Textual Analysis; Digipak Design for The Kooks, Inside In Inside Out

This is the front cover of the digipak for The Kooks first album, 'Inside In Inside Out'. Their first album was meet with huge success in the UK and was the beginning of the a new British pop band within the UK music industry.

The simplicity of the album cover is reflect by the use of black and white and use of framing within the shot. The bands motif can be seen in the shot, the use of acoustic guitars and amplifiers shows their passion for their music and how they are one of the few bands who still write and play their own music. We like the use of mirror on the far wall, as it adds a interesting dimension to the photo, you are also able to view more than would be have been originally seen. The name of the album stands out among the image because of the bold colour and because it is top, central of the album. The colour red also creates a serious element to the photo and creates a dramatic feel among band members.
This is the reverse side of the CD. The back of the CD usually holds information about the playlist and song order, the record label and copy right legalities. The photo is similar to the front of the album, purposefully like a mirror image. Although it is a different image, the members are slightly rearranged and out of focus to that you can focus on the information. The blurry effect merges the colours and creates a realistic, almost armature approach to taking the photo. The writing font is simple, bulky and all in capitals. This adds emphasie on the text and reflects the all male band. The layout is easy to understand and as most of the area is covered by an image, the blank areas must contain the information which needs to be easily read. The area which the songs are is also the primary optical area so the buyer is immediately drawn to that area, where as the information about copy right and record labels is located in a 'dead zome' because it is viewed as less important.

Over all the house style between the front and back CD covers is strong and reflects the band and their image well. We will be creating a larger digipak of 6 shots, similar to the insert of the CD, which will include a mix of shot length and variety, use of colour, different effects and similar to something that The Kooks would be associated with.

This image is from the insert of the CD, the general idea is that it is a college of images create one over all picture. The images include behind the scenes shots and what the band get up to in their own time. This shows the buyer another side to the band, almost a day in the life of. The images are a mixture of colour and black and white, other effects are used such as colour fade and white wash, so that the images blend and merge together. Across the centure of the fold out digipak there are the lyrics to all the songs, the words are small and quite difficult to read but then the font and size of the lyrics doesn't detract from the images. The idea for the fold out would primarly be to further entertain the buyer, give more value for money and show the band and their lifestyle in more detail.

Questionnaire Analysis

We sent out 20 questionnaires to our target audience (mostly between the ages of 16 and 20) of mixed gender. We did this to find out about their likes and dislikes when it comes to music videos and what conventions they are most attracted to so we could use these results in our own video.

We felt these were the most important findings of the questionnaire..

We asked our target audience this question and found that the majorities favourite genre is pop, with indie coming second. Many of the people we asked found it hard to pick just one genre, showing that people perhaps have more than just one favourite music genre. The song and band we are using for our video is mainstream indie/pop which according to our questionnaire may appeal to many people.

We also asked our target audience if they actually watch music videos, we decided this was a significant question to ask because it would show us how important video's are to a song. The graph above shows that we found that the majority of people answered 'Yes' with the rest either answering 'sometimes' or 'rarely'. Showing that everyone we asked do watch music video's at some point, this perhaps highlights how important video's are to sell a certain song or promote a band.

This graph shows the amount of people who think it's important for artists or bands to have a music video to accompany a song. Everyone we asked said 'yes' it was important, the comments we additionally received included 'because it gives them exposure to the public' and 'makes the song more popular'. Showing that many people think a song would sell better if accompanied by a good music video.

The graph above presents our target audiences favourite type of music video. We found that the majority preferred narrative i.e. where there is a story behind the video which is a convention we will include in our own video. Many others said that they liked to watch abstract video's where there was 'weird' story lines and themes of fantasy.

We asked our audience if a good music video would encourage them to buy or download the song. Most people answered 'yes' and reasons for this were 'because it is more memorable' which shows that a good music video can influence a person into liking a certain song. Some answered 'No' and said that this was because 'if the song wasn't very good then a good music video would not make it any better'

Textual Analysis; Digipak Design for 'The Jam'

The Kooks admit that they are influenced by bands such as The Jam, as they were the original Brit Rock Pop band in the late 1970's. This is a CD cover for The Jam's album, 'The Very Best Of The Jam', a mixture of their greatest hits and most popualr songs. We wanted to look at the digipak design for infleunce on creating our own and to see if The Kooks had any influence for theirs.

This is the front cover and back cover of the CD, there is a clear link between both covers and all images represent the band. There is limited use of colour, the use of black and white makes it more striking and the band look more serious. The mise-en-scene of the front cover is similar to the styling of The Kooks themselves, as today a modern day audeince would consider a checked skirt and flat pumps as part of the "indie look". Although the mise-en-scene doesn't detract from what the band want to say, it insted adds to the message that they are sesrious about their music, but less serious about life. The back cover has three slim photos in which the band are playing their instuments, again a message that they are serious about the music but enjoy what they do. The use of colour in the images is similar to a wash of colour, which links with the house style colours of red, blue, white and black. Both the front and black covers are framed with a off-white backgroud which creates a professional look and finish to the product but also adds a indie touch because of the simplicty of the digipak.

Advert from 'NME Magazine' For An Album Release

Official Website- The Kooks

The Kooks Official Website

Here is a link to The Kooks website, where fans can brows songs, pictures, videos and news about the band.

The website is very artistic and creative and there is a definate synergy between the band and the website keeping a common house style between the two so that the fans can associate themselves with them. The images used convey the style of the audience being represented, this is apparent through the costume used i.e. skinny jeans, shirts and smart wingcap shoes. The colours used stand out and convey their artistic musical style and also have connotations of summer and music festivals.

Background Information on Target Market/Audience

The audience for our music video are similar to those in the indie generation, a up and coming, rebellious group of individuals aged between 16-25 which identify with new music with the influence of the 1980’s. This 1980’s influence can also be found in how the group of people dress, shopping at places such as Topman and Topshop and putting together a look from clothes which are based on standing out from the crowd. This makes the group of people identifiable from other social groups, they aim to be different influenced by the fashion scene but change it for their own personality. They have the disposable income to buy from mainstream shops to create the look they want and feel reflects them. This also puts them in the social classification of ABC1, in this category the audience have enough money to buy the items which they desire and fund their lifestyle.

The audience are educated; they understand are expected to continue into higher education and have a combination of academia and style. Their social integration has brought strong knowledge to them as they discover each others interests and discuss what they like. This also helps them to understand their own identity.

With the audience being young they feel detached from adult life and responsibilities such as marriage, children and family. Some of them may even live at home for longer in order to continue the lifestyle they want to lead.

Both these images are of the dress sense of the audience, the latest look with a unique twist.