Photo shoot for digipak and website

In December we went to Shoreditch and roamed around the streets finding different pieces of artwork on the walls to take pictures of the band.

We like the positions of the band members in the picture and how the low angle of the camera makes them look dominant and cool. We asked them to stand casually with hands in their pockets or by their sides to make them look casual and to give off the feeling that they are just being themselves. Moreover, the setting around them is dark in the background with colour around, allowing a lot of light to reach their faces. Due to it being in quite a rural area with art around, this reflects the alternative rock genre of their music and sells them as organic artists due to their appreciation of the art.

We also took individual pictures of each of the band members to sell them also as individuals and make sure they were not sold as copies of each other. In this image and the other ones, we chose a painting that was both dark but gentle in order to let their organic image shine through. We positioned him to stand with his feet shoulder width apart and hands clasped at his front and a slimming, smart jacket. This made him appear smart and serious about his role and music, thus selling him as an organic artists with a serious star image. Additionally, the colours of his jacket and of the painting behind him relates to the genre as it is grey, and grey is usually worn by rock bands. Moreover, the colours in the painting behind him correspond his outfit, with the grey, white, blue and red, almost blending him in with the painting, and almost metaphorically making him become the art.




I really like this image as it is a completely different angle to the others and therefore allows us to see them from a different perspective. It makes them appear confident and as is slightly metaphorical as they are raising themselves up on their new career. The close up of the metal staircase in which they are standing on gives an element of of the genre, rock as it is dark and slightly dirty, therefore giving off the impression that they don't care about where they are, as long as they are making music, thus giving them a positive star image.

This is my personal favourite as it separates them into their own sections of the art behind them and therefore sells them as individuals, as well as a band. Moreover, as they are standing further apart from each other, this allows us to see the different aspects of their characters, and we can notice that they are all standing differently in various positions, thus giving them each different personalities and allowing their audience/fans to see them as organic individuals who do not copy each other synthetically. Furthermore, as they are standing on different levels of a staircase, this could be metaphorical for their journey to fame and could mean that they are going to make their way to the top with their music. However, I am not sure I like the angle of the picture as there may not be enough space for our list of songs. As we have many more photos, we will probably use a similar one to this one, but from another angle, possibly more to the left.


For the lead singer, it is important for our lead, Alex to have an extremely positive star image. Therefore, during our photo-shoot with him, we directed him to stand with confidence and to make him look as if he was just being himself. As he is leaning against the painting, it makes him appear very relaxed and easy-going. Fans want their role-model to be relaxed, not stressed as when they are listening to music they want to feel relaxed as it is their escape from their every-day lives. Furthermore, the brown leather jacket with the blue jeans, and shirt and tie is not a usual outfit that rock star will wear, therefore this proves that he is an organic artist as he does not copy other artists and is expressing himself freely. Additionally, although this photo and the one blow are virtually similar, I prefer this one as it is zoomed in so that we can see his face up close, and his fans will be able to appreciate his looks more. I also prefer it as there is more emphasis to the detail of his clothes, thus reinforcing his style.


 I do not particularly like this photo as it is too zoomed out and we cannot see his face properly. His head is also tilted up too much and the blurry quality of the photo makes the colour appear faded. Moreover, the angle in which the photo is taken makes him appear too tall and awkward, especially as one of his legs is against the wall. However, the zoomed in photo above crops out his awkward leg and is taken at a higher angle. Therefore, for my digipak and website, I will be using the zoomed in individual photos.

Analysing websites

Kodaline's website involves dark colours which is conventional for rock music. To make their website more exciting, they have attached their music video to the background so that it is constantly playing and they have links all around the page to take them to their social media. Although this is quite interesting, I feel that it would either annoy the audience as it means that there will be a constant noise of the the music playing, or it will stay in their heads and make them want to watch it. 

The font for the Kings of Leon's website is fairly simple and bold, which is all it really has to be, especially for an alternative rock band. It is also white which is commonly used amongst other rock websites. On this website, they have used different, plain colours on different pages and abstract pictures alongside the bold white writing. They also have different things to read around their page. As these bands are not new, they therefore don't need a 'meet the band' section or a crowd funding section, whereas, we will have to so that the audience can get to know the band in their first appearance.

 I have found that a mainstream theme for their websites is using most dark colours such as blacks and greys, and sometimes use pictures of the band as backgrounds, just as Oasis have done with their website. This suits the rock genre that they have as rock is usually associated with dark colours. Therefore, I shall most likely be using dark colours in my website.

Album analysis - Arctic Monkeys

Having just the lead singer on the cover of the bands album is something quite unusual. However, this is what makes it original. The black and white really makes it clear that they are a rock band and I quite like how the name of the band is sort of stuck on like a sticker. As it is quite simple, this is what makes them organic as it is as if they have just taken a picture and stuck it on the album without needing to plan for anything serious. However, as my band is new and no one will know what they will look like, I will have to have all of the band members on the digipak and in order to show the youthful boys in a positive light, I definitely cannot have them smoking.

Album analysis - Kodaline

Kodaline has created a misty effect on their dgipak so that their faces are blurred, which is very original and matches with their album name as it is as if they cannot breathe from all the mist so they are "coming up for air" and therefore it is unique to them. However, what stands out the most to me as it is a blurry image, is the writing. I really like the white colour and the font of the writing as it is very bold and I feel as if the colour white symbolises purity, something that would be useful for my band as they are a new, youthful band and need a positive star image.

Album analysis - Kings of Leon

The Kings of Leon digipak is really quite interesting as they have combined their faces with the face of a bird in order to create an illusion that they are an eagle. Although I would not like to have my band members faces morphing into an animal, I still like how they have split each band member into a square, similar to The Strokes. The colour of the album is also quite different as it fades like a spotlight.

Album analysis - The Strokes

I quite like how each of the band members is split up into different parts of the cover through different sized rectangles and the black and white drawing-like effect gives it a real organic touch as it is something that is very original. It is almost as if it is a comic book and the font of the writing is quite futuristic, a bit like star wars. This way we can tell that they are an organic band as they are being completely original. However, I am unsure about why they do not have the name of the album on the front cover. This could be a pattern they do with all of their albums and it could be what makes them so original. 

Conventions of a digipak

In order to get a sense of what our digipak should look like, we researched the conventions of one. We found that a didipak should have two outside covers, one on the front and one on the back, and two inside covers, with a CD slot on one of the sides. We also found that the length should be 5.5 inches whilst the height of it should be 5 inches.

Furthermore we also researched the conventions of the spine of the digipak as we did not know what was supposed to be included on it. We found that a typical digipak has a serial number, the record label logo, the name of the band and the name of the album. We will therefore use these as templates for making our own digipak.

Photo shoot for album cover/digipack planning and research

For the photo shoot, we have decided to dress the band in different clothing than in the music video and in a different range of colours to make them less dull and to differentiate them. Our guitarist, George will be wearing this jacket with the blue jeans below. All the boys will be wearing blue jeans as blue is a colour that is relaxing and warm. As they are wearing blue jeans, their fans will feel relaxed and a sense of warmth when they look at the pictures, just as the music will.

For the guitarist, we chose to dress him in something more casual, with a slight geeky feel as we want our fans to be able to relate to our band closely and feel that the members of our band are just like any other boys.

We also researched into some other well-known rock bands and found Kings of Leon. As shown in these two pictures, wearing a chequered shirt is fairly typical. Therefore, to avoid steering away completely from typical rock band conventions, this impacted our decision in dressing our base guitarist in a chequered shirt too.

As we wanted each of our band members to have a different look, we chose for our drummer to wear a smart suit jacket with a t shirt as it is quite different, thus encouraging individualism and for our lead singer to wear a more casual shirt with a brown leather jacket as we thought black was too conventional for a rock band. Moreover, encouraging individualism will increase the positivity of our band's star image as it also encourages everyone to express themselves and further selling them as an organic band.

Emailing our potential record company

We have chosen to use Holy Roar Record as our record company as they have been operating in the UK since 2006 and as they are a fairly new record label which specialise in the rock genre, we thought this would be good for us so that we can help each other to be successful.

Analysis of music labels

Holy Roar Records

They are a small independent record label, owned and run by Alex Fitzpatrick, with help form a variety of people on a freelance and casual basis. The specialise in working with new rock bands and have been working with them since 2006 in the UK.













Halo Records

Halo Records was formed by Michael Maslen after he left the music industry for years and decided to come back into it. It has been going since 2000 and has been through successes and disappointments. It strides for good quality music where those involved take pleasure out of the process.






Ace Records

Ace Records, started in 1978, is the leading reissue record company in the UK, specialising in rock'n'roll, soul, funk, blues, jazz, R&B, garage rock and punk.