Group Digipak- Miss Miller

My group compared all of our ideas and individual digipaks together to create one final group digipak. We chose my initial digipak however, chose to include Ayesha's front cover as it fit the theme and held more connotations. The group worked together to adapt the original digipak by all having input bases on what we thought should be changed or adapted. 

 This is Vasil's individual digipak. From this, we chose to adapt the font and the use of the artist's signature. The group found that the text used included a hand written style which will allow the audience to bond with the artist as the font provides authentic and personal themes, which is also conventional of the indie genre. This links in with the added signature on a quote page, causing the digipak to posses more personal qualities and is more important to the audience. The image used is also an element we may take on board as the artist creates a bond with the audience as she looks straight down the camera lense, causing them to look up to their idol. The image used is also conventional to the indie genre due to the use of mise en scene, for example costume as the artist wears a flower crown. This is conventional to the indie genre due to the use of naturalistic attire and also connotes romantic themes within the songs. Although the group chose to adapt a number of elements within this digipak, we also expressed elements that we thought would not represent or promote the album and artist in a successful way. This is due to the mismatching images for example, the front cover of the artist with the outside scenery behind her does not link to the other images including a restaurant and a poker game. The mixture of images and layouts can prove too confusing the audience, and highly subverts the indie genre as attention is taken away from the artist, which causes a lack of promotion.

Next, from Ayesha's group magazine advert we chose to adapt the layout of the front cover, the text and the extra images. The elements used within the digipak included many positive elements that would successfully represent the artist as well as the indie genre. The image used causes the audience to bond with the artist due to eye contact causing audience involvement. The element of mise en scene clothing, is also conventional to the indie genre and represents the artist in a positive light, appealing to female audience members due to admiration and males due to an element of a natural appearance as well as flirtatious elements due to plumped lips, and feline like eye make up. The overall layout of the front cover proved conventional to the indie genre due to the use of romantic flowers and involved connotations of naturalistic features. The font is included in a hand written style, which causes the digipak to become more personal from the artist, creating a bond with the audience. Lastly, the layout is extremely eye catching due to the colours used as the whole digipak links together however, the group will look at changing/adapting the colours as the pink convey connotations of the 'pop' genre than our chosen indie genre.  

Lastly, from my own group magazine advert we chose to adapt the layout of every page but the front cover, the text, the extra images, note to fans and overall imaging such as the CD disk. The elements used within the digipak included many features that would be applied to represent the artist successfully as well as conforming to the indie genre. Many of the element added purposely connote a range of themes, for example colour choice such as red connoting love and passion, which is conventional to the indie genre, highlights the themes within some of the artist's songs and causes the target audience, mostly females, to bond with the artist and relate to these added elements. The text used within the fan acknowledgement page and song list is used to form a bond with the audience. This is because type written text is used that looks more authentic and personal from the artist and also conforms to the indie genre as features are purposely added to make the audience bond with the artist. Images were added to appeal to the target audience for example to mid shot extra image, as females would admire the effortless yet attractive look and males would find elements attractive such as the make up and outfits. The group chose this digipak as out main focus as many aspects such as the layout is conventional to the indie genre and completely involves the audience for example, the romantic inclusions of the rose on the back page, as a sign of love and admiration from the artist, for her fans. Although this digipak featured most of the elements we will be using, the front page does not blend well as an image, as the black text is not very visible on the floral background, therefore we will use Ayesha's front cover as an influence. 

We chose to edit the front cover so that the colours and font compliments the other pages within the digipak however, we kept other elements the same as we believed that they promoted the artist well to the audience whilst conforming to the indie genre. This final digipak appeals to our target audience as it includes romantic themes that females can relate to as well as highlight elements of the indie genre that our niche audience would appreciate. This also promotes our artist effectively as the connotations that appear for example, the idea of love and romance, cause the artist to portray a positive vibe and traits to the target audience.

Firstly, the colours I chose to apply within the digipak are used to exploit the themes of the music and represent the artist as well as the genre. The colour red is used within the roses on the CD, with a white background to make the flowering and colouring stand out. This highlights the idea of romance and causes the audience to view the artist's feminine side, causing her to promote the idea of love to a wider audience. This is a common colour used within the indie genre as love is a conventional theme that indie artists portray to their audience as they show their fans elements of their life such as experiences such as relationships and break ups, causing them to create a strong bond with fans. The same red rose appears on the back cover along with the red lyrics 'I will love you til the end of time' on the fan message. This shows the artist's love for the fans as well as the theme of love and passion that is reflected within songs on the album. This overall shows appreciation for her fans as this message came directly from the artist, creating a bond. On an extra picture, the artist is wearing a blue co-ord suit which is a colour connoting trust, wisdom and intelligence therefore,the artist is promoting herself in a positive way, as she links herself to these traits which also adds to her character and the audience's opinion on her as she shows elements that can be idolised and highlight other features than her talent specifically. The colours of black and white are used on the front cover to connote the idea of good vs evil which are themes raised within her songs, causing them to become more memorable. A deep red is used for the text on the front cover to highlight the artist's name and the album name 'Nostalgic' highlighting that love is a theme through out the album and promotes these memories to her audience, which is also conventional of the indie genre as artists open up to their fans and share life experiences with them.

The artist, Autumn Healy is placed in the centre with the use of a mid shot, which promotes the artist further. This highlights the artist's importance as she is looks straight into the camera lense which causes the audience to look at her, which is inviting and causes a relationship to build. This also causes her to look confident as she smokes and looks into the camera, showing evidence of Dyer's theory as she shows her rebellious side, which is conventional of the indie genre as dynamics are changed. The artist also wears natural make up in each picture, reflecting an old hollywood look which is both unachievable and achievable as the look is simple to re-create. The artist also had back combed hair, linking to this and with a flower crown which is conventional of the indie genre as naturalistic features are included caused that artist to look unartificial. The artist also holds a cigarette in the extreme close up of an extra picture. This exposes and promotes the audience as she takes up the whole back page, following Goodwin's theory and also conforms to indie genre as habits such as this link to depressed emotions which link to the sound of the music and the messages within, this can link to older members of the artist that also possess the habits. The other extra image is a mid shot of the artist standing and smirking at the camera as she's placed in the centre of the shot. 
Another extra image is used as the artist is placed in the middle of the shot as mid shot is being used to show this. This promotes the artist further as she becomes more recognisable.  The artist wears traditions 60s/vintage clothes reflecting that of an earlier time which is conventional of the indie genre and causes the audience to look up to her new/revolutionary image. Autumn also wears natural makeup, with an element of the 1960s for example nude, big lips and winged eyeliner. This causes her to look more natural and not over done, which causes women to look up to her and also appeals to male audience members as she looks flirtatious and intriguing therefore, her image can appeal to a wider audience.

Next, the design and layout of the images within the digipak include scenaries that are not overly attention grabbing, the background is naturalistic which links to indie genre and also does not take attention away from the artist, promoting her further to the audience and highlights the idea that she is the most important element of the album. The background elements make the pictures more interesting to look at especially the black roses on the front cover however, are still natural and the artist is still in the centre of the images therefore, the audience focus on the artist mostly building a larger bond with her especially as she looks straight at them through the camera angles. The creation of a relationship with the audience conveys love messages within the songs and the roses on the front cover and CD disk as she shows care for her audience and the appreciate this, as her songs and music videos become more personal from the artist. This again links to the front cover as roses are used behind the artist. 

The name of the artist, 'Autumn Healy' is written in bold, red writing at the top of the front cover in a 'snell hound' handwriting font from Photoshop which adds a more personal element from the artist to the audience, on the front cover. This causes her name to stand out on the black background and is in the centre alongside her image, which causes her to become the focal point and more recognisable in stores, which highlights Goodwin's theory as the artist is promoted, intriguing and exciting fans. The album name on the front is written in the same colour font adding a personal touch also, as well as being extremely feminine and vintage, linking to her look and romantic themes within her music. The song titles are written in black and dark red to stand out to the public as well as being written in a type written style which is diverse and links to the indie genre and also makes the back cover look authentic from the artist. The note to fans is written in the same style, adding personality and creating a bond and showing that she cares about them due to this acknowledgement. A signature from the artist is also added at the bottom, making the digipak even more personal and important to the fans.

Also, the language used within the digipak is extremely informal and features everyday language that the audience can relate to. This is evident through her note to fans and she shows a lack of formality and she describes her life to the audience, aligning herself with them. This is seen through the use of the common metaphor 'this past year has been a roller coaster'. The use of this language causes the artist to engage with her audience and the audience would respect this in return.The use of shorter structured sentences makes the digipak easier to read therefore more memorable, which is a positive element to apply when promoting and selling the digipak which is conventional of the indie genre as the audience are appreciated due to the idea that the album is for them as proposed by the artist.

Overall, the devices that I have used within my digipak all connote various messages. The black and white within the front cover cause the theme of good vs evil, an ideology that appears within her lyrics and highlights that she has faced both good and bad moments in her life, and her fans can relate to that too. This is conventional to the indie genre as artists usually add elements that connote a deep ideology. Many aspects are used to make the audience bond and build a relationship with the artist, for example the use of the notebook alongside type written text. This becomes more personal from the artist showing her love for her fans, also becoming an idol due to her appreciation. This also creates a vintage effect that is conventional to the indie genre as vintage aspects are diverse and individual. I have used other indie digipaks to influence me in including the use of vintage filters and aspects and create unique styles. This notebook layout is used further on the note to fans to create a personal element, which also links to the use of the rose on the back cover which can connote love for her fans or even for a man in the artist's life, as roses are a gift that hold connotations of love and passion which covers the main themes within the lyrics, causing them to become the narrative to the audience. This links to roses on the CD disk, with no artist's name showing that she believes music and ideologies such as romance matter more than branding her own name. This shows how down to earth she is and causes a relationship between herself and the audience. 

To conclude, from applying each individual member's elements that appeared successful within their initial digipak, we have created a successful group/finalised digipak that conforms to the indie genre due to the use of the personalised hand written font, the naturalistic background, inspired by Ayesha's front cover due to the use of roses containing romantic connotations. These conventions also causes the artist and album to become more unique compared to other artists. Through the use of these conventions, the digipak appeals to my target audience for example, the romantic features such as roses and red colouring appeals to females as they can connect with these elements and artist as well as idolise her natural/achievable yet vintage appearance, which appeals to make also due to small flirtatious elements such as plumped lips and feline like eye make up. Fundamentally, I believe that creating a group digipak proved much easier than an individual version as each member possessed personal ideas that caused the production of this to run efficiently. This includes the use of Photoshop as some members were more experienced that others therefore, each member had a role to fulfill for example, a group member would map out ideas whilst others would work at portraying these ideas on to the software.