Initial Ideas for digipak

Templates

For my digipak I felt it was important, as my genre is indie, to have something different 4 paneled conventional digipak. I decided that the digipak that looked the most interesting for my particular genre, would be the maltese cross digipak, this would allow me to use 10 photos and have something that's more exciting for my target audience to look at. I felt that this would also mean, it would be like the digipak itself and the booklet as one. So the maltese cross is the template I will be using for my digipak.

Fonts for Digipak

These are the font styles I have chosen to chose between.

What I have learnt from my deconstructions of Digipaks

All of the typical conventions I had already established through research before hand and through deconstructing some Digipaks, I have learnt how all genres use the same conventions, but differ in how they use these conventions to get their genre and style across. This is done mainly through the pictures and the font, and how these both link to each other and the genre, even in an indie digipak, which is what I am doing.

It was apparent how not only the font and pictures link to the genre, but the mise-en-scene in the pictures too; e.g. the colours, the objects in, if any.

Final Product - Music Video

Deconstruction of a Digipak 3

 

On the front cover, the album simply has the name, which includes the artists name also, and a picture, it does not have anything else on the front at all, and this is because it doesn’t need anything else on it.

The lettering in white, thin and there is nothing ‘special’ about the font, this makes it come across as quite soft but also because of what it says it comes teamed with the pictures on the front, it comes  across as quite secretive. This gives us an indication that it literally is the ‘diary’ of her through music, it also compliments the music and the cover well.

The picture on the cover is of part of a piano, as she famously plays the piano and is known for that, the piano looks quite worn so implies it has been with her throughout her life, so it is old and full of secrets just like her ‘diary’ is or the album itself. It is also covering half of her up, this shows that maybe she is scared to put herself out there like she is and that she is hiding behind her piano and her music. In the picture, her hair in scraped back out of her face and her dress is low and has thin straps which is indicating that she is bearing all and allowing people to see her without the pretentious world of pop changing her, this is also shown through how her makeup is done so it looks as subtle as possible. The shot of her is still glamorous and envious and makes young people look up to her as she is not only beautiful but she is very talented, in the shot there is direct contact with the audience, this makes the audience feel as though they are connecting with her and getting to know her through the music. The colours are all browns and whites, which gives it a warm feel which compliments the writing and images we’re seeing. The back cover of the album is of a piano, which as I have previously said is something that she is ‘known’ for. Part of the piano has been taken away so you can see the inside of it, this is a connotation for the fact that we are seeing inside of Alicia and getting to see and understand how she works as it were. And the CD itself has keys printed all over it, which is the same as her last name ‘Keys’ but also connotes the opening of the secret diary of herself. I think the audience would love the idea of understanding someone they admire a lot more, so this is something that would attract a lot more sales and people to buy the CD.

The image of the artist isn’t one you would particularly expect to see, usually from artist like Alicia, you would expect to see a more glamorous approach that would include a lot of sex appeal and something that was more eye catching. However, by doing this, she is going against the general convention and looking to challenge these conventions by putting herself out there, this in turn is something that will attract her usual fans, but also something that could attract further fans resulting in her increasing her audience.

In this she has been portrayed in a very intimate way, she’s allowing people to see her stripped bare of the glamorousness she is used to, she isn’t used in a sexual way, which is usual for female artists to do, this shows that a lot of people will look up to and respect her a lot more.

I think that a lot of young girls and mothers would buy this CD, I think that younger girls would look up to her and mums will enjoy the music as it isn’t quite like some of the chart-topping music we see today. I feel that mums would use the music as escapism and for pleasure, and the children would listen through the influence of their parent.

Deconstruction on Digipak 2

 

 

The CD cover of Rihanna’s album ‘Loud’ is very simple but effective. On the front it simply has a photo of her, her name, the name of the album and the sticker ‘parental advisory’; this is conventional in terms of what would be on the front cover. The parental advisory sticker is something that instigates what the music is and will be about, it also stops young children who shouldn’t be listening to the blasphemy; it also lets us know what kind of images that will be on the inside.

The lettering and font in this are very thin and plain, which is not something you would expect from her. You would expect her to have her trademark ‘R’ for the beginning of her name that she always usually uses, which shows the edgy side to her, however, it is apparent that she has chosen not to within this cover, I think it is because it could possibly take away from the image we’re seeing. The font is nicely spaced out and written in white to show her innocence, the font kind of looks as though it’s trying to stay out the way of distracting it from the image. The font is very simple and thin, and is written in capitals to make it more of a statement, but the fact it is so small and thin, makes it seem a lot softer. The lettering and font does however go with the genre of pop. Rihanna’s name is written in the smaller font above her head and the title of the album is written in larger font, this is because people generally know who she is without having to read her name, they can tell instantly from the picture who it is, however it is a convention to have her name on there. The album title is at the bottom in bigger font as it is likely that they won’t know the title so this will show them.

The image on the front cover is conventionally of the artist herself. It is a close up of her face, she’s wearing a lot of make-up but is done in a way that it seems as though she is only wearing a bit of eye make-up and lipstick, her skin is made to look flawless, which young girls aspire to have, the use of false eyelashes and eyeliner to give the definition to her eyes, which are unconventionally closed, but in a way that is not overly dramatic. She is also wearing a really strong red lipstick which connotes passion and lust, which is complimented by the shut eye picture and the red curly hair that gently brushes her face. The lighting is done so that a shadow is cast beneath her chin, and the lighting itself is very warm, all of this gives that sexual look that she was no doubt going for, this will entice men but will also keep her female fan base together as they want to be like her. The fact that she is not giving direct address through eye contact shows that she doesn’t need to do this to retrieve her audience, because she is such a big, well known star. The image on the actual CD is also of a pink flower, this could connote her innocence, however the music on the record actually go against that, so instead it could be that her innocence has already been taken.

This is definitely the kind of image you would expect to see on the cover of the CD digipak, the constructed glamour and sex appeal that anyone would expect of it is there. The make-up and hair is used in such a way to portray this person and their image. Rihanna kind of follows within the footsteps of Madonna, in the sense that every CD/Album she produces, she constitutes a different look, which shows her as a growing artist, but along with that look, comes music that fits it, so she is constantly evolving and adapting to keep herself at the top in her business and this is seen through this cover.

The artist is represented in a very sexual manner, this is something that is so stereotypical of female singers, they use their bodies and looks to promote themselves as well as their voices, it is often that this is reinforces again and again with female singers, which it clearly has been here. Rihanna in these photo’s uses minimalistic clothing, lots of make-up and certain body positions to make herself more appealing, in particularly to men, but also to her aspiring female fan base.

The people that will buy this CD are mainly people who like and listen to main stream music, however Rihanna is a very versatile artist and a lot of different genres of music do like what she does, so she can pick up sales that way too, especially from the photos that she puts on her covers to intrigue her audience. It is mainly younger adults that are likely to buy this, mainly because of the age restriction, so from the ages of 16-25. These people will listen to it as it is something that they feel helps them to gain a sense of their own identity, but also helps them to feel a closer connection with the person that they admire so much; the artist. It is also likely because it is ‘mainstream’, that if a young girl sees her friend, or someone else with it, she is going to want it too.