Final Digipak

I followed the same layout as my plan, with the CD space in the middle and the other panes folding in.

Digipack Sixth Page

For my last page, I used an action shot of my performer dancing on a train. However, I didn't want to just have a picture as all my pages featured a picture taking up the whole page. I then had the idea of adding the song lyrics which worked well, as I only featured the one song and made my background picture more transparent.

TLC's digipack included song lyrics, but as an insert. However, as I had a spare page that would fold inside, I though this was the perfect space to include my song lyrics. I kept the title within the house style - a brown colour to match the sepia tint and Accent font. Although, I decided on the font Arial for the lyrics as these had to be small and Arial is easier to read.

Digipack Inside Panes

The two inside panes either side of the middle pane where my CD fits, I wanted to keep simple and include just pictures. I used two pictures I had taken down an alley way and changed them to Sepia.

An idea I wanted to use from the start was including the repeated chorus lyrics, however keeping them very faint and transparent. I included the first three words 'La Da De' on the left pane, and the last three words 'La Da Da' on the right pane, so even though these two pages aren't next to one another, they link together. 

Digipack CD Space

The space where the CD would fit would be the middle pane of my digipack. I wanted an image of a CD here so the customer knows this is where the CD should be placed. As my whole theme is the nineties, I researched old vinyls to use as an image rather than a CD. I found this image of a vinyl which I liked.

In Serif PagePlus edited out the middle so its just a disc with a large centre hole. I then changed this image to Sepia to fit within the colour scheme.

Digipack Contents

As this is only a single, I only featured three songs. From all the previous singles I have brought, I noticed that they include the original song, and then either a remix, an instrumental version, or a new unheard of song that isn't a hit. I decided to include the first three on my digipack cover.

I chose a shot of my performer sitting on the floor. When I had planned this shot, I knew I wanted it to be for the back of my digipack so knew it had to feature words somewhere on the page. I purposely positioned her to sit to one side leaning against a Garage on the right, so I could place my song titles to the left.

For the song titles, I used the same font as what I had used throughout for my digipack front over and magazine advertisement - Accent. I positioned these at an angle so they fit between the lines on the garage.

After looking at TLC's digipack I noticed that mine looked very plain.   


I began looking at more digipack's that I had researched including Katy Perry's and Britney Spears, and noticed that all these had small print about the producers of distributors of the digipack and a barcode. So I created a barcode in Serif PagePlus using a white square, lots of black lines of different thicknesses and a random selection of 10 numbers, as I noticed there were 10 on TLC's barcode. I put this barcode to the right of my performer. I too included similar small print to TLC's. I included two pretend names and Crystal Watts as executive producers, a website called www.crystalwattsmusic.co.uk, stated that it was made in the UK, all trademark and logos were protected, and was distributed by MUS. I also made a logo to represent a music company, and altered the transparency so this was very faint. Overall, this made my contents look more professional and like existing products.

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My Digipack Front Cover

Overall I wanted my digipack to fit in with my magazine and Music Video, so kept with the same colouring, which is Sepia. For my front cover my initial idea was to have my performer during an action shot on the stairs or leaning over a stair rail. However, my initial idea of using stairs in London wasn't as succesful as I had hoped they would be. So instead, I used a shot of my performer in my new locations - old, rundown areas.

Another first idea I had for the front cover was having the repeated chorus lyrics - La Da De La Da Da, however I decided to use these just on my inside pages either side of the middle pane where my CD is placed, which I had orginally planned to do anyway.

The picture I chose for my front cover was one of my performer leaning against a fence. I chose a close up head shot to fit in with Andrew Goodwins idea of a star persona. This is the idea that close up shots are used, so the artist becomes more recognised by the public, therefore more popular. You can also clearly see the carefully styling, such as the dark lipstick, high ponytail and little hoop earrings.

I added a sepia effect to my picture so it ties in with the digipack and music video. I used the same lettering as my advertisement, but changed the colour so it was readable against the background. I aslo used the warp tool, so change the shape so it fitted around my artist's shoulder. I like this bubbly wavy effect, as I think its very hippie and reminds me of a tye dye feel, which was very 90's.

 

Original Image

 

 

 

 



 

My Digipack

When I was creating my digipack I wanted to use the same program that I had used to create my magazine advertisement - Serif Pageplus. I prefer using this program as you can edit your pictures within the program rather than having to insert them in.

Where as Adobe Indesign has an option to set your page size as a compact disc, Serif PagePlus does not. However to solve this problem, I took note of the page dimensions of a compact disc which were 120mm/12cm, as set these as the dimensions of my page in Serif.

Name Change

As I cannot use the original name 'Crystal Waters' I have to change it to something new and unique. As my performers name is Vicky Watts, I decided to use the name 'Crystal Watts' which I think works well, as it isn't a big change.

This name will be displayed on my magazine advertisement and digipack.

Ideas for my Digipack

The digipack I'm going to create will be 6 sides. The CD will be in the middle pane, and there will be a pane each side of this that will fold in.



For the front cover, I know that I would like this to be in the same grainy effect that I will shoot my music video in. It will either be an action shot of my performer dancing on the stairs, or posing while leaning against the stair rail or leaning over it. I wanted to include the stairs, as this is a key idea in my music video. Depending on what idea I use, I will use the others on other panes on my digipack.

As well as the song title and artist, I would like to include the repeated chorus lyrics faintly over the top of the picture, so they don't stand out boldly, but they are still faintly visible. I want to include this because this is the most remembered lyrics from the song, and how most people recognise the song rather than the song title 'Gypsy Woman'.

After looking at Britneys Spears Digipack, I know that I would like a picture on the back of my digipack of my performer positioned to the side so I can have the tracklist next to her. One of my inital poses that I wanted to use was my performer leaning over the side of the railing of the steps, and I think that, if I positioned it right, this shot would be perfect to use

on the back cover.

Another idea that I had was using the same repeated lyrics 'La Da De La Da Da' as the only graphic on some panes of the digipack. This was too inspired by Britney's Digipack that has the lettering design, however I have chosen to use the song lyrics and as I think these are very recognisable.

Existing Digipacks

This is a digipack for Britney Spears' album 'Femme Fatale'. One thing that I do like about this digipack is the simplicity of the side covers that have the initials of her and the album title. I think this looks very professional and elegant. The font used looks very posh, and reminds me of a perfume bottle.

The middle photo fits in well with the colour scheme, so doesn't look out of place. All the photos used are very simple - the album cover is just a close up of her face with hardly any expression, and the back is a mid shot of her side. Again, these fit in with the elegant and simple theme. If the photos had been action shots, it wouldn't of suited the theme of 'less is more'.

Overall the one thing that I like about the digipack is the black, gold and white colour scheme. I think these colours work really well together and gives off the impression that this is an elegant and grown up digipack.

One part of this digipack that I have been inspired by is the back cover. I like the idea of having a picture of the artist at the side, and then the track list filling up the rest of the room.

An entirely different digipack is by Katy Perry for her album 'Teenage Dream'. This is a fun and colourful digipack compared to Britney's more grown up image.

The overall look of the digipack is like a fantasy. This fits in well the album title 'Teenage Dream' as by the use of the clouds and her posing nude in the clouds like she is a cherub or goddess suits the idea of the dream. However by using the pop colours of bright blue and pink and the images of sweets and cakes is more suited the to the 'teenage' part of the album title.

One thing that I do like about this digipack is how the cloud image starts of the front cover and continues onto the back. This idea of continuity makes the digipack look complete and doesn't have the risk of two images next to eachother that look too different and like they're part of two different albums.

The design of the CD to look like cakes and sweets is also appealling as they are very different and not like a normal CD, which makes them standout.The CD on  the left looks like a doughnut, which is clever as there is a hole in the middle of the CD and the one on the right looks like a lollipop, which will look effective when it is spinning around in the CD player. I think the design of the CD is very important as this is one thing that the audience will definitely see.

Gypsy Woman Existing CD cover

As I will be designing a CD cover for my digipack, I've decided to look at already existing CD for ideas I can gain inspiration from, what looks effective and what I don't think will be right for my CD cover.

 

As the genre for my music video is 90's dance music, I thought the best place to begin was looking at CD covers with the same genre around the same era. Then I realised that the best CD to look at first was to the song I was using - Crystal Waters Gypsy Woman.

 

 

I think that this CD cover fits in well with the 90's as a big fashion statement in the 90's was tie dye, so the designer has used a similar effect for the background. The lettering is also very flowy and in irregular shapes which looks almost hippy-like, which is linked to the tie dye theme.

 

The colours chosen are good, as the white stands out well against the blue/green background, and I like the sudden use of yellow for the song title and even the bright pink. One thing I am not so keen on is the extended song title (she's Homeless) which is in brackets, as I think it looks like it was added on last minute as it is in a different font and Italics.

 

The overall look of the cover reminds me of being under the sea because of the pattern of blues and greens and the shape of the title, which is clever as it fits in with her name of Crystal 'Waters' and has that 90's feel. However, I dont think this is right for my CD cover, as I was planning to shoot my video in an old grainy effect or even black and white, so it would be unusual to have a brightly coloured CD case.

 

What is a Digipack

Along with designing the music video and magazine advertisement, I will also need to design a digipack. A digipack is a CD packaging that is made from cardboard rather than Jewel cases that are made of clear plastic. Digipacks either open like a book, or can three parts - one part opening to the left, the other part opening to the right and the CD in the middle or two panes folding inwards.

Pros of the Digipack

- They look nice, and many bands prefer them as there is more room to design.
- They don't crack like a Jewel Case
- They are more enviromentally friendly that Jewel cases as they can be recycled.

Cons of the Digipack

- They're more expensive than Jewel cases
- As they are made of thick paper, they can rip and fall apart. The teeth that hold the CD in place can break, meaning that the CD can fall out the bottom.
- Many people now don't buy CD's, after the creation of itunes. Many people nowdays download individual songs or whole CD's straight from itunes, so they are already on their computer and ready to transfer onto phones, Ipods or memory sticks. This also saves on storage space, as lots of CD's can take up room.

Target Audience

There are two potential target audiences for my music video.

One of these would be the mid generation who were in their teenage/ young adult years in 1991 when this song was first released. As it is house/dance song, it would most likely of been played a lot in clubs and bars, and was in the charts which teenagers love to keep up to date with.

The second potential audience would be teenagers nowdays. Most teenagers know songs from previous years as well as current hits. Also it is very common now for artists to remix old songs and put a modern twist to them. An example of this would be Flo Rida's I Cry, which uses Brenda Russel's song Piano in the Dark which was orginally released in 1988. This song has proven very popular among the younger audience and reach number one.

I would want all my products to appeal more to the younger generation, and I will do this by using a young female performer so young girls can relate to her and look up to her. They would want to be like her and copy her style and movements. Young boys would develop a star crush on her, so would watch her video and be attracted to pictures of her so they can admire her.