#Ancillary 10 and 11 - Real Digipak / Finished Product

Here is the finished digipak, with as much done in response to the audience feedback as possible.

#Ancillary 9 - Audience feedback for mock digipak

Here is some audience feedback from a facebook post earlier today with some suggestions. I take the likes as positive feedback!

Some verbal feedback was received also:

• From a member of staff: 'I really like how indie it is, I would buy that!'
• From a fellow media student: 'You should make the colours of the front cover more like the ones of the back cover, then it will match more, and give it a slightly more "indie pop" feel, other than that, it's awesome.'

#Ancillary 8. Mock Up of Digipak

Here is my digipak mock up!! I still want to change the colours of the front title cover slightly before completion.

#Ancillary 7 - Digipak plan

The plan for my digipak...

I aim to use 6 of my own images, all taken while filming. The outside slots will all be filled with pictures taken outdoors, with the main front (title) and back (song list) covers with the boys on, and the extra panel with Lizzie featuring, with a blurred effect to make her look more dreamy.

The inside will be mainly black and white, apart from the disc tray which will be black and white with a different colour wash on 3 separate images, to distinguish a difference between each of the band members.

#Ancillary 6. Recent CD sales

As you may have guessed, in the last decade or two, CD sales have taken a decline, as the digital age takes over.

Here is a graph of projected CD sales for the USA, beginning in 2005 up until 2022

Sales of physical copies of CD's have since been overthrown by the digital album from companies like Apple with their famous music store 'iTunes'. The below graph shows how the digital downloads on iTunes seem to be always increasing, where in the same years on the graph above, physical CD sales are on the decrease. 

Many artists have realised this, and started releasing albums and singles which are only available for digital download. For example, Beyonce recently released her 5th album 'Beyonce' (2013) originally only on iTunes release, and it featured hit songs such as 'Drunk In Love'.

Some artists are also releasing free albums on iTunes, and a popular example is U2, with their album 'Songs Of Innocence'. Many people woke up to find this album downloaded on there apple devices, wondering why, but it was a gift from U2!

Vinyl Rebirth?

Within the last year and a bit, vinyl record sales have been on the rise, along with record players. This is because of young people (like teenagers) wanting to be retro by owning a record player, along with vinyls - some classic ones, like the Beetles, or Fleetwood Mac, and some modern, like Beyonce and Lana Del Ray.

Some of these so called 'Retro' teenagers have also discovered the great sound quality and collectability of records, and don't just listen to say they do and sound cool.

#Ancillary 5. Re-make of a digipak.

I chose to re-make Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida | Prospekts March' digipak, with help from the digital downloads book which came with the pack on iTunes...

#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.

#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)

#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.