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.