The fonts I have used are conventional to my genre as I have done a vast amount of research into what fonts would be appropriate and conventions to country music. These are also the same fonts I have used for the front cover of my album. I would like to create a brand for the artist, much like Taylor Swift. Her font for every one of her albums is the same and so this follows through and allows her to be recognised just by the font, even with her merchandise. I have also used a cut-out from the image of the back of my album cover. This follows the theme of the album cover, a little bit of wood and a little bit of greenery. I have used quite a simplistic layout, much like the one above. It allows the album and artist name to be readably clear and

This is an average sidebar from an album cover which is displayed in a neatly conventional layout. The organised layout makes it easily readable. However it does create a plain image which isn’t very attractive. It actually looks a little clinical. Of course it is only a sidebar so it is slightly irrelevant to the rest of the album as long as it balances it out. However I would like to make a more creative sidebar than this. The font used is conventional for the artist as it is repeated in her image. It is a correct use of font

The costume used here is very casual and creates a sense of personality. This portrays the artist as fun and outgoing. The frills in her top suggests a flare to her persona and also represents femininity. The top is white which is the colour of virginity and purity. This suggest she is very honest and down to earth. She is accessorized with a gold bracelet. The gold bracelet appears to be something from the high street and is most likely fake. This will make people think she has a lot in common with them and then respect her more. The artists hair is simply curled and blonde. This is very conventional for country music because it is the most reoccurring. Country music singers are very Barbie doll based. The most typical female artists are blonde cowgirls who are good but with a bit of kickass edge to their image. The use of subtle make-up with a tan gives the artist a working woman image.

The use of setting is conventional to country music as it looks as though it is either a field or the back of a forest. This is symbolism as the album is called ‘Feels like home’. Often in country music people are very sentimental about their home towns. Since the background is of the country it’d suggest the artist is at home their and that the album is happy.

The image is conventional because it is of the artist in a conventional setting. Mid shots are common for album covers because they show the face and give away a slight piece of costume. This allows the genre to become clearer by the use of costume.

The font used is conventional for the genre because it has a masculinity to it but with a feminine flare. Country music is more of a male based genre so the females have to accommodate to the male image country music has always entailed. The font has slightly swirls to it so gives it that slight relation to the artist. It is contrasted with a plain bold font. These both stand out, are simple and suggest the artist is very straight forward and stripped back like most country music.

The composition of the shot allows the layout of the album to be much more organised. It also allows the image to show some of the artists figure which adds a sex appeal. There is a focus pull on the artist. This allows her to be clearly visible in a high quality. It prevents the background from taking the attention away from the artist. You can clearly see what the background is but it doesn’t take the focus of the album cover. The layout of this leads the eye in a triangle shape. It takes use from the writing to the image and back to the writing which is important. Remembering the artists name is good for marketing by word of mouth. So the layout encourages the eyes to the more important details on the album cover.

The use of the shape is conventional because it is a representation of a cowboy belt buckle. These are religious buckles and connote how country music is religious and this is a brilliant representation of how country music artists are stereotypical for religion and small town roots.

The fonts I have used are contrasting of each other. I have done this because it is more conventional of an album cover to have different fonts. This is not just a specific convention to just country music. I chose the ‘Maddie Rayne’ font because during my research I found out that it is more conventional for females to have a plain kind of font. I then found this font, it wasn’t too masculine for my artist. I didn’t want to go sway from country music conventions so this seemed the right amount of femininity. The ‘Strawberry Wine In Kentucky’ is serif because I think the name suited the font. It is also conventional as I saw Taylor Swift album cover with a similar font.

As previously explained these are religious belt buckles and a common occurrence in country music. I found this on many other country music albums and decided to incorporate it into my album cover. Mine has swirls around it as I think it suits my artist.

The setting I used for this image is a countryside field. The field in this image adds a depth and connotes a sense of movement in the image. It projects reality because of the way the lanes shrink into each other. It also makes the artist appear of more importance as her presence completely dominates the image. I added effects to the image background to make it appear lighter. As it was taken in a winter season it didn’t look bright enough to be a country music album. I therefore added a lightening effect to give the artists a image of purity and angelic beauty.

I initially cast Maria as my artist because she is the typical beautiful long blonde hair and blue eyes/ This is very conventional for country music because there are other artists in the country music industry that are similar. I used high key lighting to create a happy feeling in the image. The costume is light so doesn’t take any attention away from the artist. It is a woollen jumper so shows that it is winter. This isn’t exactly unconventional for country music because of course they get all the seasons but it would create a more optimistic emotion if the image was set in the summer.

The image I have used is a medium close-up shot of the artist. This allows the route of the eye to follow what the artist is looking at which happens to be her name and the album name. This is also symbolic because the music video to accompany the album is called ‘follow your arrow’ and there is an arrow which the artist is looking at. This suggests a theme to the album cover and the video.

The composition of the shot is to allow the artist to be the main focus in the image. She is clearly visible and her hair is in the shot. Her hair looks beautifully curly and gives her an appeal for males. It also encourages females to aspire to look like her. It allows the route of eye to create just the effect I was aiming for. It also allows the artists to show pride in her expressions. The composition also has a focus pull on the artist and blurs the background to show her significance in the image but also showing the conventions of the countryside setting.

The use of the flower for the centre of the disk place creates a simplistic edge to the cd and connotes it is aimed at females. This specific flower is white which suggests purity, honesty, and innocence. In contrast with the sunshine happy yellow and sky blue. I personally think these colours are very dull and boring whether they follow conventions or not. Being a country fan and of the correct target audience age I think my opinion is valid enough to conclude this is targeted at an older mid-aged woman. However the flower and colour scheme is conventional for the rest of this particular album (displayed above).

The image I have used for my disk insert page is of the countryside reflecting onto the river. This follows conventions because what could possibly be more conventional to country music than a reference to the countryside? It is simple because this isn’t an overly relevant page and any detailed image would make the rest of the album appear cluttered. It matches the rest of the album because it is a similar use of colours all featured around greenery. The use of the arrow is conventional for the album because of the title of the song I have use in production to make the music video for. This song is called ‘follow your arrow’ and I have used a theme of arrows in my designs to give the album a modern era to it. This also adds a slight edginess to the image of the countryside and follows conventions I have used to try and aim towards a younger target audience.

The fonts used in this album cover are basic and are conventional for both males and females. This allows for a broader target audience. It also gives the artist quite an edgy persona because the font is rather edgy in itself. It is bold but also has a uniqueness to it which represents the artist. It also follows the theme throughout this album which is conventional to create a brand for the artist.

This album cover does conventionally have all the details in which is should have. It has a barcode, image of the artist, song titles, credits and logos for the publishing brands. These are all important aspects for the back of an album cover. It shows the album is well respected when there are more logos, that the artist is supported. These details are all in an organised format which is conventional as the artist is a middle aged woman. This suggest it is aimed at individuals similar age to the artist who are likely to have their lives figured out and in an organised structure.

The use of warm toned colours is could also challenge country conventions and move into an indie genre, especially with the use of costume combined. But this is a positive because it will be conventional to more than one genre and target a wider audience. It still holds a significant amount of country conventions but also features of Indie, pop and rock to show a variety of music tones in the artists work.

The image used is of the artist which shows her in an admirable way. It shows her figure and her style which will evoke females to try and be like her. It also allows for the use of a larger prop which follows conventions. The setting is only slightly shown but doesn’t go unnoticed. The composition of the image means that the album cover can show an organised layout whilst allowing the image to dominate the page because it is the most conventional feature of the back of the album and represents the artist.

The setting used is in front of an old building which could be anything from a community hall, suggesting small town gigs or a wooden American house. The shabby chic effect does appear conventional as it represents the outback feeling country music portrays.

The use of costume is conventional for country music because it includes denim. Denim is very appropriate for country music and is a reoccurring trend within the genre. It shows a casual persona of the artist, she is honest and doesn’t portray herself in a glamorous light. Country music is about keeping it real, stripped back and honest so the artist portrays theses sentiments. The use of the colour black in the costume contrasts suits other famous country artists such as Johnny Cash who was known for using black to represent the dark corners of his personality. This is also challenging the image on the front cover which shows the artist in a more angelic light. The dominance of the red streak on the hat draws attention and signifies that the album is aiming to be conventional at the country music genre by using a cowboy hat and making it very noticeable by using bold colours. The lighting used is low key and shows the artist has more to offer than is noticed at first glance. The make-up used makes the artist appear which despite the low-key lighting. It gives the image a much more pleasant and upbeat mood. The artist is very conventional for her role. Not only is she tanned but she is blonde but also has an edginess.This is conventional because often country music is mixed with other genres such as pop and rock. The black spiked boots relate to rock and connote that the artist has a different side to her and makes her appear more interesting and modern. This will broaden her audience to a younger generation. The use of props connote that the artist plays a guitar which is conventional for country music because it is known for being stripped back from all the fakery of auto-tuned music such as a pop genre.

I assessed my fonts into a lot of detail because during my planning I was given feedback on font to a large extent. The font I ended up using is for the listing was from ‘fontspace’. I liked this font because it is transgender. It has a slight roundness to the letters but is also bold. These are the two features I was looking for in a font. I have a female artist so I had to make the font slightly feminine. But country music is generally a male orientated genre so I did still need to cover the larger audience for economic purposes. The other fonts I used were very basic because they are irrelevant as long as they are readable.

I really do believe I have created a welcoming mood with this back cover and it does look professionally made. The stance of the artist is relaxed and the edginess of the font make it appear to be eye catching but also harmonising. This conventional for the genre because although its real and emotive country music can be modern and outrageous.

The setting I have used is a back garden. I didn’t want to incorporate too many landscapes because it’d make the album too repetitive. So instead I decided to use a different type of setting. This however is still conventional The wood gives the image a shed type setting which from albums I’ve already analysed is a convention. It also does contain greenery within the image. The dark tones of the setting also contract with the white used which make the more important feature of the image stand out. The setting is the artists back garden which is personal to her. This is conventional because country music reveals a lot. In emotions an artist shows all their vulnerability in their music so it is only conventional they should shot their life style and personality in their music also.

I have included the RCA records logo, Sony Music logo, Production credits, website of the artist, management and trademark logos. These are all conventional for an the back of an album. I have organised these into a spacious structure that doesn’t make the album appear cluttered and makes the writing big enough for most people to read.

To the right is the main part of the image. This is actually a full image but I think it adds a better effect with just half. The front cover is of the artists face and so to show differentiation in shot types I felt this suited the convention better for a bac cover image. This image allow the layout a much better composition. The image was mirrored and edited so the artist was on that side because I especially wanted the writing on the left side. This makes the layout of the page much more organised and appealing.

The lighting I have used is very high key. I had to edit this in because the natural lighting was darker this time of day. A higher key lighting shows the happiness within the image but also contrasts with the shadow at the bottom of the image. This could be symbolic it just determines on how the eye of the beholder sees is. My intention was to represent light in darkness as it represents positivity through a struggle. The costume I have used is ripped jeans, cowboy boots and wool jumper. The colour of the wool jumper is conventional because cream/white connotes innocence and purity so represents my artist as honest and real. The ripped jeans and cowboy boots are typical country, cowgirl style. They connote that the artist is simplistic and has a lot in common with her fans as she does dress like a normal individual girl. It promotes a positive image to fans and suggest the artist is comfortable in her own skin. They are also very conventional for the garden setting.

Here I have featured a shot of the artist for the middle page. This is a wide shot to show her in a nice relaxed setting. I have used symbolism in this shot. The grass she is sitting on is dead. This is because a lot of country music relates to heartache and break feeding of negative vibes to create hit records. So I have made her appear to be in a distorted lonely setting. I then contrasted this with the lighter green on the other side. This is because it allowed me give an impression of the grass being ‘greener on the other side’. Which gives a suggestion that country music is soothing and therapeutic to life's issues. The costume used here is plain but conventional. This is the same costume throughout the album. It was more convenient to shoot with the same costume and because I have used different shot types it works. The boots are once again a significant part of the shot because they are bright and colourful which is clear representation of country music. The lighting used is high key. I done this by editing on photo-shop as the original photos were more of a dull lighting. I wanted to create an image of the artist looking to the sky again because it is a biblical reference and country music often refers to religion and looking to God for answers. So contrasted with the symbolism of the dead grass because it shows that the artist is a little lost and darkened but she finds light by looking above for support.

This is an artist I found online of her middle digi-pack. This is a mid-shot of the artist in what looks like an isolated setting. They are only small homelike buildings which could be anywhere. However the use of the flowers and what the image is trying to create is what makes it conventional. From my perspective the image is trying to create a suburb, small town feeling. A girl slightly lost, innocent. Her white dress is conventional for country music as it represents purity, truth and virginity. Country music has high morals about the women being pure and small town. This is shown by films such as ‘Footloose’ which represent a preachers daughter image. So the white dress also gives this indication that the artist is pure and sings about morality, religion, heartbreak and dodged anything daring like Pop artists (i.e. Rihanna). The setting is garden which I have used for other aspects of my album cover. This creates an isolated effect which represents freedom and being happy in your own company. I have seen examples of this in country music videos which suggest it is a convention to show the artist as being alone in an outback setting. For other genres in film an alone outback setting could represent danger but in country music it is simply home.

Comparing my Digi-Pack to another A2 studentsWhen I first started my research into digi-packs I looked into another A2 students work from another school. This allowed me to analysed conventions of form and also look at the layout. I did look at the shot types but my genre was different so I analysed real established products also. However I did not feel that the A2 students work in which I analysed was advanced enough so I wanted to compare my work to evaluate the progress from my work to the other students. Firstly, the other student actually got the layout of a digi-pack wrong which I didn’t realised until later. As you can see in the differentiation of the two designs. The shots that I have used are much more simplistic than the other student. Their collage effect is not something I chose to be inspired from. I feel it portrays an amateur effect and shows a lower level of photography. It cannot possibly represent a technique of photo editing skills with the images being so small. This shows little technique with editing understanding. The shots the student have used are also very repetitive. They have also used the same costume for all the shots. I imagine this is because it was less time consuming to do so. I can understand this because time management is something I have struggled with in my production after encountering lots of issues and everything building up into a longer project. However because the student has not used shot choices to their advantage it appears to display less professionalism. I have used lots of greens, browns, whites. This is because it was more conventional for my country genre. But the student has used a theme of red, black and white, Although this may be a convention to their genre I find it too subtle on the eye. There isn’t enough red used to dominate the buyers attention and it could be easily passed by. My recommendation to the student would be that they should develop their photo-shop skills in order to develop a more professional digi-pack. I had to edit every single one of my photos in order to create a higher key lighting which is conventional to my genre and creates a more enthusiastic mood. If not for using photo-shop editing my photos would have been very dull. I have evaluated the photos in my Question 4 and how I used photo-shop to develop them.

The fonts used for this poster are very plain. I find them very simple which is perhaps the point because the artist is young and her music is aimed at a younger target audience. The fonts are thin which suggest femininity as they are slightly delicate. Their simplicity means that they are easily read. The artist for this magazine challenges conventions for country music because of her youthfulness so these fonts also appeal to the pop genre as it allows for a majority in her audience range.

The house style used is red, black and white. This is effective because it relates to the context of the poster. The album the artist is releasing is ‘Red’ so the predominant colour of the page is indeed red. It draws the focus into the page, however works in a beautifully subtle way. The shade of red is more feminine and borderline a dark watermelon shade. This means it appeals to a more female audience which could be restrictive on the audience appeal. However the artists image may appeal to males as they will admire her appearance. The old style used on the red of the image creates a dated effective which looks vintage and recycled from Pin-up ages. This is conventional towards country music because it follows traditional conventions that have been moulded by country artists such as Dolly Parton. The red is the introduction of youthfulness in the design and creates the subtle beauty.

The setting is a major hint towards the subtlety and is what makes the image appeal to a country audience. It is a sky and has a bird cage in the background. The sky is grey and may suggest that the artist is isolated and her songs are emotive which is conventional to the genre because songs are wrote from the heart. The cage can also be symbolic for being set free. The quotes of the songs show words such as ‘begin’ and not getting back together which would suggest a change to routine, a newfound freedom for the artist.

The artist is blonde which is conventional for country music as previously said. The costume used is very basic to accentuate the simple style of the design. The contrast of the black and white is a simplistic look that works and styles with the hat gives the artist a hipster image. Her style works perfectly for her and makes her figure look appealing. Her effortless beauty is conventional for the genre because it is unusual for a country music artist to make massive effort to find beauty and like the countryside it is right there. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It doesn’t take masses of make-up and bright coloured dresses in order to stand out. Its difference that really pulls focus.

The image used is a mid shot which is of the artist. The mid shot allows for you to see her style which will be idolized by younger females and desired by males. It also as previously said gives the page structure and allows for use of route of the eye.

The composition of the image on the right hand side means the layout works perfectly. The artists body is used as a route of the eye composition and draws the attention to the bottom of the page where the more important details about the album release date are available. This is effective for the form because it is attentive to details and the way the audience are going to observe the page. The details being at the bottom of the page ensures that the image can be large enough to show the artist and part of he persona. Only true fans will take time to actually read the information so it’s important to attract new audiences and get the designs on point.

The fonts I have used are the same from the album cover. This is to create brand identity between the different products. This allows the font to be identified with the artist and eventually the font will remind audiences of the artist. Much like Taylor Swift is well known for her signature font. I also used an alternative cowboy font for the ‘COMING SOON’ this is conventional for country music and is quite masculine. This will appeal to a wider spectrum of audiences because it’ll include males. This is conventional to genre because country music is a more male orientated genre. These fonts are conventional to other similar products because they are all well known styles that are likely to appear in other similar products. It is conventional for a female artist to have a thin simple but styled font for their name. Much like the Taylor Swift one on the previous slide.

The setting I have used is a traditional countryside setting. This is an alternative setting to the ones used in the video. This is an image of the countryside near my house when the sun is setting. I chose this image because of how the sun sets on the trees. It oozes escapism and beauty. It’s the emotion in the image that encouraged me to use it. The light reflecting on the image of the artist. It is symbolic for her persona and the way in which country music is biblical and a sense of guidance for those with problems. I then added the image of the wooden bench onto the image in Photoshop. This was to create an isolated feeling. The idea of being in the middle of nowhere but at peace with that. A bench to keep you company. Its stereotypical for country music. Almost like it’s at the bottom of your garden so you can sit and reflect on your thoughts. Adding another layer onto the image I added the artist. I used a translucent effect so that the background could be seen but the artist also.

The image I have used is a medium close-up shot. This is of the artist looking into the light. It is a biblical reference as the country music genre is most often associated with religion. The music is a representation of feelings and beliefs. I really like the way her blue eyes stand out in the image. The smile also. It shows a happy and reflective feeling of her in the image. Her blond hair waving in the wind creates a ripple effect in the image. It adds a slight glow. This is conventional because the image has depth. The layers in the image create a depth of field. This is positive for the viewer as it makes it easier to identify what the image is trying represent. It represents a country setting whilst still showing a different side of the artist. The fact that the artist is the top layer shows her significance and the countryside is more dominant in colour shows it’s importance to the artist.

The composition of the page is simple with the artists image central. This shows her as being the focal point on the page. The writing at the bottom is just small details. The more important details in the writing are larger. The smaller things are the record company label. They do not to be larger because they are only there because conventions of form. The arrow is significant because of the video of the artist. This is to create an image for the artist. The arrow will also act towards brand identity. In this instance the arrow also pointing towards the artists album. This is a hint towards the audience buying the album. It also controls the eye line of the poster.