Group magazine advert - Miss Miller

Group magazine advert

After creating magazine adverts as individuals, we reflected upon our design decisions and discussed elements of each others work which we believe to be conventional therefore appealing to our target audience. By evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each others individual work, it allowed us to combine the stronger elements into one final group magazine advert. We came together as a group and chose everyones best aspects of their individual magazine advert and decided to combine our ideas together to make our group magazine advert. 

From my own magazine advert we decided to use the idea of the black and white image, we thought this was a good idea as it portrays the artist as being mysterious and it isn't very conventional to the soul genre which also promotes the artist as being unique and individual. This is a positive representation as it emphasises the artists image of being unique and quirky. The colours used in my magazine advert were good as i used the colour red as the writing, we decided not to use this writing as you cannot read the writing very clearly which would make our magazine advert ineffective as audiences wouldn't be able to read the text. Also from my advert we decided to use the same layout of having the artist as the main image on the page and the layout of the writing where the title of the album is at the bottom with extra writing underneath and the artists name at the top of the page. We decided to use this format as it promotes the artist as important as she is the only image on the page. This appeals to the target audience as they will clearly be able to see the album title and artist name which will grab their attention. The typography used in my magazine advert was effective as it stands out from the background and is clear, this is why we decided to use this font in our group magazine advert but change the colours to make them appeal to audiences more. We changed the colour from red to light pink to match the colour of the artists coat. This appeals to the target audience as it makes the advert all the same colour scheme and stands out from the image, where as the colour red didn't stand out as much which wouldn't have appealed to the target audience making it less successful. Overall my strengths of my magazine advert was the font and the image as we decided to use both of these in our group advert making them vital pieces of the advert. These were my strengths as they appeal to the target audience as the font is big and clear making it easy to read and the image clearly shows the artist which would appeal to the target audience as they can see the image. The weaknesses of my magazine advert would be the colours and i used the colour red as the font which doesn't stand out from the image which means that it wouldn't grab the audiences attention.

We then looked at Shaun's magazine advert which was in black and white so had a very different feel to the other adverts. From Shaun's advert we got inspiration from the black and white background as it portrays the artists as being mysterious and unique. Therefore we decided to use this idea as it promotes the artist positively. Shaun's advert isn't very conventional to the soul genre which we thought wasn't an effective idea as it wouldn't appeal to our target audience and would portray our artist in a different genre. The layout of Shaun's advert was effective as it had the artist on the right hand side of the page and the artists name and album title in the middle, although we didn't use this layout we thought it was effective and decided we would use this in our group digipak. The images used in Shaun's advert was the artist looking of centre and the background being a dark forest. We decided we were going to use the image of the artist but have her in colour rather than black and white so she would stand out and grab the audiences attention. We weren't going to use the background of the forest as it isn't very conventional to the soul genre therefore meaning it wouldn't appeal to our target audience. The typography and language used in Shaun's digipak is again not conventional to the soul genre so we decided not to include these in our group digipak as they don't portray the artist in a unique quirky way. Overall Shaun's weaknesses of his advert is that it isn't conventional to the soul genre which is a disadvantage as it means it doesn't appeal to the target audience making it less likely to be successful. Although Shaun's strength of his digipak is the layout as it effectively promotes the artist clearly as the text is in the centre of the page, grabbing the audiences attention.

We then looked at Lucy's magazine advert and analysed her strengths and weaknesses and what we were going to take from it for our group digipak. Firstly, Lucy's advert is very conventional to the soul genre which is her strength as it appeals to the target audience making it an effective advert. Also the colours Lucy has used within her digipak are conventional to the soul genre as the colour red has been used on the font and the artist is seen to be wearing red lipstick. This is effective as it promotes the concept of love, relationships and emotion making the advert very conventional, although we decided not to use the red font in our group advert as it the colour doesn't stand out from any of the images we tried meaning it wouldn't grab the audiences attention. The layout and design of Lucy's advert is conventional as she has mirrored the image of the artist to make it look like a heart, this is conventional as it promotes the theme of love and relationships which would appeal to the target audience as they would be gaining an insight into the artists life. This image promotes the artist as being hurt and emotional as it shows it is all she is thinking about. We decided not to use this image as it was a bit too complicated for our advert as there wouldn't be much room for any text as it wouldn't stand out from the rest of the image. Lucy's strength of her magazine advert was her image, the image grabs the audiences attention and portrays the artist as being quirky and different as it is an unusual image. Lucy's weakness with her magazine advert was her typography as the font size was too small as it wasn't big enough to grab the audiences attention. 

We lastly looked at Devon's magazine advert for our inspiration for our group magazine advert. Devon's magazine advert is conventional to the soul genre as includes an image of the artist looking emotional wearing vintage quirky clothing making her seem unusual and unique. Devon done this so that the advert would appeal to the target audience who enjoy soul music, therefore we decided to use this image in our group magazine advert as although the artist is looking down you can still see her face allowing audiences to recognise her. The colours used in Devon's advert are very bright as the artist is emphasised by her pink coat and the title of the album is green and her name in white. These colours aren't very conventional to the soul genre so we decided not to use these colours as they don't promote our artist very well and don't appeal to our target audience. The layout/design of Devon's advert is the image of the artist is off centre to the right, the artists name at the bottom and the album title at the top. We decided to use a similar layout in our digipak but move the artist to the centre more and put the artist name at the top rather than the album title so that it is clearly to identify the artist. The language is the same that we all used in our advert; the artists name, album title and featuring the smash hit, the typography Devon used was effective as we decided to use the same font that she used she used writing the artists name as it stands out from the image and is very clear to read. Devon's strengths of her advert is the image and font as the image promotes the artist well but still shows her being shy and mysterious. Devon's weakness was the colours she used as they don't portray the soul genre and therefore don't appeal to our target audience.

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Individual Digipak - Miss Miller

Individual Digipak

The main purpose a digipak is to engage a consumer to buy into a product the artist is associated with. This therefore benefits the artist as it increases audiences listening to their created art and are also engaging with photographs of them. It also allows the artist to be represented in a certain manner to appeal to a particular target audience. Most digipaks are very personal to the artist themselves and often can consist of a lyric booklet which can also provide more artist photos in addition to personal stories from the artists point of view as well as 'thank you's' to family members, friends and fans, all of which can inspire them to produce music. Digipaks are typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs. Digipaks generally consist of a gatefold paper board or cardboard outer binding, with one or more plastic trays for the CD. They are often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums due to their unique style of packaging. Digipaks usually contain a letter from the artist directly to the fans giving it a more personal feel when a CD case only includes the lyrics of the songs in the album. This therefore means audiences will be able to build a better relationship with the artist from a digipak as it is seen to be much more personal as it includes a personal letter from the artist directly to fans. Also digipaks usually include bonus tracks which appeal to the target audience as they feel they are gaining more information about the artist and gaining more of their work. Digipaks are much more longer lasting and are very easily accessible where as a CD case only includes the songs from the album which makes it difficult for audiences to engage with the artist as there are no personal elements to a CD case. Overall, a digipak allows the audience to feel more connected with their favoured artist and in turn enjoy their music more so because they can relate to it.

The use of colour has an important and primary purpose of attracting potential buyers into purchasing the product. The obvious use of colour on my individual digipak are red, black and white. The colour red is conventional of the genre of soul music as it immediately symbolises passion and love which are two major emotions instigated by the music. Red is a colour that promotes the artist in a positive light as the connotation of passion reveals to the audience that the artist is also passionate about her music and her fans. The next prominent colour is white; this has the clear connotation of purity, which highlights the innocence of the artist and attracts the target audience who sympathise with the artist through her time of heartbreak which is narrated in the song. White also symbolises a sense of freshness on the digipak indicating that the songs on the album are original and new, attracting new buyers and fans of the soul music genre. Black is used with the purpose to create a clear contradiction with the use of the colour white, it's also a colour which represents power. The artist is presented as a powerful character to her target audience who will be attracted to buy her music because of her strong and independent attitude despite her heart ache. The fans will purchase the album in hope that they can adopt some of the artists powerful attitude for themselves, which creates a relationship between the artist and the audience. The black and white images are sparse of colour, the reason for the colourless filter is to continue a mysterious sense about the artist, this deliberately reveals the artist but leaves much under wraps. The idea of this is to encourage people to buy the digipak to continue the consumption and learn more about the artist though their music. 

     The images used within my digipak portray my artist as being focused on her music and work as in all of the pictures she is either off centre or she is looking to the side. This shows that she is more focused on her work than her image, this shows she is a successful artist as she doesn't have to post a lot of images of herself meaning her work is more important. Including images of the artist in my digipak will attract and appeal to fans as they will be able to recognise the artist from the images and therefore relate this back to her past music and if they enjoyed it they will feel more included in the artist. Including images of the artists means that audiences will be able to build a relationship with the artist as they will feel they are seeing a more personal side to her as digipaks tend to include personal aspects of the artist. In my digipak i have also included an image of a kiss mark, i have included this as it portrays the running theme of love and relationships within our album showing her heartbreak within the video and how the breakup has affected her.

      The layout within my digipak is conventional to the soul genre it includes a main image of the artist at the front and includes the artists name and the album title. Within my digipak i have included images of the artist and different texts, the pictures are all based in the middle of the page, this focuses the audiences eye on images of the artist to keep reminding them of the artists image, this will help build a relationship with the audience and artist as the audience will admire the artist and look up to her as there are more personal images being used. The design of my digipak is conventional to other digipaks as it includes a front cover, back cover, tracklist, artist letter to fans and images of the artist. This makes it appeal to audiences as they know what to expect in the digipak meaning they are more likely to buy it as they know what it is going to include. 

The language used within my digipak helps the audience to build a relationship with the artist as i have included a letter from the artist to her fans and friends. This helps the audience to build a relationship with the audience as this is a more personal element of the digipak meaning that audiences will feel they have a better understanding of the artist and have a more personal relationship with her. This will benefit the artist as it shows that she cares about her fans giving the artist a very positive representation of herself as it shows she cares about people who support her music which is a very vital in becoming successful. I have also included basic language within my digipak such as the artists name and the album title, these are vital bits of information to include in a digipak to keep re-emphasising the artists name to keep it in the audiences head. The style of font that i have used within my digipak is a vintage style old fashioned font which is clear to read. I have used this font as it portrays the artists personality and style of being unique and quirky, this helps the audience to build a relationship with the artist as it allows the audience to gain a further insight into what the artist is like as a person making them feel more involved in the artists music. Using this font is conventional to the soul genre as soul music is about being yourself and being unique and using this font defiantly portrays the artists individuality, therefore making the digipak conventional. 

My weaknesses using Photoshop was editing the actual photo such as changing the colour, vibrancy and contrast etc, i overcome this problem by getting my team member Devon, to help me with this and show me how to work out this problem. My strength whilst using Photoshop was cutting around the image to make it separate from the background, i feel this helped make my digipak successful as i used this skill a lot when creating it which meant i had a lot more time to work on my weaknesses and perfect them.
I think my digipak conforms to soul conventions as it portrays the artist being unique and quirky which promotes her own individual style making it conventional to the soul genre as it promotes being unique. I think my digipak appeals to my target audience as it includes a letter from the artist to the fans and also includes some personal images that i haven't used anywhere else making it much more personal to the artist, therefore meaning that audiences will feel they have a better relationship with the artist. Overall i think making my own digipak will help my group to create a successful digipak as we can put all of our ideas together to create a successful digipak as we can work on everyone's strengths and weaknesses meaning we will include everyone's ideas and thoughts. 

Individual magazine advert - Miss Miller

Individual Magazine Advert

Creating a magazine advert is important because it will advertise the artists new album to a wide audience meaning that the target audience will be able to find out about the artists new album, making them want to go out and buy the album.

The colours used in my magazine advert appeal to the target audience as i have used colours such as black, white and red. These colours portray our chosen genre - soul, as the colour red portrays the theme of love and romance which is what our chosen song is about. This appeals to the target audience as it allows them to gain an insight into what the album is about, meaning they will feel more engaged in the artist and how she is feeling. The colour black and white portray the artist as quite dark and emotional as it shows that the artist has a lot of feelings she can't get in touch with as she feels she is in the dark. This promotes the artist as it shows her being mysterious and different meaning that audiences will want to find out more about the artist and about her emotions as it seems like she is hiding something. These colours promote my artist effectively as it shows that she is simple as there aren't a lot of colours being used which shows she is more focused on the music than her image. The images being used within my magazine advert is an image of the artist leaning against a wall looking away. I have used this image as it shows the artist looking emotional and mysterious which connects with our chosen genre of soul. This therefore promotes the artist as being different and unique as most artists magazine adverts use a picture of the artists face as the main image but it shows the artist is more interested in her music. This image would appeal to the target audience as audiences will think the artist is mysterious and therefore want to find out more, meaning they will want to buy the album. The layout/design of my magazine advert is the artist is leaning against the wall but the image is slightly off to the right, the name of the artist is at the top, the album name is at the bottom and there is some extra writing underneath. I have laid it out this way as the artist is seen to be off centre which shows she is unique and different compared to other artists as she is focused on her music rather than her image, this would appeal to the target audience as they would want to find out more about the artist. The layout of the writing would appeal to the target audience as the font is big which means it will grab the audiences attention as it is big and clear at the top of the advert, this would appeal to the target audience as they would recognise the artists name and therefore would want to buy the album. The typography used in the magazine advert includes a bold clear font in red with a white border as well as a vintage style writing at the bottom, the two different fonts appeal to the target audience as the writing is big and clear which would grab the target audiences attention and therefore engage them to buy the album, the vintage writing at the bottom is conventional to the soul genre as it shows the artist being unique and different which promotes the artist's image as being quirky vintage and unique. The language used in my magazine advert appeals to the target audience as i have used the artists name, album title and a hit song. This would appeal to the target audience as they would recognise the artists name etc meaning they would want to buy the album as they may already like the artist from her past music. I have also included 'OUT NOW' as this would encourage the target audience to go out and buy the album. All of these aspects are conventional to the soul genre as it promotes the artist as being unique and vintage portraying the conventions of the soul genre of being unique and yourself.

When using photoshop i struggled with a number of techniques such as changing the colour of the font when i done my research i came across a number of different fonts where i found the vintage style font. My strengths whilst using photoshop would be editing the image such as using the different brightness, contrast and highlighting meaning that i could edit the image well which is how i managed to change the colour of the image to make it more dull.

I feel like my advert conforms to the conventions of the soul genre as it portrays the artist being unique and different which is a large convention of the soul genre as being personal and yourself. I feel my advert appeals to the target audience as the artist looks mysterious and unique meaning that audience will find the artist appealing as they want to find out about the artist more and therefore buy the album. I feel like creating my own magazine advert will ensure my group produces a successful magazine advert as we will be able to put all out ideas together to make it the best as possible.

Photoshoot - Miss Miller

Photoshoot

We took pictures of our artist so that we could use these images to create our ancillary texts such as our digipak and magazine advert. Therefore we can include images of our artist on these which will help to attract audiences as they would recognise the artist from the images and therefore buy the album. The images we take will also help to portray the artist in a certain way as the images will give off certain vibes which will give the audience an insight into what the artists music is like which means they will be intrigued and buy the album. It is important to take a variety of pictures as this means we can have as many as possible in case the images don't turn out very well. This way, we can take loads of different images in different positions of the artist doing different things so that when we come to create our digipak and magazine advert we can use the ones which are best suited and that have come out the best. Having a variety of pictures means that we have a choice of what ones to use therefore meaning we can use the best images we can.

   I have chosen this particular image as the picture shows the whole of the artists face clearly, therefore this would be a useful image to use as audiences and fans would be able to recognise the artist easily if this image was used on the digipak or magazine advert. We took this image in particular as the artists facial expression shows that she is emotional and in deep thought, which would portray the style of her music from the soul genre as it is very emotional and based on real life experiences. I have intended to use this image in the advert, this is because you can clearly see the artists faces which would make it an ideal image to use as the target audience will clearly identify the artist from looking at the advert making them want to buy it. This image will be good on the advert as its a very clear mid shot of the artist which will make the advert bold and stand out as the lighting is natural in the picture, this means that the image isn't too dark but the right lighting to grab peoples attention.

      This image is conventional to the soul genre as it shows the artists facial expression looking emotional, which is conventional as soul music is usually about relationships and past life experiences which means the artist is usually very passionate and emotional about their music. Also this image is conventional as the artist is seen to be wearing unique quirky clothing which is supports the conventions of the soul genre that artists are unique and have their own style. This shows that the artist is confident in herself that she feels she can wear what she wants such as vintage clothing to express herself. This shows that soul artist are expressive and creative as they show their personality through the unique things they wear.
      
      I think this image this image is good as the quality of the picture is good, the image is clear and you can clearly see the artist. This is good as audiences will easily be able to recognise the artist from this image and be more drawn to the album as they will recognise her. The lighting is good in this picture too as it is natural lighting which makes the image much more relateable as it is in a natural setting - rather than being set up. This makes the image good as it makes the image as natural as possible which therefore makes the artist look genuine and relateable to the audience.

      This image will help the audience to build a relationship with the artist as the image shows the artists facial expressions. This would help to build a relationship as audiences would be able to then understand the artist more as they would be able to see her facial expressions and therefore understand how she is feeling and engage more with the artist. Audiences would also be able to build a relationship with the artist through what the artist is wearing. The relationship would be made as the artist is seen to be wearing a vintage style hat and a pink coat, audiences would therefore engage with the artist more as she is seen to be wearing interesting unique clothing which would grab the audiences attention and therefore make them more involved in whats happening. Audiences would also admire the artist from her clothing and look up to her as they may aspire to express themselves the same way she does.

     We took a picture of this particular image as this image shows the whole of the artist including her outfit and the setting she is in. This is why we took a picture of this image as this image would be useful as audiences would be able to understand where the video is based and what the artist is wearing. This gives audiences a clear understanding of what the artist is like and her personality as they can see how she chooses to express herself through her clothing including a vintage hat, boots, a pink coat and ripped jeans. The artist is also seen to be in a tunnel which is a unique quirky place. I have intended to use this image on the digipak as digipaks include personal elements from the artist and other momentums. I am going to use this image and get the artist to hand write her signiture over the image, this will make it a lot more personal and appeal to the target audience a lot more as they will feel they have connected with the artist on a personal level. I have included the magazine advert that i made which is based on this image, the advert includes the artists name, album title and the hit song title in the title. I originally wanted to use this image in a digipak but found out that the image works a lot better in a magazine advert.

  This image is conventional to the soul genre as it portrays conventional aspects of the soul   genre such as vintage clothing and an image of the artist looking emotional in a different and unique place. The artist is seen to be wearing an oversized light pink coat, ripped jeans, boots and a black hat. This portrays the artist as being unique and different as she is expressing her personality through what she is wearing. This is conventional to the soul genre as it shows the artist is one of a kind and unlike any other artist as she has her own style. This is an important aspect as it shows the artist is unique and has her own style which appeals to the target audience as it shows that the artist isn't scared of being herself where in comparison many artists have similar styles, this therefore portrays the artist as being edgy and cool which is conventional to the soul genre. The artist is also pictured leaning against a wall down a tunnel, this is also conventional to the soul genre as she is seen in a unique place in the street. This is conventional as the target audience will be able to relate to her more as they would be able to picture themselves in the same situation making the artist more approachable.

      This image is good as it has a clear shot of the artist which means the audience are able to see the setting that she is in and her whole outfit. This is good because it means audiences will feel they can engage more with what is happening as they can see the setting and therefore pictures themselves in the same place. They will also admire and look up to the artist if they like they she is wearing and aspire to be like her, meaning they are more likely to buy the album if they like the artists style. This image is also good as there is natural lighting being used and its in a natural setting. This is good because it means audiences will be able to relate to the artist a lot more as the image looks very natural rather than being set up with lots of props making the artist unreachable and unrelateable.

      The audience will be able to build a relationship with the artist as the image is very natural which means the artist looks comfortable in the setting, there is natural lighting and she isn't posing too much. Audiences will be able to build a relationship with the artist through this as they will be able to relate to the artist as she looks like a normal person which makes her very relateable to them. Audiences will also build a relationship with the artist through this image as they can see the whole image of her meaning that they get a sense of what the artist is like outside of her music and gain a sense of her personality as she is seen in a different setting.

We took a picture of this particular image as it shows a mid shot of the artists face and her expression, showing her looking happy. This is why we took a picture of the image as it shows to the audience her different expressions and moods as they can see her face clearly. Also the artist is holding flowers which is a scene that was included in the music video, therefore if we decide to use this image in our digipak or magazine advert audiences will recognise the image as it was taken whilst we were filming the music video. The artists face is clearly shown in this picture which means audiences will be able to reocgnise her easily and therefore want to buy the album. We have taken this image as it shows the artist looking naturaly in the street therefore making her look natural without the image looking too staged. I have intended to use this image in the magazine advert from the album as the image was taken whilst we were filming so this would be an ideal image to use as it advertises the music video so that when audiences watch the video it will link back to this image as they will remember it, making the advert stay in their heads more. This would also be an ideal image to use in our magazine advert as it is a clear happy image of the artist which would appeal to a wide audience as they would be more drawn to the album more.

This image is conventional to the soul genre as the artist is holding flowers, this is conventional as flowers as associated with relationships, showing to the audience an insight into what the artists music is about (relationships). This is conventional to the soul genre as most soul music is about the artists personal past experiences and therefore the artists past relationships come into this category. This image is also conventional to the soul genre as it shows the artist is deep thought looking away, this shows that she is thinking about her problems. This is conventional to the soul genre as most soul artists include their own problems and issues into their music making the music a lot more personal to them.

I think this image is good as it is different from the other images i am using as the artist is looking happy in this picture compared to the others where she looks emotional and upset. This makes the image good as it is a different type of image and has a different mood to it, this means that this might attract a different type of audience who find the artists facial expression intriguing. This image is also good as there is natural lighting which makes the image look naturally staged which would allow the audience to relate to the image more as it looks much more natural and clear. 

This image helps the audience build a relationship with the artist as in the image you can clearly see the artists face, this means the target audience will be able to see that the artist is looking happy from her facial expressions. This means that the audience will engage more with the artist as they are able to see how she is feeling in the image making them want to find out more about the video and the narrative to why she's feeling the way she is. This means the audience will be able to build a relationship with the artist as they will start to feel the same emotions as the artist and understand her more. 

We have taken a picture of this particular image as it shows the artist in the bath looking emotional with eye contact with the camera. We thought this image would be good as it is different to the other images we have used as the artist is in a different setting, this would appeal to the target audience as they would see the artist in a different setting and relate to her in different ways. It also shows the artist in the bath which would appeal to the male target audience as they would find the artist attractive and therefore want to buy the album. I have intended to use this picture in my digipak as its a personal image of the artist and digipaks usually include personal images and momentums of the artist, making it more personal. This image would be good to use in a digipak as the artist is connecting with the audience as she is looking directly at the camera creating a relationship between the two.

This image is conventional to the soul genre as the artist is seen in the bath wearing red lipstick, with candles around her with a red towel by her head. This is conventional to the soul genre as the colour red it associated with relationships and love, this therefore agrees with the conventions of the soul genre as most soul music is about past experiences which includes love and relationships. This image therefore shows the conventions of the soul genre as she is portraying to audiences what her music is going to be about. The artist is also seen in the bath which shows her vulnerability as she is stripped naked as she is upset and lonely. 

I think this image is good as it shows the artist in a vulnerable position as she is seen to be in the bath. This shows that the artist is upset and lonely as she has been stripped from her emotions and the water in the bath shows her tears and how upset she is. This therefore shows to the audience how upset the artist is and this is shown through the image of her. This image is also good as the lighting is different in this image than in the others i have, the lighting is dark and the main light is from the candle to the side of her, this makes the image good as it gives a variety to the images i am using.

This image will help the audience to build a relationship with the artist as the audience will be able to see the artist in a different light. This would allow them to build a relationship as the audience will see the artist looking emotional in a vulnerable position meaning that they would be interested in her emotions and feelings therefore taking an interest in the artist.

Taking pictures for my photoshoot went well because we took the images whilst we were filming, which means it wasn't very time consuming as we already had the artist in hair and costume which made it a lot easier to take the images. We struggled with taking different images of the artist in different poses and positions as we didn't want the images to be too similar to our music video as it would be boring for the audience to watch the video if they have already seen what is going to happen. The overall representation of the artist within these images is that the artist is unique and different from other artists as she is seen in edgy cool places wearing vintage clothing and being confident. This therefore portrays the artist in a positive light which would make the artist a good role model for the target audience to admire and look up to. 

Each member of my group, including myself will create our own personal magazine album advert and digipak using our own ideas and inspirations before coming together and creating one group advert and digipak. This means we will be able to include everyones ideas and find out what images worked well on our personal adverts and digipaks to be able to make our final ones the best they can be.

Planning digipak - Miss Miller

Planning Digipak

The main purpose a digipak is to engage a consumer to buy into a product the artist is associated with. This therefore benefits the artist as it increases audiences listening to their created art and are also engaging with photographs of them. It also allows the artist to be represented in a certain manner to appeal to a particular target audience. Most digipaks are very personal to the artist themselves and often can consist of a lyric booklet which can also provide more artist photos in addition to personal stories from the artists point of view as well as 'thank you's' to family members, friends and fans, all of which can inspire them to produce music. Digipaks are typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs. Digipaks generally consist of a gatefold paper board or cardboard outer binding, with one or more plastic trays for the CD. They are often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums due to their unique style of packaging. Digipaks usually contain a letter from the artist directly to the fans giving it a more personal feel when a CD case only includes the lyrics of the songs in the album. This therefore means audiences will be able to build a better relationship with the artist from a digipak as it is seen to be much more personal as it includes a personal letter from the artist directly to fans. Also digipaks usually include bonus tracks which appeal to the target audience as they feel they are gaining more information about the artist and gaining more of their work. Digipaks are much more longer lasting and are very easily accessible where as a CD case only includes the songs from the album which makes it difficult for audiences to engage with the artist as there are no personal elements to a CD case. Overall, a digipak allows the audience to feel more connected with their favoured artist and in turn enjoy their music more so because they can relate to it.

I am planning to create a digipak for our chosen artist as if we were to publicly release the single we would have to have some sort of digipak or CD case to hold the disc. It is important to plan before creating a digipak as it means we have time to think and evaluate what we want to include in the digipak such as certain images, typography and personal elements from the artist. Whilst we are planning we are going to see how effective certain parts of the digipak are and how much they attract certain audiences so therefore, when we come to create our official digipak we will have a better understanding on what audiences are looking for and make it as effective as we can.

 The colours i have used within my digipak are orange, red and black. These colours are effective as orange is the iconic colour of the artists hair which will appeal to the target audience as they will be able to identify the artist easily from looking at it. Also the colour red is used within my digipak as it connotes the theme of love and relationship which is what the artists album about. This therefore appeals to the target audience as they will have an idea of what sort of music to expect from the album and will promote the artist effectively as it shows what the artist's music is like. The colour black is used as its a general colour and most people will be able to relate to it, it also stands out on the digipak which will get audiences attention. 

The digipak is conventional to the soul genre as it includes images of the artist, this is conventional to the soul genre as it shows that the artist is proud of her work and also shows to the audience that her work is about her life experiences. This may help to appeal to the target audience as they would have a better understanding of her music if they knew what her inspiration was. It helps to promote the artist as it shows that her music is important to her as she is writing about her own life. This conforms to conventional aspects of the soul genre as it shows the artist relating her music to her real life experiences making the music more meaningful and passionate.

The images used help to promote the artist as in the first image the artist is seen looking emotional looking down and in the second image of her she is looking into a dressing table as an over the shoulder shot. These images would appeal to the target audience as you can clearly identify the artist and see her clearly, this would appeal to the audience as they would recognise the artist from the images and then want to find out more about her new album, leading them to buy it. This will promote the artist effectively as in both images of her she is seen to be looking emotional and sad which suggests that she is deep in thought about her music leading to audiences wanting to find out more about her emotions and music. An image of a heart has also been used when the artist has hand written her name, this makes the digipak a lot more personal which wouldn't have been included on a jewel CD case, this appeals to the target audience as it allows the audiences to engage with the artist a lot more on a personal level as it shows the artist has written it herself. This therefore promotes the artist effectively as it promotes the artist as a relateable person to audiences.

The layout of the digipak appeals to the audience as the front cover is a large clear image of the artist in the middle of the page and the artists name above her. This appeals to the target audience as they can clearly identify the artist from looking at the front cover from her image and her name. This helps to promote the artist as a wider audience will be aware of the artist as the title is clear and people will therefore see it easier. 

There is a letter from the artist to friends and family which looks like it has been handwritten, this appeals to the target audience as it shows the artist is being more personal towards audiences which would attract them as they would feel they are finding out more information about the artist. This style of writing has also been used to write the artists name twice on the digipak. This promotes the artist as it shows she is more relateable and seen as a 'normal' person as she is reaching out to fans. This writing looks like a vintage style but is still very clear to read. This promotes the artist as being unique and different as the artist has a vintage style. 

The language used within the digipak appeals to the target audience as it includes a list of the songs included in the album, this would appeal to them as they can see what is included in the album before they buy it. Also simply, the artist name is repeated twice - this appeals to the target audience as they are reminded of the artist they are listening to which would promote the artist as being serious about her work and professional as she wants recognition for her work. I have included a letter from the artist to her friends and family - this will appeal to the target audience as it shows the artist being relateable and reaching out to her fans on a personal level.

Planning our digipak has been useful to us as now when we are taking our pictures to include in it, we know roughly what images we want to have so that when we are preparing to make it we dont have to waste time and can have a clear image in our head of what we want it to look like. Planning the digipak has also been useful in relation to preparing us for the use of Photoshop as we will be much more aware and comfortable with using the software which means we can use it to the best of our abilities. Also as the software is professional we may have struggled more using it if we hadn't planned and had a feel for the software which means we wont have to waste time trying to work out how to use it - we can get straight to work. I feel we are much more aware of what pictures we need to take for our digipak as we have experimented with images and found out what images will look best on our digipak, which means when we come to take the images we have a clear view of what we want to include which means we wont waste valuable time.