Final Draft Digipak And Advert/Poster

This is my completed final draft digipak. In this digipak I have included a catalogue code at the bottom of the spine, I have included this because it is a unique code, which is used for practically all CD’s made to distinguish it. I have also spent care into lining up borders and texts to give a more accurate look. I have decided to stick with a simplistic look because I used this look for the band during my AS level coursework. The simplistic look suited the band and also can be seen to follow conventions within the genre and similar genres too. The features involved are also minimalistic for the same reason. Bands like Foals, The Vaccines and The Black Keys all follow this method, although they have used images, I felt it would be hard to use an image, which is suitable to the band and works perfectly with the cover, especially with the time we have. I would want to put a lot care and precision into an image, which is very time consuming.

To continue I have included the colour scheme used with our logo in the digipak. This is so the audience can make connotations between the colours and our band, which can be seen as a useful technique. However I have added white into the colour scheme to make a Teal, Black and White three-way colour scheme. Furthermore I have used the font ‘Bebas Neue’ instead of the original creations where I used ‘Century’. This is because the font is thicker which works better with the thick underline used on the cover, and as borders in contrast to the thinner font and thus creates a more professional look. The borders have been used throughout each slide to add a sense of continuity to the digipak.

I have followed similar conventions for my music advert/poster. I have kept a minimalistic look; this can show more continuity throughout the two pieces, which can be seen as an important feature for a band to have. Yet again I have involved the colour scheme we created for the band in my advert. I have used the teal to highlight important information that will intrigue the audience, for example the album name. I decided to use waved lines like Swim Deep have in their simplistic album covers and posters. However I do not own this image and therefore in my final piece I will take time in creating a similar pattern so I can include it. I have used our band logo at the top of the poster to portray the bands name; yet again the audience can then make connotations with the band and the colour scheme used. Yet again I have used the photo ‘Bebas Neue’, the bold capital writing suits the cover. This is the only font I have used to keep a professional look throughout both pieces. Furthermore I believe the lines I have included above and below the key information in the last third of the poster are effective, they add emphasis on the information provided inside. I chose to include the key information in the final third of the cover, as I believe it looks most satisfying to the eye here. After seeing our logo the audience will instantly be lured in and study the whole poster, the teal writing in ‘Troubled Town’ does enough in itself to draw the audiences attention to that and the information around it.

Digipak/Poster Feedback

Draft Digipak Feedback

After receiving feedback for my digipak drafts I have found a few areas, which can be improved in order to help me gain full marks in this area. I scored 7/10 for my digipak and 9/10 for my poster. To begin with one of my feedback comments was to change my inside cover of my digipak to the waved line pattern I have used in my poster. This was suggested to show even more continuity throughout each of my pieces of work. I have tried this for my final digipak and it looks a lot better, beforehand the inside cover was too plain (even though I want a simplistic look) and the waved parallel lines are more suited to the cover. This leads me to another piece of feedback I have taken into consideration; I was told to change the name of my album to something, which suited the pattern I was using, so that they could connate. Therefore I have changed the name to ‘Parallel Waves’. I believe this name is effective because it can connate with the pattern I am using of two parallel lines. This way the audience can instantly understand the album cover better than before.

To continue on my poster an improvement was suggested, this was to change the date of the album release to a Monday (the beginning of the week). I have now changed the date to 18/11/13. Overall my poster was to high standard and the layout I have used looked professional and didn’t need any alterations or modifications.

First Digipak Draft

This digipak I (Sam) have created is a simplistic idea I have considered. I used the album cover which was previously created in a variety of different colours, however I wanted to use teal because our logo is this colour. This is just a draft thus progression will be made on this but I like the overall look due to its simplicity, it works accordingly with how we want our band to be represented.

CD Digipak

Digipaks are used to add an element of creativity and style to album covers. Changing them from just ordinary photos to three fold spreads consisting of different elements, adding more emphasis and attractive more attention to the CD. This can be seen as a simplistic digipak style. The album XX by the XX has a simple black background with an X in white. Although it is very simplistic, the binary opposites of the colours combine to make it extremely effective. 

Rihanna also has a digipak set for her album ‘loud’. This includes a three-fold photo, which is extremely effective, as noticeable from the photo it is oh her laying down in roses. This photo contradicts the album title of ‘loud’ because laying in roses would be expected to be peaceful and quiet, this adds to the effect of the three fold photo. In contrast to the xx rihannas album also includes a lot of colour, seemingly using a colour scheme of red, green and a creamy colour. I like the simplicity element of the xx’s digipak however I believe overall rihannas would be more effective in drawing attention which is important.

To continue another digipak, which I found unique, was Ben Howards for his album ‘follaton wood’. The image shows his digipak set out flat, this allows us to see all the images clearly. I believe it is effective because of the sunset shots used with the trees; it gives the digipak a different feeling to it, which can attract buyers and attention. Along with this the images are bright and vibrant. This can compliment the overall look and the way in which the digipak is perceived.