digipak research folk rock 3
TRANSCRIPT
Digipak ResearchFolk RockHanan Mohamed 5161
About our Digipak A Digipak is a book-style fold out paperboard or card outer binding
used to hold CDs on the inside, the first alternative to jewel case packaging. It’s much less likely to crack then jewel cases and allows the manufacturer more creativity with the graphics and overall design. The panels can range from from 4, to 6, to 8 etc.
For our chosen track we must create a Digipak to market the band – this will be done using skills of editing, software e.g. Photoshop, photography and design skills. In researching digipaks however it was difficult to find recent examples as folk rock is a genre that was explored much more by artists a couple of decades ago than the present day and full digipaks are relatively new and more common in the more popular genres e.g. pop, hip hop, RnB etc. Even though album covers front covers are easily found, the inside and back covers are not always available. To the best of my ability I have researched five different bands’ albums front and back covers and analysed them in the following slides.
The bands and artists I have used are: Cat Stevens, Laura Marling, Bon Iver, Mumford & Sons, and Simon & Garfunkel.
The font colour used is orange-red which matches the myriad of
colours of the things drawn around the background. matches
the background. Her name is printed within a flower. The
background consists of butterflies, snake on a plant,
smiley face sun, mushroom, a crocodile, bug and overall wildlife
amongst flowers and plants all painted in blue, red, yellow and orange. This makes for a very bright, colorful album cover
which draws attention.
The actual font type is very curly at the ends and matches the curly inside strands of the flower – it looks like her name has grown into the flower, her identity is tied up within it and
nature. This is is consistent with the theme of folk genre which usually markets the artist as
being a part of nature (see cover Iron & Wine: Our Endless
Numbered Days).
The entire background of the album cover is not a
photograph which is more common for digipaks of
other mainstream genres but hand drawn which is a
common feature of folk rock album art that is
often painted or drawn.
Of the album covers I researched in this
presentation and the ones on my homepage and research, the majority (Laura Marling: Alas I
Cannot Swim, Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks) have hand drawn or painted art
on the cover – the few photos they do have are
either mixed with art (Cat Stevens: Catch Bull at
Four), or tend show the artist in a nature setting
(Simon & Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence).
This markets the artist as having natural talent to use in their art instead of
technology. This is in keeping with the folk rock theme of staying in touch
with nature, along with the very simple setting of the artist lying on the grassy ground and nothing else.
The record label’s logo, website and address are present next to the barcode to sell the label themselves and associate themselves
with the artist as well as give credit.
The back cover matches the front cover as it is also hand drawn with an extended version of the wildlife amongst plants drawn on the right half. As Laura Marling’s name was tied within the nature on the front cover, this is now associated with her so the large block of art stands in as a
symbol of her – her name does not need to be printed in large. The track list is kept simple, bold and black on a light background and its simplicity is also in keeping with the general track listing style of folk music genres.
The art was so ornamental that nothing further is needed to make a statement about the genre and what it means.
The font colour used is yellow like the shade of sunlight, and
matches the background. This is in keeping with the the most dominant theme of folk rock which is being in touch with
nature.
The actual font looks like cursive and joined up it looks like it has been handwritten as opposed to
type. This is important to the persona of folk genre which is
about truth and personal talent over technology, so reminds the listener that this music is what
the artist has written himself and is not subject to the producer of
the record label’s demands.
This also links back to how the artist has been marketed
similarly in his videos where genre characteristics match
album cover characteristics in their connotations of nature with a lack of technology (Bon Iver:
Calgary), relying on artist’s musical talents and his reality (Iron & Wine: Boy With A Coin).
The entire background of the album cover is not a photograph
which is more common for digipaks of other mainstream genres but hand drawn which is a common
feature of folk rock album art that is often painted or drawn.
Of the album covers I researched in this presentation and the ones on my homepage and research,
the majority (Laura Marling: Alas I Cannot Swim, Bob Dylan: Blood On
The Tracks) have hand drawn or painted art on the cover – the few
photos they do have are either mixed with art (Cat Stevens: Catch
Bull at Four), or tend show the artist in a nature setting (Simon &
Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence).
This markets the artist as having natural talent to use in their art instead of technology. This is in
keeping with the folk rock theme of staying in touch with nature, along with the very simple setting of the artist lying on the grassy ground
and nothing else.The artist has been depicted similar to his real life self. Here he has a large beard with an open necked shirt, and appears to be sleeping. He fits quite neatly into the grass around him, and with his eyes closed looks very at peace – this markets the artist as being a part of nature, a peaceful person at heart. Not looking at the camera or even out at all shows he is focused on his music, and is an introspective person. His long beard although natural is almost a part of a costume or
dress code as across artists in the folk rock genre most men keep beards to emphasize their maturity and life experience, and the long beard has connotations of wisdom, spirituality. This sells the artist as a wise, mature, peaceful man at one with nature and in the business for the
music and not the money.
IMPROVEMENTS:Examples, link to marketing, what audiences match, use target audience research, look at marketing of folk rock or other genres, the
selling, the genre the audience
The background matches the front cover as it is also hand drawn with a grass ground background, the font type and colour remain the same. Although curiously, the artist here is completely absent – but his imprint is left behind on the grass so when looking at the back the viewer stills thinks of the artist, who has actually
been made conspicuous by his absence.
The record label’s logo, website and address are present next to the barcode to sell the label themselves and associate themselves
with the artist as well as give credit.
The font type is in capitals and a very
simple font, which looks quite classic looking.
The font colour used is a simple black on white, which is in keeping with the simplicity of the folk rock genre. Simplicity
shows no need for showing off or glamour, indicates humility which
leads to introspection which the artists are sold
as.
A photograph has been used for the front cover which looks like a typical street, and the focus is
on the shop on the middle which looks like an old charity shop, a
boutique or a shop that sells vintage clothing –
not any shop that would be found on the high
street and does not need to be flashy with lights
and big displays to advertise itself. Although
this cover does not reference nature, the vintage impression is
consistent with folk rock music being presented in
a way as having links with history and past
culture, and fashion/dress is a large
part of culture – this genre characteristic is also seen within the
music video iron & Wine: Boy With A Coin where
the dancers are all dressed in a very classic style of dress with even their make up and in a
traditional seeming dance.
The band have been depicted wearing the typical dress of the music style. Here he has a large beard with an open necked shirt, and appears to be
sleeping. He fits quite neatly into the grass around him, and with his eyes closed looks very at peace – this markets the artist as being a part of nature, a peaceful person at heart. Not looking at the camera or even out at all shows he is focused on his music, and is an introspective person. His long beard although natural is almost a part of a costume or dress code as across artists in the folk
rock genre most men keep beards to emphasize their maturity and life experience, and the long beard has connotations of wisdom, spirituality. This sells the artist as a wise, mature, peaceful man at one with nature and in the
business for the music and not the money.