The promo pack must be completed by our selves, this consists of one DVD cover for the music video and also one poster advertising this. I wanted these both to tie into the band's current style and relate to the theme of our music video. So the same or similar photos will be used in my poster and digipack which will be taken during filming. This is so that people will relate the advertising and CD cover to the music video and recognise it more clearly. I want it to stand out but also keep to the genre of music so that it still relates to the same audience as Florence and the Machine. The digipack will relate to and acclaim our video, it is also a chance to show our individual creativity without being in our groups.
This part is designing the DVD digipack, it will be in the style of a CD cover as many bands today chose to sell DVDs of their music videos alongside their album or single in the same case. To design our covers it should look as professional as possible so to enable this it will be produced using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign. To make sure i get the best possible photograph for the front, I will be using a digital SLR as i have access to one to ensure it is the best possible quality. I would like the photo I use to relate to our music video so I may take the photo on set after filming.
A digipack is the packaging used for CDs or DVDs. Here is the definition given on Wikipedia: "Digipak is
a patented style of compact disc or DVD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI Media, a MeadWestvaco, Inc. resource, which acquired the original trademark holder, IMPAC Group, Inc., in 2000. MeadWestvaco licensed the name and designs to manufacturers around the world."
Here is a template of our digipack:
This shows it as a flatplan and the different sides we will have to design. number one and two will be the inside of the cover, often, one continuous picture for the inside.
Number four is the front cover which I think is the most important as it is the first thing you see. Number three is the back panel which usually displays the songs/ video which is inside.
We must also research and analyise two existing digipack covers of artists which relates to the genre of Florence and the Machine.
Although our CD covers will have four panes I have found one which is with six. This means that there are two panels either side which fold into the middle.
I have chosen to analyse "The Reminder" by Feist. She is a Canadian singer/ songwriter, who like Florence is a solo artist backed up with musicians. Her genre of music is also described as alternative indie. When I design my own cover i would like it to feature a photo of the artist as this one, and many others, does. The picture is a black and white silhouette, this signifies old fashion and it relates to the design of the inside photo. She is in the profile position so that the audience can identify her features and know who she is. Her hair is tied up into a bun to make the outline more clean cut and simple. She has no top on with bare shoulders, this could connote that she is exposing herself. There is some lighting used so it makes it look more modern you can just about see her eye and necklace. The coloured thread relates to the theme throughout, her fans are likely to like lots of colour as i will explain in my target audience blog. The writing used is a version of Times New Roman but thinner and taller, it is also black on white which is the clearest script. This type of writing is used to stand out to the reader and to be clear. The back panel is creative and quirky showing another silhouette and thread. At the bottom right hand corner there is a thought bubble which may signify that the string represents her thoughts. Using a drawing in this makes it look quite creative. The string on this panel is made into geometric shapes coming from the body. The background is white to make the images stand out. The left and right interior panels are Polaroids, these are a very popular and fashionable form of photography. I think the target audience would use them or be interested in them, the type of person to use them are not mainstream and are interested in art/ photography. As they are a very expensive way of taking photographs, they may be more wealthy which puts them in the ABC1 category. On one photo there are reels of thread, relating to the thread on the other sections. The other shows a hair clip on the same metalic gold background as the first. The gold background has mixed signs but it can signify preciousness and oldness, this old theme is continued with the boarders of the photo's. It is a black victorian looking boarder with the silhoette picture from the front section. This picture is used as a label to identify the artist, it is also used on her website so that people will immediatley know what it represents as an iconic sign. The middle picture shows the singer face on, this is an effective way of drawing the audience in, in the same black and white style. I think that this is important for the audience knows what she looks like so the can identify her in music videos and on other single or album covers. The creativiy of this digipack, for example the use of thread, will relate to Feist's target audience as it is more unconventional. They will be inspired by things such as the polariods as the whole digipack has a very creative theme.
For my second analysis I am looking at one of Florence and the Machines own digipaks of her debut album "Lungs". This album cover, like Feist's, is creative and unconventional. The writing for the band name is used as a label. It is easily recognisable and always the same as if it were a brand. It is in bold and white on black to make it stand out to the audience. The writing is loopy and joined up which has a
polysemic sign, that it is child like, smart or creative. The front panel is a photograph of Florence which takes up most of the cover, this image of her is in focus whereas the background is slightly blurred. This is so that her audience will recognise her clearly in music videos and other album or single covers. This is the reason I would like to use a picture of the same girl used in our video when it comes to the DVD digipack and poster. The position Florence is in ensures that the lungs are showing and so that the audience can see the sleeves to the top she is wearing. The background signifies nature due to the dark green cloth, birds and flowers. The title of the album "lungs", superimposed over the image, is over her lungs so that it relates to the image itself. It is also in Caps Lock which makes it stand out. The whole image looks as if it has been retouched after the photo was taken. To make her skin lighter, the background darker and the lungs superimposed onto it. This gives it a painted feel which makes it seem more different and creative.
The back is completely black and, keeping to the same theme, the writing and line image is white, which is quite unconventional which keeps to the different and creative feel of the whole digipack. Like most back panels to album covers, it is used to display the song titles. The script used is the same writing as the title of the album "Lungs" but in the lower case, the words bonus track are in upper case to catch the eye of the audience and make the album more appealing to them. The sketch is of lungs and a heart, it obviosly relates to the album title to keep in the same theme. The drawing is quite unusual to have on a pop album cover and so fits in with the alternative style. The numbers look as if they would represent the different parts but the match up with each song title.
Although i will not be designing the CD it will help to look at it as it is still part of the album. The CD itself has the album title on it in the same script as before, it is noticeable and simple. The image is quite different from the others which fits in with the original and atypical theme. Florence and the Machine's target audience could easily relate to the creative look and methods used on this digipack. They could also relate to the unconventional theme of the front and back panel.
Brainstorming what type of image to use of the front cover to get ideas for my flat plan i have looked at some of Florence's single covers. I really like this colourful single cover, I think i may have a colourful front cover and then the other images to relate to the beach.