2. Digipaks
Is a compact disc that is used for
the purpose of packaging. It’s
usually in the style of a book and
has front, back and an insert
booklet.
It usually portrays generic
conventions that promotes an
artist i.e.
(The artist in an album wearing a
lot of jewellery could connote that
it is R&B)
It also represents as a trademark
of the band.
4. Genre
Genre plays an important
role in the decision of what
a CD cover looks like.
If it was Christina Aguilera;
her genre is Pop and RnB
mainly, but it is also
electronic. Therefore in this
picture one half of her face
could denote her electronic
genre while the other half
her RnB and Pop side. It
could also connote that
she’s going to mix her genre
to make a hybrid
5. Lettering, fonts, styles and size
could describe an epilogue of
what will happen in the
narrative/music video.
In this case her first name in black
and second name red ,dripping
down could connote that it’s
going to be about something dark
and eerie . Her name being split
in half, the same way as her face
could describe the link between
them and show that something is
going to go wrong.
The word ‘ Bionic’ is not so
dominant compared to the
picture however the brackets
surrounding it shows that it is
significant as well.
6. Image is one of the first
things you look at when
buying an album. It lets the
audience conform with the
Artist, which in the end can
make them buy it.
Strong characteristics are
shown in Christina Aguilera’s
album. The Artist filling up
about more than half of the
Album, a close up shot and
Aguilera giving direct
address to audience
suggests to the Consumer
that she’s very dominant
and strong.
Image
7. Stars/ Icons usually conform to a
genre that most of us like to
listen to. However the more
famous the Stars/Icons become
the more dominating they are in
the market ,where there would
be hardly any space for niche
markets to compete and grow.
Beyonce is an example of
this, she has been around for a
long time so the Audience would
feel more comfortable, if her
album came out as we already
know her. Sometimes big
stars/icons go out of their
genre, which can be risky but it
won’t affect them much because
the have a wide target audience.
Stars/Icons
8. Media producers use
stereotypes to show
representation.
One of the most common
representation is of
women being portrayed
as sexual objects in music
videos for male audience.
Some Artists break this
voyeurism of women by
wearing clothes that are
not revealing and still get
highly praised.
Representation
9. Audience is the most important
when designing an Album Cover. As
Artists create a representation of
what is currently in trend, the
audience would be the ones
changing it.
Every Genre has a target Audience.
Hybrids are hard to determine as
they are a mixture.
Accessing and getting Audience’s
attention is important, if not
addressed correctly they might not
want to conform with the Artist.
Before it wasn’t easy for
independent bands to get a target
audience but due to digital
technology growing, it is easier for
independent markets to
communicate. However this is the
same for bigger companies and
Artists.
Audience
16. Casual setting for the audience to easily conform to.
The background is slightly blurred so that the
Audience’s attention is focused on the couple. The
blurred background make the scene calm and casual.
Name of Artist surrounds the
Artist himself to address him
and give audience information
about him
17. Another convention
folk/rock album cover
is that a simple
background is used and
then a meaningful
pattern is put on which
relates to the Album
and could sometimes
also relate to the
narrative of the Music
Video
19. Folk/Rock artists usually wear
casual or formal clothing so that
the Audience can easily conform
and be relaxed by it.
20. Possible CD covers
I took pictures and chose these pictures specifically because I think
they represent the natural setting and casual feeling that I want to
show in my CD Digipak.
21. CD Front Cover
I made the Front
Cover look like it was
an old Portrait, which
is why I added
yellow, with white
scratchy lines. I only
made the Artist
black&white to show
his difference to
others
24. Cd back cover
I had to make sure the size
and the positioning of the
Artist was aligned with the
Front Cover, so that there is a
link between them.
The Pond had to also be
visible like the conventional
folk/Rock use of natural
settings
26. Insert
I used conventional close up of the picture in a
natural setting. I made it black and white so that it
fits with the Victorian time.
27. Insert
I used a picture
that is part of the
setting of the
Video, so that
Audience can have
feel of what the
Music is about
before they see it.
28. CD
I photographed a
picture that is
part of the video
so that there is a
link between the
music video and
CD Digipak.
29. Typography
I wanted to display a typography that fit in with the
Dorian Gray theme. Therefore a Victorian parchment like
writing
30. Typography
Some of them were not chosen because when I
placed them on the CD cover they were not visible
enough. Some were scratchy and fady
31. Typography
Therefore I started to look at something
more bolder so that it would catch the
Audience’s attention and let them
vaguely recognise what the album is
about.
