MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS

EVALUATION QUESTION 2

MUSIC VIDEO Since we decided to do a photoshoot for the digipack and album advert instead of

featuring stills from the music video (minus the polaroid pictures on the left inside panel), it meant that I had to identify features from the music video that I would be able to

incorporate into the design of the digipack and album advert. The features I identified were:

o Colour scheme- The black and white colour scheme that features in select scenes. This could be in terms of the narrative and the binary opposites seen through the black and white effect and happiness and sadness. I felt I could incorporate this into the

print work by having it juxtapose with the colour.

o The pop genre- This means being bold and creative with the designs and dramatic. But also for the design to still be simple by having a consistent theme. As we are adopting

Goodwin’s generic convention of promoting the star image.

o Promote the star image- in our music video we promote youth, through the club scene. This is one of Goodwin’s conventions for a music video. Which is why keeping this in mind, for the digipack and album advert poster is vital. For example having a

website of the artists on the poster and having close ups of the face.

STRUCTURE

I created the album advert poster first and so had to continue with a accordant theme to go with the digipack. This means keeping in mind feature

such as: Font style

Colour scheme Effects

The logos used on the album advert poster

The draft design for the digipack has changed twice (see ‘digipack draft design’ post). As, as a group we felt that the first designs theme wouldn’t be accordant the album advert design and that we needed something simpler,

instead of the intermittent images on the first draft design.

ALBUM ADVERT AND DIGIPACK

IMAGES THAT FEATURE ON PRINT WORK

ALBUM ADVERT

These are the original images, taken during the photoshoot for the album advert and digipack.

From the draft design of the album advert I knew what image I needed, a medium shot of Christina and Beth. The image on the right is the original image from the photoshoot. I then proceeded on PicMonkey to crop the image and changed the photo to black and white and auto adjusted the

image. I then added in the triangulation image (in black and white )and inputted it as a overlay and then used the black and white focal effect which allowed me to isolate a section of the image (the

area where Christina and Beth are). I then reversed the effect so there was just colour around Christina and Beth and changed the settings to hardlight to get the effect you see over Christina and

Beth. I decided to design this as I kept in mind the black and white effect we’d incorporated into the music video and how it could link to the convention by Levi Strauss, of binary opposites being conflicted in

music videos.

FRONT PANEL

On the left is the original image from the photoshoot. After which I turned it black and white like I did for the album advert picture. Images 3 and 4 show the front cover without the overlay background. It looked to plain and I want to create some juxtaposition using

Levi Strauss’s binary opposites convention. On the album advert poster I had used a black font colour except when I added the overlay the black font wasn’t legible and didn’t stand

out so I went with the white font. At first I tested to see how it would look having the colour just on Christina and Beth (image two) except that was what I had done on the

album advert poster. As I mentioned previously, I wanted to have an accordant theme but not make it repetitive to the point it became banal. So I decided to add the triangulation

image (image 5) as an overlay instead. I felt that the colour in the background, could denote the fun that surrounds Christina and Beth in the music video i.e. the club scene, on

holiday etc. This would juxtapose with Christina and Beth who are in black and white, to connote mixed feelings of happiness and sadness. As Christina is still hurting from the

breakup, which means Beth is hurting as well, but at the same time Christina is happy to have her best friend by her side to help her through it. Also in terms of the pop genre, and the song having an upbeat tempo it meant our narrative paid more attention on the happy aspects than dwelling on the negative and sad elements. As we only include several scene that show this, for example the lip synching scene where Christina and Beth adorn serious

expressions.

BACK PANEL

Image 3 is the final design of the back cover and Image 4 is what Anne produced on Photoshop, but since we needed to keep the theme consistent, that meant font

as well. This meant that I had to go on image 4 on Photoshop and delete all the layers leaving just the grey background and images of Christina and Beth, leaving the barcode and QR code and the Atlantic Records logo. In PicMonkey I then auto adjusted the image and used the font that I used on the album advert poster for ‘Icona Pop’ and the front cover. I then added in a copyright disclaimer in a similar font but in black as it contrasts nicely with the white font above. I also added Big Beat’s logo and the PAL, as some of the tracks feature explicit lyrics (as shown on

the digipack and album advert analysis PowerPoint). In terms of the linking this to the music video, by layering the font on the track names (having white on top and then black underneath could represent happiness and sadness. As the black font (the sadness that Christina feels) is masked by the happiness and fun (the white

font), that she has with Beth.

THEME The grey we chose is an intermediate colour between the black and white (binary opposites). This portrays the middle ground that Christina found

in the music video, of trying to let go of her past relationship and trying to

move on.

The font that’s been used for both print pieces are consistent, the ‘Icona Pop’ font and the album name and single title. Also the engraved banner, that I used on the

album advert poster features on the inside cover on the CD.

I used the same features such as logos. I even included the PAL logo on the album advert

poster as well as the digipack even though it’s not a legal requirement. I also featured them both on the right side, denoting consistency

I used images from the music video on the inside cover, but in polaroid frames as it promotes the star image (Goodwin's convention) but also fitted in with the retro TV that features

at the beginning and end. Also the retro TV and polaroid frame fits in with the lyrics, ‘You're from the 70's, but I'm a

90‘s b*tch’.

I have kept in line with the pop

convention, as the design is bold and

dynamic but looking at the two print work pieces

you can see an accordant theme running through.

SUMMARY The designing process was vital as it adds to the Music Video and compliments it and develops it. I used PicMonkey (a free photo online editor), which I had not been familiar with before. However

through designing the digipack and album advert poster I am now familiar with the program which is a useful skill I have gained.

I have kept an accordant theme throughout the digipack and album advert as mentioned through the various slides.

The black and white theme relating to the binary opposites of happiness and sadness but also black and white which could symbolise that. We also have used the black and white effect in the

music video. The juxtaposition of colour with black and white. As this is predominant on the digipack and

album advert and again in the music video. For example, the scene where Christina and Beth are lip synching (which is in black and white) and then you have the pink bokeh shapes. The

continuous use of colour featured in the digipack and album advert alongside the black and white denote the fun, portrayed in our music video.

The use of the same font style for the artist name and album title. As the font used for the artist name is quite bold and daring which juxtaposes with the simpler design of the font used for the

album name. The images used such as the triangulation image which I found off the Internet, I used in the

album advert poster and digipack and justified my reasons for doing so. Also the engraved banner/ banners, I have continued through both pieces.