Changes we made to the ancillary products;

Today we focused on contrusting our ancillary products (the digipak and the advert) and whilst doing so, through the editing process we decided to change and improve a couple of things. For example the text on our digipak cover we deleted and changed as photoshop would not accept it, however in the end it was a positive change as our new text embodies the quirkiness and feel of our band, having a chalkboard/raw look.
Also we decided to change the image for our digipak cover as well as our advert as we took a new image which we got tremendous audience feedback from both from teachers and students.

This is our new image that we are using for the front of our digipak as well as our advert as we wanted to portray a sense of contuinity to both of our ancillary products and as this image has been highly praised and recommened we chose to  use it, as it will evidently engage our target audience. We specifically chose this image as for the advert we knew we wanted something dark to contrast with white text so inevitably we chose this image to descend into 2/3 blackness.

We believe that we have changed our products for the better through the strong influence of audience feedback as well as the effect the image has for an album cover as well as an advertisment for the album. Nevertheless we are still going to use the other images on our digipak as we know that they are still strong images to keep the quirkiness apparent however the effectivness of this image is no doubt perfect for our album cover as well as our album promotion.

Using photoshop to construct our digipak;

Today we spent the lesson putting our digipak images together as well as finalising it as well as our advertisment for our album. In order to so we decided the best programme to use was photoshop as the tools it offers will create a professional  looking set of ancillary products. Also it gave us freedom to test out the different tools on offer and to have different options to achieve the best looking result. To start the construction of our digipak we needed a template, therefore we found a standard one on google images which we could use...

Above is the template that we employed onto photo shop in order to construct our template. We chose this specific one as it was simple to work with as well as having 6 12 by 12 boxes which matched the criteria as well as the ammount of pictures we personally wanted to use on our digipak.

By using photoshop it was a case of trial and error and we spent the whole lesson trying out different tools in order to achieve what we wanted. At first we did not know how to get our pictures onto photoshop however we figured out that we needed to open the pictures in our finder which then allowed us to scale the image 12 by 12 on photoshop. However some photos did not fit this perfectly therefore we had to use a unique tool called the 'clone tool' which allowed us to manipulated our pictures and make them fit the box perfectly.

The clone tool allowed us to fit the picture as acceptably as we could in the 12 by 12 box and whatever room was left we could use this tool to duplicate whatever part of the image we wanted which then almost stretched the image,which eventually fit the 12 by 12 dimensions. This is a reason why we chose to construct our digipak on photoshop as it gives us the flexibility to manipulate and change our pictures whilst keeping a professional feel to it.

Advertisment; font ideas

We realised, whist brainstorming that font is extremely important when constructing a magazine poster/album that must promote an album. It must be unique, eye catching, engaging but most of all reflect the artists ethos and some how portray what the artist is trying to say with their album/digipak. For our specific bands album advert we wanted something quirky and unique which reflects the bands aesthetic and what they are all about   being a modern indie/pop group. Therefore our font has to be fun and unique, so we were thinking for going with the comic/cartoon feel as this is a conventional quirky font, also it goes along nicely with the name of the album 'snakes and ladders', therefore being comical and fun.

This is one of the fonts i picked out and really like, i love the 3d effect as well as the wonkiness it has to it, i think this really embodies the bands look, fun, quirky and different. I also like the fact all the letters are capitals, which are larger, therefore engages the audience more as well as having a loud/shouty feel to it which indie/pop is all about, being different and eccentric. The only downside to it is that it might be a bit too chunky for an advert as there is not much space on a poster, and it would be hard to find a smaller font to say other information that wouldn't clash with it completely.

This is the second font i found on dafont.com under the title 'comic' and i thought this was a really 'out there' eccentric font as the diversity between the lettering as well as the different colour and naturally different sizes. The other words bouncing off the letters also are really effective and bring that comical edge to the font, and i think this would suit our advert as it is fun and compliments the title of 'snakes and ladders.' However in the end we decided maybe this wasn't quite the right font as it is almost to loud and eccentric for our advert, we want something fun and quirky but not something to comical as this font specifically looks like it could be in a comic book which is not what were going for, because ultimately we want to promote a musical album. 

After deciding against the bigger, more accentric fonts we saw this one which caught our eye. We liked the simplicity of it as it is understated but is still quirky as it still has curviture and capital letters. It also reminded us of the first font we looked at but it took away the loudness of it, which would be more appropriate for a album promotion in a magazine as it will allow us to put alot of information on it but it wont be overcrowded. However we decided this font is too simple and not fun enough for the album we are promoting as after all the album name is 'snakes and ladders' so the font has to mirror the fun that is present in the title as well as the songs on the album. 

After much deliberation and brainstorming we came across this font, which we believe reflects the album perfectly. It has that comical 3d feel which represents indie/pop but to really enhance the name of the album 'snakes and ladders' the letters themselves look like snakes, therefore portraying a double dose of meaning which is effective in engaging our target audience, also it adds an extra fun aspect to our album and most importantly our advert. I think we are going to have the album name and bands name in this font as it will be very much engaging however the more formal information we will have in a more understated font like the one above as we need it to be a serious promotion therefore the audience need to be able to easily read it therefore we will be putting it either on a white/black background to really enhance the font and ultimately what it is saying. 

Poster/Advert;

For our advert that coincides with the digipak we want it to have a sense of continuity so the imagery and ideas are the same in order to show that we are promoting one album that is coherent and professional. Obviously we have chosen a seperate image to use however for the advert we believe it has to convey a strong sense of star image as well as highlighting the fact our indie band focuses on raw musical talent as well as their quirky image. Therefore we have chosen to use the image below.

I believe this image works fantastically well as an advert, which the ultimate aim for it is to sell the bands album and promote it. I chose this specific image as it is fun, quirky, vibrant and still conveys a strong sense of star image that works coherently well alongside our digipak. I have edited this picture on picmonkey.com to give it a more dynamic feel, therefore i mixed up the contrast and employed different themes to the image, so it would ultimately be more engaging to our target audience. Our advert will engage our target audience, as like the album it sticks whole heartedly with the indie/pop conventions, having that house party feel alongside it being vibrant, quirky and conveying our star image in a musically talented light. Furthermore the specific facial expression sam is giving in this image is a conventional shot used in music, as it fixates the audience's attention to his face as it is a mid/high angle shot which frames the guitar below nicely.

To complete our advert we plan to have this picture imposed on a black background which will be 3/4 the image and 1/4 faded into black will have the words 'Polar Collective' as well as the album name 'snakes and ladders' with dates of the release as well as quotes from different newspapers such as; Daily Mail '*****'indie album of the year with a quirky edge.' Moreover we will also be adding the twitter and facebook symbols to our advert to furthermore promote the album, highlighting the fact the band has twitter and facebook in order to engage their target audience.

Original Digipak Idea;

Whilst brainstorming for digipak ideas we went through our un-used footage in order to spark our creativity and really nail the artists aesthetic in order to bring this to the album. We knew we wanted something quirky in order to engage our target audience but we also wanted something that fits in nicely with the indie/pop theme therefore bringing in colour as well as star image. Whilst stumbling across our footage we found this an print screened it in order to annatate it.

As you can see this image that we captured is bright, fun, quirky but not yet refined. So we took ideas from it and adapted it to our final digipak cover. What we picked out from this picture is the fact sam is sitting in the bath with his clothes on, we took this idea and adapted it as we thought it was quirky and different and had a house-party young adult feel. We also took the idea of having the rubber ducks in shot as it creates a really fun aesthetic as well as being quirky and bringing vibrancy to the shot; as utimately we wanted to create a bright, fun and quirky digipak.

The negatives that we picked out from the shot is all the uneccessary props in the background that make the mise en scene look moderately messy. Therefore in our final digipak we removed these to create a more thought out look. Also we realised the bottom of the ducks are cut out of the shot so we wanted to make sure we got them fully in, in the final shot just to make it look more professional and planned. Moreover we ditched the umbrella as we thought it make the shot look too cluttered and we wanted to keep it simplistic and fun, rather than it looking too messy. Overall this shot really inspired our final digipak album cover, therefore we realised the importance of brainstorming and looking over older footage in order to get inspiration and spark our creativity to create something fun and quirky which will engage our target audience.

This is our digipak image and as you can see there has been vast progression from our original idea, such as the lighting, the overall mise en scene and how we portray the star image.

Our use of a mobile phone in our music video;

When we were constructing our music video we knew we wanted to have a section of it purely showing a mobile phone texting/tweeting and facebooking in order to portray a sense of modernism as well as keeping the theme of quirkiness; adding a fun twist with tweeting the actual band. Originally we were not sure how we were going to add this to our video whilst achieveing continuity however we realised it would be a 'cool' idea to text/tweet and facebook the lyrics of the song whilst it was playing (kind of like lip syncing.)

To make our use of a mobile phone even more effective we decided to sync the writing with the rapping part of the song...

'you dress for the weather i dress to impress her.'  - we purposely used as a text message because we wanted to make the lyric more personal, like the artist is texting his friend, devoting his love for the weather girl.

'channel 4 is the home of the best girl in britain.' - this next lyric, we tweeted on to the actual polar collective twitter page in order to advertise the band as well as to engage the audience to add a suprise to our video. Twitter is also a conventional social media site in which participants make bold statements, therefore we thought this lyric was appropriate for twitter.

'This song was written to express my feelings and im feeling quite smitten so im gonna take a minute.' - this is the final lyric that we filmed posting on facebook. The reason we posted this on facebook is because it was the longer lyric which fitted in with facebook well, as well as conventionally, facebookers put quotes on their homepage therefore we thought this lyric was appropriate.

Overall our use of a mobile phone worked really well in our particular music video as it followed the contuinity of bringing a sense of quirkiness to our video alongside technology and modern advertisment which is used specifically by our target audience, young adults. We believe this section of our music video will be popular with our target audience as it is familiar to them, also it shows how they can become closer with the artist/musician as they can follow them on twitter, moreover we used a blackberry which next to the iphone is the most subscribed phone in 2012 with people aged between 13-19.

Above is a screenshot from our specific music video when we were filming typing the lyrics on to twitter. As you can see the main words which stand out are 'Whats happening' , that being a young/hip phrase which attracts our target audience. Furthermore above is the official polar collective twitter page which engages the audience fully as now they are aware they can follow them on twitter as well as the artists being more relatable to their audience.

Throughout the editing process we used the speed up tool 'Ctrl -J' on final cut pro and sped it up by 150%, we did so in order to sync the typing with the actual lyrics in order to create a professional look as well as to encourage the audience to be able to sing along.

Advertising/ DigiPak;

Advertisment and promotion is what ultimately sells our product and whilst designing our digipak we have had this in mind. We analysed the bands original digipak and then we compared it with ours and drew parellels and differences with it and we believe we have made an effective digipak that reflects the bands ethos as well as the music video we have made for one of the tracks on the album, 'weather girl.'

This is the original EP for polar collective, as you can see they are on itunes as a form of advertising and promotion which is the most popular music download station currently. The actual front cover of the EP itself  is of a sepia colouration with various miniature toys scattered over a table with the band behind it. The colour of the EP suggests a vintage feel as well as the various props which bring a sense of quirkiness to the front cover. This is important as their target audience will be engaged by this as their audience will be young teens who enjoy indie/pop music therefore something far from mainstream and something more quirky. We have taken inspiration from this for our digipak as we wanted to go for the quirky feel also as well as bringing some vintage aspects to it also, as we know this is what will attract our target audience. However for our own individual front cover we have focused more on Goodwins star image and bringing a sense of vibrancy to it as we wanted it to fully stand out.

As you can see above we believe we have achieved this look, bringing a sense of quirkiness, colour and simplicity to our digipak. We also believe this will definitely appeal to our target audience as it is some what similar to the original cover however brings a different aspect to it of star image and colour.