Coursework: Final Digipak

Below is a slideshow of a close up of images of each panel for my digipak which is my final piece.








 The image below is a look of my final digipak before it would be printed/folded, click to enlarge:

Coursework: Final Poster Advertisement

My poster was created by using Photoshop and a Wacom Bamboo tablet, using these allowed me to explore in to the creativeness of all the ideas that I had. It was essential to include the shoes that my video revolves around, and also the digipak includes also, so this iconic symbol would relate back to the artist. Yet again it is also in black and white, very much so like my video and digipak, the only colour to be seen is the Central point in the poster of the lines. This was inspired by the line art idea that I had, but more so by the tube lines integrating with on another as he travels all around, which is why I placed the image of his shoes on top showing his journey. I think that the poster is a good way to advertise the musician, it does not give too much away about the genre, song, or musician himself if the audience was never to heard of him, however I think that it draws the attention of the audience and would want to make them know more.

I used the theme of line art again when creating  the laces etc. I used the Bamboo tablet to draw on the laces, and too then outline images of london landscapes/skylines. I added these to make the page a little bit more busy, but also to relate to the song, and the title itself, I think that it fits well within the poster to finish it off, and also makes it look more modern and appealing to the younger audience.

In the bottom left corner is an image of a paw print, this is added to represent Ed Sheeran, as he include this on all his media products, the paw print represents his own record label that he created and signed himself too when still trying to reach fame. The symbol is famous and iconic of the musician, so I felt it was important to include it, as this is how he is recognised by the audience members.

Magazine Advertisement Poster Purpose

Before creating an advertisement for a magazine, I researched in to the importance and purposes of this idea, and what is essential to include in order to approach your audience.


I read online 'How Magazine Advertising Works' by Guy Consterdine in July 2005.
The theory has excellent examples of how magazines connect with the audience, and how to get your wanted outcome, when creating you have to almost imagine you are the audience member.
From it I learnt the average number of times an adult looks/reads a magazine, page exposure scores for music for men equalled too 2.46 and for women 1.87


things to consider:


- getting the audiences attention
- using conventions of your genre
- selling the product
- bold fonts

Digipak Mini Model

- click picture to enlarge - 

The picture above shows the printed template of a digipak that I had gotten offline, I then drew my idea on to it, which shows the outline of a pair of shoes as the front cover, however the laces extend up too the inserts sleeves, as well as representing his laces, I also wanted it to represent the idea of the River Thames, or his path of journey - which is why I included little images of london skyline buildings etc, to set where it was. The sleeve in which the cd would sit, also contains more line art, and squiggles of different colours, representing his journey, and the london tube map.




Below are pictures of a mini version of my digipak:

I am still in the process of editing from this idea, I want to add more images of buildings etc on to the laces to make it more eye catching, however it cannot look to crowded, as it wouldnt match the style of Ed Sheeran's more simplistic approach that I wanted to show.

Line Art

After researching in to different artist's album covers, I found even more so that I wanted to use the idea of Line Art, to create my album cover. I like the simplicity, yet striking effectiveness that Line art can hold amongst an audience, in order to learn more. Also it follows Ed Sheeran and his brand, as from research I found his videos and album covers are very simply created, and look almost 'ameutr.'  I was also very interested as my video is edited in black and white, so the black lines, and white background could resemble this, making it an iconic figure of Ed Sheeran. Also the lines could symbolise his journey and the underground lines that he takes.


Here is a definition I found on line about line art:
"Line art is any image that consists of distinct straight and curved lines placed against a (usually plain) background, without gradations in shade (darkness) or hue (colour) to represent two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects. Line art can use lines of different colours, although line art is usually monochromatic. Overall it is a great piece of art and refreshment for those who love painting. It is also called line drawing."

Some of the images that inspired me:

Screenshot of Editing

Original:

After:

As you can see I used the video effects to put it on a black and white/greyscale effect, I had to do this to every single video captures, even ones that I did not eventually use. I feel that the quality of the video looks better also, as when it got darker, the lighting became very dim due to no flash.

Similar Artists and CD Cover Work

The next process of creating a Digipak was to look at similar artists and their cover work for CDS/Albums. This would help me too get further inspiration and creative ideas by looking at examples of the iconic music genre (Altervative Folk Pop/Rock). From looking at these, I instantly knew that I wanted to create a digipak that would be simplistic - in the sense it is not too 'busy.'

Above is an image of pop, soul and alternative rock artist Jason Mraz, for his 2008 album 'We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.' The cover is very similar to Ed Sheerans in the way it contains a black and white edited effect, and also similar within the sketch/creativity that it holds of himself. His name stands out in bold, the image is of himself, and the album name is slightly smaller, but still noticeable.

Above is a smaller group called 'Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly' in which the cover art work is also very creative, and looks very abstract. It does not hold distinctive figures about the band, for example images of them. I really like the line work that is covering half of the cover, its very different and memorable, it also looks like it is set for  the younger generation. It makes me want to hear there music, and look further into the band.

Ben Howard, an English folk, rock artist album is slightly more different to Ed Sheerans, in that it doesn't have any form of drawing on, instead it has photography shot of somebody under water. I like the unique, vintage/alternative look that the image holds, through the editing choices. I like the big font, and the choice of having the font white makes it stand out and appeal to the audience. His audience is a younger generation so I feel it fits well to appeal to them.


I also then looked in to elder artists that are in the music genre, to see how it has developed/ or in some cases stayed similar. I looked at covers that where also of different genres, as the covers generally interested, and appealed to me.

This the album for 'The Dark Side of the Moon' by Pink Floyd released in 1973 - an English progressive rock band. The sleeve was designed by Hipgnosis and George Hardie. Richard Wright had specifically asked for a cover with something 'smarter, neater - more classy' and something 'simple and bold.'
I found online this section about the cover: "the gatefold design also includes a visual representation of the heartbeat sound used throughout the album, and the back of the album cover contains Thorgerson's suggestion of another prism recombining the spectrum of light, facilitating interesting layouts of the sleeve in record shops." I like the simplicity of the art work, and how eye catching it is. It does not give away too much about the band or their music, which appeals to the audience too listen further. I also like how the artist has visually represented the meaning of heartbeats etc, I think that its very effective and cleverly done.