it to make it interesting, like the illustrations used in Cher Lloyd's 'Sticks + Stones'.

Digipack Research: Cher Lloyd

Cher Lloyd's Album

Sticks and Stones

Cher Lloyd's album Sticks and Stones is her debut studio album after finishing fourth on the X-factor the year before. The album spawned popular songs like 'Swagger Jagger' and 'Want U Back', which both peaked in the top ten charts in the UK and US.
Her music is generally R&B, however her music is also influenced by the sounds of hip hop, dubstep, electronic, electropop, bubblegum pop, and dance-pop in some of her songs.
The first thing I notice about this album cover is that she is holding a placard with her name on it, like she is taking a mug shot. This signifies that she is rebellious and dangerous.
The expression on her face, with the raised eyebrow and the little smirk shows that she's trouble. Her make-up is simplistic except from her bold eyeliner and bright lipstick, something that shows her bold personality.

The name of the album 'Sticks + Stones' is a reference to the saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," which implies that she doesn't care what people say about her and that she is a strong female that doesn't get hurt easily.
The illustrations around her look like doodles and behind them there are lines that could be height guides that are used in mug shots but it could also be the lines of a diary or a notebook. This would show that she is creative and a day dreamer, and also that she's young and playful.

In our video we use drawings and illustrations like this so I think it would be interesting to use them in the album cover as well. I also like how the fun and playful background with the drawings contrasts with her holding the placard and her bold make-up, nails and hair, and want to find a way to show this contrast in my own album cover.

Digipack Research: Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen's Album

Kiss

Carly Rae Jepsen is a Canadian recording artist. Her album kiss reflects her music with its colours, art and image. Her songs are usually about her life experiences (mostly with guys), like crushes, boyfriends, break--ups etc. The font that her name is written in looks like an autograph, or like she signed it, showing that this album is personal to her, and that its authentic.

The colour used for the background, as well as the colours that she wears are ones that are usually associated with romance and love, which the whole album focuses on. The album cover conveys the content in it, which I want to incorporate into my digipack as well.
This cover has the usual image of the artist on the cover, holding her arm and posed as if she feels vulnerable, connoting that she is bearing her heart on this album. This is also shown through the way that her name is the focus of the cover and the name of the album, 'Kiss', is in the corners. I like the effect that this achieves, of marketing her just as much as it is her music. I find this technique interesting and might include it in my own digipack.

Digipack Research: Eliza Doolittle

Eliza Doolittle's

Self-titled Album

Eliza Doolittle is a British singer-songwriter from Westminster, London. Most of her songs are indie pop, but also include sounds from soul and reggae music, something she associates with her childhood. Her star image is a young and carefree playful girl, even though she is also an enthusiastic activist. Her music doesn't show the intellectual, serious side to her, which shows in her self-titled album cover.

There is lots going on in the cover for this album, most noticeably the way that she is on an island with famous structures known for being in England, for example the 'Gherkin', Big Ben, Stonehenge and the colourful houses. She is showing that she has a strong sense of identity or national pride. She is presenting herself as a typical British girl.

The paint splashes around the image signify the phrase 'paint the town', which means going out and having fun. This emphasises her young and fun personality, which is something that I want to replicate for my digipack. Other objects in the image like the dice, the jukebox, the upturned ice cream etc. all say different things about her, like that she's playful, she has a love for music, and she's young.

I like the font used for the song titles, because it looks like something that was doodled or drawn in a notebook at school. The red shoes and shorts give her a boho/retro look. This mis-matched style replicates clothes you wear as a child. It emphasises her 'cutesy' image.

I like the font from this album and how they are placed in relation to her body, so that the full frame looks crowded and chaotic. I also like the use of colour and the themes of the paint splatters across the digipack. I think I might use that idea of a main theme to use through the whole digipack, but want to use more of the serious photos of Matilda rather than ones that make her look young and innocent.

Digipack Research: Meghan Trainor

Meghan Trainor's Album

'Title'

Meghan Trainor's Album 'Title' is her debut album. She became a success after her first single 'All About That Bass' took off over the summer.

The music she performs is a combination of genres like Caribbean, doo-wop, hip hop, soca and pop, among others.

These genres are generally up beat and made to be danced to; a common feature of pop music.

This is reflected in her album cover with the use of the tessellating triangular design. This design is common in relation to dance music, with the triangles representing a kaleidoscope kind of effect that can be found in many dance videos.

The triangles all contain a different view of the same picture, the same way that kaleidoscopes see many different views of the same thing. This might have been used to connote that in this album she is going to show many different sides of herself.

Her hairstyle for this cover mirrors her style and image. She usually wears typically 'girly' clothes like floral dresses and pastel-coloured cardigans. Her image of the 'cute, mousy' girl is a complete contrast to the songs she writes and the way she presents herself through her lyrics. She writes mainly break-up songs, and songs about how she is empowered by her body even though she isn't skinny.

Her album cover is bright and vibrant with lots of colour, promoting fun, which juxtaposes with her original photo where her hair is braided and her make-up is understated so that she looks gentle. We would like to be able to replicate this clear contrast between sweet and innocent and fun and crazy with our own music product.

Its also clear that the artist's image on the album cover is important in pop music, since the artist is a kind of brand to be marketed. I would definitely use a picture of Matilda for the album cover, as it is a convention of the pop genre.

Digipak Templates

These are the typical templates used for digipaks. There are 4 panel, 6 panel and 8 panel digipaks but I would like to use either the 4 panel of 6 panel templates.

 

 

Audience Feedback: During Production

Audience Feedback: 

During Production

Overall, the feedback showed that we were making good progress so far, with most people saying it looked like a real music video and that they would watch it again. I think something we need to work on it our synchronisation, because a lot of people said that there were some parts out of synch.
Another thing we need to work on is editing, since a lot of people said that some of our shots were too long, and I agree.

There was one person that said they didn't think the cafe looked like much of a cafe, and that they looked a bit weird, so we'll have to look over that scene and find a way to make it clear where they are.