Monday, 4 January 2016

Analysis of Individual Digipak

Individual Digipak Analysis


Aswell as creating an individual magazine advert to promote our music video and our artist, I have also created an individual digipak. A digipak is a paperboard or cardboard binded style book which contains one or more plastic trays. The reason for creating our own individual digipaks was to promote the artists album to the specific target audience. Along with this, elements contained within the digipak will represent the artist conventionally and may suggest which type of music the album may contain, influencing the audience to purchase the album. I have been inspired by several digipaks, but one in particular is from the artist Duffy. This is because Duffy is a similar artist to our artist as she produces music also from the soul genre and has also included conventional aspects in which I would like to include in my digipaks to help represent the artist stereo typically.


My individual digipaks includes many specific elements which help to promote my music artist and her album effectively and successfully. One element of my digipaks which is conformed with effectively is the use of colour. The main and repeated use of colour throughout my digipak is black and white. This is used throughout as main uses of colour, but also as an effect on specific slides such as the two images that are included in the digipak. The colours black and white help to convey the artist stereo typically. As black helps to represent the artists depressive state and emotions. Whereas the colour white represents the artist in a different light as vulnerable and innocent which is a combination which could concern and make the audience sympathize for the artist as this could leave the artist with low self esteem, and in a low place, in which the audience may be able to relate in some way if they have been put in a similar position. The two colours combined help to suggest both positivity and negativity which could suggest to the audience that the artist is reminiscing on old memories and events which have occurred. From the two pictures specifically of the artist of people in the background walking past in black and white, could suggest this is what she is reminiscing on. Her friends and family which she has lost since she found fame.

Another colour which I have included throughout my individual digipak is the use of the colour red. This colour is bold and helps certain parts of the digipak to stand out, and allow the audience to think of the connotations which are linked to the artist. Examples of this which I have included within my digipak is the "18" and the lips. Red is not a stereotypical colour which would be used in the soul genre ancillaries and is subversive to the genre. This is because the colour suggests confidence of the artist, whereas usually the artist is perceived to be quiet and shy. However, this may motivate the audience and give them hope that the current situation that they are currently in will come to an end. However, the colour red can also infer to the audience what the album is based upon. Also conforming with the genres stereotype, red has several connotations which the love and romance and could be a clear indication that this is what the album may contain, allowing the audience to gain an insight and see whether or not the album would interest them or not. A similar portrayal as the colour red, is pink. This has several connotations with love and romance which could infer to the audience what the album could include. However, a negative portrayal of the colour could suggest a lack of self-worth and indicate an overly emotional nature, which could suggest the representation of the artist. This may influence the audience to purchase the album as it may be comforting to them to listen to somebody else in a similar situation in which they can relate to. 

Another aspect which conforms with the conventions of the soul genre on my individual digipak is the images which I have chosen include. Two of the images used, which are included on the front page of the digipak and the last page show the artist to be looking downwards. This is the two images which the audience will mainly see, so I made this a predominate feature which would represent the artist stereo typically and give the audience an insight as to what they can expect from the album. The artist looking downwards could suggest she is day dreaming, which is detaching yourself from your current surroundings for a short space of time. This could suggest that the artist may be wanting to escape her emotion and possibly guilt. In which this may be relatable to the audience and could infer this may be what the content on the album may contain. Additionally to this, the audience may find respect for the artist and find them admirable as they are showing their true, raw emotion. This allows the artist and audience to gain a relationship as the audience begin to gain an insight to the artist and their personality, how they are down to earth. Furthermore, the images used in the digipak in the middle show the artist almost gazing into the distance with an emotionless expression. This could be due to the fact she is in deep thought, possibly of regret and has blocked off all her surroundings. Many of the audience members may be able to relate to this and may find comfort in somebody else trying to make sense and express the similar feelings they share. The image used on the CD in the digipak displays an image of Big Ben. This may immediately draw in the audiences attention due to the fact it is a recognizable and iconic landmark in London. Secondly, this may give the audience indication that the music contained in the album could be something to do with the location of London, in which may be interesting and engaging to the audience depending on their interests, hobbies and backgrounds. Lastly, the image used on the page which includes the message from the artist is a candle holder which is made from multi-coloured glass. The tones throughout the image are mainly warm toned full of oranges and pinks which represent love and positivity. The flame itself which shines through the glass helps to possibly represent fear and pain which may be the internal emotions of the artist in which she is feeling due to the situation she is currently in and reminiscing on. 

The images are subversively used on my digipak as stereo typically images remain central to the page so that the audience is not distracted as this is usually the focal point. Although the image is slightly of centre, this gives a unique edge to the digipak which will draw the attention from the audience. The image remains a focal point as the digipak itself has a simple theme throughout with not much writing so the attention of the audience can not be diverted. This allows the audience to still sympathize for the artist as they can still see the emotion clearly and may be able to relate to the artist.

Additionally to this, the typography which I have chosen to include in my individual digipak conforms with the stereotypical conventions. The handwriting style font I have used on several slides of my digipak, this includes the main (front) page, the message to the audience and finally the track list. This gives a unique approach to the digipak, in which not many artists may have included before as it could be seen not to "stand out" as much as another font may. However, the white, glowing effect helps to engage the audience as this contrasts against the dark, black background drawing in the audiences attention. This also helps to reiterate to the audience the topics which could be included in the album, such as memories and reminiscing which can be inferred throughout the use of the contrast of black and white. The simplistic approach to all fonts included in my digipak conforms with the conventions of the genre and helps to represent the music which is included which does not shy away from focusing on subjects which may be relatable to many, and simply explain how they may be feeling. I have applied a hand writing type font on my digipak as I feel this creates a personal approach to the digipak which suggests that the artist has written the album for the audience. This also could suggest that the artist is wanting to get to know the audience by helping them in the current situation by being able to relate to the audience, empowering them. The artist can be seen as admirable to the audience as they are humble and down to earth, willing to show their emotion to benefit the audience. 

The language which I have used throughout the digipak is quite simple and has included a minimal amount of wording. The language which is included is the main information which the audience would need to find out information about the album and the elements which would engage them, this includes the title, message to the audience and the track list. The main reason for this is so that the audience is not overwhelmed with a large amount of information on the digipak which could ultimately divert their attention away from the album altogether. The message to the audience however, brings a unique approach to the digipak as it contains the artists songs which helps to create a message to the audience. Most artists would not take the time to think of such a unique way to thank their fans, so suggests to the audience that the artist is humble and down to earth due to the fact she cares about the audience and wants them to feel as though she is trying to get to know the audience better and are interested in their feedback.

Although I have managed to create a digipak which conforms to many conventional aspects, I did encounter many struggles and weaknesses during the process. One issue was finding a font in which I thought was appropriate for my digipak and came across to the audience in the way I wanted it to, to show to the audience that thought had been put into the digipak in order to show the artist as down to earth and humble. To overcome this problem, I downloaded fonts from a different resources and downloaded them to the software, this was an easy task as after the font was downloaded it was easy accessible from the software. Another issue was with creating an entirely black background and the image remaining in colour. I tried originally with cropping certain aspects which I did not want to be in black, and used the fill background, however aspects of the digipak where also filled in black too. To overcome this, I then used the paint brush tool to zoom in closely and trace the edges around the artist to ensure the background changed to a plain black background. Aside from this I did also encounter strengths with using the software which i hadn't before. One strength was dragging the image into the software which I wanted to use and make it to the appropriate size which I wanted. Furthermore, I also found changing specific aspects of the image to black and white an easy task after I watched a tutorial on YouTube which explained easily how to use this and it was easy to use the specific tools needed.

In conclusion, I think that my individual digipak conforms with the genres stereotypical conventions as I have included many conventional aspects. I believe that this engages and appeals to my target audience because I have conformed with many of the key conventions. This includes the images which helps to portray the artists emotional state to the audience in which they may be able to relate to. Furthermore, this may be engaging for the specific target audience as I have also included locations within my digipak which may be engaging for the audience as they may be able to recognize the locations such as London and feel as though they can relate to the artist. However, I do believe that my digipak also adheres the conventions due to the font which I have selected. I believe that not many digipaks have used a similar font to the one I have selected which represents the artists handwriting. This gives a unique touch to the digipak almost as though the artist has created this for the audience, this would engage the audience as not many artists would have done this before and allows the audience to feel as though they are beginning to know the artist, engaging their attention further.

1 comment:

  1. This post demonstrates a proficient understanding of the choices and decisions that you made to constructing your product. You have made some good points on the ways in which your product is conventional to the soul conventions, through the use if images and colours.

    Aim-
    1) Be specific with what your inspirations were and how it helped you to create your product
    2) Discuss in more detail, what the link and relationship is between your 3 products

    ReplyDelete