Evaluation Question Three DRAFT

Evaluation Question Two Finished

Evaluation Question Two DRAFT

Evaluation Question Four Finished

Evaluation Question One Finished

Here is my evaluation question one in video format. I had a few technical difficulties so it may require headphones/full volume! Also for some reason the video glitches/jumps slightly every now and again but it doesn't make any difference to the sound or my speech.

Folded Digipak

Updating Digipak, Insert and Magazine Advert

After I  completed my first draft of my digipak and magazine advert I asked for feedback from my fellow students and friends outside of my media class. I developed a very quick questionnaire which addressed and inquired after the opinions of the audience on particular issues I found with my products, as well as generic questions on what was good/bad about them. I was pleased with the results as the feedback came back to be mainly positive with only minor adjustments/improvements needed.

In my magazine advert, I have adjusted the text size/balance to create a more conventional layout that doesn't look too cluttered and is without any unnecessary information. I deleted the contrasting text even though I quite liked the effect, as the extra text took away from the image of my front cover and meant I was not showing a true representative of my album cover on the advertisement. I also adjusted the size of the social networking logos at the base of the advertisement as some people commented they seemed slightly too small in relation to the rest of the advert. This also brings them further into the main focus and would hopefully grab the attention of the viewer and subsequently encourage them to follow up the artist using these sites.

In my digipak, I have made several small changes in relation to the feedback I received. On the inside, I added a ring of text around my CD holder to liven up that space and create more detail as a few comments reported it to be lacking in that area. The text is not necessarily for information, but more for aesthetic effect. Although this ring of text took me quite a while to achieve on Photoshop I am pleased with the result it gives.  I also changed the font of some text I added to the right panel into the font I have used almost throughout, as the plainer font was too plain according to some more feedback I received. On the outside I made hardly any changes except to adjust the sizing and layout of the small credit text on the back of my digipak, so that it was clearer and easy to read.

Closer look at Digipak and Magazine Advert

Inspiration for insert

I have been inspired to create an unconventional layout for my insert. I have decided to use a two fold booklet insert that has the lyrics and credits on one side and a poster on the other. The advantage of this insert is the poster, as this is a free piece of fan 'merchandise' for the audience and also could promote publicity if it was displayed.
Here are some photographs of the London Grammar album insert which uses this format.

Magazine Advertisement Placement

I have been doing some research on the internet to determine how effective the placement of an ad is in a magazine. I have found that the content/graphics is of course the most effective way to reach a reader however advert placement does have an impact on cognitive metrics of recall and recognition. Placing and advertisement for my artist/song would be a very effective way of reaching my target audience- especially if the magazine is one purchased by my target audience. The "media experience survey" (2012) claims that both consumers and marketers most prefer to see advertising in a magazine.
Here are the statistics for the consuer : Magazine- consumers 45% TV programme- 23% Website-11% Outdoor-10%. This shows that a favourtie magazine would be an ideal place to publicise the artist/song. Magazines that are likely to reach my target audience could include; "Q", "Mojo"and more specialist magazines focusing on the indie pop genre.

The position of the magazine advert is also something I would have to decide upon. The media experience survey of 2012 also states that: "a magazine's power rests in the fact that the reader takes time to read and is focusing on the magazine. It is not your 'only moment' but also the moment for the advertiser. This is an opportunity for and advertiser to have an exclusive encounter with consumers."
 Positions I have found are back inside page 1 inside front cover inside back cover visible to anyone just flicking through not reading the actual content. I have also discovered that apparently pages on the right offer up the best recall alongside obviously front pages. However if an ad is early on in the magazine, this also proves to be a prominent and ideal place to have an advert as it also provides good recall.

"t is not only 'your moment' but also the moment for the advertiser. This is an opportunity for an advertiser to have an exclusive encounter with consumers.The Media Experience Survey, Europe [2012] "

Theories

Althusser- interpellation
 Interpellation is a concept in marxist social and political theory that explains how ideas get into our heads and how this affects our lives. So much so that cultural ideas have a hold on us so that we believe that they are our own. An idea is not simply your own- it has been presented to you.
In my work have I used interpelling to push my audience into a particular ideological position?

Barthes- structuralism/cultural myth
 BINARY OPPOSITIONS= which binary oppositions structure my text? Why have I used them/was I aware of using them? Good vs Evil
CULTURAL MYTH= Media representations relate to the braoder culutral myths and belief systems. Anything can become a myth if it is used as a sign to convey meaning. Has the way I've conveyed males/race/class/age reinforce or challenge any cultural myths? How and why? Teenagers-angst

Barthes- death of the author
 Essay which argues against the traditional literary criticism by saying that the writing and the creator are unrelated. The social and historical background of the author, e.g. social status, origin, context, religion have no effect on the text.
Readers create their own meanings so texts are always 'Unstable and open to question'. A texts unity lies not in its origins or its creator but "in it's destination" or its audience.
Audience repetition model
Question on specifically audience
Apply to a production

Mulvey- male gaze theory
 In film audiences have to 'view' characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. Is there evidence of the male gaze in the representation of females in my work? How do I feel about it?

Winship- gender complicity
The gaze between cover model and women readers marks the complicity between women seeing themselves in the image in which the masculine culture has defined. We are prepared for the reward of gratification, to recognise the ideal version of ourselves, despite the anxiety it will cause when we compare ourselves to this ideal. To what extent do your products encourage this gender complicity? how and why/why not?

Social Realism

Influences and Inspirations for digipak and magazine advertisement

Finished results!

Digipak

 Insert

 Magazine advertisement

Magazine Advertisement construction

I knew I wanted to use the circular graphic I had used on my front cover for my magazine advertisement because this would hopefully enable the viewer to instantly recognise the CD product itself from the magazine advertisement. Therefore I began by using the circle photograph I had edited earlier. However I also already had an idea in my head that I wanted the text on the advertisement to change colour dependent on the background. Initially I wanted the words themselves to be partly black when on the white of the background and partly white on the image itself. Unfortunately this proved to difficult for my technical skills so I opted for having two words "new album" in white where the line of the sentence crossed the image.I changed the words "the" and "from" into black either side of the image. I feel this still provided the right effect. I also positioned the name of the artist in the same place as on the digipak cover to again show the album cover and also to draw the eye to the name and show the importance.

I created my magazine advertisement in microsoft word. I drew the frame by using a rectangle shape tool and then adjusted the sizing so that it was the the right dimensions for an A4 page (29.7 X 21cm). I then placed my edited circle with text in the upper center.

After I had added the initial text for the top half of the advertisement, I wanted to add a review to "big up" the album and attract the viewers. I decided to use a five star image as I had seen these on several magazine advertisements previously. I found an image I liked on google images, and edited it so that it was grey in colour in photoshop to match my colour scheme and create a subtler look to the advertisement. I invented a simple quote from The Guardian. I chose the guardian because it is a respected newspaper that often reviews music.

I also added the words "includes the single aint nobody" to particularly identify and draw attention to the song I had used for my music video. This is a technique I have also seen in other magazine advertisements. 

I then added my record company logo, however it had a white box around it that was interfering with where I wished to place it, so I edited out the white in photoshop.

I then sourced the twitter, facebook and soundcloud logo from my digipak and placed them in the right hand corner of my advertisement so they wouldn't draw the attention away from my main advertisement text/graphics but still encourage viewers to investigate the artist further. I also changed the colour of the logos from white to a light grey so that they would stand out on the white background but not be too obvious or clash.

Here is my finished magazine advertisement:

Digipak contstruction- insert and mini poster

For my insert I chose to use a six way fold technique that allowed for six panels each side. This is because I wanted a space big enough so that one side of this insert could be folded out into a mini poster for the owner of the digipak. This creates a free piece of merchandise for the audience and could encourage publicity if it was put up somewhere others would see it. I first drew the squares each 11 by 11 to make sure they would fit (once folded) into my digipak slot of 12.5 by 12.5. To create the poster side I then again used one of my images from my photo shoot and used photoshop elements to edit it to my liking (straightening, brightening etc).

I then used a circle tool to create a spherical shape in the middle of my image for my text to go in. I used the transparency tool bar to adjust the opacity and make the circle faded so that some of the image was still visible through the shape. Finally I added text across the center of the circle to show the name of the artist and complete the poster. 

 For the other side of my fold out insert I decided to display the lyrics of the song I used in my music video- aint nobody. I chose the font I downloaded as I have been using this font for the whole digipak to keep consistency of design.

To finish the panels I added a thanks to one of the panels and a crediting panel to the other. The panels read "Thanks" "Kordula would like to say a huge thankyou to all involved in the making of this album. Without the continued support of fans, friends, family and our amazing production team this would never have been possible. A special thank you to moon and rust records "
"All tracks written and recorded by Kordulas Published by moon and rust records Mixed by Kain Davis at boomsoundroom Los Angeles CA, Mastered by Tom Sterling at SterlingSound CA Art Direction by Kacy Maitland at Dotscop"
"www.kordulasmusic.co.uk"

 To finish this side of the fold out insert I added a circular image I cut out on photoshop and faded it so it wouldn't make the text over the top unreadable.
Here are the two sides of my insert fold out. (The grid lines show where the panels fold)

Digipak construction- using a cut out

After some deliberation I have decided to have a cut out circle on the cover of my digipak. This is a technique I first saw on the XX's album cover. The right panel is technically my front cover, however here I have placed a circle to show where there will be a cut out. The left panel shows the image that will show through this cut out to form the cover. I feel this will add a more edgy look to my digipak and ideally encourage the audience to pick up the digipak and investigate further. I also like the idea that the circle cut out is like a window or a porthole, showing the sea behind.

Here again I have put a circle cut out space as this would be the other side of my front cover. The third panel would fold to go over the CD itself (middle panel) and the left panel would then fold over this to create the cover.

Digipak construction- inside the digipak

Inside the image I decided to use one image spread across the three panels. This is an idea I had seen in other digipaks and thought it was very effective. I also felt I needed to balance the white and simplistic cover I had created. I chose an image that depicted footsteps walking towards a frothy shoreline. I feel this links well to my music video in which my artists are walking along/towards the shoreline. The right panel has an extra cut away to show that this is where my insert would go. I chose to create a curved edge to mimic the undulating shapes seen in my photography with crashing waves etc

I then added a circle for my CD to be placed in. I used microsoft words tools for this, and faded the white shape to create a subtle contrast that would still allow the image to show through.

Digipak construction- the spine

Creating the spine was a very simplistic piece of graphic design. I decided to again keep the white background of the front cover and the back cover so that the cover in itself would seem seamless and an ongoing graphic. I added the name and album title in a grey font to provide a subtle effect that would still compliment the theme of the digipak. The name I chose to be in a slightly larger font to make it stand out and catch the viewers eye. I also added the record company logo again, but faded it so that it would not detract away from the name or album name.

Digipak construction- logo development

I decided to create my own record company logo instead of simply copying one onto my digipak. I invented a record company named "moon and rust records". I wanted to use the imagery of the moon mentioned in the name, so I downloaded a crescent moon graphic from google images that was free to use. I chose the image because of its circular shape which always proves well for a logo and placing over other images. It also holds a very simple colour scheme of black and white which can also go over many images and on a variety of products without clashing. A logo must also not be too detailed or complex as this can make it look cluttered and a bad graphic design. Sticking with the minimalist and graphic theme I decided to apply only the letters M and R to represent the record logo. Using adobe photoshop elements 11 I applied the text. I also decided to edit my logo further and make use of the black and white divide to present contrasting font colours on each side and highlight the crescent moon image. Here is my final result

However I did also create another logo so I would have a choice between the two for my digipak. This logo would also appear on my magazine advertisement so I wanted it to be right. To be safer I went for a very obvious shape of a crescent moon, and simply filled it with black text. This created a much more simplified image which I felt didn't look as good as my first logo, but could be of great use if the image you were placing it on was very busy allready. It also immediatley puts across the record company and is a very distincitve shape.