Image 1: Before designing our Digipaks i had a thought of using a picturesque setting for my image, like a quarry as i felt the randomness of it would suit the alternative theme as its pretty distinctive.

Image 2 : I continued with the quarry/picturesque theme again for image 2 , but this time from a different angle to get a different sense and view.

Image 3 : Image 3 goes away from the quarry theme and more onto a simplistic image of a tree but i liked the idea of the tranquil still black and white image.

Image 4/5 : These are my adaptations of a landscape/picturesque setting, but i didn't think it looked right.

Image 6 : This is me beginning to change my idea , I felt a more simplistic approach to my digipak would work a lot better.

Image 7 : This is a quote from Dieter Rams a graphic designer who works for Braun , who sums up my new approach to my digipak, where keeping it simple works.

Image 8 : I selected this image as i feel as though " Hollow " really means emotionless and empty.

Image 9 : At first i wanted to use a stencil font, but after some deliberation decided it wasn't really the font that suited my digipak, I then finally settled on a block font which fitted perfectly with the layout i was going for.

Image 10 : I felt as though black and white where emotionless colours so it fitted well with the theme of my digipak.

Image 11 : This is a Swim Deep album, this is the type of digipak that i'm going for it is very simple and using thew same colour pallet as me.

Image 12 : This image is my advert with the incorporation of the ideas and examples I have looked at
with my twist, I have attempted to keep it simple and minimalistic but also approach it with a stylish look and layout.

Image 13 : This is another example of a digipak I took inspiration from, it is of The 1975 album.

Image 14 : And my final example I took inspiration from is the iconic Arctic Monkeys AM album.

Image 15 : This is my final Digipak

Draft Video

Digipak and Advert

Minimalism

We have all chosen to follow in the footsteps of Dieter Rams when designing our Digipak , we feel a minimalistic approach will suit our artist , with a simple , elegant , graceful design similar to The XX album and Arctic Monkeys Suck it and See.

Draft Digipak & Poster

Styling

Styling

Shots Of Location

 

Inspiration

The reason we have chosen these videos for inspiration is fairly simple , firstly we have chosen the first three videos as they all have a similar set-up to what we want to achieve , all three have kept it very simple with the layout of their equipment , especially with " The Jam- Going Underground " as this video is just a white studio and the band with their instruments. The video is very basic and stripped back , but is so effective and works very well. We want to take two approaches when filming our video , a basic , simple approach in a studio firstly , but also adding something a bit different for a second approach to the video. The other two videos within the three are still very simplistic , but are slightly more advanced like " The Strypes - Hometown Girls " they have kept the basic equipment set-up but have took the setting to the next level by moving to an abandoned building and treating it as a studio which is very effective.For the other two videos there is a drastic change in the complexity as they require a lot more skill , after coming together we decided we like the concept of challenging ourselves with the second part to our video , and rather liked these two video ideas.With " Bombay Bicycle Club-Always Like This " they have played around with their footage , fast forwarding parts , playing parts normally and pausing parts which makes for a very good video. Also the little icons in the corner showing what the camera is doing gives the video a very retro feel , our problem being we do not have a sufficient old enough camera to achieve this look , so came to the conclusion that we would need to film our footage from a television to give the video the effects it needs.Also with " Vampire Weekend - A-Punk " this video is very very simple but when watching it looks very complicated but excellent to look at. Collectively as a group this was our favourite idea , but again for us has its difficulties.We would need to download our track into a music editing programme, then speed up the tempo of the track and save it , then do our performance at this speed but when it comes to creating the final video play our song at normal speed over the top so it looks as if everything has been sped up.If done well this idea could be very successful.

Band Photos

Band Photos

Summer Work - Task 3

Summer Work - Task 2

Task 2

Features and Conventions of a music video

• Realistic playing of the musical instruments involved in the video , so it doesn't seem fake.
• A specific order to the music video , ensuring it has a start middle and end.
• Variation in camera shots , switching between close-ups, mid-shots, high shots etc.
• A meaning or storyline to the music video.
• A harmonious link between lyrics and video.
• Most shots being of the main lead singer of the band
• Quality editing to give a smooth transition between scenes in the video.
• Seeing a shot of the whole band.
• Ensuring the setting and scenery fits the mood and genre of the song.
• Confident artist/band that are not shy of a camera
•  Structured , choreographed dance routine.

Summer Work - Task 1

Summer Work 

Task 1

What do you think are the major elements of an album marketing campaign ? 

The key elements for a successful marketing campaign are simple , a band has to rely on digital distribution . An artist needs to be able to release their album in a modern way that their target audience wants to receive and listen to the music in that way. Artist will want to stand out on the major marketing distributors like iTunes and Spotify to attract a worldwide fan presence. An online presence is key to a band/artists success , anything where fans can receive any information about the band is crucial , such as a personal website . It seems that Social media is also arguably one of the most important things to an artist’s album marketing campaign. An artist will want to have a twitter account and instagram to regularly keep fans update with their recent stuff so fans can keep in touch with them and get e!cited about the thins the artist has to offer.For an up and coming band YouTube is also a great place to get your music heard as people can easily access your videos .

Another good way to advertise the bands album is o announce a huge global tour which will encourage your target audience to listen to the album before they see the band on tour.

Finally to take it to the next step , the band would have to release some merchandise to accompany the album on its release such as t-shirts , signed posters etc.

Where have you encountered these elements in your daily life?

There are many places that i have encountered these elements. One of the more recent ones being Leeds festival 2014 , where i was overwhelmed with posters of album releases from various different artists everywhere.There were also various little stalls selling band merchandise like t-shirts/ hoodys'  and other goods.Other places that i have seen it in daily life is when chatting with friends (word of mouth) my friends often show me new songs/albums/artists. i have also encountered these elements hugely on social media such as twitter and instagram where i follow my favourite artists and they update me with their recent life. i also have Spotify, this enables me to access almost all known music in the world. This is where i most often encounter elements of marketing campaigns.

What factors make you ' like' a band and therefore download their music( buy their albums or attend their concerts) How do you decide which band is 'cool' and which is not ?

There are many influential factors that decide weather i like a band or not . If my friends recommend a band or artist , then usually i will give them a listen . When one of my favourite artists make a song with another artist  , or make a stage appearance with them , then normally i will begin to like that artist.Another factor that makes me like a band is the overall styling of the band  , if a band dress well and look good then i will tend to favour them more. The lyrics of the songs that a band make me like them as well , i like a band who's lyrics actually have a meaning behind them and have powerful message.

What makes a music video unique ?

When and where do you watch music videos ?

Generally i watch most of the music videos on YouTube as it is very easily accessible for me , that would be my first option.Other times if i'm at home i may put a music channel on the television and catch a few music videos on there.