Group 30: December 2011

Wednesday 28 December 2011

Research: Digipak Ideas

Timothy Cochrane, the photographer that I mention in my previous post, tends to do shoots for indie artists. I found shoots for artists like MIA, Little Boots, Ellie Goulding, Bat for Lashes, Mumford and Sons, The Ting Tings, Graham Coxon (from Blur) all up on his website, all artists which I either know or I have come across while doing research for my media coursework.

Below are some photographs he took for a band called Video Nasties. I really like the idea of the second one, take shots on a Polaroid camera and put them on the ground and re-photograph them, which actually quite works because he only photographed part of the group in some or part of their bodies so when he puts them all together, although it doesn't work perfectly, it more or less fits. I think it also probably looks better if it doesn't perfectly fit because it looks more casual and a spur of the moment thing. It's quite a nice idea to maybe have on the inside of the digipak.

Research: Album cover shoot

Timothy Cochrane Website

I was looking around for shots/poses for the album cover shoot that we are doing in Richmond when I came across a photographer who had done a photo shoot for Ellie Goulding. Timothy Cochrane is his name, and while looking through his website I found some of his work that could work as a starting point for my album cover shot.

(Above) I have put a few photographs from his website that I think would look good on the album. I think the mid-shots and long-shots would work well for the back or the inside of them album and I would need to use a close-up shot for the front.

(Below) The photographer also makes short clips which he posts on his website. I think this is a good idea for a shoot, just having the artist walking around freely and take shots, its maybe a way of portraying the personality of the individual through their poses and movements.

KATE from Timothy Cochrane on Vimeo.

Research: Album cover shoot

I found a couple of photographs on Flickr which I think would work well on my album cover. Mia Knight's image, genre, character is inspired by the artist Ellie Goulding, and these photographs would really reflect the image that we wanted Mia Knight to have.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/_emilie/5393002573/in/photostream/

I think one of these photographs would also work nicely if it ran across the front and back covers of the album. I particularly like the second one, in terms of the setting/background and movement, but it would probably work better for the Mia Knight image if the individual looked either a little shy or smiled.

Research: Digipak Ideas

I've been looking at album covers for female artists to get a few ideas for poses/movement.

I came across Devi Lovato's album Unbroken and I thought it would be a good idea for the front cover. I like the simple font and the pose, and although it is not a photograph of the artist looking straight into the camera, it is a photograph that a new, unknown artist could use.
The light color (sunlight) is something that I have always wanted to have in the photographs.

Research: Analyse Fonts

I was looking at both of Adele's albums, 19 and 21, and I noticed that the font is different. I think the font used in 19 is a little bland, she was probably still finding her feet at that point, whereas with the second, 21, she really nailed it. I like it, although it's simple, and maybe also a bit bland, it's strong and it stands out. Sometimes artists use big and bold fonts when they wouldn't need to, it sometimes works the other way, it makes it less eye-catching/attractive which is what I feel happened with Adele's 19 album. Although she may not have used the bold font she went for a bigger and thicker font. Sometimes, less is more! On the other hand, the 21 album looks much stronger with a more subtle font and contrast of color between the black and white used in the image and artist name and the name of the album, 21.

Research: Font Ideas

While doing album research I came across this Kings of Leon album cover.

What I like about it is the way that the font and the photo blend together. I like the big font, although its simple (nothing fancy) it looks good.
I'm drawn by the idea of having the background of the photograph in the inside of the letters, it looks smooth, simple, and effortless. It flows nicely, and I think its a great idea.
The only issue I might have with it is that it's a bit 'manly', and our artist is firstly female, and is also supposed to reflect a sweet and shy character, and this font would not reflect that.

Research: Logo

Logos are used as a form of identification, companies use them as a stamp on their products so that consumers will know that it belongs to them. I think it's a good idea for artists to use logos, their name can be used as a logo but ideally they would need to use the same font throughout their products.

Pixie Lott tends to use the X in her album covers as a logo. The X (third letter in her name) can also be seen as a kiss (often people use 'x' as a kiss).
Bat For Lashes use the same logo (for artist name) on all their albums and cds.
Adele used the album title on her cd and although it is not necessarily a logo it is something that you can use to relate to the artist. Adele also always puts her name in capital letters at the bottom of the front cover (and by using the same font throughout all of your albums, which a lot of artists do, it can be then seen as a logo).

Rihanna now tends to use a big R on her albums as a logo. It helps consumers identify the artist as the letter is used on her merchandise and as it is the first letter of her name.

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Digipak shot!

I was watching tv and Taio Cruz's 'Troublemaker' came on and the shot below appeared. This is exactly one of the shots that im looking for and is exactly what i want the dress to do. I just love how the dress floats behind her and i am dead set on getting that shot!

Thursday 15 December 2011

Digipak glitch

I have come across i slight problem with my initial side profile shot idea. Apart from the fact that my teacher doesn't think it is entirely the best idea, i have come across a large number of other students that are also using the side profile shot. I am not sure if i still want to use it however i will still take the picture and see how it looks and ill see how i can make mine different from the rest and not just another side profile.

IDEAS FOR DIGIPAK

I also found Usher's 'Confessions Special Edition' album and on the last page of the booklet there was a collage of images for shots from his videos. I thought it might be a nice idea to have and MKV of our video of 'Ill Hold My Breath'.

example of an MKV, Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dreams'

IDEAS FOR DIGIPAK

I found Nelly Furtado's Spanish album 'Mi Plan' which means 'My Plan' and i love her poster/ booklet. I remember that when i open the poster i was surprised because it was different. i think it would be a good idea for my target audience because on one side they have a poster that they can put on their wall and on the other there are the lyrics to the songs. i think for my digipak i will use this idea and underneath every picture i will write the name of the song in the same order as on the back of the album. i am torn between using this poloriod images as back stage access, more images taken at the photoshoot and family photos of our artist. either way, on one side or another those three kinds of images will be on the poster/ booklet.

IDEAS FOR DIGIPAK

I thought I'd have a look through the albums that i have at home to see it i could get some ideas for my own digipak and i came across quite a few interesting things. First of all i found a very old JoJo album from when i was younger, however there are alot of really good ideas in it. like for example at the back of the booklet that come with the album there is a collage of family photos. i thought this would be a really good idea considering our artist is brand new this could be a brilliant way for the fans to get to know her even more.

On the inside bind of the album there are the songs in a tiny font, i think this is a nice touch that isnt too hard to add. the shot on the last page of the booklet is a hot i quite like because the name 'JoJo' is the focus seeing as the rest of the image in blurred.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Practice Editing on Photoshop

We practiced editing on Photoshop today using a photograph of a teacher to make our own digipak. I decided to go with a theme, although a bit quirky, I think it looks better than if I had just chosen a plain background,etc. I have realised that the background, as it has been stretched, looks pixelated, but because it's just a practice and I couldn't find any photo like it that went well with my theme during the lesson i've just gone ahead with it. However, I will make sure I do not do this on my actual digipak. Unfortunately I didn't have time to create an advert!

Final Mock-Up For My Digipak & Advertisement

This my final mock-up draft for my digipak and advertisement. I have added the things that were missing.

Planning: Practising how to create a DIGIPAK.

This is a screengrab of me practising how to create a DIGIPAK on photoshop! This is unfinished will soon upload the finished version. Its not great but im just a beginner! (:

Colour Effect For My Digipak

A screenshot from our video with the
pink effect.

As our video has the pink/vintage effect throughout, I've decided that i want the images on my digipak to have the same effect. This idea was extracted Rihanna's Only Girl In The World video and her album cover and advertisement for 'Loud'. I think it is different and just stands out which is good as our artist is new so we need to catch the audiences attention; I believe the colour effect will contribute to this.

Research: Analysis of previous student work

I think that this Digipak and Magazine Advert is really good in terms of using all the conventions of ancillary products correctly. I think that the colours complement the album name and artist in terms of genre. Three colour rule has been followed, the black white and brown make it look very classy and sophisticated. Nothing does'nt seem to be out of place, everything is linked in and connects with each aspect. The font is clear and really goes well with the artist and the genre. Furthermore all the pictures used look like their in focus apart from on that looks like its been taken on webcam, i think that is the only negative i have of this piece of work. The fact this is meant to for a new upcoming artist, i think it was really good that they used a front profile picture as the album cover. Also they used all the features used normally on a digipak and magazine ad on their ancillary products. For example: they have given the date of release, barcode, copyright, and mention the record label ect.

This Digipak and Magazine ad does not really make sense to me, when i fist saw this i could not tell what the name of the band was from the album name. I think it is all too confusing and the colours are very bright. However the font is clear and you can understand all the writing. None of the images are out of focus, which make 's it look proffessional. They have added all the features like dates, barcode, copyright ect. Colours blue, red and white complement the black and white theme. Overall this peice of work is quite good.

Making a Digipak - Practise

This is my practise digipak. I've used a clear and consistent font style throughout and have used a black and white background to make the image of Dan stand out as it is in colour. It contains all important information like the copyright information.

Planning: Font inspirations (from other artists album covers)

Random Idea For My Digipak

I was looking at digipaks on Google and came across this back cover for a digipak by an artist called Sonya Kitchell. I loved the idea of having an image of our artist with walking away from the camera on a field for the back cover. I may use this idea for my digipak.

Planning: Colour inspirations (from other artists album covers)

I like the fact that this looks very natural and quite magical. This style is definitely something i'd consider, the colours are very natural and would go with my theme. I think from this i would use the bright lighting and brown hint and use it in my digipak although i am not sure yet.

Here i really like how it is in black and white and then the writing is in pink. I could do this, to try and make it quite simple yet implement the pink colour from the video onto the digipak and magazine advertisement. However maybe this is too simple?

Leona Lewis's cover is very classy and has a sophisticated look. this is exactly what i am looking for in my digipak. I really wanted simple yet beautiful colours. I like how this is very natural and the lighting is very pretty. Also how it has a hint of pink in the corner, this would be a good way to ass the pink hint from my video into the digipak.

I have so many ideas i would like to use but still unsure!

Planning: Colour inspirations.

The lighting in our music video was adjusted to make it appear more pink. My group and I really thought it was effective and loved the idea. This idea was inspired by Rihanna's only girl in the world video.

We implemented this theme into our video, therefore to create a link to the album, i thought it would be a good idea to carry out the pink tones into my advertisement. Also Rihanna carrys on her 'pink color theme' onto her digipak and magazine advertisement.

Her three colours are roughly, pink red and nude/white colours.

I think it works really well in creating a connection with the video. And this is the sort of them im going for. When you see the digipak and magazine ad, i want people to know it is linked to our video.

Therefore, as my music video has pinky green and natural colours throughout i think my digipak and magazine advertisement should be the same.

Ideas..

1. pink, green, white

2. brown, orange, pink (autumny theme)

3. green, brown, red

Researching Ancillary Products - Analysing 3 Advertisements That Relate To My Artists Genre

This is a tour advertisement for Florence and the Machine. It's interesting like the digipak. It is very informative and contains all important things like the date, price, location and where the tickets are available to buy. The font is clear. As the writing is white and the background is black it makes the writing stand out, also since it is in capitals.

This is an album advertisement for Marina & the Diamonds. I like that the artists name is very eye-catching as it in white and stands out amongst the background, also since the font size is very big and bold. Important information is displayed such as the date of release. The font is clear and in capitals, making it easy to read,

This is a tour advertisement for Ellie Goulding. It contains ALOT of information and is the most informative of the above 2 advertisements. On the top it sells the artist, saying that she "spins cool electronica into dreamy warmth". The font style is clear and consistent. Just like the other 2 advertisements capitals are used to draw the audiences attention and make it easy to read; an idea I will incorporate into my advertisement.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Research: Magazine Advert analysis

All three Magazine adverts follow the conventions of advertisement. From this you are able to establish who the artist is, their song/ album name and when it is going to be released. Their ads are also linked with their Digipaks so it is easy for the audience to familiarise with them and the song.

Research: DIGIPAK Analysis

I've chosen three albums of the same/ similar genre, as I would like to pick up the main features of them and implement then in my Digipak and Magazine Ad. I feel as though by using similar features my Digipak would look more successful and have a more professional look.

Goulding uses the three colour rule successfully, she uses black, gold and white.
As she is a new artist she is the main feature of the cover and we have a clear front view of her face wherein the audience can identify the Artist.
She has used a clear font, it also goes perfectly with her theme.
Writing does not cover face.
Her name and album name is clear and can be identified.
The tracklist is clear.
Barcode, Copyright and Record industry is mentioned - All clear.

Colours go really well together. Black, white and grey really complement the main image and Cheryl Coles look.
Font is quite girly and it goes perfectly with the colour theme and main image.
Her face is the main focus of the cover and she is directly looking at the audience.
Her name and album name is clear.
Contains all the conventions at the back, E.g: Barcode, copyright ect
Tracklist is clear.

Three colour rule is followed. Pink, red and voilet works really well together in combination with the font and whole style of the cover.
Font is clear.
Tracklist is clear.
Follows all the conventions, E.g: Barcode, copy right ect.
Artists name and album name is clear.
Her cover is linked with her music video.
Enjoyable visual medium, portrays artists personality.

Digipak ideas..

After analysing these three album covers, I have come up to the conclusion that I would like to use a close up shot of the artist as my front cover, where she is directly looking at the audience.

I would like the writing to be similar to Ellie Gouldings cover.

I have a few more ideas but still thinking about definite ones :)