Research and planning – Digipak: Drafts of digipak

Drafts of digipak

After identifying the most common details associated with our digipak such as artists name, album title, track list, parental advisory label and bar code - we created drafts for our digipak. This allowed us to explore different software and be creative to make it as appealing as possible to our target audience. We also took in feedback which allowed us to meet the target audience standards , this identified the importance of the digipak and the correct presentation and use of conventions were vital in ensuring how successful the album would be.

Draft 1:

Analyse your use of conventions using PEER:

• I have included an image of my artist and he is looking away from the camera, he is mainly wearing dark clothing which is captured with a medium shot - this is conventional as it makes my artist look mysterious and does not make the audience aware of what his intentions are.

• The title of my album is "Changes" which can intrigue the audience as they could have their own interpretation of the word, also it suggests that a story will be told.

• The low key lighting as well as the use of the blue and purple gradient creates a mysterious and intriguing atmosphere and mood. This is conventional as we are inviting the audience to discover more with this artist.

• The typography contrasts the background but also stands out, this yellow/gold colour can give off the idea of hope juxtaposing the negative connotations the dark themes may have.

• The overall layout is neat as everything fits properly and it does not look too cramped, this is conventional as the most important image of the artist is clear.

• The second image I have used is a train and can be linked to travel which can also be linked to the album title of changes, this further intrigues the audience leaving them wanting to know more about the album and what it contains.

• The language I have used is simple as the audience should be able to relate to it easily as my target audience are predominantly working class and I wish for them to understand it.

• Adorno and popular culture: This digipak follows most conventions and therefore is not going against hegemony, it is appealing to a mainstream audience due to the dark colours and the low key lighting, the artist does not look entirely relatable but his costume can be seen as conventional for those of the hip hop genre.

• ME-Ka is seen as promoting his culture and ideologies as he is dressed as a typical working class young male, representing them for their masses.

• Hebdige's subcultures: This digipak can also relate to the hip hop subcultures as well as others as it looks like a conventional hip hop album, very few hip hop albums are entirely about positive things. 

Audience feedback: Victoria, 18

What do you like about it?

Front cover

The title is clear

Very consistent with colours and text

Artist image is quite clear and intriguing 

Back cover

Gradient colour is nice as opposed to the same colour as the front

Image of train is interesting

What did you not like about it?

Front cover

The artist looks confused in the image

The artist name is not on the front

Back cover

The track list should be more clear and sizes should be changed.

How can it be improved?

Front cover

The artists name needs to be added to the front

Make the image of the artist brighter

Back cover

More information such as artist name on the back

Distributing company logo can be added

Production details on back cover need to be added

Draft 2

Analyse your use of conventions using PEER

• I have included an image of my artist and he is looking away from the camera, he is wearing all black which is captured with a medium shot - this is conventional as it makes my artist look mysterious and does not make the audience aware of what his intentions are.

• The title of my album is "Changes" which can intrigue the audience as they could have their own interpretation of the word, also it suggests that a story will be told.

• There is a darkened image of my artist which has tones of blue with low key lighting, this adds mysteriousness to his character which should intrigue audiences.

• The typography contrasts the background but also stands out, this yellow/gold colour can give off the idea of hope juxtaposing the negative connotations the dark themes may have.

• The red colour of the background represents blood, sorrow and pain which contrasts with the typography.

• The layout of the front and back images is consistent and works well as whole as it is simple.

• The language I have used is simple as the audience should be able to relate to it easily as my target audience are predominantly working class and I wish for them to understand it.

• Adorno and popular culture: This digipak follows most conventions and therefore is not going against hegemony, it is appealing to a mainstream audience due to the dark colours and the low key lighting, the artist does not look entirely relatable but his costume can be seen as conventional for those of the hip hop genre.

• ME-Ka is seen as promoting his culture and ideologies as he is dressed as a typical working class young male, representing them for their masses.

• Hebdige's subcultures: This digipak can also relate to the hip hop subcultures as well as others as it looks like a conventional hip hop album, very few hip hop albums are entirely about positive things. 

Audience feedback: Matthew, 19

Strengths - 

Colours and text is consistent

Typography is clear and juxtaposes the background well - stands out (which is conventional)

Good artist representation - it is intriguing 

Weaknesses - 

Image of artist too dark

Parental advisory label missing from front cover

Artist name is missing on either cover

No production information

Conclusion:

The drafting of the digipak process has allowed us to create a final digipak which has been built from the constructive criticism we received from the feedback. The changes we made included changing some of the spacing of the typography, as well as adding a parental advisory label to the front cover and the artists name to the back. We chose not to add his name to the front as we wanted him to seem like an established commodity who is recognised via his star image. A barcode was also added for when the album goes on sale as professional digipaks have this. The drafting process was vital and it was effective as we were able to understand the small issues with the quality of the digipak, without it it would not be as successful. 

Research and planning – Digipak: Identifying conventions and analysing existing digipaks

Identifying Conventions and Analysing Existing Digipaks

Purpose:

• Marketing tool that sells/promotes the album
• Displays indirect information such as the ideologies of the artist
• Creates, adapts or feeds into representation of 'star image'
• A product to keep hold of, can be a collectors item
• Attract a particular target audience
• Buy into artist lifestyle and ideas
• An everlasting product that will symbolise the artist and the album
• Form of synergy - advertising and promotion
• Creates a relationship between the artist and audience

What are the generic conventions?

The generic conventions of a digipak includes:

Artist image
Tracklist
Parental advisory label
Record label
Barcode
Album title
Company details
Critical details
Critical sticker

Analyse two examples that are similar to your genre/artist:

Conclusion:

How has this research given your group ideas on what to include in your digipak?

This research has been extremely beneficial to our planning process as we now have a better understanding regarding our digipaks. We are also able to identify their purpose which is that they are marketing tools used to sell and promote an artists album to the audience and is what determines a success of an album. Furthermore, we have also disserved what the generic conventions of digipaks are. As a result, we will be following the generic conventions in order to secure the success of our digipak also making sure that it looks professional which will encourage audiences to buy the product. After we analysed existing products from similar artists from the hip pop genre, we also identified that these digipaks consistently use dark colours and simple with important information so that the audience are aware of it. We decided to follow this convention and go with dark colours ourselves to promote the dark mood which also reflects the songs in the album. We only included relevant information to prevent the audience of getting bored. Overall, by following these generic conventions and being influenced by digipaks from similar artists and genres, we believe that it has a high chance of being successful, drawing our target audience of what they're use to seeing in mainstream hip-pop.

Research and planning – Digipak: Digipak information

Digipak information:

Artist name:

When we were deciding the name of the artist we were to make sure it was different from conventional hip hop artists, although we did draw inspiration from another singer/songwriter. ME-Ka's first name is Emeka, the idea came as if you sound out the letters of ME-Ka it sounds like his name, which is what he will go by.

Album name:

The album will be called 'Changes', this is due to the changes that the artist is going through and has previously experiences, the theme of change will be evident throughout the album. This album title is also short as it is one word and therefore it will be easy to remember, the audience will find it easy to talk about which allows the album to gain more recognition. The album title should also hopefully relate to our target audience who are not necessarily well off in society, therefore will be expecting changes in their life.

Tracklist:

The tracklist we have chosen contains 12 songs, they all follow similar themes although two of the tracks will be interludes. This is because this has been a convention lately in hip hop instrumentals, and tells more of a story for when people are listening to the album. The themes will include, love, life, death, changes and youth culture.

Tracklist:

1) Shifting
2) Mortality
3) Young Man
4) Father interlude
5) Young Woman
6) For Better
7) Changes
8) Die Too Young
9) Grandmother interlude
10) Wasting Time
11) Culture
12) Newcomer

The track names are different but they all relate to the themes of the song and the album itself. The father and grandmother interlude will both include the artist's father and grandmother speaking respectively, it will be something that has been previously recorded via a phone call and what they speak about is also related to the themes of the album.

Music institution:

For our music institution, we have chosen 'Universal Music Group'. It is an international institution that manages many mainstream and popular artists. These artists include: Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Adele, Lil Wayne and Jay Z. These artist are all very successful and have a combined net worth in the of over $1 billion. They are all original in their own way and have released a different number of albums and mix tapes. Our artist is new and is striving to be like one of these artists, we believe this is very achievable under the guidance of Universal Music Group.

Production Company:

Our production company is called D-T records as it is the first letter of both the co-founders first names, Dillan and Trang. This name is easy and short, therefore it is easy to remember if it were to be referenced and put on the digipak.

Explicit content label:

We have discussed and decided to add the explicit lyrics label to the cover and other products in the digipak for our album. This is due to the fact some of the songs containing strong profanity as this is a way the artist chooses to express themselves, as well as some sexual language which will be inappropriate for listeners under the age of 18. It is also necessary to include this label to avoid getting abuse from listeners who are not warned of these things. Also radio hosts and DJ's will know whether they need to censor ME-Ka's songs or not when they play them. The profanity and explicit lyrics is also conventional to the hip hop genre, also our target audience are all above the age of 18, therefore it will be less controversial for them.

Research and planning – Digipak: Creative brief

Creative brief for digipak

Oasis Academy Hadley

5 South Street

EN3 5PX

dillan.abraham@oasishadley.org

Date: 10/12/2016

Album title: Changes

Artist: ME-KA

Project Managers: Dillan Abraham and Trang Lam

Release Date: 27th January 2017

Product Overview:

ME-KA is a songwriter, singer, record producer and actor who initially was an actor who had minor roles in low budget television movies from the age of 12. At 15 he started singing, songwriting and producing music which lead to underground recognition and recognition within his community. He then began performing at small clubs and small local festivals, eventually releasing 2 EP's and a mixtape on websites such as DatPiff before signing to D-T records, where he then began helping write and produce other artists music from the same label. He has just returned from a European tour and as it had sold out he had established an International status as a hiphop artist and will release his debut album under the D-T records label.

The Album concept:

What is it?

We wish to establish an album cover that will represent ME-KA's star image in the best way possible. This is to attract a variety of different audiences between the ages of 18-25, from all ethnic and social backgrounds, but mainly aiming at those of working and skilled working class backgrounds. This is because they are more likely to be able to relate more to the Hip-Hop genre. Our album should be reinforcing ME-KA's ideologies and beliefs, and hopefully also appeal to hip hop subcultures as well as a mainstream audience. However the designs of the album cover will hopefully be different and not necessarily conventional as it should be unique enough to show the mainstream audience that ME-KA's style is different. This way it will allow the artist to be even more internationally recognised, to not just ensure domestic  success alone.

Why are we doing it?

ME-KA's debut studio album should aim to bring international success as well as top global charts, not just domestic ones. This will be done through creating an effective digipak which will attract all audiences, both mainstream and niche. We will ensure that pictures, typography and the colours used will be visually appealing while promoting the themes of the music within the album. The themes include youth culture, love, death and hope.

Comparable products:

Drake - Views From The 6

Sales figures: 852,000 copies in first week of release.

J Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive

Sales figures: 371,000 sales in first week of release.


Chance The Rapper - 10 Day

Sales figures: Over 600,000 streams and 400,000 downloads.

We think these three albums are unique and unconventional to other hip hop album covers. They also portray themes of hope and youth and all use a neutral colour of blue which we can take inspiration from. To an extent they are all simple yet still engage and attract an audience which we will be aiming to do.

What is the reaction we want?

The demographics of our target audience include, working and skilled working class people, aged 18-25, any gender and ethnic minority. It is broad therefore it can reach the widest audience and can relate to as many people as possible. We wish to also educate those about ME-KA and his roots, coming from a lower/working class background but getting commercial success allowing him to succeed. The audience should see the album as hopeful and as a motivational tool to prosper themselves.

How will we know it has worked?

The amount we sell in the first week of the album release, as well as whether it gets on international charts and holds its position, also the general feedback from both critics and audiences. A focus group will be held with people between the ages of 18 and 25 who fit our demographic. They will be shown drafts of the album designs and give us feedback, this allows us to make the correct changes and take on constructive criticism which allows us to create a final draft which will be the most appealing to the target audience. For the album to engage the target audience is very important as it could determine how successful the album is, we will use our feedback to ensure the album is affordable for our audience as well as learn what they like and do not like about it.

Launch dates:

ME-KA's campaign dates:

Press Campaign: 10th January 2017

TV Launch: 14th January 2017

Album release: 27th January 2017

Limitations:

Consistency may be an issue when making the three products for the digipak, to ensure this though we must continually update and keep editing the products to make sure the lighting, typography, themes the digipak follows are very similar.

If the press campaign is not as successful as we hoped, the artist himself will be self promoting via social media such as twitter, facebook and instagram. As well as this, other artists on the label will do the same, this is essentially free press and is very important to ensure the success of the album.