Media studies:

How I came up with my idea:

Through the past few weeks, I have been developing m Digipak, and it started with some proficient research and analysis tasks. At first, my idea was to have a Digipak with a simple black, white, red and yellow type of colour palette, with a basic front image, title, and consistent use of fonts, with the inside panels containing images of a pub which very vaguely relates to the narrative content of my video, relating to drug abuse and the coping of depression. However, in order to know and therefore produce a very attractive, fitting and inspirational Digipak and poster with high quality and effectiveness of music video promotion, I had to consider some examples of other music media texts there are, and compare, contrast, and analyses what made them successful, famous examples of music video Digipaks. 1. The analysis of music album covers. Within the lessons, I frequently checked out the most inspirational poster and album cover booklets that we were provided with to give me a clear view of what a Digipak and poster are supposed to be like. Then, as part of the analysis tasks I had to perform, I checked out some relevant already existing examples, as evidenced in my PowerPoint presentation, of 3 Digipaks and 1 extra cover. Not only did I analyse the Digipak examples of I am Kloot and Elbow, as well as a cover of Cantinero to get an understanding of what makes a Soft rock Digipak work, but I also made a contrast to a more broad, mainstream example in a Kerrang Digipak. This provided me with clear understanding of what makes a soft rock Digipak in particular work well and attract an audience effectively. More information on the PowerPoint will clearly demonstrate my progression of understanding a lot better.

Above is an example of the work I produced for my Digipak analysis previously. The left example provides a demonstration of a fitting background. The background resembles a grotty, degraded scenery and setting, as if the man on the cover had metaphorically been stung and ended up there.

Similarly, in my Digipak front cover, the background is simply a black to white gradient effect. The black corner under my face, showing how my character is lonely, depressed and empty inside, like a connotation associated with colour black. Then in the white corner being a sketch of me and my girlfriend as explained previously. This will blend into the white section of the front covers background. The second example on the right is where I got my idea to produce a drawing that would feature as my background image on my Digipak front cover. 2. Poster analysis. To progress further with my idea of a Digipak production, I went on to analyse 3 music posters, also relating to the soft rock genre and artists. This is where I received my understanding of necessary use of consistency in production, i.e. a consistent colour palette.

As seen in the example above, the Elbow poster resembles its Digipak counterpart significantly, such as the same use of colours, same use of typography and fonts, etc even the same front sketch image. This is where I got the idea that my own produced work should be consistent in design and appearance. 3. Subsidiary analysis tasks. Other tasks I have worked on for the Digipak creation included determining a suitable use of fonts and colours. The colour palette examples and typography posts respectively demonstrate this. Through these tasks, I analysed what would be necessary to use for my Digipak and poster, considering the artist, relevant use of illustration correlating with the music video narrative, the soft rock genre it must apply to, etc

The colour palette example above demonstrates my analysis and research into effective option of colour palette. This explains why this colour palette is a good idea. The first example I selected for analysis is going to be the one I use, being that all the colours are dominant yet casual in appearance (not too bright and outgoing unlike yellow, red, green etc Remember the soft rock being the blue Oni in the previously mentioned red oni, blue oni concept.) As far as typography goes, the ideas and examples presented in my document dont actually relate to the product I am planning to make, as I changed my decision of what fonts I will use. I have checked some of the available fonts on Photoshop software, and the fonts I am going to use will be different. The most frequent font I will use for small text features will be made of a casual, classical appearing font whereas titles and subheads will be made using a more stand out, bold font. 4. Inspirations. In addition to my Digipak analysis tasks, I also took examples of some other covers of music. Instead of liking the overall ideas necessarily to these, I took the covers and simply stated what I liked best about them and how they inspired me with my own planned Digipak making. These inspirations are demonstrated on my inspirations post on the blog.

The example above is one of the several different inspirations I taken in my inspirations post. This one was used to demonstrate effective use of a background image. This lays it out and promotes selective focus towards the attractive background image of the pier well, something I plan to do with my own background image of the sketch I draw for my front cover of the Digipak. 5. Overall ideas. With all this analysis committed, I now have a solid idea, as explained in my overall ideas and decisions post. See that for an explanation of my Digipak idea.

The progression I have made:

The progression I have made in my ideas is very significant. Throughout my analysis and inspiration tasks, I have understood what a soft rock Digipak and poster are to expect. Very casual use of colours, nothing too bright, and some relevant font, something that makes text stand out but is not too outgoing like a mainstream attempt at visual marketing techniques. Overall, I have developed a clear understanding of how I am going to produce a Digipak and poster, and my ideas now extend far beyond the previous sketch idea I produced for a Digipak. I will use the influence I have gathered from researching through other media texts well, and even plan to put my new understanding and skills into practice, as my next post will represent