PRINT PRODUCTION initial ideas

First Drawings

PRINT RESEARCH - my digipack

I want to use photographs and drawing together for my digipack cover and adverts.
Specifically, I want to use drawings for the digipack cover, as it is used a lot for indie covers and I think it makes them stand out and look good. It would also attract the target audience, as they would be looking out for that sort of cover.

The drawing will connote loneliness and wanting, but the idea will not be anchored until you have listened to the song. This may confuse some potential listeners, however I'm hoping it will do the opposite and intrigue them, so that they will want to listen to the song and watch the video.

PRINT RESEARCH - adverts

The Killers, Day & Age

(advert, left and CD cover, right)

As you can see above, the advert for the Killers album Day & Age uses the same theme as the cover for the Day & Age album.


Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More 

This advert is quite boring, as it is only a picture of the album cover, with some writing. However, this would attract Mumford and Sons fans as they would notice the album cover and be interested, wondering what the advert is about.

The majority of indie/folk artists will have quarter page adverts, or the more successful ones would have half page. This is because they do not earn as much money as other  really famous acts, so would not be able to afford glossy, full page adverts.

Therefore, the advert for my digipack would be have to be a quarter page. This is because the artist isn't known, so would only just be able to afford quarter of the page.

My advert is going to feature photographs of the star. This will reinforce the stars images, as they will be pictures playing the guitar and singing. I will use the same font and colour scheme as the digipack cover though, this is so it is obvious that they are linked.

PRINT RESEARCH

Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More

We see the band stood with their instruments behind the glass in a shop window. It fits in to the indie/folk genre as it is simple, and featuring instruments, such as the cello. It appears very normal and everyday, but it is actually very entropic, as having the people there is really unexpected.
This cover would appeal to the target audience. Later teens and early twenties, male and female would be the targeted audience. They would like the simple, chilled cover which reinforces the stars image. They would also like indie, folk, more alternative music and the cover is really quite different.
The font, colour scheme and style of the cover all reinforce the stars image; they use the same font for all of their covers, and plain colours. The digipack cover is quite redundant for the band, as it is the sort of thing their target audience would expect. The style is carried on inside the cover, with a neat font, and delicate borders for the photographs.

Laura Marling, I Speak Because I Can

 We see a picture of a person. at first, it just looks like a photograph, however when you look at it closer you can tell that it is a drawing.

This cover would attract the artists target audience, as it stands out and looks interesting. Females are more likely to listen to Laura Marling, and I think that this cover is appealing to them, as it is quite different and pretty.

This cover seems quite entropic for Laura Marling, as she usually has abstract drawings or cartoons, such as:

All folk/indie/bluegrass artists seem to have similar CD covers, and the style is becoming more redundant than entropic, as they used to be. It is also becoming typical to have drawings, or holding instruments. Avett Brothers have used both on one of their covers:

REDUNDANCY AND ENTROPY

Redundancy what is predictable, what you expect to see.
e.g. an man driving a car

Entropy what is unusual or unexpected, not what you expect to see
e.g. a dog driving a car

Redundancy, entropy and my music video?


Considering my music video is going to be folk/bluegrass, I want to use the redundant image of guitars, and playing a guitar.
However I also want it to be entropic, so that it isn't like other conventional folk music videos. I will achieve this by having lots of different narratives within the video. I think this is really unpredictable in the folk genre, as we tend to only see the artist/band in their music videos, performing the song.
Also, I think by making the video more entropic, it would suit the target audience as it would be quite different and exciting. I don't think that they would like normal, predicable videos. For my video, the targeted audience were about 15-25 year olds, mostly female, many are university students, enjoy listening to alternative music, like playing the guitar and like to be individual.

FOLK CD COVERS

PRINT RESEARCH

Muse- Absolution cover

shadows off bodies, on the floor, repeated in a pattern. a man stood, casting his own shadow in a different direction, looking up 

connoting being different, being free? not being a part of the 'pattern'

The title of the album helps to anchor the meaning of the album cover:

'Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This concept is found in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Anglican churches, and most Lutheran churches.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolution)

The man may be asking for forgiveness, that is why he has his head tilted to the sky.