Thursday 22 January 2015

#Ancillary 4. Star Image and Rules for the Main photo.

One rule is to make the star(s) prominent on the cover. This not only helps make the visual link between the music and the band, but also advertises the musicians as people, rather than just for their music.

Another is to make the image on the front link with the video, if they aren't link people might not make the visual link, for example, if they've seen the music video on youtube, they'll recognise the cover if it looks similar to parts of the video, and therefore possibly draw people in to buy the product.

For example, Ellie Goulding's 'Lights' album cover is linkable to the video because of the use of little lights around her face. And as she is featuring prominently on the cover, we recognise her face too, and it also promotes her and everything she does.


One Direction always feature on their album covers, as it is mainly their apparently 'beautiful' faces people recognise. This 'charm' may help album sales, and promotes the band, as well as selling the album/single. Also their covers are always linked into a video from the album with the theme.




#Ancillary 3. Digipak vs. CD case

So, what is the different between a digipak and a CD case?

The most obvious different between the two, is that a CD case is made of plastic, and has 4 sides (excluding spines - including inside), where a digipak has 6 (also excluding spines - and including all inside surfaces), but is made of card.
Although cheaper to make, due to the 'exclusivity' and 'collectability' of the digipak, it often costs more to buy, as fans see them as a collectable item, and it is more aesthetically pleasing.


Below is the typical design of a cd case, with 4 main areas, then the spine on the outside also.

Below here is the typical layout of a digipak, as you can see it has 6 printable surfaces and all are made of card.

Along with both, there will usually be a booklet, filled with pictures within the theme, or lyrics and production information.


Monday 12 January 2015

#Ancillary 2. Font tests

For the fonts for our promotion, we wish to keep the original 'A Great Big World' font/logo, but find a font that is different that goes with the current one.


I am looking for simple - yet effective fonts for the song title 'Rockstar', and below are some examples.

(Microsoft sans serif)

I will probably mess around with colour and size, and some extra things around the text.

(Tipo de letra del sistema fina)



(Sinhala Sangem MN)








Friday 9 January 2015

#Ancillary 1. How musicians promote themselves.

For this task, I am looking at One Republic and the way they market themselves. They recently released a new album - an extended version of 2013's 'Native' (2014) which has a very distinctive cover.
The name of the band it written boldly in a distinctive font, in a bright colour in contrast to the background. The cover itself is a sepia sort of colour, and maybe this is because the band wanted an aged look, to go with the title 'Native', making it seem like it's been there a long time and it belongs.

The original 'Native' cover was bright, and colourful. 
This grabbed attention through the colour wash, and the bold white text in the centre. 

On the band's website, the theme of animals is continued. This is to keep continuity with their releases, and most recent singles, including 'Love Runs Out', with a bison head on the cover.

A way One Republic sold their new album to the public, was with exclusive performances of singles taken from the album, like the below performance from the O2 Academy in Shepherds Bush, London.



#29 Final Film

#27 Rough Edit

Here is our rough edit, there's a few shots missing, but we aim to perfect the video within the next week.