Software I used to create my digipak

When creating my digipak i didn't have much professional equipment to use in order to create my final product. The software i ended up using was Microsoft Word and and editing software on my iPhone.

I used the editing software on my iPhone to change the effect of the photos used in my digipak. As I've used this software many times before I found it very easy when editing the photos as i knew how to use all the tools to the best of my ability. The software let me edit the exposure of photos, crop them, adjust the brightness and change the colouring. Once I'd finished the photos I simply emailed them over to myself and accessed them on the Mac.

I then used word to create the lay out of the digipak. I inserted a template of a digipak design and then accessed all my photos from the mac and positioned them on top of the template to create a real looking product. I then inserted text boxes and changed the colour and font to print the bands name onto the digipak.

Feedback on Digipak trials

After creating my two ideas for my digipak, i asked my peers to give me some feedback on the two trials. They liked both of my ideas, however suggested that i should incorporate the two separate ideas in my final piece.

They said that this front cover worked the best as it was eye catching and conformed to the typical indie genre. The contrast of the black and the white makes the Star stand out and sells her image.

This CD design was taken from my second trial. They mentioned that the simplicity of the CD was eye-catching and thought the kid-like handwriting was effective with the name of the band 'Kids Love Lies'.

Although they found this front cover effective, they suggested it could be put to better use by including it as my magazine advertisement. I agree with this, as with this picture the main focus isn't on the lead singer, and for a new band sale rates are very important, so the cover needs to be as eye-catching as possible and needs to promote the singer.

They suggested that the above back cover was the best cover to go with, they're reasoning being that with the other one all the different colours took away the attention of the tracks, they liked the boldness of this cover and felt like it was giving off a message about the band.

My peers said this insert cover worked well as it showed the fun side of the band. This was my intention for the digipak, as i wanted to portray the two different genres. The outside covers are quite dark and serious, connoting the indie genre, whilst the insert is bright and fun, connoting the pop side of the band, showing that there is more to the band than meets the eye.

Digipak trials

For my digipak i have created 2 different designs allowing me to experiment with different images, meaning I could choose the most effective digipak.

Here is the trial for my first idea of my digipak:

Cover-

CD-

Back cover-

Insert-

Here is the trial for my second idea of my digipak:

Cover-

CD-

Back cover-

Insert-

Digipak ideas

My intention for my digipak is to capture both the Indie and the pop genre. The band I have chosen to do is a 5 piece band, made up of four males on instruments and one lead female singer. Although my music video only shows the female singer, I want my digipak to have images of the whole band to appeal to a wider audience and show that it isn't just a typical female pop artist. Throughout this whole process of creating my media product  I have always felt that I wanted my band to convey a quirky vibe and that is what I aim to do with the use of the digipak.

Idea 1:
Front cover- Close-up of female singers face.
Back cover- Picture of the woods in which she was dancing in, trees either side with the track details running through the middle.
CD- Plain white with bold pink or green writing displaying the bands name.
Insert- 4 pictures of the whole band, silly messing around style.

Idea 2:
Front cover- Picture of whole band, pulling serious faces.
Back cover- Picture of the green fence which is seen in the music video with the track details running down it.
CD- Plain white with bold chunky black writing through the middle of it.
Insert- picture of the band messing around.

Gossip Digipak

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In class I looked at several different digipaks for inspiration, the Gossip's album particulary caught my eye. Gossip is an American Indie Rock band, with a lead female, Beth Ditto. The front cover foregrounds her as the lead vocalist; therefore creating star image and appeal for the band. The quirky pose also highlights the different nature of the band and perhaps shows that Beth Ditto isn't seen as the typical female sex symbol in comparision to most pop singers. I really like how there is a white line surrounding the band's body as it contrasts to the black background, allowing the band to be the main focus. The colour yellow and style font used for 'Gossip' give the front cover an edgy/electric feel- this connotes to the rock genre.

The CD itself has an abstract pattern on, which is very random, yet fits into the genre and quirky theme. The insert includes a picture of the lead singer, and has differenct symbols on including a cross. This biblical reference could influence Beth Ditto's music or represent death and rebellion.
The back cover also carries on the Black colour theme, with a pop of colour, which on this side is pink. The edgy font of writing is also the same as the front.

This album conveys that it is important to carry certain features throughout the album as it creates a brand and band identity and helps to suggest to the audience the genre of music. In my digipak, I plan to keep a colour theme similar to this digipak. I like how this digipak has a black colour theme, but also has colours such as pink and yellow to stand out and to pop. It has also highlighted the need for trying out different poses and different edits.

The Ting Tings Digipak

Musically, I think that The Ting Tings are incredibly similar to Kids Love Lies. They are a British musical duo and I think it would be clever to market them in  a similar way as they were extremely popular at their peak in the music industry.

 
This is one of my favourite album covers as I think it connotes the bands style of music and reflects there personality. The different bold colours used, give the band a fun image which will attract the young target audience. The picture of the duo also give band an identity which will sell them to different audience sectors. The white lines around the images, and the style of writing suggest to the audience they have been cut out like a poster. I think this shows there playful side, and it makes their cover different from the rest.



The back cover of the album is incredibly quirky as the microphone and drumstick look like they should be a knife and fork. This perhaps suggest that music in the album is something they need; similar to food.This attracts the young, quirky target audience. The numbers look like they are cut out, similar to the front cover; this creates brand identity. The band's Myspace page is also at the bottom of the album; this is a really clever way to promote further as this social network site is in the lifestyle of their young target audience. A bar code is also included as this is something which is needed when selling in shops.

Examples of Digipaks

There are many different digipaks which do and dont meet the conventions of their genre. I have researched into digipaks to help influence my ideas when creating my own digipak. With my band being indie pop i firstly looked into the indie genre and their digipaks. The band i looked into was 'The Kooks' and their album 'Inside in/Inside out'. The Kooks are an indie/rock band and this is made to come across in their digipak. The consistency of the colours red and black throughout the digipak connote an indie/rock vibe thus reinforcing their genre. The bands faces arent particularly shown in the digipak except for one picture which has been given a dark effect. I liked the look of this digipak as i feel it connotes the indie genre perfectly which has helped to inspire my digipak for my band.

As my band also represents the pop side of music i decided to look at a pop based digipak, and so chose to look at Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' album. All of the digipak is in bright bold colours giving the audience an instant insight into the pop genre. The close-up images of the singer suggest that her record label relies on sales through the use of selling her image. My aim is to blend the indie and pop genres together to create a unique digipak for my artist.

What is a digipak?

When creating our media product, we had to plan and create our own digipak for our chosen song and artist. When doing my research into the digipak i found that it's actually a large contributor into how successful the sale rates are of the CD. A digipak is the packaging for a CD or DVD. Digipaks often contain different images for example, the image of the band may be on the CD, whilst there may be a poster of the band inside the casing etc.

Digipaks are created to appeal to their target audience. This means that the front cover of the digipak has to be designed to interest the audience for example a female pop artist who's target audience is young teenage girls might have a brightly coloured CD cover usually with an image of the star also. Digipaks also benefit the label of the star, many songs can be illegally downloaded over the internet, so record labels offer treats within the CD's for example new posters of the band, this is done to sway their target audience to buy the CD rather than download it, thus profiting the company.