Evaluation

Here is my evaluation blog:

http://tds-gtranter-evaluation.blogspot.co.uk/

Digipak Designs

Firstly I need to link my designs with my genre of music and the feel that I'd like to portray.
I made a list of things that I felt are associated traditionally with my chosen genre. These include:

• Social injustice
• Rastafarian religion
• Caribbean dance
• Drugs and cannabis
• Alcohol - rum/cocktails
• Red, yellow and green colour combinations
• Violence and street crime
• Jamaica and the carribbean
• Wooden maracas, steel drums and other percussion instruments
• The beach, oceans, boats, white sand
• Clear pools, water falls and swimming
• Foliage - palm trees, exotic flowers
• Exotic fruit - kiwi, coconuts (palm trees), pineapple, grapefruit, melon, lime/lemon/orange, mango, passionfruit, pomegranate, cocoa beans

I then listed other areas where I thought the genre could be taken, these include:

• Summer meadows
• Corn fields
• Clean, healthy living
• Back to nature 

I started to mock up a few design ideas, playing around with font, pictures and positioning.

Album Cover:

 

 

Tracklist:

 

 

Booklet Back:

 

 

CD:

 



 

Magazine Advert:

 

 

 

Font and Colour Scheme

When looking at fonts for my digipak, I decided that I would like to use one that would represent a signature or autograph. This looks more personalized and hand drawn, going more natural and less manufactured. This links with my artist who is in touch with nature, also shows her dominance in the music industry, and people would probably want her autograph.

To research different fonts I used the websites 'dafont' and 'myfont' where I found a few that I would like to try out when I mock up my digipak designs.

When thinking about my colour scheme I was torn between the typical Jamaican reggae colours of yellow, red and green, or chose a more subtle, classy colour pallette. When using Adobe Illustrator I came across a number of colour palettes that I thought would work very well for my digipak.

Artist and Album Name

Actual artist name for 'Cloud 9' - Ms. Dynamite

And her birth name is Niomi Arleen MacLean-Dale

The followings names were created as a result of research conducted among my target audience:

 

• Rowena, Isla, Essie, Tamera, Cece, Tequila, Saffron, Miss Kingston, Rio, Rhia, Bobbie, Nadine, Sofia, Mercy, Ashley, Phoebe, Topaz, Sapphire

And these were shortlisted to:

• Tequila
• Saffron
• Cece

And after further research I have decided to select the name 'Saffron'
I chose this name as it is an expensive, exotic spice, often used in Caribbean cooking, is very feminine and a name that I haven't come across in the music industry. It represents all that is exotic and romantic about Caribbean reggae music and one that my target audience can associate with.

The following album titles were created as a result of research conducted among my target audience:

• i-con, Escape, Heat, Dreams, Desire, Sensation, Fruit punch, Fruit salad, Paradise lost - paradise found, Holiday, Summertime, Heatwave, Fascination, Ecstasy, Sunset, Altitude

And these were shortlisted to:

• Summertime
• Paradise Found
• Altitude

And after further research I have decided to select the album name 'Altitude'
I chose this name as it represents height, success, being high and links well with my selected song 'Cloud 9'. It represents success, power and superiority but also can relate to nature, this was also a favourite of my target audience.

Some more digpak inspiration

I came across the Nelly Furtado album, 'Whoa. Nelly!'

I really like the natural approach, the simple use of natural colours and a simple colour palette of yellows, greens and the contrast with the apricot. All of these colours and the natural theme carries all the way through with location and artist's choice of clothing. Also the locations used are similar to mine, the natural outdoors. The simplistic pattern on the CD design is simple yet very effective, contrasting with the other busier aspects of the digipak. 

The booklet back is interesting that it doesn't feature the artist, but instead carries through the natural outdoor summer theme. The font is young and fun and although probably not what I would chose is well matched to the imagery portrayed.

However, there is a danger that if I go too far down the 'natural' route my song could potentially be mistaken for a 'country and western' style rather than reggae.

Magazine Advert Inspiration

I spent some time looking at new album advertising material that is used to launch new music to their target audience.

• Image of artist as main focus - launching latest imagery, style, hair, makeup etc
• Artist name also heavily featured to associate with the image - sometimes artist signatures are used
• Album name that is being released 
• Date of release and where to buy or download
• Website for further information about the artist
• Highlights any successful tracks that have already been hits for the artist
• Striking, bold and eye catching to stand out among the other music magazine colourful pages
• Images link strongly with the album design for easy recognition at point of sale, but not necessarily identical
• Clever use of typography and fonts

Digipak Inspiration

I have researched a number of digipaks to look at the styles used by female artists. This has given me some ideas that I'd like to include in my own digipak.

Album cover

• The solo artist is usually the main focus, image not always centred, leaving space for text
• Simple or on location backgrounds used in photography
• Very posed shots to portray dominance in the industry
• Little text used, just artist name and album title - sometimes using the artist signature
• Limited colour palette used - for example, duo-tones, black and white photography with contrasting text 

Album back - tracklist

• More artist photography - sometimes showing the artist from the back
• Track listing, often text wrapped around the artist image
• Barcode to help at point of sales - no standard positioning 
• Record label logo and date of issue
• Limited colour palletes to match album cover
• No standard on whether text is featured on the right, left or centred

Booklet back

• More stylised photography, often closeup shots of artist
• Limited or no text included, more space for creating imagery
• Same limited colour palettes to blend with album cover
• Simplistic designs, focus on the artist

 CD design

• More simple designs than the booklets
• Patterns and graphics used rather than photography
• Limited text - artist name, album title and sometimes track listing
• Limited colour palettes consistent with rest of the digipak