My Music Video

My Music Video

Final Product: My Digipak

Final Product: My Digipak

My Website

My Website

A website is important for an artiste to promote their products and is often at the heart of their modern career as a musician. This is a place where their fans can find all the necessary information about the artiste including merchandise, tour tickets and news information. A well designed website can help the artiste to achieve more visits, which i turn should help to promote and market their brand; leading to success. Below is the website that I have designed for my music video.

https://ebmhoward.wixsite.com/try-everything

My Digipak Analysis

My Digipak Analysis

I have decided to design a six-panel digipak, not only because I like the artistic versatility of the multiple panels (with the fold-out design), but also because I feel that the finished six panels add a uniqueness to the product which would be attractive to its target market as a piece of collectible merchandise. From the template view, the colour scheme can be seen most clearly: a green palette for the inside and a contrasting pink-purple palette for the outside of the digipak. The use of these two distinct elements of the digipak correlates with the two distinct narratives within my music video. The inside of the digipak, which features the cyclist in the music video, is simply made up of one image which spans across the length of the design (its inspiration came as a result of the development of my moodboard). I think this element is creative and artistic. 

Front

The front of the digipak features the image which is used throughout the branding of my product, thus making the digipak and brand more recognisable and relevant across the board. The image of the runner after their achievement features as a key part within the narrative of my music video, and summarises one of the key messages within the music video: achievement, and to 'Try Everything'. The silhouette makes the front cover simple in terms of colour; it is not overwhelming. 

The font is white so that it is clear against the background. Again, all of the fonts used on the digipak are white to ensure they are readable and to maintain consistency, thus resulting in a more professional-looking design. The white font on the front also contrasts with the black of the silhouette, which is aesthetically pleasing. Two font styles are used throughout the design too, maintaining simplicity and professionalism again. 'Everything' is written in a bolder font in attempt to enhance its importance and draw the consumer to the whole product's main message; encouraging them to try everything (the boldness makes a statement). The other font used is italic and girly which would appeal to the digipak's main demographic - younger females. The font looks delicate and soft to the eye. 

One of the only disadvantages of the use of a pink-purple colour palette for the front of the digipak is that stereotypically, this colour palette would appeal more to a younger female audience. While this is suitable considering that the demographic is in fact mainly younger females, it could prevent a potential wider audience from exploring the product. 

Back

The back of the digipak matches the colour scheme of the front of the digipak so that the outside of the product is consistent. The same italic font on the front of the album is used for the track titles, with the main song 'Try Everything' displayed as the first song on the album. The image used for the back of the digipak are leaves, which helps to capture the natural theme of the product and matches the silhouette theme which can be seen on the front of the digipak. The leaves do not take up more than half of the space on the page - this empty space was left for the song names to ensure that they could be easily read. Upon analysing other digipaks, I found that the designs which appealed to me the most and looked the most professional were the designs which used space effectively and creatively (thus avoiding overcrowding). 

I incorporated a barcode into the design to ensure that my digipak looked authentic, and I added copyright logos and small-print information at the bottom for the same reason too. I added the record label (the same one for the original song) to give the product a realistic finish. 

Spine

The spine of the digipak matches the same pink colour as can be seen on the front and back of the design. This ensures a natural, soft transition from front to back. The specific type of pink, which could be defined as 'millennial pink', is a colour which is a contemporary trend for the specific target demographic of the product (which could improve sales). The modern colour would also stand out against other duller colours on shelves since it draws the eye.

The same font for the album name is used to ensure consistency again. The album name on the spine is accompanied by two green arrows, symbolic of achievement and optimism, which point upwards when the digipak is held the correct way up. These arrows also feature as the main logo for the website, so they can be recognised throughout the brand as a symbol which represents the product as well. The record label, conventionally, is placed at the far end of the spine.

Inside folded panel

This panel of the digipak would be seen after the initial front panel is folded back, and serves mainly as an artistic, novelty element of the digipak for the collectors. The background used here matches the background which sits behind the disc panel (which would be directly underneath this particular panel at the time of use). In this way, the wide image used on the inside of the digipak is continual at all times. 

The consistent font colour and style is used as before. The text features a section of the chorus from the song 'Try Everything', reminding the consumer of the key message of the product as a whole. It is inspirational - something which captures the essence of the music video's purpose. It is also worth mentioning that this message can be bought on a sports t-shirt, as featured in the merchandise section of the blog. 

Inside

This is how the inside of the digipak will look when all panels are completely folded out. The continuous image is seen spanning the length of the design. This particular image was used because it features the other character of the narrative - the cyclist. The digipak therefore coincides with the 'two-part' theme which is distinct in the music video. The image also displays the theme of nature which is prominent throughout the branding. 

On the centre panel there is an image to show where the disc would go. This plastic would be transparent to ensure that the background image still flows. On the left panel, there is a shape which demonstrates where the pocket for the bonus booklet will be. A bonus booklet would give the fans and collectors a more informative product without taking away the artistic element of the overall digipak design. It is clear to see that the maintenance of the background image is focused on for the inside of this product. 


All in all, the design of my digipak incorporates the key themes and messages which are celebrated throughout the branding of the entire product. The design is presented as both informative, artistic and professional and is designed to appeal directly to its target demographic. The fonts are easy to read, consistent and creative, thus making this product effective and practical. 

My Website Analysis

My Website Analysis

I wanted the first thing that the site's visitors see to be the name of the product, so they know that they are visiting the right site. I also thought that the main branding for the product should be displayed as the first thing seen on the webpage. In this case, it is the scene from the music video in which the running actress stands in front of the sunset. Since this has been used throughout the branding of my music video, I believe that it will be effective at emphasizing the authenticity of the product and make it recognizable.  
To make the homepage more interesting, the 'Try Everything' title is in the style of a gif. This is more aesthetically pleasing and enhances interactivity. The dynamic aspect of the homepage is common among the website's of popular artistes of my chosen genre too. 

The website's navigation bar is at the top of the page. Rather than the side of the page, I decided to place it at the top so that it could remain there even when scrolling up and down through the website. Having the navigation bar in discreet but constant sight allows the site's visitors to have constant access to the rest of the website at all times, ensuring quick and efficient use. Having everything at the top of the page (somewhere that people naturally draw themselves to for information) is an aspect which I found useful on Ed Sheeran's website - it also reminds the visitors what is available for them to view next.

The arrow logo is a simple design which matches the colour scheme of the overall webpage, making it look simplistic and professional. Green is also the most common colour associated with nature (the key theme of the whole branded product). Traditionally, an arrow is symbolic of a positive transition in life; a message that both the song and the music video for 'Try Everything' strives to incorporate. Having a simple arrow still keeps the symbolic meaning of the logo ambiguous, which helps to raise rhetorical questions and excitement for the website user. 

The text used for the tabs on the navigation bar matches one of the two fonts used on the website overall. This consistency is key for achieving a professional, tidy look for the website design and possibly helps with the navigation as well. The capital letters have been used for the same reasons too. The colour used for the navigation bar is a neutral beige colour, chosen to accompany the vivid natural colours used throughout the rest of the website. This ensures that the colour scheme does not appear jarring and uncomfortable to the eye. 

I decided to add this strip on the homepage of my website to provide the visitors with the essential information regarding the product that I am currently trying to sell: the music video. Being the first piece of information visible on the homepage, the visitor is inclined to read about it before doing anything else. It is also likely that the visitor is using the site to find out more information about the music video, therefore making the website efficient for the visitors. The use of the picture gives the visitors a taster for the theme and appearance of the music video as a whole.

Below the information strip explained above, my website features a direct link to the track 'Try Everything' on Soundcloud. Since Soundcloud is not the preferred method of audience consumption, only a shortened 'taster' version of the song is available on the homepage of the website. This should encourage the site's visitor to further explore the song by visiting the Soundcloud site (or other online streaming sites such as Youtube). I decided to attach the Soundcloud link to the website rather than the Official Youtube link because the official music video, in my opinion, should not be directly associated with my own video - this should result in my own music video looking more authentic and original. 

Just below the Soundcloud link is the link to my own music video, advertised as the 'original' music video. Again, I took a still from the video itself in order to keep the theme and colour scheme of the website consistent and to create a page which is not overwhelming to look at. The use of space within the image (more specifically, the green space of the grass) ensures that the text is fully readable and hints subtly at the narrative of the video, thus inspiring a sense of curiosity for the viewer. On either side of this image, the main background for the whole website can be seen. After viewing and analysing pop artiste's websites, especially those of Coldplay and Dua Lipa, I discovered that the dynamic visual aspect of a website is common; creating a contemporary and interactive effect for the page. This makes the site more interesting and relevant for the visitors and should therefore encourage their return. 

The final part of my website's homepage is arguably the most important, and is a feature that each pop artiste's website will have displayed too: the social media bar. Here I have used the well-known iconic social media logos as portals to my product's social media pages. The use of the logos instead of lettering avoids over-crowding and is simplistic. These logos are easy to recognise and are symbols which do not require translation. 
Upon conducting my website research and analyses it was evident that although many artistes liked to feature their social media portals using an icon near the navigation panel (such as Taylor Swift, Drake and Camilla Cabello), each artiste definitely had a section at the bottom of their homepage reserved for social media information (Coldplay, Justin Timberlake and Portugal The Man are examples of artistes who have their social media access solely at the bottom of their homepage). My preferred location for my social media access is at the bottom of the page because I feel that this is the most natural place that visitors would expect to find it. 

The News page of my website is a lot simpler than the homepage; with a plain, neutral background and the articles arranged in a straight, standard formation. I chose to organise the News page in this formation in order to make the news information easy to access and easy to read and understand. The excess space has been used in the design of the page to contrast and satisfy the heavily-informative and busy nature of the news articles. 

Space has been used with the same effect for the Tour Dates page of my website - since the tour date information is so important, it is best to avoid distractions with interactive movement in the background. The use of space helps to improve clarity in a similar way to Drake's website. 

The final page of my website is the Shop, where the visitor can expect to browse and buy merchandise for my product. There are several examples of merchandise featured on the page to create an authentic overall feel to the website. The strip featuring the cyclist can be seen at the top to reinforce the theme of the music video throughout the design of the website (similarly the strip features the runner on the top of the Tour Dates page), and the presence of this strip is also significant in regards to the branding of my product and its overall consistency. It is worth mentioning that the Shop page has a different background colour to the rest of the website: this was done purposely to replicate the style of most other pop artistes, who have their merchandise featured on what appears to be an extension to their main site (hence the slightly different colour schemes). This different colour is helpful at providing the visitor with a sense of location within the domain.

All in all I have built my website to be similar to those of other artistes in order to keep it efficient in a navigational sense. This could include my placement of the navigation bar, the social media portals and the consistency of the colour schemes. Likewise, I have broken some of the traditional 'conventions' of the pop website to create a unique and effective experience. This could include the use of the dynamic background and top image to add an interactive element to the webpage, or the use of high-quality, creative stills from the music video to add an artistic aspect to the site. The consistency of the fonts and colour schemes used throughout the design creates a professional and realistic appearance for my product's website. 

Evaluation marking

Level 4 16–20 marks
• There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
• There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
• There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is excellent skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is excellent ability to communicate.

Emily identifies the codes and conventions of the pop music video genre in her first evaluation and explores how her video matched these conventions with the use of screen shots. Emily's second evaluation clearly demonstrates a link between her three products and evaluates the efficacy of this. Emily's third evaluation is very thorough and clearly shows that audience feedback influenced all three of her products. Excellent prezi on media technology which was again very thorough.

18/20

Evaluation 4

Evaluation 4 

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

https://prezi.com/p/ex6bqwsdwmpq/