Final Digipak

This is my final digipak for 'Static' by Dysphoria.

For the front cover I have used a simple image of the star's (Stefani) face, as many artists use a shot of the lead singer or star's face to allow the audience to identify with the band/star, therefore conforming to Richard Dyer's star quality theory. I changed the contrast and brightness of the image to make it stand out, and kept the colours in black and white. I chose to leave the colours in black and white due to this being the main feature of our music video for 'Static', due to dark colours especially black and white being a key feature of the indie/rock genre and due to many bands from my research having used this effectively. I also used the same font that we used at the beginning of our music video to introduce the band and song, which creates continuity between the music video and my digipak whilst also creating an image for the band. Lastly, I used a simple white spine with black font displaying the band's name and the EP name, which I saw frequently in my research.

For the middle of my digipak I placed a lyric book on the left with a similar colour and font theme, which is a common feature of a digipak. I also added a QR code at the bottom to incise the audience to find out more information about the band and to make the inside of the EP more exciting. For the left side I added the CD with a simple image from the music video to 'Static'.

Lastly, for the back cover of my digipak I conformed to most of the features I came across in my research. For example, the track list numbered down the side (however, I did not add the duration of the song next to it), an image that follows the theme of the rest of my digipak and finally a barcode and a parental advisory sticker.

Digipak Draft

I have been working on creating my own digipak for 'Static' by Dysphoria. I have been learning to use photoshop to do so, and the is is what I have so far. 

For the front cover I still need to add the spine so that the album name and artist can be easily identified.

For the middle space next to the CD I was considering leaving it will just a picture as many digipaks i have researched are very simple like this, however, I have also noticed that many albums contain a lyric booklet, so I might add in one of these to fill the empty space.

This is the picture I will be using for my CD, however I still need to add a template to this to make it look like a CD and not just a picture.

The back cover for my digipak is nearly complete, I just need to add in a few details that the back of an album usually contains, for example, a barcode.

Bastille Digipak Analysis

Bastille's digipak for 'Bad Blood' is also of the indie/rock genre.

The front cover conforms to most of the conventions of a digipak in general, but also to most of those of a digipak from the indie/rock genre. For example, the colours used are neutral tones, mostly dark colours with bold white writing to stand out and appeal to the audience, which I will also use in my digipak. The image displayed is also a typical kind of image found on a indie/rock album cover, as it it gives hints to a narrative and is set in a rural setting with natural mise en scene. As our video is set in rural, woodland and natural settings I can take inspiration from this, and use an image that gives a hint to the narrative to our music video to 'Static'. The cover also has a list of producers and band members listed at the bottom, which I could also use to introduce the band to my target audience. 

The CD is again, very simplistic and in a dark colour (black), which from my research I have noticed that this is a common feature that I have seen in all of the indie/rock digipaks. Therefore, I will keep my CD very simple, with only an image or the band name and album on it.

The back cover of the album shows a related image to that shown on the front cover, which keeps the digipak consistent from back to front in terms of image and colour. I really like this idea because it builds up an instant image of the album's tone and mood. The track list is also placed on the back of the digipak, in the same font that was used on the front cover. This is also something I want to do when making my digipak, as keeping the type the same makes it look professional. The spine of the album simply states the band name and the album name, which I am going to use as it is effective for an audience when identifying the band and album. Lastly, it has a barcode which I will also use on my back cover.

Digipak Lyric Booklets

One feature of many digipaks which I am considering adding into my own is a lyric booklet in the middle section. I like this idea as it complies to Blumler and Katz's uses and gratifications theory as it allows the audience to identify with the album more, as if they can see the lyrics they may gain a deeper understanding of the album and songs. Here are some examples:

I particularly like Olly Murs' lyric booklet because it fits with the theme of his album and portrays his star quality image, complying with Richard Dyer's theory, through the use of the font type and pictures of him throughout. This is something I am considering adding into my own digipak.

Arctic Monkeys Digipak Analysis

The Arctic Monkeys are also another band of the indie/rock genre who's digipak I have used to gain inspiration for my own digipak.

The Front cover of the digipak for 'AM' by Arctic Monkeys is also very minimalistic, like the Vampire Weekend's digipak. This front cover simply has a black background, the Arctic Monkey's band logo and the image displayed above. The reason for this is because the Arctic Monkey's have a very strong fan base, who would immediately identify the band with the front cover, due to the logo and the image being the one used for the albums first single 'Do I Wanna Know?'. As mentioned before, I want to keep my digipak simplistic, however, not as simplistic as the Arctic Monkey's have. I want to add an image of the star of our band, to conform to Richard Dyer's star quality theory and to ensure our audience can identify with her. I also want to display the band's name and the album name on the front cover as well as a separate image and possibly a band logo, not just a band logo and the image as the Arctic Monkey's have.

 The CD also displays the image shown on the front cover, which fits well and ensures there is continuity throughout the digipak. However, I want to change the image on the CD so that it differs from the front cover, simply to show more features and characteristics  of the band and their album. However, I will take inspiration from the simplistic design used, only displaying an image and not the band or album name too.

The back cover of the digipak consists of the Arctic Monkey's logo once again, with a track list, barcode and the production details in small print below it. They have also used a consistent colour scheme throughout of black and white, which I will also be using for my digipak as this conforms to the indie/rock genre. In terms of font, they have used a bold font which is clear for audiences to read and easily identify the band with the logo, which is also something I hope to do for my digipak.