Digipak Evaluation

My digipak does resemble existing digipaks of the same genre. Firstly looking at the front cover of what will be the C.D. The artist name and title of the song are clearly displayed centrally to the cover. I did this as the eye is automatically drawn to it. This is for two reasons, firstly due to the choice of choice of colour and font, the black text is bold and makes a statement located centrally to the page. Secondly the choice of font is obscure and hard to read, this will ensure the audience would look closer to read what the font says.

The black font easily fits in with the choice of colour scheme. Blending in with the black of both the artists eyes and hairband, it also serves its advert sing purpose standing out against the lighter back round.

The style of font is ornate and handwriting like, this adds a sense of personality to the cover, and may even lead to the audience feeling that the artist had written it herself. Pyhscologically they may feel like this is her signature and worth something, as they are privileged to have it. This therefore will appeal to my target market and and will therefore appeal to my target market and audience a lot more.

The model I have chosen has a very individual look, not dissimilar to Florence and the machine who also has red hair. I feel this will give my audience something to relate to, as I found in my research that C.D covers that stand out and are more eye catching, with individual styles of photography or people sell more records.

I have also chosen to use quite earthy and neutral tones, such as sepia, and black and white. This I have tied in amongst the entire digipak, but as the best point of sale I have ensured the colour scheme on the front cover is fitting to the style of music and model used. Black, white and beige/Orange feature predominately on the cover which adds to the continuity and overall professional look of the C.D.

In terms of Mis en scene on my front cover, I have used some props. I have used the Black headband, I used this as it makes quite a fashion statement. This will appeal to my target audience as the 16-30 age group are influenced and attracted to fashion, as I found from my research into my chosen artist. In terms of costume I chose a black headband that stands out as a fashion statement, and ties in the three elements of black on the cover, such as the font and makeup on the model.

I also used the beige wallpaper as a prop for the photo, as I thought it was feminine and in keeping with the ornate style of the photography I have used. I feel this will appeal to my target market of predominately females.

I have also used Lighting on this cover to create the shadow, by pointing a house held desk lamp to the left of my model I was able to create the dark shadow illusion surrounding her head, I liked this because along with her facial expression it creates the feeling of mystery.

I intentionally asked my model to display different facial expressions to experiment with what would look appropriate for my cover. In this example I am very pleased with the overall persona she displays to the audience. She looks attractive, mysterious, and professional, due to her titled head, but the way she also looks directly into the camera is captivating.

I chose a close up of my singer, as I felt that showing her face in this way would be most eye catching to the target audience when displayed on a shelf in a potential shop, I also wanted her to look directly into the camera as I felt this would look like she was getting eye contact with a buyer. By using the singer to fill up the majority of the cover ensures she is the main focal point. I felt this was a much more powerful and informative choice of picture in comparison with some of the others. The audience would be under no illusion as to who the single/digipak belonged to.

Overall this cover boasts an element of simplicity, I like this because it allows the power and captivity of the image to sell the digipak, rather than graphics and text. I feel it serves its purpose of attracting and appealing to my target market/audience, due to its eye catching and individual visual layout and qualities.

For the back cover of my Digipak I have chosen a black and white colour scheme. I chose this as it worked best with the use of light, therefore showing the title of the song in a more obvious way.

The handwriting font of the title of the song, drawn in lipstick emphasises the relaxed and fun style of the music. Displaying the title in this way has also meant that I didn't need to add the title in with graphics at the photo shop editing stage.

The use of the mirror to display this artist showcases the artist and her reflection. This has been done in a very feminine way, and as the majority of Florence and the machine fans are female, this will really appeal and attract the target audience.

The way in which the photograph has been taken makes the title the subject of the frame, by positioning the camera this way only a close up of the singer is achieved within the shot, however that is less of a focus than the title as the title is much bigger and eye catching. It is important that the title is eye catching as a prospective buyer will turn the C.D cover over specifically to read what song the digipak is advertising, it is at this point they will make their decision on whether they are going to buy it or not. These brief moments are when the impact of my design are most important to the sale of my digipak.

I have kept the back cover relatively simple, with only the necessary information displayed. The title of the song, the artist, and the logos. I have put the parental advisory logo on the back of the album, as it a lawful regulation of C.D's market to 16 and unders. As that age group does fall into my target market I felt this was important to include on the digipak.

I have also included a recyclable logo as this is again important to show that the materials in which the Digipak would be put in (Plastic) can be recycled.

I have also included the logo for the record label (Island records) This is important to show the label the singer belongs to, and also acts as advertising and appreciation to the label for the work that went into producing the record.

Lastly, I have included a bar code on the back cover to allow the retailer to easily identify the product by number, code and price. All of these elements are essential to the sale and expected display of information to the customer.

I have intentionally positioned the three logos over the hand of the singer. Without this the hand was the main focus as it was the closest part of the shot to the camera. By putting the logos over the tops of this I have managed to detract from it whilst still being able to appreciate the relevance of the hand.

I have maintained the continuity throughout the front and back cover, keeping the costume, make up and body language the same. The artist still displays the same reserved body language.

From my research I found that 60% of people consuming music are aspirers. They look up to that particular band or artist and aspire to be like them. By using low key lighting and a simple set and costume I am showing my artist in a casual and realistic way, which may lead the target audience to believe they can be like Florence and the machine. Encouraging them to single in order to achieve this.

This is the picture which feature on the inside cover beside the C.D insert. I have intentionally gone for an out of focus shot here, as even though this is the case we can still clearly see who it is. Having a shot out of focus in this way put focus on the words surrounding her.

The second reason why an out of focus shot works well here is that this page of the digipak is a less important advertising element. This is because all C.D's are sealed in a shop. Therefore the only way the inside of the digipak can be seen is once it has been purchased and opened.

Once again I have maintained the same elements. The setting remains the same as previous shots, the costume and body language. It is here we see the repeat of the artists head tilt, which we previously saw on the front cover, this once again draws all of the different elements in the digipak as one.

I chose to photograph the artist against the white of the wardrobe in order to highlight her silhouette. This proved effective despite the lack of detail made by the camera out of focus. This photo is also slightly less clean cut than the rest. Its much more abstract that the others, the way the camera looks down onto her is a high angle shot, which I have used to make her look more venerable. This is the first time we see the artist distanced from the camera in this mid shot. However the white skirting board leads the eye directly to her as the main focal point of the frame. This abstract style of photography also highlights the abstract nature of the music.

The words surrounding her head also ensure that the eye is kept on the focal point. The words are all descriptive or Nouns used by Florence and the Machine to describe herself, The way I have arranged them around her head also make them look like thoughts for the target audience this will be an added bonus as they have not only purchased her song, but an insight into more about the artist. Putting this on the inside will also make this feel like they are more privileged to know this information.

I have used the same colour and font for this as the front cover, This adds to continuity and by using the warp tool to distort and change the formation of the text it makes is appear essentially much more interesting, and artistic looking.

Once again I have used the Black and White theme in this picture. I think it works well in allowing the artist to stand out against the white background, much more so than it would have done in colour.

This is the internal C.D insert of my digipak. I have encorportaed the same sepia colour choice as I did on the front cover. I feel this works well for the individual style of the digipak.

As this picture will feature under a plastic insert with the C.D infront of it I chose a more interesting photo. The mid shot of the artist will be seen when the C.D is taken out and will appear that the artist is looking at the consumer.

Once again the costumes and all elements of the mis en scene remain the same to maintain the continuity.

I have posted my pictures and final digipak design onto the popular social networking group 'Facebook' this is in order for me to receive constructive positive and negative audience feedback. I have done this both amongst my own friends, and Florence and the machine fans.

Here is evidence of my pictures uploaded to the website, this allows people to look at them and comment. Although I didn't use all of these pictures on my final design, it will give people the opportunity to compare pictures and give feedback. As you can see here, I also uploaded my final design, the feedback given is below.

I then began to receive people advice and opinion on the photographs and overall final design of my digipak. All of the responses I gleaned are from people who are fans of Florence and the Machine and therefore are in my target audience. I also had some feedback from members in my class who are designing their own digipak. This meant that I also received a media educated response both positively and some constructive criticism, which will help me evaluate my work and make changes should I want to change anything in the future.

This comment commends the colours I have used in my photographs. As the use of colour is a main feature of my digipak, and adds continuity through a theme I am glad that this has been recognised as a positive attribute to my design.

Once again the focus in this comment is placed on the choice of colour within the picture. By putting the black and white setting on my camera I was able to achieve a professional style of photography which captured the essence of the theme and look I set out for. I am pleased that it has proven a success with the target audience, especially as this person comments this photo stands out from the others, and it was ultimately one of the photos I used for the digipak.

This comment talks about the use of mis en scene through the use of the background. I chose to use a low toned background colour to make the artist stand out more, and through the use of lighting I was able to achieve this well. I also like how the person has commented on the photos resemblance to Florence and the machine as it means that I have achieved what i set out to do, in creating a photograph in the style of Florence and the machine which will both sell and appeal to her target audience.

This comment draws attention to the continuity of the theme in the form of the song name being included within the photograph. I chose to do this as i though it linked the artist to the purpose of the digipak, and the name of the sing with a discreet added element of the artistic side of the style of the photograph. I think showing the title of the sing in this way is individual and adds to the simplistic style of the overall digipak, as the back cover now doesn't require any graphics.

The final comment gives me constructive critisism and advise for a future comment. When I took this photo I didn't ensure the set was clear of object I didn't require in the picture, and by showing this picture to the audience, it has been raised to my attention that this puts a negative view on this picture. Fortunately this image didn't end up being one that used on my digipak, but I also recognise the importance of consistency within the portfolio of pictures and appreciate this feedback. If I was to take these pictures again I would ensure this didn't happen by looking at the shot through the camera and moving any unnecessary object and items out of the shot.

My final design has many differences to my original flat plan designs. This is for many reasons. I hadn't originally put in my design ideas that I was planning to take photo's, but time restrictions meant that taking pictures was a more realistic solution than designing, hand drawing and computerising all graphics, audience feedback also suggested using a model to pose as a singer would appeal more to my target audience. Having taken a photo using a mirror meant that I didn’t need to input graphics for the title 'You've got the love,' as it worked really well having been written on the mirror and was clearly visible, working as a good visual effect.

My flat plans were also a lot more vibrant in colour than my digipak, but I found using more earthy tones was more in keeping with the style of this single, and its meaning. I also feel the overall look of my final digipak is much more realistic, and the changes I made from my original flat plan were for the better.

Finally, when I started to design the digipak on photo shop I was able to get a better overall idea of what the digiapk was really going to look like, and I could experiment with different colours and text. This meant that my ideas were more subjectionable to change, as my flat plans were just drawn by hand with pencil and colours.

During this project I have learnt alot. Firstly, how to use photo shop. Previous to this project I was not able to use all aspects of this program such as some of the tools. However within this project I practised what i was able to use and experimented with other aspects of the program. I have now learnt the importance of the layers within Facebook, in building a piece of work. I now know to lock layers after working on each element of the digipak.

I have also learnt how to use different photo shop tools, such as the 'warp' tool, I found this tool useful in the presentation of the text on both my front and back page, as I was able to change the format, size and shape of the text. I feel learning about this tool has really benefited my work.

I have also learnt the importance of researching into a specific target market or audience. I feel the research I did prior to designing and making my digipak has resulted in a piece of work that incorporates the need and selling point relevant to the market and also serves its purpose as a product designed for Florence and the Machine fans aged 16-30.

The final thing I have learnt during this project is the importance of taking feedback, opinions and criticism and using them to better my work. I received a lot of feedback, some I agreed with and some I didn't, but I was then able to make small changes to my work, which I feel has ultimately made it better.

This is my final digipak. Here you can see the composition of the colours used. Also the spine of the C.D which I have chosen to colour grey to tie in the colours used in the pictures. I have also stated the name of the artist and song on the outside spine. Whilst the inside is plain grey, as it serves no purpose in displaying information.

I did encounter some problems during the making of my digipak. Firstly I had started my digipak on Indesign, I had started my deisgn when the program was unistalled on the college computers, This meant I had to start my design again and this time on Photo shop. I found using photoshop difficult for the first few sessions. However I overcame this by asking for help and practising.

The second problem I had was the way I had taken some of the pictures. Some of them I had taken portrait, and when I came to import them into photo shop the picture didn't fill the template, this meant I had to stretch the picture bigger, which distorted it. As a distorted picture wasn't an option I had to overcome this by cutting and pasting parts of the picture over each other and using the 'blend' tool in order to patch the colour up, therefore making it the required size.

I did receive some good feedback on my digipak when I posted it on Facebook. Some of the comments were positive, my target audience commented that they liked the colour and shot types I had used. Some comments were negative, such as making sure I clear the frame of excess and unwanted items before taking the picture. I will take these comments on board and use them to help me in future projects and pieces of work.

Overall I am very happy with my digipak design. It has turned out exactly as I wanted it to. This is mainly due to my photo's which considering the genre I thought looked realistic, and serve their purpose in appealing to my target audience. I am happy with the layout of the design and the choice of photo's, aswell as where they have been placed. I think the font and colours are appropriate for not only the genre of music but the specific artist aswell.

If I could make any improvements it would be to include more information on the front cover. Maybe next time an advertismentd for bonus features in the form of a graphic designed sticker, as I think that would add to the saleability and would make the cover more eyecatching. I think it would also make it look more realistic next to mainstream digipaks in a commercial environment. Off the back of the comment I received from my target audience I could also edit out the background of some of the photo's, but as I didn't use all my photos in this instance that wasn't neccessary. I would also need more time to do this.

As a finished product I am very happy.