First Digipak Reflection

First Digipak Draft

This being my first draft of my digipak it is conventional to our pop-dance genre; although I believe it is more conventional to pop rather than dance, just for the simple fact that I have used a variety of bright colours which are usually associated with pop. The colour red is associated with love and danger, as our music video is related to these themes; whilst the other colours such as green, blue and yellow are associated with our youth and freshness. In this digipak I have used some references to pink, as it emphases that we are a girl band.
The images that I have used, all help to portray us in a fun light; as they are single shots of each of us, helps the audience to really understand each of our personalities whilst the shots of all of us together shows us as a group and portrays our friendship. These images also help to create a relationship between the band and the target audience, as they are very expressive.

WHAT CHOICES AND DECISIONS DID YOU MAKE AND WHY?
For my first draft of my album cover I decided to divide the frame into 4 smaller ones; this helped to give each band member individuality. Each one of us have a different facial expression, in order to show and portray our personalities. So for example I (bottom right corner) depict a rebellious person as my tongue sticking out shows attitude.
In each picture, a letter had been drawn on a hand or in my case on my tongue; this helped to link all the pictures together as it spells out the name of our group. I decided to place the name in this way as it different and new, and so establishing the band as not afraid to take risks.
The black rim in the middle, was made thicker in order to place the name of the album; I believed by placing in it in the middle might be more effective as the name would be been more clear and visible. Although I do realise that the font I chose was not the clearest as the CLOSURE does not stand out as much as I would have liked it to.
In this album cover I decided to use bright colours such as red, orange, green and blue, which associate well with our genre convention and also helped to show us in a fun and young light. I positioned red and blue on the opposite sides as they are opposite colours and the same with orange and green. This emphasises on the fact we are all individual people, whom although are opposites in certain ways, all come together to share the passion we have for music.

ARE YOUR CHOICES AND DECISIONS CONVENTIONAL TO YOUR MUSIC GENRE AND WHY?
The lighting in all of the picture is quite bright making the images more attractive and meanwhile giving them a more expensive look. Lighting in very important in pop as well as the electric colours, which I have used in my album cover. The contrasting of the colours makes the album cover more appealing and eye-catching relating it well the pop genre characteristics.
Make and hair, nowadays has a big role in pop music; as the audience can clearly see that all of the girls have make up on, especially round the eyes to create a smoky effect. We didn't over do with the make-up as we wanted a more simple look to relate better to our target audience, as they are young teenagers we want to give them a good example.
Usually pop characteristics involve women being portrayed as sexual objects, but as with our target audience research we found out that the majority of them do not appreciate the "half naked" look, so we decided to go for a more classy and less gaudy appearance.

WHAT COULD YOU CHANGE AND WHY?
To start with I would change the top right picture, as being the first I photo-shopped, I do not think is at the same standard as the rest. I would improve it by making sure that the blending at the edges is not as evident as it is at the moment, as it makes the image look less professional compared to the bottom right picture which was the last one I had done.
As I stated above I would change the font for CLOSURE as it doesn't stand out well enough from the rest of the album cover.

WHAT CHOICES AND DECISIONS DID YOU TAKE AND WHY?
For my first draft of my CD I decided to use a plain black background in order to help the letters to stand out more as I chose bright colours  for each of them.
The contrast between the bright letters and the dark background is the way I chose to link the genres of dance and pop together.
The font for CLOSURE is the same as for the album cover, in order to have the same theme and fonts to run throughout the digipak. The different colours for each letter of the word it really associates well with the pop conventions, as the colours are very eye-catching and young. They way I chose to scattered the writing around the CD, connotes something new and different and that is the main way the band wants to be seen as.

ARE YOUR CHOICES AND DECISIONS CONVENTIONAL TO YOUR MUSIC GENRE AND WHY?
As I have articulated above the colours that I have used relate well to my genre conventions, as well as the font as it is quite sophisticated whilst young at the same time, just as the image we are trying to portray.
Although as the CD is rather plain it doesn't resemble totally pop as lots of colours and textures are usually used in order for it to appeal to a wide audience rather than a sub-genre.
This helps to show us as diverse and "revolutionary" as we do not follow the general rules.

WHAT COULD YOU CHANGE AND WHY?
For this CD I would probably change the order of the letters in order to make them more clear and easier to read the word CLOSURE. Something else that I might have to work on is to add something on the background as I think is a bit to dull and empty.
                                                                     

 

WHAT CHOICES AND DECISIONS DID YOU MAKE AND WHY?
For my first draft of the "picture slide" I decided to use a range of pictures from single shots to group ones. In this slide is where I wanted our personalities to shine through the most, and for this reason I chose pictures of us behaving silly to show our true and fun side.
I chose the black background as it links with the rest of the digipak, helping to portray a darkness and danger, which are also associated with out music video.

ARE YOUR CHOICES AND DECISION CONVENTIONAL TO YOUR MUSIC GENRE AND WHY?
As I have used black a lot in this slide, the darkness is related to the night which is popular in dance music videos as it is associated with partying and clubbing.
In this slide I haven't included colours, and looking back at it, by adding more colour it would have increased   the impact it creates and improved the slide it self, making it more eye-catching as well as relating to the pop conventions.

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE AND WHY?
In this slide I would start by changing the layout of the images as I don't believe is effective enough, and also maybe changing a couple of pictures which I do not think fit in well. Also the edges of the images need some improving as they are to much blurred.
I also think that the slide, as I stated above is too boring and plain and some more colour should have been added to emphasise the fun that we are portray through our facial expressions.

WHAT CHOICES AND DECISIONS DID YOU MAKE AND WHY?
For this slide, I decided to use only one photo of all four of us. This picture shows the real us, without silliness, as we are simply smiling; helping the audience to get a better insight to who we are. I chose to position the image on the bottom of the frame as after many attempts, found that as the best disposition.
For the background I decided to add the lyrics from our song, as they are what inspired the narrative for our music video.
The gold put against the black symbolises clubbing and partying, which means fun and youth; still the main ways we want to be represented as. For this reason I believe that this slide would be appealing to our target audience as depicts the main interest of people that age.

ARE YOUR CHOICES AND DECISIONS CONVENTIONAL TO YOUR MUSIC GENRE AND WHY?
As I have asserted in the paragraph above, I am under the impression that the gold and black emphases partying and clubbing which is a genre characteristic of dance music; although as the previous slide, I have not included any elements which demonstrates the genre of pop. As I haven't included any bright colours or animation, the genre pop is not at all evident in this slide of my digipak.

WHAT COULD YOU CHANGE AND WHY?
Firstly I would start by adding more colour or a brighter edge to the picture in order for it to stand out furthermore from the background. Although I really like the way the words LOVE ME ALL NIGHT have been repeated over and over again, as also creating a 3D effect it also shows something different and of which makes a statement.

WHAT CHOICES AND DECISION DID YOU MAKE AND WHY?
For this track list I decided to use a purple gradient background with ongoing pink circles which gradually  increase with size as they move away from the bottom right corner, which is also where the word CHIC is located; this is a simile on how our fame will increase as well as our potential.
The track-list I decided to place in the centre as I wanted it to be main focus of the slide, as some outer-glow was added to ensure that the words could stand out better.
On the left top corner I included a little design as it relates well to the gold from the previous slides.
The colours I have chosen helps to support our image, as feminine and fun.

ARE YOUR CHOICES AND DECISIONS CONVENTIONAL TO YOUR MUSIC GENRE AND WHY?
The pink associates well with pop whilst the purple as it is more dark with dance as it is more of a party colour. The black and gold from the typography helps to include that element of voyeurism and mystery which creates a narrative also being a genre characteristic of pop. The font that I used really supports our sophisticated/fun appearance, as it is neat and at the same time very girlie.
The design on the top right corner relates well to the dance conventions as well as symbolising ancient ethnicity.

WHAT COULD YOU CHANGE AND WHY?
To begin with, I would start by changing the background as it is a bit confusion, by maybe just getting eliminating the purple. The way the names are positioned is very classic, so maybe rearrange the words to make it more funky and different.
I would also annihilate the gold design as I think does not do much for the slide.


HOW WILL THIS DRAFT ASSIST YOU WITH CREATING YOUR SECOND?
Although this digipak is a good connotation of pop artists I don't think it would be appealing to our target market. The bright colours may be too childish for the audience we are trying to focus on (young adults/teenagers), as they might be appealed by something with a bit more class and which connotes party life and youth.
By creating this digipak, I have firstly learnt how to use Photoshop, as I had never before used it, helping to improve my skills.
I have also learnt what sort of things appeal to my audience better after having asked my classmates views and opinions. Having acquired that colours are important for our genre convention, although if too much the digipak looks tacky and does not appeal to anyone as our target audience are more interested in a mature  and sophisticated look.