Identity project

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43045885@N07/

Representation in my Digipak

The way I present my 17 year old white male model on my digipak will be very important. As my model is not in Smaller Than You (the band I am advertising) and therefore not recognisable to fans it is important that he dresses and poses in a way that will represent the band correctly.

I have decided to present Smaller Than You in a rebellious, punk-inspired way. The male model on the CD cover is going to be mocking the British law by standing infront of a police line up and holding a skateboard instead of one of the normal boards. I think this will appeal to my target audience because a lot of young people use music as a form of self expression and rebellion against the conventional expectionations of yound people.

My chosen costume for the person on my digipak will be wearing a hoodie, skate jeans, a baseball cap and possibly a balaclava. This kind of outfit will be popular and recognisable to the younger british generation and is often seen as rebellious or even intimidating, as can be seen below:



or click this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4534903.stm

My CD cover challenges this article because it shows that the young people who wear these types of clothes are not necessarily wearing them to be intimidating. In reality, Smaller Than You's music does not connote violence and is instead quite upbeat, This is shown by the way the boy will be holding a skateboard, showing he hasn't actually done anything illegal, and is instead mocking this negative generalisation of a young generation as can be seen in the article above.

similar digipak covers...continued planning

I want my digipak to fit in with the conventions of pop-punk/ska bands, so I researched the theme im sticking with (breaking the law, lineups, skateboarding) and the cd covers similar bands have used.

I think these CD covers link well to the theme I am using:



This CD cover from Lady Gaga confirms two things i want my digipak to represent: 1) a sense of rebellion, which Lady Gaga achieves through her costume and sense of mockery and 2) this theme of crime and line ups is modern and contemporary within the music industry. Lady Gaga appeals to a similar young audience as Smaller Than You.




This pop boy band used this as one of their CD covers. Although they are different to my band Smaller Than You in that they are primarily a pop band, they had a similar 'teenage' (15-20 years old) age group, and tried to achieve a 'punk' feel to their music by the clothes they wore and their 'rebellious' (yet ironically conventional) attitude.
I like the way busted chose this CD cover because I think it was an attempt for them to break the traditional boyband mould and be seen as rebellious and different. This attitude obviously appeals to a young audience.



Sex pistols have been a big influence on Smaller Than You's music. In this CD cover you can see a similar breaking the law/rebellious theme. I like the clash between black and white and colour as a way of standing out.


I have also noticed that the sex pistols "never mind the bollocks here's the Sex Pistols' pink and yellow album cover has influenced and inspired many other CD covers for bands of a similar genre (as seen below). This has influenced me to decide on a pink and yellow colour theme too.



(the original)

Questionairre: what is are target audience demographic?

How old are you?
Under 15 15-20 21-25 26-30 30 plus

Are you…
Male Female

What is your current occupation?
Services Politics Retail Student Self employed Medicine Military Law Media Unemployed Other (please specify)………………………………..

Choose 3 of the following music genres that you listen to most:
Pop
Punk
R&B
Metal
Ska
Rap
Grime
Electro
Dance
Rock
Indie
Classical
Other (please state) ………………………………..

Which of the following bands/artists appeals to you most:
Amy Winehouse
Beyonce
Bob Marley
Chipmunk
Dizzee Rascal
Editors
Girls Aloud
Jay Z
Kings of Leon
Linkin Park
Madonna
No Doubt
Noisettes
Reel Big Fish
Sex Pistols

Do you feel the representation of females within the British music industry is too sexualised?
Yes
No
Don’t Know

What are your views about Graffiti crime within your local area?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

Thank you for your time : )

Digipak cover ideas continued

(please click on the image to enlarge it)

First Plans for my Digipak cover

I want to expore both the Ska genre and the Punk genre a lot of British Ska music (including Smaller Than You) originates from or has been influenced by.
I also want to include some humour within my digipak cover as i feel this often appeals to young audiences and this would link nicely with our music video.
I would also like to explore either the band name (Smaller Than You) or the album name (Who Knew).
From this I came up with the following ideas:
1) Punk : The authorities, police, breaking the law, urban settings eg. Graffiti.
2) Ska : Skateboarding (this would link with the music video and become a recognisable motif people associate with the band)
3) Who Knew: Mystery, questioning.
4) Smaller Than you: Measurements, a line up.

From this I have come up with the idea of a police 'line up' format spray painted to look like graffitti on my boyfriend's garage wall (it would be difficult to get permission to do this in a public place). This will link to the Punk generic conventions, the questioning theme in the album name and the size theme in the band name.
I then decided to have a male model standing by the line up, holding a skateboard instead of the normal board convicts or suspects hold. This way i can encorporate both skateboarding and humour.

Here are some images i have found to illustrate my idea:







My image would be similar to these though i am still wondering if i should shoot it as more of a long shot to include the model's feet. I would also only include one person and they would be holding a skateboard. I like the humour in these images and the way they seem to be making some sort of political statement.
I also like the contrast between black and white and colour in the first image.