Digipak Audience Interviews and Initial Digipak Plans

During my target audience interviews in which I asked members of my primary target audience what they would expect to see in music videos from artists they enjoy, I also decided to ask them a select few questions on their views towards digipaks and album artwork in preparation for the production of my band's digipak. I decided that through asking the same interviewees about the music video and the digipak, I will be able to create a media product perfectly constructed with my target audience in mind at all stages of the production of the digipak and video.

Interviewee One

My first interviewee is an eighteen year old college student from Bristol who is studying music technology and media studies therefore already has some knowledge on both film and music. I have chosen this applicant on the basis of his age and music taste as he listens to bands such as Swim Deep and Peace who I wish to emulate in my own video therefore his opinions on what he likes to see in music videos are likely to be similar to other fans of bands within this genre. The interviewee takes part in various social activities including attending gigs, socialising, drinking as well as playing in his own band who create music within the confines of the very same genre as Swim Deep and Peace. Although he plays to start university in the near future, the interviewee comes from a lower middle class background and his lack on income could classify him as either an aspirer or struggler.

1. What do you think makes a good album art?

2. What do you think makes a bad album art?

3. What are your favourite album arts?

Task	Date for Completion	Completion
Digipak Breakdowns	8th October 2013	Completed
Target Audience Interviews	8th October 2013	Completed
Early Designs and Photoshoot	17th October 2013
Contingency Shoots	7th November
Final Digipak	10th November

Initial Digipak Plans

After completing my research into both the construction of digipaks and what my target audience search for when purchasing an album, I have created two separate initial designs for my digipak in which I have incorporated ideas picked up from comments from my audience as well as my own observations of Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, AM and Nevermind. In the coming days I will focus on one of these ideas and commence with photo shoots in order to acquire images. My ideas for the inside of the digipak do not alter regardless of what front and back cover I choose.

Band Name

After completing my research into bands such as Swim Deep and Peace as well as their videos I decided it would be fitting to maintain the style of upcoming indie bands such as Peace, Jaws and Splashh by giving the band a one word name. Great deliberation followed this as many different names were suggested which were fashioned in a variety of different ways, due to the contemporary fashion of duplicating letters such as 'Splashh'. Here are some of the suggested names for the band.

The band name finally agreed upon is 'Bliss'. Bliss is an abstract noun and cannot be physically touched by anyone, bliss is a feeling of perfect happiness and joy in which an individual is oblivious to everything. The denotations of the word bliss juxtapose the bands music and the album cover itself however suggest that although this may not be how they feel, this may be how their audience will feel after they have listened to their music. The name Bliss is also inspired by the band Nirvana who have also used an abstract noun with very similar denotations to the word bliss, and as Bliss is a name they also considered, Bliss' musical influences are clearly portrayed through not only their music but also their name.

I have scanned a list of names my media associate brainstormed before settling on the name 'Bliss'.

Front Cover and Back Cover One

The first front cover design I have to consider features a photograph of a beach on a dreary day in order to reflect the melancholic tone of the band who sing about sad subject matters such as losing a girl however mask their sorrow with upbeat rhythms, a similar technique to The Smiths. I feel this image is appropriate for this as a beach carries many connotations of warmth and fun creating a juxtaposition with the denotations of the actual image which is dull and grey, connoting misery and disappointment; similar to the bands juxtaposition between music and lyrics. 

The beach photograph which is pictured unedited below, is surrounded by a thick white border which dominates the front cover. This idea originates from contemporary social network fashions including Tumblr and Instagram culture, one major current trend within my target demographic is the inclusion of a white background around all pictures they take themselves; therefore if they were to see this design on a supermarket shelf, or even online, they would instantly identify with the band who are now in their eyes just like them. However this is a risky approach as Internet trends are very short lived therefore in a years time the album art may be seen as out of date and embarrassing by the very same audience. 

The top left of the front cover will feature a small logo of two waves, one on top of the other, which will feature in the music video for people who may recall seeing the video but do not remember who the band were, when they see the digipak on sale they will instantly put two and two together and vice versa. Both the bands name, Bliss, and the name of the album, Smooth, are featured on the cover of the album in a softly curved font known as harabara this font will be used throughout the digipak. 

The back cover will feature three of the bands logo waves in which a song will be placed above each curve, through this the bands logo becomes a running theme across the exterior of the digipak in order to make the logo more recognisable to the audience. The logo is very similar to that of Swim Deep, both are pictured below, therefore my demographic audience will instantly see the connection between the two bands image and later on their music. The waves and track listing will be placed over the exact same image from the front cover as it will be spread across the two pages therefore when the digipak is unfolded, there is an almost panoramic image of a dull grey beach; as if the audience are only given the full picture of what the band are about by opening the digipak leading them into listening to the music.

Front and Back Cover Two

The second idea I had for a front cover, and my preferred one, is very similar to the first design however omits the white border around the beach image therefore allowing the image to cover the whole face of the digipak. Another difference between the two is the second idea also does not include the bands name on the front, only their logo and the album name; this came from inspiration from AM which only features the name on a sticker which can be peeled off therefore there is a sense of enigma surrounding who made the album, a sense of enigma I wish to emulate, forcing people to pick up the album and flip it over to see who its creators are.

The real difference between the two occurs on the back cover which, again, features the rest of the beach image; however includes four different logos which feature inside the digipak as well as in the music video. These four images were inspired by Swim Deep as there is a shot of one of the members of Swim Deep with what appears to be a tattooed alien head on one of his fingers, the use of images of flowers, peace and the moon also broaden the juxtaposition between the bands lyrics and iconography. These logos will also be used on the inside of the digipak as well as in the video therefore will work in a similar fashion to the waves logo on the front over; the logos connote a sense of peace and calm, with the flower and peace sign referencing the 1960's/70's which work in coherence with the bands name which also connotes tranquility. The two ideas also differ in their track listings. Inspiration was taken from Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not as the songs are listed without numbers horizontally. Similar to Arctic Monkeys, the songs are also separated but in a much more distinct fashion as the nine tracks will either be in pairs or isolated, with the three isolated tracks being the albums singles starting with 'Pink Lemonade', the song which will be included in the music video. This technique will be beneficial for selling the product as people's eyes will be drawn directly to the isolated tracks which they will recognise as the bands singles when they pick up the album, perhaps from seeing the Pink Lemonade video. 

Below are images of my early front and back cover designs as well as a sketch of the waves logo I wish to use on the front of the album, I have also included Swim Deep's logo (the black image) in order to present their similarities.

Inside the Digipak Ideas

The inside cover of the digipak will feature photographs of band members, one shot will be a close up of a hand with the four image logos drawn on each finger with the letters b, l, i, s and s on each finger below, the other will either be a band member sat at the bottom of a skate ramp on concrete or one of the band members sat surrounded by grass whilst looking away from the camera to appear lost and miserable or a shot within the same location of a band members acid wash jeans and vintage jumper. As these images include members of the band however their faces are not shown, a sense of enigma is maintained forcing the audience to delve further into the digipak for more information. All three of these options would easily work, a great deal of my decision relies on the quality of images I obtain therefore I have a shot list including a variety of different ideas which I also plan to collect as a contingency plan if the images I wish to use are not fitting, I may also take an image of something and later believe that it suits better than my original idea. 

The inside of the booklet takes inspiration from Nevermind as it will include the first photograph of the band all together where their faces are clearly visible, I plan to take three separate photographs of the band members with the bassist and drummer looking away from the camera in opposite directions and the front man staring down the lens of the camera, in Photoshop I will place these three images across the two page spread with the lead singer in the middle. I am yet to decide on the lighting I will use for the shots but I am likely to experiment with both low and high key photography at this stage in order to see what fits in best with the rest of the album. A low key shoot would maintain the coherence between the mood of both the music and the digipak however experimenting with both is a safer option just in case the low key shots do not match. Another contingency plan I have created is on my shot list for my first photo shoot in which I will take a picture of a skate ramp just in case none of the band photographs fit in with the rest of the digipak. A shot of a skate ramp will further construct the rebellious, skater ideology of the band which will be represented through the music video as well as the other shots on the inside of the digipak as well as represent their working class background therefore identifying with the target audience of poor teenagers who have no income so therefore will instantly identify with a band who have no money yet somehow still manage to live out their dreams even though they came from nothing.

Task	Date for Completion	Completion
Digipak Breakdowns	8th October 2013	Completed
Target Audience Interviews	8th October 2013	Completed
Early Designs and Photoshoot	17th October 2013	Completed
Contingency Shoots	7th November
Final Digipak	10th November