Possible Digipak images

These images are the result of our photo shoot for the digipak. It is important that we select the correct ones to use as it will be the first thing our target audience see and therefore give them a first impression of what the album will be all about.

I feel that the image (above) that I've taken works very successfully.
It is relatively simple however still conveys a lot of emotion due to the direct eye contact with the camera. I think that she portrays a rather innocent image which would represent the character we have created. Saying this, I do think that there isn't very much a pose and that is maybe something we were aiming more for. Although the top our artist is wearing looks aesthetically pleasing, I also think that Nova (our artist) is more about darker colours to represent her more mysterious side which is a reason for why we are rejecting this image for album front cover- we could still however use this in our digipak booklet.

This is another photograph taken for the digipak. A different pose was tried this time with Nova's head tilted back yet with the direct eye contact remaining. I feel that direct eye contact is quite essential for our front cover due to the fact that it creates more of a personal connection between the viewer and the artist. The clothing in this picture was changed to something dark and bold which creates a statement- this is what we were hoping for and therefore something we bared in mind for next time. Nova appears to have a lot of status and maturity in this stance which on one hand is a success however I feel that her head is positioned slightly oddly which will make quite a difference in how effective our front cover is perceived. From taking this picture, we learned that the pose is very important and is therefore something we should focus on and become more experimental with to ultimately find the best outcome.

In this next image, our artist changed their clothing to an off the shoulder black top. I personally love this image, I think that the pose is just right and especially flattering to the artist. I also surprisingly like the fact that there is no direct eye contact and she is staring into the distance despite previously stating that i thought this was not an essential factor to have on our digipak. One slightly negative aspect of the photograph however is the fact that the whole top is not completely in shot. This means that you can only see a bit of the clothing on one side which to me would not be an issue as I know what she is wearing however the viewer doesn't- this may take away how professional it appears.

We tried a different look in this photograph by having our artists hair up in a messy, effortless bun rather than it be styled down. The artist is in a tilted pose whilst staring directly into the lens. I believe that the hair gives a much more slick appearance whilst the hair down images can seem more laid back which I think we prefer. Saying that, I like the fact that Nova creates quite a statement in this photograph, with the black higher neck top adding to the business like style- I feel that this photo would create a big statement on the front cover which is a positive because it will reel and audience in. This pose was able to emphasise her sombre facial expression which could provoke more emotion in the viewer. We thought that Nova's pose seemed a little unnatural and slightly awkward which is what we were trying to avoid. We are aiming for our artist to look calm and comfortable to therefore create more of a friendly connection with her fan base.

We decided that this would be our final image for our digipak. We think that it would fit perfectly on our front cover as the type of stance with the artist running her hands through her hair emphasises her very natural, comfortable and tranquil pose- this shows that she is comfortable in the music industry despite it being her slightly daunting debut album.The tranquility is supported by the white top she is wearing where it does not just act as a simple piece of clothing to prevent distraction but symbolise peace itself. This can show her relaxed state of mind and the fact that she has been able to gather all of the 'Fragments' from her heartbreak and come out of the other side as a stronger person- not only would this be a visual representation of our album name 'Fragments' but also inspire a mass audience similar to that of our target.  This makes her appear extremely friendly, attracting a fan base at this early stage based solely on that alone. Her facial expression is the most successful as she looks innocent and slightly vulnerable which is how we branded our artist based on the fact that she has just experienced a break-up. Saying this, I also think that her expression has the ability to tell a story which could intrigue an audience and is not so emphasised that it gives too much away- still allowing the viewer to decipher Nova's emotions for themselves.

Now that we have selected our image, we plan on editing it on Photoshop to give it that professional quality. As we are still pleased with these rejected photographs, we hopefully plan on using them elsewhere in the digipak such as the booklet or back cover.

Tour Poster Research

We decided to research into different tour posters which would inspire our own. For this reason, we looked into Lana Del Rey posters as she is our own inspired artists therefore it would be most appropriate. 

This is Lana's poster for her 'Open Road Tour' which took place in January 2013. This was Lana Del Rey's first album therefore I believe the reason for this particular layout is largely based around it in order for the audience to be able to familiarise themselves with the artist herself and the tour- it is able to stand out further to them as it looks so much like her original album. The same album artwork has been used which is an interesting approach because, again, it looks so familiar to what her fans would already own (her music) and it would therefore strike them much easier than if it were another completely different picture of her where she was more unfamiliar. As well as this, the exact same font and her logo have been repeated too, with strong links to her album, again, meaning that there is a lot of continuity. I like that fact that 'THE OPEN ROAD TOUR' is in the colour red as it stands out from the rest of the poster which is important otherwise the audience may think that the poster is just promoting her album on first glance. The red font is much more striking as well as the fact that it is written in capital letters, almost like it is screaming at the audience to read it. I feel that the image selected is successful as it is predominantly the artists face therefore an audience is able to get to know it. Also the fact that she is wearing a plain white shirt means that no attention is drawn away from her face- the clothing that we are going to dress Nova in needs to be considered as we also do not want this to be the main feature of our album meaning that we need to plan what we want the audience to mainly have their attention on. Having an element of our album cover on our tour poster is something that this will inspire as i think continuity is key across our whole promotional content (digipak, posters etc).

This first poster is promoting Lana's new 'Endless Summer Tour 2015'. I feel that the visuals strongly represent the text (name of the tour)as there are palm trees in the background which, to me, symbolise the season of summer. I also associate them with relaxation and peace, possibly promoting that her concerts are a fun and stress free experience, encouraging people to attend. Lana Del Rey seems to have used the 'double exposure' technique multiple times throughout the poster  this appears to be extremely successful due to the fact that it means that the composition is thoroughly busy which is more entertaining for the viewer. Not only this but a variety of colour is used, mainly primary and secondary colours- therefore creating more diversity and interest. A factor of this poster that I particularly enjoy is the fact that the special guest support artist is featured in text as well as on the actual poster. Conventionally, I have noticed that the support act is never visually seen on the main tour poster. Here, Courtney Love has quite a main feature (visually) on the poster which is quite unconventional as the main artist is almost always the main feature and no attention is taken away from them. Saying this, the special guest is featured slightly smaller and layered behind the predominant image of Lana Del Rey therefore they are not retracting any attention away from her entirely. A positive of having the support act featured on the poster is that it may encourage people to attend the gig if they are fans of them already. The tour dates are written on the right hand side in a list form which I think is quite a successful layout as it means that the viewer can easily find their local city in a short space of time. Saying this, the font is in a bright yellow colour which although matches with the rest of the poster and stands out to the viewer, it makes it quite difficult to read as the background is lighter in places- this may also be a positive thing though because it may make the viewer take a more in depth look at it and observe greater details. 

I like the fact that the main title (the artist's name) is written as Lana Del Rey's logo as it means that the same font gets applied to all different types of media be it her album artwork or posters- this means that her style remains consistent throughout. 

The type of images selected are the same pose repeated behind each other. I feel that this appears to be very successful due to the fact that it creates more of a structured, uniformed look which means that the poster itself appears organised, which is vital for a tour poster advertising lots of different events. I feel that we will take inspiration from the layout of the poster, with the artists name appearing large at the top and the dates in a list at the side. I think this because it will have more structure and the artists name will jump out straight away which is important as it will stand out to the audience. Colour wise, we will also take inspiration as she has used a wide range which we would like to do too so that we don't focus too much on one main colour- gender roles may play a part in the sale of our artists concert as our target audience is both boys and girls and we wouldn't therefore want to have a poster which is predominantly pink as it is highly associated with femininity so we should stick to unisex colours like Lana has. 

This tour poster is advertising another of Lana Del Rey's single events (rather than a whole tour) therefore it just has the name of the event/venue written amongst another list of information such as the date of it, when the tickets go on sale and the artists name. These are all elements that we would need to include on our own poster. I like the fact that a different photograph of Lana has been used on  this poster in place of her regular album cover artwork on 'Born to Die'. This is although the audience would be most familiar with that image, I feel that mixing things up a bit can have more success as the audience are kept excited. This could be another reason for us not to use the same photograph that we will use on our album front cover. I also like the fact that the artists title, despite still being large and being her trademark logo for continuity, is positioned on the bottom second half of the poster as it is almost always conventionally placed right at the top. This adds a bit more of a range to it and leads the viewers eye all around the image which is essential as there are lots of key details that the audience cannot miss. Another element of this poster that i particularly like is the fact that her debut album is also advertised below all of her other information about her upcoming concert. A mention of her album means that people may recognise the album artwork (featured as a thumbnail picture in the bottom corner of the poster) or name and then possibly realised they have the album and want to attend her gig.  

The image itself is heavily edited, there is mist which adds a mysterious effect, potentially enticing the audience to watch the show.

We will definitely consider advertising the album on our tour poster ourselves as I feel that it is a great way of promoting two different products/events in one place. It means that an audience will have a better chance at seeing both and consequently increasing sales. I also think that heavily editing Nova on our tour poster will make it appear more creative and enticing- this would also represent our more alternative genre.