Q1In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Section 2:Print Production

I used a 4 panel layout for my digipak as this is a convention of the medium, for example it can be found in digipak’s such as Katie Melua

and The Northerlies. It is an especially effective way to present the imagery in a minimalistic yet strong layout.

The Layout

Panel 1

Panel 1I decided to use the convention of the natural and handwritten font to enhance the rustichandmade style and atmosphere.This convention can be seen every music video within the genre of Indie-Folk such as,‘Tired Pony’, ‘Troye Sivan’, and ‘The Native Sibling’. This generic convention of thetypography is popular within the genre because it ties into the naturalistic and minimalisticconventions of the genre which was therefore perfect for my prints.Another convention I used in my panel 1 design was the convention of using natural,outside imagery. The imagery of the natural landscape is used in many indie folk bandssuch as Daughter and Sufjan Stevens. This is, however, developed in my production byusing the Beach/sea-side landscape instead of green fields and muted brown forests, thebeach is a cold muted blue that is vast and bleak. This development of the conventionaids the conveyance of themes and story in my production. I do also go against theconvention in the images that I used, it is an image from my video production compared toother Digipaks that use photoshoots.A convention of the medium of Digipaks is to use the Artists name in large writing to fulfilthe purpose of the Digipak - as advertisement of the artist and the song itself. Thisconvention id used in our Digipak to draw attention to the artist, for example whenconsumers are searching for an album in a store, like HMV, the artists name needs to beeasy to spot so they can find the album and remember it which fulfils Goodwins theory.

Panel 2 & 3

Panel 2 & 3Inside my CD case, I chose to use a single image that spannedacross the whole case, this joint image idea has been used inAlbum/CDs like The Northerlies and Bill Callahan. This convention ispopular however within the indie-folk genre. I use this convention inmy design to create an empty atmosphere, there is a lot of negativespace in the image showing here as lonely in the 1st third of theimage.The convention of nature imagery continues through this design byusing the forest location in my image. This convention of the albumdesign is immensely popular within the genre and is also used in thedesigns for Artists like ‘Subzar' and ‘Bill Callahan’.The lens flare is also a convention of the genre that is used in thisdesign. The lens flare is a sign of the natural ambient light from thesun which goes hand in hand with the organic atmosphere andconventions. The convention is also used in the artwork for albums byElli Goulding and One Direction.

CD Print

CD Print

I chose to develop the convention of printing an imageonto the CD by blending it into the imagery behind theCD. The decision of using this image was made tohighlight Olivia's loneliness without Meg. Thisdevelopment of the convention developed the themesof my production.The use of the lens flare in this is also symbolic ofnatural ambient light and the organic atmosphere ofthe genre. Examples of this convention being used inother productions is Ellie Goulding and Adoleo.

Panel 4

Panel 2 & 3

The main convention of a 4 panel design is the track list displayed on theback or panel 4. I decided that I would follow this convention early on to suitthe style of the 4 panel design. However, I did debate whether I should usean insert with the track list and other add-ons on it, however I came to theconclusion that the convention of the track list is a more suited decision formy projectI decided to use the convention of creating a natural handmadeatmosphere, and develop it to include how the shots look. This meant Icolour graded the image to give the photo a celluloid film look with film grainand grunge. This decision to develop the convention largely changed thelook of the image and developed the emotion.The font was also a significant aspect of this design and at first I decided Iwould challenge the convention of a rustic handwritten font and instead use‘Porter’ a modern minimalistic font, however this did not fit at all with theoverall organic atmosphere and therefore I changed it to Canter

Magazine Advert

Magazine advert

One of the main conventions of the medium of an advert in a magazine is to have the name of the artist inlarge bold letters at the top of the image, in order to catch the attention of the consumer reading thismagazine. Promoting the artist (Natasha North) is the key aim here and using her name in largeencourages the audience to buy the album or the single. This convention is one I have specifically choseto use, this is because the name 'Natasha North' dominates the advert, making it impossible not to seewhen browsing through this magazine. The large typography I have used connotes that there isimportance in her name and that it should be read and remembered. This is effective in not only securingthe name in their mind but it also makes the artist seem exciting and relevant which creates a need for theconsumers to have what the artist is offering, further promoting them.The way I have incorporated the text into the image is another key aspect here, I have included the mostimportant information that is vital for an advert, such as the date of release and the name of the productand brand (Natasha North), but the design of the ad also needs to be bold and memorable to catch thereaders attention as they browse through the magazine. That is why I used vibrant colours such as thereds and oranges of autumn. These colours are vibrant and a convention of the medium because it drawsthe eye and alerts the reader.The main convention of the genre and the medium is the use of the imagery of the artist. This creates aface for the consumer to identify the artists 'brand' as. This is an effective way of creating the image of thebrand for the artist, however, I challenged this in my ad; largely due to my artist, Natasha North, being notwell known to the public artist, this meant that her image would not have an impact on how the readersviewed this as it would be as recognisable as our performers. Therefore, I decided to use theperformers/actors from my music video instead.