Final Group Digipak

 

Right: Photo (top),  Welcome note (middle), Disc design (bottom)
Left: Photo (top), Tracklist (middle), Cover (bottom) 


This is the final digipak that we've chosen to use for the whole group as we feel it shows many conventions of R&B alongside Pop which reflects the genre of our artist very specifically. First of all we have the backing track; the "Roc Nation" logo in the right hand corner is in reality an established record company owning the likes of our chosen artist Rita Ora along with singers such as Alexis Jordan and J.Cole well known for producing mainstream R&B music sometimes with crossovers of Pop of their subsidiary "Star Roc" and crossovers of Rap since the founder of the label is the well-known rap artist Jay-Z. When potential buyers of the album take a look at the track list and notice the logo in the corner, if they're fans of mainstream R&B making them fit the criteria for our targeted audience, they'll be familiar with the 'Roc Nation' logo and its connotations therefore encouraging them about the fact that the album of this star (who is rising and not already established) will suit their own personal music preferences.

Another reason I feel this digipak is conventional of the mainstream R&B/Pop crossover genre is due to the consistent colour scheme and repeated appearance of the artists face. Showing the artist applies to Goodwin's Theory and also allows the audience to establish some sort of familiarity with the star. In both R&B and Pop the artist is very present on their digipaks and in their music videos as oppose to genres such as Alternative Rock or Dance and Techno. Not only does showing the artist benefit the target audience but it also fulfills the albums commercial side as more exposure of the artists helps transform them into a brand which is what a lot of mainstream record labels aim to do in order to be profitable. This is where the colour-scheme comes in. With the colour red having connotations of edginess (diverting away from the pink fluffiness of a Pop artist) and the white breaking up the harsh contrast between black and red, the target audience will soon get used to this colour scheme and sub-consciously begin to relate the theme to the artist. When the artist eventually becomes more established they can use this feature as a trademark or promotional feature. In real life, some musicians even use objects as their trademark feature. For example:

• Rihanna and the 'R' - Her initial and 'personal trademark' 

• JLS and their primary colours to represent each member 

Lastly, throughout my digipak I've used fonts from Photoshop that contrast with one another a lot. While some fonts are elegant and swirled others are rigid and harsh. This is conventional of the R&B/Pop crossover because it literally connotes the blend of two genres which would otherwise be completely opposite. Any kind of music fan is aware than even mainstream R&B is completely different to mainstream Pop, for instance if we took two proto-types such as Carly Rae Jepsen for Pop and Mary.J.Blidge for R&B it's almost impossible to find any similarities between the two apart from their occupation. However, with a merge of the two genres we get artists that're possibly more popular as they appeal to more genre fans that just one kind, examples of artists like this are Beyonce (R&B/Pop), Nicki Minaj (Rap/Pop), Taylor Swift (Country/Pop), Adele (Blues/Pop), Justin Bieber (Pop/R&B) and Avril Lavingne (Rock/Pop). While the swirly writing shows the bubbly feel that is often found in Pop, the rigid and shattered font shows the controversy and confidence of R&B. 

I think that our target audience will be able to connect with the artist due to the graphological features analysed above but also because of the sentimental value that's translated through intricate detail in each of the covers/slides as most artists do. For our own personal digipak this is shown in the digipaks 'Welcome Note' as well as the text overlaying the photoshoot images. One of them are lyrics to the song which we're making our music video to - this helps the audience become familiar with the style of music as lyrics can tell you a lot about a song and plus "Roc the Life" is supposed to be the hit single on this track which means people may be mildly familiar with it whether they're a fan of the music or not. On the photo slide (on the left side) the overlay of text is of various quotes from the film "Alice in Wonderland" which not only work alongside the theme of our whole album 'Lost in Wonderland' but also brings some ideology to the whole theme of the digipak connoting a journey into fame or to somewhere that'd otherwise be labelled "out of the ordinary", suggesting the artists music in new and up and coming. Looking at my latest digipak which can be displayed above and my first digipak, I think that this one is definitely most conventional and the one that should be used for our group, especailly because it's more detailed and shows the artists face - unlike my inital draft (below) which doesn't even have a single picture present.