Digipak and Poster Feedback

After the previous feedback, I changed my design to allow me to get more marks. The change was very dramatic, but not too time consuming as I had the images on standby. 

I combined my advertisement together and focused mainly on the CD album and leave out the tour dates as most of them had passed. The main issue with not getting a higher grade was because it wasn't an obvious link to the music video, so I focused on using the powder paint - demonstrating a clear link between the tasks. I presented the changed products...

   

I asked several yes and no questions...

1) Do you like the contrast in my design with the use of more colour?

    Everyone said yes, one however, did say 'maybe a little too bright'

2) Is there enough variation in text sizes and are they clear to read?

    Everyone answered yes, one person added, 'and very clear to read, quite exciting', and another suggested 'the black text quotes could be a little larger'

3)  Do you like the use of graphic and the effects added?

    All asked agreed to the use of graphic and effects. 'I think it looks very professional' and 'Definitely - love the inside of the digipak!'

4) Do you think the layout of the advertisement is appropriate for it to be included in a magazine/newspaper?

    100% said yes to the layout being appropriate. 

5) Do you think the functionality of the digipak works well? (including the insert)

    They all liked functionality of the digipak and it's contents. Additional comments made were, 'it's fantastic' and 'yes, very accessible and easy without it easily falling out'

6) Do you like the use of social network links and icons in the advert?

    All agreed that the social network links were very appropriate with the times and were very effective.  'They are appropriate, yes, but makes that bottom left a little crowded'. To fix this problem I am going to adjust the bottom links and make it balanced either side. 

7) What aspects of the print material do you like? [comments split by commas]

Digipak - Follows conventions, colourful, very interactive, range of images, colours and images - makes it seem really fun and happy, insert booklet, insert booklet design, it's so bright and colour and well put together.

Advertisement - Colourful, makes the band really fun and lively, large eye catching image, the layout draws the eye to the photo - it's really good, smaller version of the digipak cover inserted, links and icons, looks very professional like a proper band poster and again, cheery and colourful 

8) What aspects of the print material could be improved? [comments split by commas]

Digipak - maybe the colour could be tinted or dimmed because it needs to be directed also to an older audience, some of the words look a little bit pixelated, the colour, quality of printer used - although I know the school computers are rubbish with printing, very saturated colours, Image of the front is the tiniest bit blurry 

[Regarding the pixelated images and text, despite making image the correct size in developing - like some of the answers mentioned the quality of the printer cannot be helped.] 

Advertisement - the colour, quite busy, font size 

9) Any additional comments please state below…

Any additional comments added was just praise to my work, 'I love it!' , 'Brilliant!' , 'Amazing!!' and 'It's awesome and colourful and I appreciate the hard work that went into it because I know it was a long and arduous journey' 

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Magazine Advert Feedback

I emailed a questionnaire to a small group of people ranging in different ages, three of my own age and two older adults. 

I asked several yes and no questions...

3)  Are the adverts clear and easy to read? They all said yes

4) Do you like the use of graphic and the effects added? 
They all said yes.

5) Do you think there is enough range in font sizes and styles?
4/5 said yes, one said no suggesting that the quotations could be bigger. 

6) Do you think the layout of the advertisement is appropriate for it to be included in a magazine/newspaper? 
They all said yes - showing the design to be conventional of size, proportion and format. 

7) Do you think there should be more colour included? 
Everybody answered no, proving the contrast is good between the images and the lack of colours does work successfully, too many and it would look tacky. 

8) Do you think the quotes are suitable for the advertisement and a decent size? 

4/5 said it was suitable. One person said, 'yes, but you could get quotes from sources like a local radio DJ or radio station just because this would entice a wider audience' another said ' No, suitable but too small'

9) Do you like the use of social network links and icons in the advert?
All of them agreed that the link to the media was good and necessary. 

The next few questions were their opinions on the magazine advertisement...

10) Where do you think you would most likely find the advertisements?
I received answers which were all in similar locations to what I was aiming for in my coursework. Suggesting, 'In a local magazine or up in the city' , 'In music shops and billboards around the city' , 'In a music magazine of some description' , 'Outline, EDP, internet' and 

'Posters/fliers at the venue, ‘what’s on’ supplement in local paper'. Demonstrating that my target areas for my advertisement to be is being recognised. 

11) What aspects of the advertisements do you like? 

Those who answered complimented the simplicity, but bold artist design and the use of colour. 'I like the way you can see the band and the colours are good' , 'They are simple and not too busy' , 'I like the colours and the happy nature of the band' and 'I like the bold color scheme'

12)  What aspects of the advertisement could be improved or changed to look better? 

To improve the advertisements I got several suggestion, but only minor changes which I agree can be improved. 'You could maybe use a different font for the social media links just for some variety' , 'I think it’s good and doesn't need to be improved' , 'I think increasing the size of the font for the social media links could be helpful' , 'larger text on the quotes' and 'Band name could be a bit bolder'

Teacher Feedback

The magazine adverts were marked using the mark scheme and got me a 'C' grade with 6/10. Comments were then made to raise the grade higher. 

'Are we assuming that this advert will be for a local publication, rather than a national magazine or newspaper? This could have an effect on your chosen quotations. Traditionally these would be from more reputable sources e.g. magazines, music writers, newspapers, radio DJs etc.' - Like with other feedback the quotations needed to be relevant to where the advertisement would be seen and whose comments would be important enough for the target audience to think they band are worth while to check out. Some easy adjustments in sizes and fonts were also suggested like with the small investigation I carried out, 'You need to work on the range of font sizes. quotes need to be a little larger, and FB etc. text at the bottom needs to be smaller.'

When trying to look at the link between the music video was lost. The only link the graphics had was some of the photographs taken on the set of the music video. 'I also still think that the link/continuing theme from your music video is lost a little in the 2 ancillary tasks. Could we have a look at colour, perhaps, and see if there’s something more obviously linked to the video that can be substituted for the red?' 

To fix the problem of the link being lost, I have decided to use more colour, by using the powder paint footage of the video to my advantage. This way I will have got more colour and the link would be stronger between the texts.  

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Theories...

Althusser - Interpellation (1918-1990)

The term interpellation was an idea introduced by Louis Althusser to explain the way in which ideas get into our heads and have an effect on our lives, so much so that cultural ideas have such a hold on us that we believe they are our own. Interpellation is the idea that we are “bred” to think, act and react in certain ways. We are interpellated from the day that we are born into specific roles that society has created for us.

Info found from http://www.longwood.edu/staff/mcgeecw/notesoninterpellation.htm

Barthes 

Death of the author - 

Barthe argues against traditional literary criticism's practice of incorporating the intentions and biographical context of an author in an interpretation of a text, and instead argues that writing and creator are unrelated. 

"To give a text an Author" and assign a single, corresponding interpretation to it "is to impose a limit on that text."

Image reinforcing cultural myths - 

Roland Barthes, in his 1957 book Mythologies, argues exactly this : that no language use can be separated from structures of ideology and power. Barthes recognised that the signified can operate on two levels of signification- the primary level, that is, the most commonly accepted signified (four legs, barks, smells); and a secondary level of signification - the 'other' signifieds that we come to culturally accept (so with 'dog' this might be 'scoundrel' or 'ugly woman'). The descriptions he used are now common - denotation and connotation.

Mulvey - Male gaze theory 

It describes the act of looking; began as the study of the objectification of women in visual texts. Laura Mulvery introduced the "male gaze" as a feature of gender power in film. Mulvey argues that in classic Hollywood films in particular women are merely represented to provide visual pleasure to men.  Her concept of to be looked at, exemplifies that women were merely shown on screen in classic Hollywood in order to provide men with visual pleasure and have an erotic impact. Mulvey argued that the typical key protagonist within a classic Hollywood film was male and the audience members where similarly typically expected to be men.

Winship - Gender complicity 

Janice Winship (1987) has been an extremely influential theorist. “The gaze between cover model and women readers marks the complicity between women seeing themselves in the image masculine culture has defined”. The ‘final girl’ is always a pure, innocent girl who abstains from sex and may be less attractive than the other female characters. The message here is clear, in horror film, if you are a woman, sex = death

Where could my advertisement for Engima be placed?

Norfolk On My Mind 

Norfolk on my mind is Norfolk's free lifestyle magazine distributed right across the county from King's Lynn to Cromer and availble in shops in Norwich and towns. The magazine includes local news and events, celebrity interviews, restaurant reviews, seasonal recipes, health and fitness advice, tips, music and theatrical write up and many more.

Link to Website: Click here 

Outline Magazine

Outline is an independent magazine aimed at providing you with a definitive guide of where to go in relation to pubs, clubs and arts events in Norwich. Outline promotes local talent and businesses. Enigma are under the local band directory (Click here). 

Link to Website: Click here 

Concrete Newspaper

Concrete is the University of East Anglia's student newspaper. With a circulation of up to 5,000, Concrete is free and published fortnightly on a Tuesday, during term time. Its sections include News, Comment, Features, Sport, Global, Travel, Lifestyle, Science and Tech and Environment. Inside Concrete is Venue,culture supplement which includes Music, Film, Arts, Creative Writing, Gaming, Fashion, TV and Competitions and Listings. Previous issues have included interviews with Paul McCartney, Harrison Ford and Stephen Fry.  

Link to Website: Click here 

Why would my ad be suitable for these magazines?

The magazine/newspapers are local and include sections on music and local talent. Outline magazine in particular focuses on the events happening in and around Norwich a advert would fit nicely in with my advertisement in promoting the band and their album. Concrete newspaper is written by university students and for them and it would be suitable under the lifestyle section or in the Venue insert as they perform at local venues like Epic Studios, UEA, Waterfront and Brickmakers etc. University students would be interested, because it is part of the nightlife in the Norwich area and is a feature of university life. The layout of the advertisements I have created would work both on the official websites as well as in a printed issue. Either as a full page spread, a banner or quarter a page. Because I have made two and the shapes are conventional it allows for flexibility and ease to insert them into a proper magazine or newspaper. 

A bigger newspaper locally to consider is the EDP as it is the main newspaper read in Norfolk. 

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Artist album influences for digipak

Kasabian 

Further research into Britpop examples has helped me come up with my digipak design. The characteristics these album covers share is the simplicity of the design. The Kasabian CD shares similarities with my current digipak by only using two colours. 

Blur 

The blur album influenced my first design ideas, which was to use photos of them playing live and make them cut out (abstract) in the four corners design similar to this cover. However, I scrapped it as I preferred my other idea. I still kept with the image of the band on the front, so then the audience can make the connection between their music and their faces. I combined features from each to end with my own design. 

Paramore

Away from Britpop to pop/alternative rock. The handwriting effect of the Riot! album cover is very similar to my font choices. They both mimic handwriting and the idea of a journal/diary type design for the CD. 

Previous Print Material Development: 

Font examples of Britpop (Slide 5) and text colour trials (Slide 4): Click here
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Digipak final draft before feedback & Functionality

Below shows a diagram of the printing plan for the digipak and how I created the insert sleeve as the final adjustment to the digipak design 

A quick slideshow video to show the finished product [ready for draft marking]

Band feedback to music video

Once the music video was complete I sent them links to the final construction. I got positive feedback overall. From the final construction there are two verisons of the music video. One in colour (which I am using for G324) and on in black and white (which the band preferred to release as there official video).

Below is the bands reaction to the video:

 The video was officially released on 7th February 2014. They announced it on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as on their official Youtube account, where I received acknowledgement and crediting.