Digipak Idea 3

After sitting down and discussing a few different ideas we thought we would make a few changes to our digipak, the design, name and so on. At the start of our project we decided to call ourselves influence because we wanted to make ourselves out to be the top of the market in the music industry and this made us sound as if we are an influence on all other artists and that they follow what we do as appose to the other way round. However we thought of some other ideas and as we talk a lot about the song being a journey and so on, we thought Odyssey would be a good name because it means a journey, therefore us as artists is a new journey and experience...The album was going to be called infinite, which would represent us as a group being infinite and that nothing was going to get in our way. The final thing is the image on the cover, we went for one of the main artists that features in the song heavily, even though we are a group, we thought it would be a good idea to use one, because the main track "Beautiful" is about a story of someone, hence why we used one character. The vol 1.0 we thought we would use as it suggests more is coming from us and we wanted this so people know we will be releasing more songs and so on.

Digipak idea 2

Front

The third design we thought of was completely different to our other ones, after further sitting down and discussing a few different ideas we thought we would make a few changes to our digipak, the design, name and so on. We thought we would keep the name Odyssey, as it would be a good name because it means a journey, therefore us as artists is a new journey and experience...The album was going to be called infinite, which would represent us as a group being infinite and that nothing was going to get in our way. We also changed the image, we thought if we had one artist people may not value the other artists as much, therefore we didn't want to do this and took it off, so instead we keep it as some sort of a mystery for many people.

The vol 1.0 we thought we would use as it suggests more is coming from us and we wanted this so people know we will be releasing more songs and so on. 

Inlay

For the inlay, we wanted to feature a lot of text, the reason for this is because people can learn a lot from the artist and the album, so in a sence adding a personal touch for people to look at. We basically talk about the artists contributions to the album, how the album came about and then finally thanked everyone who helped to make the album. 

Back

The back is self explanatory, we have listed all the different names of songs on the album, and also some legal text so people cannot copyright anything. The approved stamp is used because we mention in the inlay how 6 tracks are not featured, instead they will be in volume 1.2, so they are denied and these are the approved tracks.

Digipak idea 1

At the start of our project we decided to call ourselves influence because we wanted to make ourselves out to be the top of the market in the music industry and this made us sound as if we are an influence on all other artists and that they follow what we do as appose to the other way round. The album was going to be called infinite, which would represent us as a group being infinite and that nothing was going to get in our way. The final thing is the image on the cover, we went for one of the main artists that features in the song heavily, even though we are a group, we thought it would be a good idea to use one, because the main track "Beautiful" is about a story of someone, hence why we used one character.

Anaylsis Of Digipak Advert

In this blog i am going to look at an advert for an artists album and then talk briefly on the effects of having this advert over multiple different platforms i.e. magazine, online, radio, TV.

First of i am going to talk about Jay-Z's Blue Print 3.

So here we can see Jay-Z on the cover of a magazine (XXL) where he appears to be bigger than New York itself. This is representing his skills in the music industry and how big he has got. Listing is accomplishments over his career is an effective move for shocking his audience as we may not know all of the facts. Therefore providing the brilliant cover of "Is Jay-Z Bigger Than Hip-Hop". Well is he? According to his viewers they think so.

Also with the launch of his new album he is just going to keep getting bigger an with his clothing line, fragrances, and he birth of his new child he is always in the spotlight as the public are so in love with his lifestyle that they want to know the next big juicy thing.

The use of the colours in this advert are brilliant as it straight away catches your eye and also the use of the red enables to highlight the key features of the album and therefore making the most important things stand out. The way the title is red goes with the JAY-Z in red and also the three stripes on the actual CD cover.

Next up i will talk about a rise to the top British Artist called Devlin who grew up in the gritty streets of east London in a place called Dagenham. He was a youngster at the age of 17 when he made is mark and landed a label. He later went on to release his album 'bud sweat and beers'.

 

Props/Costume/Equipment List

This is the jacket that Junuz will wear throughout the music video, it is a black leather jacket. The reason for picking this is because black is a dark colour and has connotations which emphasis someone maybe being depressed as it is usually affiliated with death and so on. Therefore something simple as a leather jacket has many meanings attached to it, at the same time a leather jacket is "cool" and at the same time it is represented as being depressed it also suggests the character has a story to tell "a past"

This is the t shirt that Junuz will wear throughout the music video, again we have chosen a dark colour for the same reasons we chose the black leather jacket, it can be looked at as something cool and trendy but at the same time, depressing telling a story. It is plain and this suggests a lot maybe that the character is a plain person or at the same time has a lot more behind him. This is what we want the audience to be thinking as they listen to the lyrics and the main thing is how did this person get from this place to that place.

The blue jeans are he final piece of clothing Junuz will be wearing throughout the music video, they do not tell as much as the t shirt and the leather jacket and are simply there to go with the jacket. They also fit the character very well which could represent structure to ones life how everything must be in a way perfect. And all the 3 different pieces of clothing build up to this image for the character.

The above image is a blue polo which will be worn by Luke's character, we wanted this character to be different from Junuz because they both have different lifestyles but both have similar problems which we are trying to convey  That everyone has depressing times and goes through fazes no matter how good their life is. So the polo represents a more structured life style.

These are the jeans that Luke will be worn, they don't have many connotations behind them however  the character could of worn joggers which would represent he is a troubled kid, maybe in a gang and this is not the image we wanted to represent, especially as our star image, is cool but at the same time laud back so jeans are perfect.

This is the mobile phone used in the opening sequence to show missed called and several messages to one of the characters, this is to show someone is being missed "shutting themselves out from the rest of the world"
 

This is Titas's costume which he will wear in one scene of the music video when the following lyrics appear "Ha!, Marshall you're so funny man, you should be a comedian, god damn"
Unfortunately I am, but I just hide behind the tears of a clown" The reason for the clown costume is because it links in with Stuart Halls theory about the audience having a preferred reading, Negotiated and oppositional. The preferred reading is that people try to be comical to try and hide their true feelings so people wouldn't pick up on them. Negotiated, some people think clowns aren't that funny and the oppositional is clowns are scary and this can be kind of a twisted scene within the music video.

This is a picture of a book, this will be used when the lyrics say "listen to the tale im about to tell" As the main guy in the music video played as (Junuz) opens the book to reveal pictures of people.

Linkin Park Minutes To Midnight Digipak

Minutes To Midnight by Linkin Park
Analysis 3

Front

So here we have the front cover the Linkin Park's album minutes to men, with all the members of the band present on the cover, however you cannot see the band members faces or what they are wearing etc, so they are covering up from the audience. With the title, it is a very specific font that the group use on all of there albums so that it relates back to the group all of the time, almost like a logo, a signature mark that stays with them.

Also we have the parental advisory logo showing us that the content of the album is explicit and that the album should be sold with exceptions and that children should not be able to buy the album without an adult present. This is to ensure that they are not hearing things that can put them in danger/teach them what they shouldn't know at a certain age.

The use of the black and white on the cover is extremely effective as it is simple and straight forward however works brilliantly and is eye catching despite the simplicity.

Inside

 So here we can see all of the band members again all blacked out, so we cannot see any major features however here we can see some of their faces. This again is effective as it could possibly represent the fact that some of the things they are singing about is dark and futuristic. The group themselves do not have a specific music type as they are soft rock/rock and rap at some points as well.

As for the scenery that they are placed it seems to be a beach and this could possibly mean that they are outcasts and not like everyone else, been away from society for too long.

Back 

Here we can see all of the members once again so the album is very much centralised on all members of the group and not the main two performers. Often a group of artists focus on the main performer on the group but Linkin Park are different in the form that they want everyone to be equal within their group.

We can see the track list again matching the colour scheme of black and white and it works as the sky colour makes it stand out, readable and eye catching. Again we have the setting of the beach and the outcast. Also with this shot they all seem to be facing the horizon which could suggest that they want to escape and start again, could possibly represent that this is the last album that they are doing before they take a break away from the industry.

We have the barcode so the band can know how many copies are sold also a small description with terms and conditions, copyright, terms and conditions etc.

Example Playing in the shadows Digipak

Example Playing In The Shadows Digipak
Analysis 2

In this blog post i am going to talk about Example, Playing in the shadows Digipak.
 This will include a list of what i can see on the cover and what the meaning of the Digipak could possibly be.

Front

So here what i can see is Example and possibly the two sides of him. He has his dark side on the right which could represent his past and the struggle that he has been through and that without hard work and effort you cannot reach the bright side(Left). This is a hood way to represent the hip-hop artist as he was once a rapper and he did not think it was right for him therefore went into hip-hop and now he has never been bigger. This is good for the artist to represent how he made his choices.

The light side of his face or the left could represent his future and the path that he is heading down i.e. path to stardom. This could also mean that although he is big in the game if you like, he is still in touch with his past, his friends he made a long the way and is fully aware of the struggle that he has been through. 

The use of the Example title where it is yellow fits perfectly as it fits to the rapper dark side light side sort of scheme. As you have got the yellow that represents his light side but his dark side the actual text represents his dark side. The small title at the bottom of the image is also a good way to promote the artist. By the time we have read the title, we know who the artist is and we have figured out that he has got a dark side.

On the front of this album will be a parental advisory sticker as their is swearing in the album. This is to provide the artist with safety from parents suing him for not advertising his language in the album.

CD

There is not much to the actual CD except it matched the front cover colour scheme of black, white and yellow. Also it works well with promoting the artists name as the Disc is an E so therefore standing for Examples name. One other possible idea i get from the E on the disc is that it is spinning around in your CD player and therefore it is spinning around in your world. Example is spinning around in your head...

Back

With the back of this album you can see the barcode for 1. We have the track-list of all the songs on this album and it advertises the two smash hits, "Change the way you kiss me and Stay awake". The main thing with the back of this album is that the artist has been blacked out again so that he has very little light on him except one slit across his eyes of light. This is to show that the artist is watching you, he is thanking you for buying the album, and that the songs just beneath his face could be personal to him so respect the album.

The colour scheme for the album is black, white and yellow. This works well at promoting the artists two sides i.e. light side/dark side. The artist himself is very central to the alum and the rule of thirds places him in the middle on both the back and the front. This makes the artist extremely relevant and hard to miss when looking at the album.