media

2. After having researched two digipaks and two print adverts, I have
been thinking about what features from each I will be using within my
own print work. The existing digipaks and print adverts which I
looked at showed features which follow and challenge conventions,
many of which I feel were effective, but not appropriate given my
chosen genre of music and the type of artist.
For example, on the cover of Lana Del Rey’s album Ultraviolence, her
name is not featured. This is primarily not needed on an artist of her
star-status as she is extremely well-known, and her image is
recognisable.
As the artist of my choice, Sarah de Warren, is an unsigned artist, I
feel this would be inappropriate. Up and coming artists tend to want
to get their name known, and so I feel that featuring this will be a
crucial part of the designs I create.
I will be featuring key information such as the name, title and
tracklist, as well as the institution which labels the artist and
copyrighting information.

4. Here is a simple mock-up of how I intend for the
front cover of my digipak to appear.
I have here positioned the artist’s name and the
title of the album in the lower left hand corner of
the side, so that no important aspects of the
photograph are interrupted.
At the moment, I intend for the front cover’s
imagery to be of the artist, and to be a medium
close-up shot. This allows me to also introduce
mise-en-scene features such as the background,
which will be visible (to the left in this case), as
well as outfit.
Until I have taken photographs to use for my
product packaging, I am somewhat limited to
how I will lay the piece out. However, this is an
initial idea and from this mock-up alone, I feel it
would be a successful layout which follows
conventions of the Indie Pop genre.
Visual links
with print
work
research

5. Here is a closer look at the back cover
mock-up which I have created. This
cover is more entropic in terms of its
links to conventions, as on this cover, I
intend to use a more unusual
positioning. To put emphasis onto the
tracklist, I intend for the artist’s face to
not be featured.
I was inspired to do this by the
photography on the front cover of
Taylor Swift’s album 1989, whereby a
medium close-up shot shows her waist
upwards, however crops her face off.
This drew my eye directly to the text
featured first.

6. This is the view you will be met with when
opening my digipack. The digipak itself will be
a smaller style, having four panes. Inspired by
Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence digipak, I am
keen on photographing scenery linking to the
music video to cover the inside panes. This is a
common convention of the Indie Pop genre, as
it is considered a more ‘artistic’ genre than one
such as mainstream pop, whereby every pane
might feature a photograph of the artist.

7. I have decided that to break up the heavy content of photographic imagery which
will dominate my digipak product, to create a simple, minimalistic digital design
to colour the CD itself. I feel that this will juxtapose the busy, detailed
photography effectively, showing the buyer that it is a significant element in the
product. I will likely use a gradient fill to ensure some interest, rather than a
block colour.

9. At this stage, I plan to recreate a
photograph similar to the field shots which
are featured in the music video. This will
ensure that both my video and print work
seem connected visually.
The print advert I am creating will be
landscape orientation, as it would fill half
of an A4 page in a magazine. With this in
mind, I felt that the sketch I have drawn of
the artist lying in grass is ideal as her
length will fill the entirety of the advert
effectively.
One concern I have with creating a shot
exactly like the one I’ve drawn, is that I
would need expensive and un-acquirable
photographing equipment. To get around
this, I will likely photograph from a slightly
different angle.

10. In terms of the text which I will be
including on my print advert, I will
be following generic conventions to
make sure my advert is recognisable
as an advert; as well as is clear,
legible and includes all the
information needed by the target
audience.
A print advert which does this
effectively is artist Anna Calvi’s
advert for her new album One
Breath. Like hers, I will be including
information such as:
• Artist name
• Album name
• Album release date / ‘out now’
• Star reviews from music
magazines
• Formats to consume album in
(iTunes logo)
• Record label logo
• Copyright information