Tuesday 6 November 2012

Print Research (digipaks)


When looking at artists that share the same genre as Gabrielle Aplin, I decided to look at singers such as Kt Tunstall, mainly because she is very similar to Gabrielle and I really like the use of colours and patterns in her CD covers. As you can see the artist has been photographed and put on the front of the CD cover, which is very
typical for all genres of music, as this
helps us identify them shows us what their image is. The lighting and colour  of the digipak has a Sepia effect, which almost connotes a very earthy and organic feeling to the artists music, along with the black patterns and drawings of flowers - again, connoting a natural and earthy feeling. The image of the artist on the front is a medium shot of her pulling a natural pose, wearing her own dressed-down clothes. This suits her genre as these sorts of artists aren't necessarily interested in using their face or bodies to sell their music. The digipak gives a very artistic impression especially as the inside cover is covered in detailed writing and doodling, which connotes a very home made and raw impression, especially as the Cd itself has a flower on it. This whole image reflects Kt Tunstalls genre of music (indie folk) as she is very natural herself, and usually performs her music using nothing but a guitar, her voice and a loop pedal. This also suits her target audience well as the people who listen to her music will most likely have more of an arty sort of personality, and even though there are flowers covering the digipak, the use of colours (black/white/sepia) can easily be aimed at both males and females. I think that this digipak is quite redundant after looking at other artists that share the same genre as they all seem to include elements of art.

Again the whole artistic element is shown through Laura J Martins work, as you can see this Cd cover is very arty and is full of detailed drawings or 'doodles'. However, this Album doesn't include an image of the artist herself, but this seems to be a regular occurrence in her work as nearly all of it is full of drawings and patterns. The fact that she isn't on the front cover herself may be because she isn't interested in selling her self image, but her unique and individual personality which seems to challenge the conventions of the genre.

The fonts used  are similar to the usual handwriting to give a more natural and artistic impression and bright colours are used in these covers for a more abstract feeling, which isn't actually common for this kind of genre, but it suits the personality of the artist and the kind of art demonstrated in the album covers. Even though the Cd covers are pretty entropic, I think this appeals to her target audience as they will most likely be radical individualists, who pay a lot of attention to detail and the music, rather than the singers face, and would appreciate her unique style.


Amy Macdonalds digipaks seem to share the same sepia effect as Kt tunstalls, which is not surprising as they both share the same genre and their work is very similar too as they both play a lot of guitar in their songs. Like Kt's album cover Amy's has an image of herself on both of hers, a close up of her face and a medium close up of her stood in a field. As you can see, there is no evidence of the male gaze as this would not be typical for an artist who belongs in the indie folk genre, and i've noticed her stance and pose in both images are similar to Kt's, maybe because this gives a more serious outlook on her music, as they are only interested in their work, and not themselves.

The fact that Amy is holding a guitar in one of her cd covers shows that she belongs to this music genre, and she is also pulling a natural pose as if she has been shot thinking or simply leaning on the guitar. The font used is very bold, clear and straightforward and has a type writer effect, which also gives a more organic and natural feeling to the cd cover, similar to the artists above.

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