Digipak
A Digipak is a folded Card CD case that can be used in CD/DVD dimmensions to encase a disc. Digipaks play an important role in promoting its content as it is often the last and decisive stage of advertising to the audience before the items purchase.
Promo Pack
A promo pack consists of anything that is used to promote an album. This may consist of TV/radio/magazine adverts, Music videos, posters, artist appearences, and the digipak. A song's music video will often be linked to its digipak, either by an image, text, or connotations that both share etc. This is because nowadays music videos are one of the biggest ways to promote a song due to the rapid development of visual media. Therefore, by having a digipak that has similarities and is linked to the music video it will help the audeince to recognise the CD in a shop, encouraging them to buy the album as they see these similarities and it helps them remember thier liking for the song/music video.
Target audience
Briefly looking back at my target audience I can see that it consists of predominantly young people aged 16-24, either in full time education or working a part time unskilled job such as a waiter or shop worker. Also it shows that the "typical" fan enjoys the concept of playing or listening to insruments, perhaps going to gigs or concerts.
Analysis of 2 digipack covers
Reggae is the main genre that Bedouin Soundclash falls into, with many other sub genres of Dub, Ska, Alternative Rock, and Soul that can be associated with the music. During my research of Digipaks I have found that inside covers for any of these genres are extemely difficult to find as, like Bedouin Soundclash, many of the realted artists also have very niche genres, and therefore finding realted material on the internet or other media sources is harder. Due to this I feel that it is appropriate to analyse one of Bedouin Soundclash's CD Covers, to assure that my analysis is relevant.
Bedouin Soundclash - When the night feels my song Front 
I have chosen to analyse the digipak from Bedouin Soundclash - 'When the night feels my song', the track that we are using for our video, as I feel that it will give me the greatest insight on how to compose my own relevant digipak. The font cover is dominated by very bold shades of orange which will make the digipak stand out and easily catch its audiences eye. The Black used on the image of the decks heavily contrasts the orange and whilst further increasing visual impact, also gives connotations of power and status to the band. The Image Denotes a Vinyl Deck which is very large and centralised, signifying the import role that music has in the target audiences life. The music related image, similar to those on 'Reggae Chart Busters' also connotes the idea that the music itself is what sells this album, and perhaps not the large reputation or record label that is responsible for selling many 'mainstream' artists material. The artists name is in a large, bold, and clear font which stands out and helps with audeince recognition. Also the artist's name is very central making this one of the first and main focuses of the cover. It also denotes the song title written below in white, highly contrasting the orange background, putting emphasis on the songs.
Back
Using the opposite colours to the front cover, the back cover has a negative effect, with a black background and orange vinyl deck. This repeated but changed design is very easily done and gives the digipak a very simple look that is easy on the eye, which is very important when competing visually against many other digipaks. Furthering the simplistic approach to this digipak, the font used on the back are similar to that on the front, bold, clear and in upper case. This supports the reacurring idea that the music sells itself, and infact a more simplistic approach produces the most effect design for this niche gernre.
Inside
The inside design again follows that of both the front and back covers, with the vinyl deck and contrasting black and orange. The CD also has the record labels logo on it as this is a good form of promotion for the record label as the CD will always be handled/looked at. It also has the listed tracks that are featured on the CD as this is crucial information that Doesn't appear on the front cover as it may over comlicate/compromise the visual appeal.
Reggae Chart Busters
Front
The front cover of this reggae CD appears very abstract with lots going on and many different colours being used. The crowded look created on the front by the vast amounts of drawings connotes the busy and out going lifestyles of the young listeners to this genre. Also the bright colours used such as pink, orange, and white acompany the stereo, which is playing loud music to give the CD an upbeat image. This along with the many images of vinyls and music related images in the background reflect Bedioun Soundclash's target audience, where music is perhaps one of thier primary interests. The writting is in a grafitti style font which also signifies the young audeince of Bedouin Soundclash, as Grafitti is a very important type of art in urban youth culture.
Back
The back cover of the CD sticks with the bright coloured theme to continue the upbeat feel that it create. Also I feel that the blank white background puts all of the audiences focus onto the songs, which are very central and in contrasting colours to catch the audeinces eye. The focus on the song titles connotes the importance of music to the audience who, as I have mentioned before are greatly interested and inspired by the music that thye listen to. On the back there are also many labels, logos, and small prints. This is so that these important pieces of information can be displayed without effecting the eye catching design on the front cover.
Inside
The inside of the Digipak is kept very simple, showing the same bright coloured theme, with the songs displayed again on one side and the very simplistic looking CD on the other. This very basic approach to the back and the inside covers, whilst focusing on the song titles give connotations that the quality of the songs are what sell this albumn and not just pretty CD case.
Flat Plans
Plan 1
Front/back 
Good points
On the front of this cover I have shown a figure (member of the band) walking into the horizon in a very picturesque surrounding with green grass, trees, and a cliff face in the background. I like the idea of the figure disapearing into the distance with a path trailing behind him as it signfies the journey that our character takes in our music video. Also the bright blues and greens that fill the front cover connote hapiness, a key emotion in our jolly, upbeat song choice. Another point that works well is the artists name, which is in a bold black font which contrasts well with the light blue background and will stand out and be eye catching.
I feel that the same image on the back, but instead night time and with no figure walking creates a very empty lonely version. This is good as links signs of joy and happiness to Bedouin Soundclash.
Points to be improved
This idea requires a very precise landscape that may be hard to find without compromise,and the only soloution would be to change some aspects of the desired shot. It also requires good weather which is a variable out of my control, however this can be changed in photoshop.
Inside
Good points
One of the main points that I like about this inside over is its simplicity, contrasting the detailed picture on the front and back covers, meaning that the digipak isnt too complicated and is still easy on the eye. I think that the message featured at the top of the first side (from Bedouin Soundclash) gives a nice touch as it gives the digipak a more personal/relaxed feel, enticing the audience to listen to it. Also, the repeated image of the headphones works well as it is relevant to the youthfull target audience, in which music plays a major part in thier day to day lives.
Points to improve
I think that this inside cover would have a greater visual appeal if the images of the headphones where bigger and took up some of the empty space surrounding them.
Although I like both the outside and inside cover of this digipak, and they are both relevant to my chosen artist/song, I feel that they lack relevance with each other. Perhaps I could choose one theme and use it for my whole digipak instead of trying to integrate both of them.
Plan 2
Front/back
Good Points
I like this design as it is very simple yet effective. With the plain white background and only the text and music related objects highlighted in a bright orange, it supports the idea that it is the quality of the music that sell it and not just the pretty case (similar to Reggae Chart Busters). Also I like the use of colour on this as the large white areas emphasis the highly contrasting bright orange drawing the audiences eyes to the important parts (eg the track listings and record label which is important for promotion, a key aim for digipaks). This cover represents both digitally produced music (speakers) and acousticly produced music (guitar), giving great appeal to my target audience who I mentioned enjoy music produced in both of these ways.
Points to improve on
One aspect that I would change is the font size and positioning of the artist name and song title. I Feel that the font is to small and being positioned at the bottom of the page does not have and instant appeal. Instead I would position the text at the top and put it in a larger bolder font to assure it has eye catching ability.
Inside
Good points
Again, I like the simplicity of the design that continues into the inside cover giving the whole digipak an "easy listening" look to it. The inside cover is where the user may be looking for specific information (track listings, record label, or other small prints), which are made easily visable by the clear background and obvious font/colour choice. I also like the fact that on the CD "Bedouin Soundclash" is written in a bold orange font with little surrounding it on the blank white background, making it look more important and promoting the bands image.
Points to improve on
I think that this design looks very simple but is very effective as mentioned above. However I would change the font on the first inside cover as it may be too basic. I would perhaps change it to one that looks like scripted writting as this will create a scrap book look to the cover, which many of the target audeince predominatly students (16-24) will be able to relate too.
Plan 3
Front/back 
Good points
This design shows a figure (representing member of the band) sitting in a dark room looking out onto a sunny day. I like the contrast that the dark room and the sunny day create, suggesting that outside is the better place to be. This also fits into the "walking Journey" concept of our video as the outside landscape that can be seen from the window will be similar to that portrayed in our video. Another aspect that I like is the siluhette created by the figure with a games controller, ash tray and CD cover on the window seal, as these are all objects that may be relevant in the young target audience's lives. I also like the font used for "Bedouin Sounclash" as it is clear and bold, but not too domininant that it takes the focus away from the window/room contrast. Furthermore, the repeated image on the back, with closed curtains and a fully dark room is good as it has connotations of night and day, which can relate to the song "When The Night Feels My Song".
Points to improve on
One points that I did not fully consider was the possibility of being able to find a bedroom with a window that looks out onto a significant view that will give the impact that I desire. However, I may be able to overcome this issue by taking a separate image and placing over the view of the bedroom window. By doing this I will improve my photoshop skills which I will need for both my digipak design and my advert. Apart from this there is little on the outside cover that I would strongly feel the need to change, making this one of my favourite outside cover designs. Inside 
Good points
On the side of the CD I have given it a grafitti wall effect, taking inspiration from the design with many grafitti signifiers on the "Reggae Chart Busters". As I have mentioned before grafitti is a very important part of urban art amoung youths, so I feel that it will add variety and appeal to the inside. Also I think that the picture of the band, again with the white background for emphasis enables the user to see the artists ina very simple form. This gives the impression that behind all the fame they are just average people, much like the user/audience, allowing the audience to relate to the band.
Points to improve on
One concern that I had with this inside cover was the brightly coloured outfits worn by the band in the picture. I feel that they are too brightly coloured compared to the type of clothes that I stated the target audience are likely to wear envolving more darker colours, supported in this image.
One other aspect on this inside cover that I would improve is the record label logo, as I feel that it is too plain and not promoted enough. Instead I would put it in a different font or colour increasing its size to make it more visable, and to have a better promotion factor for the record company.
Actual Digipak
Front
For my final design I stuck very closely to one of my flat plan designs, but also used good aspects of my other designs to create the most effective digipak that I could.
For the cover I used 2 images, one of a room, and another photoshoped into the window of that room. The image of the room has a "photocopied" effect on it which has made it white with black outlines. This creates a surreal effect which can be linked to the surrealness of our video (character walking along, spontaneously changing location and costume), whilst the lack of colour and the placement of the figure looking out of the window connotes that the room is dull and boring. Whilst the blue filter placed over the figure walking in a picturesque landscape (representing our video) shown through the window connotes that the outside surrounding (where our video is based) is a much more interesting and fun place.
The text I have used for the artist and album name is very bold with a stenciled effect which gives it a graffiti look, standing out and appealing to the young urban audience who are likely to see graffiti as art. I have used the colour green for the text as this is one of the colours of the Etheopian flag and has large associations with reggae, giving the audience visual recognition that the genre is reggae, making the design more eye catching to the target audience.
The young music loving 16-24 year old target audience of Bedouin Soundclash who have alot of disposable income will more than likely own a type of games console or pair of headphones and therefore the placement of these items on the window seal will enable the audience to recognise themselves in the image and will entice them to buy it.
If I were to redo the front cover one aspect I would change is the colour or position of the track listing font on the back as the visibility of some letters could be better due to a clash with the background colours. Instead I would perhaps use a lighter shade of green to increase the contrast.
Inside
I have continued the "photocopied" effect for the inside of my digipak as this simple black and white design gives emphasis to other aspects of the page, such as the large centralised image of the headphones. The headphones signify music, and the large size and central positioning suggest the importance of music in the target audiences' lives.
I have positioned the track listing at the top on the left hand side of the inside cover as this is naturally the first place to look, and therefore the track listings, perhaps the most important and usefull information to the user is best suited here. Also due to the nature of my design there is little oppotunity for me to express the reggae genre through the colour of my images. So instead I decided to arange the track listings in green, yellow and red, as these are colours that have associations with reggae and enable me to create a reggae look to the digipak. I have also chosen the CD itself fit in with the design that covers the whole inside cover, apposed to it having a separate design. This is becuase it allows the continuity of the design, allowing the image of the headhones to have maximum effect.
I did not follow my initial ideas shown in my flat plan for this inside cover, which was to have a graffiti wall covering the inside. I discarded this idea as creating this design with the resources I had (fonts etc) gave a very unprofessional look.
One aspect I would change about this is the colour of the "Bedouin Soundclash" on the CD from red to the same green used on the front cover. This is becuase I feel the red isnt suited here, and that if instead it was green the colour of the text on the CD would relate to that on the front, giving a more professional look.
Feedback
For my feedback I created a questionairre that I handed around to a focus group that represented the age group of beduoin Soundclash's target audience.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jgIkdkBN5jngj14m7tHMfK0q4vS6Ugm5zbFmFnJ6ing/edit?hl=en#
I have seleceted the usefull feedback and listed it below.
Good points I received:
-"Nice contrasting colours"
-"Good continuity throughout"
-"Lots of elements that would appeal to a young adueince: xbox controller, headphones, trilby hat."
-"Graffiti is associated with reggae"
What I could improve:
-"Increase font size for artists name"
-"Include a review from music related source"
