Digipak inspiration - Arctic Monkeys 'Whatever people say I am, that's what I am not'

Front:

This is the front cover of the album. The image draws attention straightaway, as it is interesting and perhaps a little controversial. It is definitely unconventional of front covers. Yet, this is most certainly the point. The band want to convey their edgy, controversial image. The band's name is displayed in the top,left-hand corner. It stands out against the metallic background, but also conveys genre. The indie/garage rock feel is portrayed through the font, that is unique and creative. However, the album title is not displayed. This again, signifies the importance of the image, as the band hope that alone will make this album recognisable, therefore doing the work of a title.





Back:

The image follows on from the front, yet looks depressing. However, it is to help the album become recognisable. Again, the same font as from the front is used for the tracklist. The barcode, record label and credits are displayed, as well as the album title which is displayed on the spine, in a different, more formal font. This possibly conveys the other side of the band's controversial persona; they are also professional.








CD:

This CD artwork is again unconventional, but relates to the images on both the front and back of the digipak. The band's record label is displayed, as well as the Copyright statement and credits. This disc is meant to stand out, and the image definitely does that, by being controversial and bold. This helps for the audience to understand the band's persona, without seeing a picture of them.

Digipak Inspiration - The Strokes 'Is This It'

The Strokes' album 'Is This It', released in 2001, is the album our chosen song 'Someday" originated from. I will assess their digipak, and look for certain conventions of our genre, that will help me create a successful digipak.

Front:

This is the front cover to the CD. The band's name stands out on the white background; to grad attention. This is also the effect of the album title. The image stands out, and the band use voyeurism to attract the male audience, whom are their primary target. The album's title can also represent the album title. The image doesn't offer the audience too much information about the band, and 'Is This It' could be the audiences response, as they want to see more of the band's image. Yet, the image could reflect their laddish values, conveying the way they view women.









Back:

This is more convention of a rock band, in comparison with the front cover. There is a clear image of the band, which conveys their laid back persona. The image is interesting, and making it black and white, allows it to stand out and give the band an indie feel. There is a barcode, credits, website links and a tracklist that are all conventions of CD digipaks. The band's name and album title are repeated on the spine.








CD:

This is the CD disc. The band's name dominates the disk, making it stand out. The font helps to give a sense of genre, indie/garage rock, as it is bold and striking. The use of the disc's middle as an 'O' is cleaver and recognisable. The blue stands out on the black, helping this disc become easily recognisable. There is a slick and stylish feel to this, as the band are trying to give hints to there persona.

Digipak Conventions

Digipak Conventions:

Digipaks can be associated with CDs and DVDs, as they help to promote the product. In terms of CDs, they help to promote the artist or band, and should try to have a recognisable font and album art to distinguish themselves from their competitors.

Here are some conventions:

Front:

• Artist name
• Album title
• Image of the artist/band or perhaps a band logo

Back:

• Artist name
• Album title
• Tracklist
• Production credits
• Barcode
• Record label
• Record label website
• Image of artist or Colours/image connected to the artist/band

Spine:

• Artist name
• Album title
• Distribution number
• Record label

Booklet: (Front)

• Iconic image - distinctive of the artist/band
• Credits

Booklet contents:

• Images of artist/band or related images to genre
• Full lyric sheet
• Track by track credits
• Full credits

CD:

• Image of artist/band
• Artist name
• Album title
• Record label
• Credits and Copyright
• Compact Disk trademark

Mid-Production Audience Feedback

13A3 - Mid-production Audience Feedback

From our feedback, I can see there is a lot we need to work on. Although, many said they would love to watch it again, they pointed out the absence of the narrative sequence. I can see this had deeply damaged our score, as our classmates have stated that without the narrative, the music video fails to make too much sense. This would make it seem like more of a music video. I feel that from our feedback we need a faster pace of editing, as at the moment it is too slow and boring.

Album covers

For the genre we intend to do, there is a certain kind of album art we need to look at. The genre we have chosen is rock and we intend to follow other rock bands in the way they style their album covers.

Here are some old and new rock album covers:


The Beatles: "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967)
The Beatles were one of the first influential rock bands. This album design was typical at the time for more pop based artists, however The Beatles rivalled this with their 1967 album. We are unlikely to follow or copy what they did as it no longer fits the codes and conventions of a modern day rock band, but it just conveys how The Beatles challenged conventions of their era. Bright, colourful images on the front differ from the dark, colourless rock albums of the time. The album contained posters, booklets and lyrics. These were seen as the features that would bring about fans buying this album.



The Clash: "The Clash" (1977)
We are thinking of doing a Clash song and this album cover is one that we represent our final album cover. It shows the whole band, of which we would like to do and it is bold, suggesting a statement of the band's punk rock image. This is more typical of a rock band's album cover, though today, it is a little bit out-dated. The album contained posters, booklets and lyrics, which would help entice people to buy their album. The artists are being branded as punk rock artists, and the album cover definitely conveys this. We may try and copy this album art, yet possible update it as it is now quite outdated.



Oasis: "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" (1995)
This album is iconic, not just because of the songs, but the album cover itself. It is so basic that it works well to compliment the band's image. This basic form of album cover may inspire us to copy them. People remember this album because of its uniqueness - we will hope to imitate this. The re-release of this album came with the chance for each buyer to install an image of themselves on the front of their album. This increased sales for the re-release, as it made the album much more personal for the buyer and Oasis fans.

Nine Inch Nails: "Year Zero" (2007)
This album is known for its unique release, though the album cover is slightly unusual and draws attention. We won't try and do something like this with our album, as we want to make it clear of our genre, through our album cover. The only reason people now the genre is rock from this album, is due to the name, people recognise "Nine Inch Nails" and know that the genre is rock. The reason why this album's release was unique was as the release date for the album drew closer, lead singer Trent Reznor, teamed-up with game creators 42 Entertainment, and mage an online video game. The game was based around the fourth-coming album and received so much support it was going to be turned into a TV drama; this has since stalled. 

U2: "Songs of Innocence" (2014)
This album gained worldwide publicity for the wrong reasons. U2's big new album was released to the public for free on iTunes, following a deal with Apple. The album was received by the millions of iTunes users, and was automatically downloaded onto their accounts. Many were out roared as they saw this as a violation of their privacy, and U2 were forced to apologise. Bono, the lead singer, thought that this was what the people wanted, and was trying to give them something in return for their support. However, it was not successful and did not gain them the public support they wanted.