Saturday 29 June 2013
Digi Packs
Digi packs are found inside a CD packaging and they include information such as, about album, artists, record label and songs. They are usually made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digi packs can flip open like a book, or it can have 3 parts. Below I have created a spider diagram about Digi packs and how they can attract the listeners to purchase them, and the important aspects that producers include on them in which will help myself when creating my album design.
Tuesday 25 June 2013
Conventions of Music Genres: Indie Rock
Indie Rock is known as a sub-genre of Alternative rock which originated from the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie Rock is very diverse with sub-genres ranging from Indie Pop to Dance Punk. Indie Rock became a separate movement when Nirvana broke into the mainstream along with several other bands taking hold of the "Alternative" label with them. Many musicians were disappointed with the label alternative due to it becoming so conventional that it seemed to be an inappropriate name for these small independent bands who have no desire to be a part of a mainstream movement. These bands slowly began to separate from the label alternative rock and gather their own place as a small underground movement more in touch with the roots of its movement.
The term Indie Rock, coming from "independent", describes the small and relatively low budget labels on which it is released and the do-it-yourself attitude of the bands and artists involved. Although distribution companies are usually struck with major corporate companies, these labels and the bands they host have attempted to retain their autonomy, leaving them free to explore sounds, emotions and subjects of limited appeal to large, mainstream audiences.
Through research, I have discovered that the costume presented through album covers and photos is quite relaxed, casual and often tend to be of dark colours. For example, black skinny jeans, hats and black suits. The dark clothing worn also tends to make a contrast between the background of the image which helps highlight the style of the musicians.
The position of the frame on for example Indie artists album cover is an important convention of the genre. For instance from looking at well known indie rock bands such as the Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon, you can see that on the front of their album design that the typically the lead singer is positioned in the centre and towards the front, because this is the person the audience will recognise the most. Also most people in the Indie Rock genre are in bands and are usually shown performing closely together to promote themselves.
However, recently during the 21st Century, more female artists are breaking through into the Indie Rock genre but involving the same type of style as other Indie Rock bands such as Kings of Leon. Indie is known to be a diverse but unique style in which musicians part of that genre tend to create their look presented on their artwork.
A female musician such as Daughter are a great example of a female break-through artist although she performs at gigs with her band, she is known to her niche audience as a solo artist due to the lack of photos including the band as well as her. The mise-en-scene in her images demonstrates the dark style that most Indie artists nowadays like to portray. For example in her album covers, she is presented against a dark background such as a street to emphasise her genre and style.
The term Indie Rock, coming from "independent", describes the small and relatively low budget labels on which it is released and the do-it-yourself attitude of the bands and artists involved. Although distribution companies are usually struck with major corporate companies, these labels and the bands they host have attempted to retain their autonomy, leaving them free to explore sounds, emotions and subjects of limited appeal to large, mainstream audiences.
Through research, I have discovered that the costume presented through album covers and photos is quite relaxed, casual and often tend to be of dark colours. For example, black skinny jeans, hats and black suits. The dark clothing worn also tends to make a contrast between the background of the image which helps highlight the style of the musicians.
A female musician such as Daughter are a great example of a female break-through artist although she performs at gigs with her band, she is known to her niche audience as a solo artist due to the lack of photos including the band as well as her. The mise-en-scene in her images demonstrates the dark style that most Indie artists nowadays like to portray. For example in her album covers, she is presented against a dark background such as a street to emphasise her genre and style.
Monday 24 June 2013
Album Cover Analysis
Florence + The Machine - LUNGS
I decided to analyse the band, Florence + the Machine's album to help broaden my mind to other styles and designs for digi pack covers. This band is famous for their unique style and their indie rock/pop genre they create which varies from song to song. In this particular band, Florence Welsh is seen on the face of the album cover and plays the role of the main singer within the band itself. This helps contribute to the genre, indie rock as it resemblances how its not only male artists that can be named indie, it can be female artists also.
One of the first things I noticed about the front cover of their album was the font and how they have included a border line around the digipack. The font demonstrates the feminine side to the album with the wavy/curly and floral style and having placed the wording above the background full of flowers also identifies and attracts the female listeners. However when looking further down the album, I noticed the font changes to all capitals saying 'LUNGS' which definitely helps draw the listener to the album cover. Also the fact that the wording is shown over the top of a pair of lungs emphasises the album even more.
The singers image plays an important role on the front of the album cover as it helps identify the genre and the style of the music featuring on the album as well as the personal appearance of the artist. Florence is shown quite innocent with the background creating a floral and feminine effect although the mise en scene presents a more sex appeal to the artist. For example the clothing she wears shows a lot of flesh with the see-through blouse and with the pair of lungs just covering her breasts it comes across to the audience as young but fun, especially towards the male listeners. Also the way she is laid out and the body language plays up the sex appeal with the relaxed arms & hands and also with the head tilted to one side showing the eyes looking down representing the innocence as well as showing the wavy, brown hair demonstrating a contrast against the pale skin.
On the back cover of the DigiPack, showing the titles of songs, bar code, websites and producers of the album, is another very important part of the album especially when it comes to the placement of the songs. I found the back of this album cover very interesting with the anatomical model being placed in the centre of attraction which corresponds to the titles of songs. This particularly demonstrates an individual way of portraying the song names which links the the originality of the Indie genre. By placing an anatomical model gives a more personal feel to the listener and also emphasises the name of the album again.
When looking at the font and style of the back cover, I noticed that they have chosen a white font against a black background which comes across as quite striking to the audience which helps draw them in. The black also gives out a dark feel to the album and without the feminine font, personally I think the album would look quite Gothic and not representing the intended genre.
Below also shows my class analysis of the album cover done individually.
One of the first things I noticed about the front cover of their album was the font and how they have included a border line around the digipack. The font demonstrates the feminine side to the album with the wavy/curly and floral style and having placed the wording above the background full of flowers also identifies and attracts the female listeners. However when looking further down the album, I noticed the font changes to all capitals saying 'LUNGS' which definitely helps draw the listener to the album cover. Also the fact that the wording is shown over the top of a pair of lungs emphasises the album even more.
The singers image plays an important role on the front of the album cover as it helps identify the genre and the style of the music featuring on the album as well as the personal appearance of the artist. Florence is shown quite innocent with the background creating a floral and feminine effect although the mise en scene presents a more sex appeal to the artist. For example the clothing she wears shows a lot of flesh with the see-through blouse and with the pair of lungs just covering her breasts it comes across to the audience as young but fun, especially towards the male listeners. Also the way she is laid out and the body language plays up the sex appeal with the relaxed arms & hands and also with the head tilted to one side showing the eyes looking down representing the innocence as well as showing the wavy, brown hair demonstrating a contrast against the pale skin.
On the back cover of the DigiPack, showing the titles of songs, bar code, websites and producers of the album, is another very important part of the album especially when it comes to the placement of the songs. I found the back of this album cover very interesting with the anatomical model being placed in the centre of attraction which corresponds to the titles of songs. This particularly demonstrates an individual way of portraying the song names which links the the originality of the Indie genre. By placing an anatomical model gives a more personal feel to the listener and also emphasises the name of the album again.
When looking at the font and style of the back cover, I noticed that they have chosen a white font against a black background which comes across as quite striking to the audience which helps draw them in. The black also gives out a dark feel to the album and without the feminine font, personally I think the album would look quite Gothic and not representing the intended genre.
Below also shows my class analysis of the album cover done individually.
Sunday 23 June 2013
Album Cover Analysis
The Killers -Day & Age
This album cover uses a very limited pallet for the majority of the cover. For example the colours involved including some purples and whites creates a calm, soft representation in which reflects their upbeat, laid back music style.
One of the aspects that particularly caught my eye was the appearance of the cover, presented in a mosaic style as it looks segmented in a simplistic way. Also instead of showing an image of the band, they have created the impression that they want to be judged purely on their music not their style and the way they look.
The colours involved also play a big part in this design, for instance the warm colours such as the red and orange hues at the bottom of the cover help identify the style of the songs within the album which come across as calm and cheerful music. The font is simplistic especially with it being situated in the centre of the album which helps the album to stand out on shelves in shop and draw attention in. The font is very subtle as well so that it is unthreatening unlike some cover designs by heavy metal genres such as the band Slipknot. The soft placid colours tells us that the music is unlikely to be heavy or offensive and the image of the moon and landscape is almost relaxing and soothing which may have the same effect on the listener.
This album cover uses a very limited pallet for the majority of the cover. For example the colours involved including some purples and whites creates a calm, soft representation in which reflects their upbeat, laid back music style.
One of the aspects that particularly caught my eye was the appearance of the cover, presented in a mosaic style as it looks segmented in a simplistic way. Also instead of showing an image of the band, they have created the impression that they want to be judged purely on their music not their style and the way they look.
The colours involved also play a big part in this design, for instance the warm colours such as the red and orange hues at the bottom of the cover help identify the style of the songs within the album which come across as calm and cheerful music. The font is simplistic especially with it being situated in the centre of the album which helps the album to stand out on shelves in shop and draw attention in. The font is very subtle as well so that it is unthreatening unlike some cover designs by heavy metal genres such as the band Slipknot. The soft placid colours tells us that the music is unlikely to be heavy or offensive and the image of the moon and landscape is almost relaxing and soothing which may have the same effect on the listener.
Tuesday 18 June 2013
An Artist's Image..
Musical Artist's can be represented in all kinds of different texts; through their appearance, album covers, photo shoots, magazines, interviews on TV, music videos. Throughout their career they build up their image to bring more audiences to their music and provides them with a unique style to not just look different from the crowd but to inspire their audiences. Over the years, people are known to associate musical artists' with their genre which has made the industry more cliquey, for example a band such as The Cure with the genre as gothic rock and punk rock, have influenced their audience to approach the gothic style with the dyed black hair, heavy make up and black coloured look. Whereas the majority of female pop artists tend to portray their sex appeal in their media texts such as posters, advertisements, online photos and music videos. -Madonna is an example of this with her stages of wearing very little where the mise en scene plays up a big part within her image. Monday 17 June 2013
Welcome Post
Just a quick post to welcome you all and introduce you to my blog. Throughout this blog I will present my A2 Media Studies Coursework, where I will be focusing on Music Videos. I hope you enjoy scrolling through it and I hope it may come in use and interest you.
Thanks!
Anna
Thanks!
Anna
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