How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

"I think my imagination dictates the technologies I use. But at the same time, my imagination can be technologic. Sometimes I see a tool and I know immediately how to use it, but most of the time I use the tool for an idea I already have."

-Micheal Gondry

I agree with Gondry's exploration of technology as an inspiration as well as a tool. I feel that when I am creating new pieces of work, i subconsciously use technology as a way to document and plan my thought processes, as with this blog. As hackneyed as it may sound to the media studies student, it is true that in a increasingly online world, we would find it difficult to escape/cope without technology, for most of us, on a daily basis. In terms of NEW media technologies, as explored, I have put much emphasis on the impact the social media has to play in todays society, it is so immediate, so crucial to our media outlets that I fear the music industry has fallen behind. Indeed some artists have taken to having Facebook/myspace/twitter accounts yet the convergence of social media and music seems somewhat limited to link/file sharing. By releasing two of my media products via Youtube, Facebook and Vimeo I have attempted to utilise new media technologies with the facilities to convert, share and receive feedback/viewing statistics.






However, on reflection, the most influential piece of media technology on my planning in particular was Spotify, the music platform. Despite my own use of the platform for personal music sharing/playlist creating, I have discovered many new bands and artists from those suggested by the site from using my most listened to tracks and determining the genres that most appeal to me, (as in the diagram for genre taxonomy) Spotify offers a free service and had offered unlimited listening to users however there have been rumours that it is planning to limit the amount of times a user with a free account can listen to one track. However, Spotify seemed to offer a brilliant service, in the ability to research artists, their biography and background, their 'genre' of music, links to websites, all of their released music and links to 'similar artists' with the crucial ability to SHARE this information with 'your friends on Facebook, twitter and myspace' this multi-platform would terrify itunes. There have also been rumours that Spotify plan to offer downloads and tracks to buy. The ability to create playlists was most vital to those I spoke to about the site. This massively influenced my ideas for my website and the incorporation of a SHARING platform, as I saw this as extremely valuable to my target audience and consumer.

However, having seen many commentaries and interviews on the issues of music piracy and illegal downloading (ironically via Youtube, a main source for piracy) I realised the weakness of the music industry to come up with another new solution. I am frustrated by the arguments surrounding the issue, as I feel consumers are so technologically intelligent any barrier put up by those attempting to cut down illegal downloading will be fought through. Consumers resent paying money for something the person next to them could have for free at the touch of a button. This desperate attempt to cling onto old-fashioned selling techniques is doing the industry no favours. My research was also enriched by new media technology in my exploration of online surveys and polls which helped me make conclusions over my own planning techniques and fashion my product design around the desires expressed by my target audience in such freely available polls. Their comments encouraged me to challenge the industry in my pieces as I saw many held similar views.

I also utilised the video platform Vimeo, having uploaded my piece to a channel I created purposely to challenge the music industry's hierarchy and failing structures. I posted a link to my video on the wall of a channel devoted to MUSIC VIDEOs which received hundreds of viewings on a daily basis.

In terms of construction, I used Photoshop elements and Lightroom to edit and enhance images for my digipak primarily. I also was able to acquire the use of an Apple Macbook Pro whereby I was able to use Imovie, Iphoto, Itunes and Safari to

I used Garageband for part of my evaluation where I was able to record my commentary on the concepts behind my video, and then convert the audio file to add to visuals on Imovie, and finally upload to Youtube.
I realise that I have progressed to a much higher level of understanding not only of the technology in involved in the creation of media products, in this case for the music industry, but also of my audience, and consumers as perceived by the industry.
I have been greatly encouraged that challenging of the state of the music industry through my products hits a partiualrly prevelant chord with my audience. As (at first cautiously) explored here by the musician 'Moby', regarded by many as a great artist and revolutionary name in music, even in 2009 he too belived something needs to change.

The fact that this disparity of motives between user and creator continues to orginate from the capitalist priorites of the industry emphasises my wish to comment in my work, I hope that in some small way I have made an impact on how my audience subsquently choose to view the industry.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

My audience feedback has re-enforced the concept that todays society relies upon the idea of the consumer as not only 'always right' but also always looking for an easier route to receive gratification from their purchases.

Our expectations of media products have risen dramatically in tandem with technological development, to an extent the previous generation could not have anticipated. Slogans such as 'Impatience is a virtue' demonstrate the necessity for media products to converge various technologies to continue to appeal to consumers.

http://showcase.brandrepublic.com/syzygy-group/ourwork/impatience-is-a-virtue-website

I have recognised the true importance of social media and its capabilities to make the music industry into something completely revolutionary. From the focus groups I questioned, I realised that out of 25 people aged 17-21 (my niche audience) 90% would go onto Youtube to find a video once they were informed of a new band/group of their preferred genre. When I asked how most people discovered new VIDEOS 30% said they found them linked to their current video playlist on Youtube, 60% said via social networking sites, and a final 10% said word of mouth. I found this backed up my revelations from my own audience feedback having uploaded my videos to Facebook, Vimeo and Youtube. Facebook gave me the most immediate feedback in comment form;

whilst my video Youtube gained over 10 times more viewers than on Vimeo, yet I believe that this would have been affected by the direction of viewers to the video from my Facebook account. 

All of the feedback I received was positive, apart from two comments which both picked up on the same desire;

'I loved your video, it was really interesting and different, but I did want to see more of those ending shots, they were amazing' (age 18, student)

'It was so cool, the shots of hair flying about at the end were really good, did you take more of them?' (age 17 student)

In this way, I was pleased that I had ended the video with the shots most appreciated by my audience, having been fortunate enough to have the facility of using a high speed camera for these shots they were much higher quality than the rest and I was very pleased with the effect of the warm low key lighting in them also. However, to please my audience, I added more clips of those particular scenes to the website design, but on reflection would definitely incorporate more of the shots into the final product were I to re-produce the piece. Strangely, the beginning of the film, which I felt was a little less professional in comparison to the rest was not commented on negatively and instead seemed to have had the desired effect in hooking my audience. 

In this way I learned that the finish of the video made a massive impact on how they watched it, many comments concentrating on the 'amazing colour and attention to detail' (age 22, graphic designer) in the shots. 

I was also grateful to receive some feedback on my remix covers/digipak;

'Wow, really cool, how did you do that?' (age 17, student) I felt that this demonstrated that the cover was working as it was intriguing my audience and encouraging them to take a closer look at the contents. 

'The slogans are interesting I want to see the website now' (age 17,student) was a particularly pleasing comment, as it exemplified the impact promotion can have on a brand/label and subsequently the success of the artist. 

I also managed to get the reaction of some of those in the creative industry, including two contacts from two different post-production companies and the earlier comment from a graphic designer,

(age 29, Post Production company, London) 'Great Stuff!'

and 

(age 22, Rushes Post-production, London)'Nice one! Moving in on our music video territory are we?'

I was pleased with these comments from those in the industry despite the fear of some sarcasm being present!

The overall reaction my website design was also very positive and many approved of the blog feature and sharing links, most of them commenting on the idea of uploading their own remixes as a really different concept that they would be willing to use.

In conclusion, I have learned a significant amount from my audience, the most important people of the whole creative process. I have reflected on my products and realise that their relative success in being so well-recieved was ultimately down to the research and preparation in working from the things that didn't work for some products and replacing them with the more desirable features of others. I also attempted to appeal to our experimental natures and willingness to 'try something new'  without such a cliche to begin with. My audience feedback has encouraged me to continue challenging and commenting conventions in my work and to not be afraid of making bold and controversial visualisations and audio commentaries that may directly attack some, as many of my audience believe these comments are also valid to them. 

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The GOLDEN FILTER REMIX MUSIC VIDEO was promoted in connection with the brand I had planned to replace the conventional music label such as EMI, WARNER and SONY MUSIC. LSBARCODE was my attempt to challenge the idea of the label and question on the controlled amount of input by the artist inline with capitalist priorities. In this way, all of my ancillary products were linked by the common name name 'LSBARCODE' I chose to mock the idea of 'brand' in this way, by using my initials  with 'barcode' to refer to this generic, institutionalised approach to a creative outlet. 

My first product was infact not my music video, but the single itself. I created the remix using Audacity, then chose to release it via Youtube by converting it through Imovie. Having had feedback from the artists of the main background track 'DANCE AROUND THE FIRE' by 'THE GOLDEN FILTER' I was able to do this with complete legitimacy. My choice to release the track over Youtube would certainly be shocking to any label releasing real media products today, as the knowledge of piracy and illegal downloading has made them all too aware of the capital losses. However, having looked at the arguments, I believe the music industry needs to wake up to the real impact Youtube and other social networking sites can have on their products. The buzz that is created around so many new music releases today is made mostly online. And why wouldn't it? With technological convergence having come so far that today we have access to the entire world-wide-web in our pockets, people will be reluctant to wait for the paper/plastic goods when they could have them on their smartphone/laptops with one touch of a screen.

For this reason, I believed I would be appealing to my audience by giving them an easy way to access my track. I was also pleased to find that in gaining permission for the track, The Golden Filter had linked their own page with my remix one, which would hopefully lead to their loyal fans reaching my page also. 

Screenshot-FACEBOOK PROMOTION

Now I have seen that the numbers of viewers is increasing and that once I directed people to my main product there was an increase in viewings of my channel, and therefore the remix itself. I was surprised that over 15% of viewings were directed there via an external site, this could in fact be from the post of the remix onto this blog, which again backs up my assumptions of the importance of sharing products on online social interaction as having a massive influence over viewing figures. 

Comment12

In terms of the effectiveness of my Main product, the reception I got was brilliant. I was extremely pleased that I appeared to have met my target audience, and in fact a wider age group than I had anticipated, was also commenting positively on and viewing the piece. Overall I was extremely pleased with the final product, but as the sole creator and somewhat of a perfectionist, I still find myself frustrated with elements. I did feel I had captured the aesthetic I had set out to reach. The editing techniques, in the style of Hogben and reference to Gandry, were a case of testing, creating, scrapping and improving which, although time consuming, I really enjoyed. It also made me truly appreciate the amount of difference made in editing from the initial storyboard ideas. They are a world apart, and elements I was sure I wouldn't be able to include, instead surprised me and I was able to use the technology to insert them, whilst some scenes I felt worked well, had to be cut in final editing for time purposes. I think one of the most crucial elements to the success of PROMOTING my piece and therefore determining its effectiveness, was when I uploaded it to Facebook. Immediately the number of views peaked and I received many comments. I also uploaded it to the creative hub Vimeo, and more importantly to the specific tagline 'MUSIC VIDEO' , as well as creating my own channel called 'MUSIC VIDEO?' with a short explanation of the purpose of the remix and its commentary, the viewings came in slower in comparison to Youtube and demonstrated to me the importance of the social networking site (Facebook) on my viewing figures when I had upload to Youtube. 

I was most pleased with the comments appreciating the 'thought provoking theme' as one viewer put it. This was instrumental to the message of the video and the ideas behind the symbolism in the visuals, so I was thrilled to see that my viewers had fully acknowledged the concept of a corrupted music industry and were approving of my commentary on it. I also think this demonstrates the role of the 'youth' and my target audience, and how they perceive that role to be changing with the increase in online consumption an immediate review.

My digipak was intended to echo the symbolism and aesthetic of the main product and I believe that I have achieved this in creating the covers using Photoshop. As I enjoy photography in my spare time, and also study Art and Design, I am familiar with Photoshop and so looked forward to creating a piece that could reflect the main product, I was also a little apprehensive of the task of choosing a single image to front the remix, yet I hope that the mix I have created has incorporated as many elements as possible, but in a subtle and as minimalist fashion as possible. As explained in my posts for their creation, I chose to use the scene of the musician entrapped and surrounded by the wires of the  headphones hung in a loose representation of a barcode. I was also referring to the removal of any LIVE music symbols, as the wires barred the musician from escaping and re-emerging herself in live performance. Obviously, these are all deeper symbolic creative references and I wanted to make sure that the cover was still directly referring to its Music video and artist promotion but giving this opportunity for greater inference. 

The website, was also another way to re-establish the aesthetic of LSBARCODE's remix single. I continued the use of Arial font and the sharp contrast between black and white, in keeping with the form of many websites for high end/established services. This attempt at a modernistic feel was replicated in the capabilities of the website itself, as I offered Youtube, Vimeo, rss feeds and email, all of which would appeal to my user. On reflection, I would intend to create another page dedicated to Facebook, twitter and myspace when another remix/single was created to really push the concept. I also added short films that were rejected from the final film which i though would interest viewers. 

The most important element to my website which, i believe, really makes it stand out from any other music website I have seen is that not only does it offer a single by the creator, but it invites the user to share their work directly with the site and creator. This means that users would be much more likely to use the site in connection with not only their interest in the remix track from LSBARCODE but with the option of sharing their own talents. I also incorporated a blog page into the website, that would serve the purpose of sharing new music videos, photography, fashion and creative influences with the user. This idea was merged from the concept of the blog incorporated into the website as with more successful artists websites such as Tinie Tempahs'; http://www.tinietempah.com/milkand2sugars/

Tempah has recently burst onto the music scene and where his personal blog was shared on the website it has attracted thousands of comments on a daily basis, thus increasing the activity on his website, videos and other promoted products. I also recognise the success of those bloggers who share their creative influences such as The Cool Hunter http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/ (to which I inserted a direct feed to on the website) and Dazed and confused (the latter being my most visited website), my love for such creativity and the platform offering others the same products led me to put emphasis on LSBARCODE as less a brand or label and more a site that would serve to explore and experiment with design and specifically music design and talent. As explained in my posts for the website '' I used the symbol of the '/' to encourage viewers to attribute the experimental nature of the remix with LSBARCODE.The importance of minimalistic logos of todays global brands (Macdonalds, NIke etc) made an impact on my early research and brand recognition was something I had intended to explore.  I was pleased with the concept of the / and felt it tied all the elements of production as well as the message of the work together strongly and with much greater coherence than if there had been no symbolic/logo-like hook for my viewer to recognise. 

I do believe that the combination of main product along with the ancillary texts and methods of promotion have proven effective, as can be seen as the finish of the products and the subsequent feedback and audience reaction. 

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

In my attempt to allow my product to stand out against others in the industry, I found that I would need to use, develop and challenge the forms and conventions of real media products to varying degrees.
Here is a short video where I firstly explain the main concepts briefly;

By rejecting my initial temptation to use an established artist's single for my music video, I finally decided to create my own music track, a hybrid of a new indie band 'The Golden Filter' and then, hopefully more conversely, audio from an interview with a rock and roll artist, Thurston Moore. I chose to do this, as I wanted to remove any initial pre-conceived ideas my audience might hold before they even came to see the finished product. From my research, I recognised that a brand was built around an artist and therefore their target audience EXPECTED it to meet certain criteria. If i was ever to attempt to challenge the forms and conventions of real media products I felt it would therefore be crucial to expel any established images and representations that the closest fans would perceive as the correct way to portray the artist. 

Of course, I needed to specify my target audience, and as my remix followed many of the indie music conventions of being unusual, experimental but remaining accessible to as wider audience as possible, I chose to concentrate on an audience primarily consuming indie/alternative music. So as much as I hope to challenge the forms and conventions of the mainstream music video, I would hope that this would, to certain extents, be appealing to my target audience.

To accentuate the challenge of conventions in my visuals, I used emotive and spurring words from Thurston Moore in discrimination. 'BOGUS, CAPITALIST' are two words I chose to repeat and use out of context later in the remix to add to their controversial purposes. In my research I repeatedly met the success and impact of YOUTUBE on the music industry and in particular the emphasis of the CONSUMER BECOMING PRODUCER. The remixes I found on Youtube had amassed hundreds of thousands of viewings, and I believed that this was due to the increasing need for music to appeal to us as something we have helped to create. The success of people like Justin Bieber is always linked back to his support on Youtube and the followers that gave him opportunities to showcase his talent.
Hereby, my remix would be joining this demonstration of the consumers ability to comment and challenge with a brilliant amount of freedom, hopefully encouraging viewers to see this as a new way for music videos to evolve online.

The theories of Andrew Goodwin hold their own in the majority of music videos today. Trawl through any of the music videos in the current charts and the link between lyrics and visuals is prominent for most, as is the concept of voyeurism,    and particularly satisfying the label by representation of the artist.

However in development of this direct visual communication of lyrics, (as in Navas physical interpretation of the lyrics in the action and performance element of his videos, as in Single Ladies for the superstar 'Beyonce') I decided to have less explicit reference, and invited my audience to infer from the connotations of costume, action and set as to how they related to the lyrics. This makes the visuals therefore, less descriptive and more symbolic of the message behind the video.  In this way, I was also relying on negotiated meaning and the difference between denotation and connotation in making the references less obvious and more abstract. The cultural experiences that make our viewing experience differ from others perspectives as explained by Barthes, encouraged me to include intertextual references to enhance the viewing experience, as recognition and attribution would play a part in keeping my viewer interested.

I included several minutes of footage from a BBC arts programme featuring the CELEBRITY photographer RANKIN, being played on a large television screen in some frames, I made this the only light source of the piece so that the subject of interest (the wooden figurine) would be represented differently to the viewer as the colours of the light dramatically changed in contrast, hue and saturation. In this way, I hoped to portray a more postmodernist interpretation as I was forcing the viewer to reflect on the impact the media, and television has on us even on a daily basis. It can change our own appearance and alter how we choose to portray ourselves, as well as how we perceive others. I was also challenging the calculated approach taken in representing artists in music videos, as Goodwin places emphasis on the role of the director to satisfy the label through the representation of the artist.

There appears to be the temptation in current music videos to represent the artist in as many different lights as possible, with countless changes in outfit, expression and mis-en-scene. By using props, lighting and mis-en-scene in the context of my video this scene attempted to challenge this concept and demonstrate the destructive results on the artist, as I show the musician character push away her guitar (and her passionate musical talents) to replace it with the consuming vanities of celebrity, fame and fortune.

I took a postmodernist approach in exploring the role of the label in exhibiting the female artist in front of the camera. I constructed the gaze of the viewer around the main character  through her pose and use direct gaze with sexual connotations in the scene of her entrapment. As Mulvey points out, the male gaze theory remains relevant to so many media publications of today, and in connection with Goodwin's principles of 'Notions of looking'  and 'Voyeurism' I expose these concepts to the viewer in my music video. By using these somewhat conventional scenes whereby the female is certainly objectified and manipulated aesthetically for viewers gratification (most would argue male, although in my research I felt that females are also gratified from experiencing new fashion styles and comparing their own dress-sense) I hoped to challenge the usual 'indie' genre that my audio track was confined to.

Whilst still planning for shooting, I came across Jessie J's new music video 'It's not about the Price Tag', eager to see the video in its exploration of what seemed to be a similar theme to my own. The video appeared at first, to have a noble message 'rejecting materialism' yet the conventions of the typical music video were upheld and in fact the video appeared to fully adhere to the objectification of the artist whilst using her conventional 'pop-star' qualities, as parkeralert.com put it -'good looks, style, talent and most importantly, a willingness to play by the industry's rules'. The symbolism throughout refers to her as a puppet or toy being controlled by the music industry in order to reach fame and recognition. It is true that the video appears to comment on the mind-control and indoctrination of artists by the higher elements, yet it didn't appear in any way to directly challenge this portrayal. As stated by parkeralert.com (a blog exploring semiotics, the impact of music videos and their messages)

Still from Jessie J 'Price Tag',
Emil Nava

'The fact that the same meanings and symbols appear in so many music videos, regardless of the artist, is the ultimate proof of a hidden power structure in charge of the industry. It is the message that is promoted and the values that are glorified that we must closely watch. 

In the case of Price Tag, viewers are exposed symbols associated with Monarch programming, a horrific method of mind control based on child abuse, while a fun and catchy song plays in the background. So, I guess it is a good thing they don’t care about the price tag … ’cause I ain’t buying it.'

Still from Bjork
'Human Behaviour', Micheal Gandry

In this way, my own music video is attempting to reject this idea of the artist as a 'toy' in the video, whilst the reality of hierarchical control is hidden from the viewer as they drink in the noble antics of less-materialistic, capitalist ideas, by including the representation of the music industry as a businessman, who is seen directly manipulating the artist in a mis-en-scene desired to make the viewer uncomfortable with what they are being made to watch and adhere to consume. I wanted my viewer to re-evaluate their role, not only as consumer but as an individual able to reject such concepts. Having made references to the magazines so many of my viewers will buy on a weekly bass, as well as brands, fashion houses and television, I then present to them how the artist is subsequently offered to them. Therefore I am challenging the conventions of real media products, such as  Emil Navas video for Jessie J. I am commenting on the hidden symbolism behind such music videos which sell themselves to the viewer as moral and noble, in order to increase viewing figures as viewers feel gratified by their own modesty. 

However I should point out that in challenging these forms by purposely trying to make my viewer uncomfortable, and reflective of the pull techniques used to lure them in, I have used the convention of disorientation for change in experience effect as in Gandrys 'Human Behaviour' for Bjork'. I was massively influenced by Gandry's  work as a director renown for his excitingly unusual films, and I attempted to develop the idea of disorientation and manipulation on my symbolism, cutting, mis-en-scene and action. I used low key lighting and unusual light-source to continuously shatter and re-establish mis-en-scene, another reference to the power of the label over the direction of the video and the effect on the audience.

I also developed and used ideas from a conversely different area of the film/video spectrum, in Ruth Hogben's fashion video for the designer Gareth Pugh, although I was first drawn to her work for its beautiful sharp, modern aesthetic and concentration of silhouette and movement, I decided to use this reference in order to strengthen the idea of indoctrination via concentrating efforts on our external image, in our fashion, hair makeup and subsequent 'character'. But also in connection with the statement made by Hogben in an interview after her award from the ASOFF'09 jury for her work, she claimed 'Fashion film..it's becoming a genre in its own right' I felt this was a brilliant way to have an underlying reference to genre in my editing, as I used ideas from her 360 shots repeated in selection in quick cuts, with a juddering effect before continuing smoothly before the next sharp change in movement. I was pleased with my efforts, as they did not attempt to replicate this form of editing, merely to use elements of it to re-enforce the idea of manipulation of movements not only by the director but the label and the music industry. 

By focussing several frames around high-end brand magazine advertisements including Gucci, Dior and Dolce and Gabbana whilst having the character flick back and forth, I was challenging our view in society that our image must be improved in line with this fashion hierarchy. I also cut together jerky and sped-up shots which explored slogans of current fashion magazines such as 'You are woman?', 'beauty hot 100', 'Flawless' among others, I also saturated the colour so the print colours became garish and somewhat vulgar. When in the context of the video and overall message I hoped that this would ask viewers whether these magazines are at all moral, or whether they too are encouraging us to adhere to the principles of hierarchy and capitalism as well as the obsession over celebrity and their vanities.

My video attempted to convey how the true talent and creativity of a society are institutionalised and de-personalised to appeal to the masses, or a much wider spectrum of 'types' as we are becoming familiar with. I used and developed conventions as I have exemplified, but only to parallel and juxtapose them with symbols of skill, passion and experimentation without fear. Probably one of the more prominent examples of this throughout both my music video and my ancillary products is that of the hanging headphones, the wires surrounding the artist in a barcode pattern. This is a direct reference to the artist, (specifically, a painter) Scott Blake, and his commentary on our current obsessions to stamp everything with a label, a number, a barcode.

In the ways I have described, I hope that I have challenged the forms and conventions in order to ask my viewer whether this should continue. The music track itself featuring the words of Thurston Moore could indeed be argued to be examples of hyperbole and maybe even moral panic techniques, yet I strongly believe they owe much to a greater understanding of losing the passion and skill behind creating music and driving the creative industry behind it. 

WEBSITE-FINAL DESIGN

DESIGNED ON APPLE MACBOOK PRO- IWEB

I began designing my website on i-web after I found the range of tools much more advanced than other website creators I had tested such as Moonfruit.com and weebly.com. As my focus was primarily around the aesthetic quality and finish of the website as well as the range of interactions available to the user, I-web seemed to offer the best design solution.
I am very pleased with my finished website design and was pleased to get feedback on its modern finish and aesthetic from my media study classmates, and then other music fans I asked said;
'Its really different' and 'I like the dark colour scheme', this suggested that my site would appeal to my user in its design and use of typography.
In keeping with the 'brand' I have been attempting to create, as in my album cover designs, these website pages all use the Arial font in all the typography. The contrast between black and white also remains a feature of the brand design as does the '/' symbol.  I have attempted to raise what I believe to be interesting points, with some humour/ interjection as in the welcome page. I hope this will provide another 'hook' in a product by LSBARCODE. I challenge the conventions of the typical music website features by replacing the usual logos and rights jargon for the words 'RIGHTS' and 'BRAND' in an attempt to mock the obvious nature of the capitalist gains of the music industry labels.
In a similar way I suggest music videos placed on music websites become 'BRAND COMMERCIAL', this time I use the '/' symbol to juxtapose this with the conventional title; 'MUSIC VIDEO'.





(PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE IN LARGE + HIGHER QUALITY)

WELCOME PAGE

STAT/VIEWER PAGE

STAT/VIEWER PAGE

STAT/VIEWER PAGE

PHOTOS/  PAGE

PHOTOS/   PAGE

pop-up slideshow on PHOTO/  PAGE

BLOG/   PAGE

BLOG/ PAGE (including RSS feed,
selected Youtube links,  Google maps location and website information

BLOG/   PAGE

CONTACT/  PAGE

I have also integrated various examples of 2.0 technology in order to allow my website to compete with those already demonstrating technological convergence. Many of my users may see the website from their mobile phones, and so by keeping the brand image minimalistic and with strong/dark colour themes and consistent references to the '/' symbol for the 'brand' I would hope that despite poor quality or resolution as we might expect from some handheld devices, which tend to alter the composition/layout of the original site, this design would remain distinguishable from others. 

One point I find to be the most important in my website design is the addition of a 'blog', whereby the creator is able to update posts directly to the user. I found this to be a crucial part of my design, in the sense, of making the website appear more personal to the user. When researching websites, as of the rising star Tinie Tempah, the use of a personal blog did seem to improve his image and excite a loyal fan base who regularly commented on his posts. In my design I have also invited users to send in their own work/music influences, in an attempt to increase user activity and interaction on the website thereby promoting the brand and the remix track. I believe that to pull my niche audience in, I must appeal to their interests of 'new' experiences, as well as promoting the idea of offering theirs to others via LSBARCODE or THE GOLDEN FILTER REMIX.

DIGIPAK-FINAL PRODUCT

Here is the finished digipak

(PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE IN LARGE)

In my promotion of my remix, I wanted to create a theme around a 'brand' instead of a label. In my designs, I decided upon using the symbol of the
' / '
as the main hook of 'brand'.
The idea behind the use of the / as part of the logo, is that it is a symbol of choice.
This digipak is for a remix single, and were it an album it would include the titles on the back cover, however, by inviting my 'consumers' to 'react' I hoped to demonstrate, as the sole creator of the remix, that we should challenge and comment and not just consume albums with a weak messages but countless generic catchy tracks.
Here it strikes the choice between a manipulated artist and 'the brand'  I am mocking my own brand 'LS BARCODE' by condemning the actions of the music industry in this way.
We can decide which side of the '/' we choose to follow for most, on a daily basis. In text, image and online this sign creates a barrier between two words, usually leading the reader to the same conclusion whichever side they choose to take and I wanted to play with this in my imagery for my digipak.
The brand name having been 'insert barcode' felt a little too obvious to me and so I changed the name to LS BARCODE (my initials being LS) in order to demonstrate this was just one remix done by one person, thus inviting others to change the meaning before the barcode.
I used photoshop to edit my digipak. I have used Arial font throughout my designs as I feel it is a clean and modern. The designs were intended to be minimalist with a harsh contrast between black and white to try and achieve a more modern and professional aesthetic. I have capitalised words that I feel will attract the viewers interest as I hope they suggest an unconventional approach to promoting a brand. I chose to morph the face of the main character with that of the manipulated figurine in an abstract manner. I chose to have the character posing to create some ambiguity. Is she in pain, or is she thrusting herself forwards for the camera to objectify her? I kept this layer in black and white, slightly out of focus and with a fuzzy quality to it. This was to symbolise the artist underneath has been pushed into the past, and now the colourful but manipulated face of a generic figurine is pushed into the viewers line of sight. I then used the ' / ' in JUXTAPOSITION with the name of the track and producer.
In this way, I am taking the / which usually gives us two options which direct us to a similar outcome, and turning this around so that in fact the / (or) asks my audience to see the substantial difference, as well as which they would prefer and which is better for music. Therefore, the brand would appear to be asking viewers whether they wish to continue with their listening/viewing habits or whether they wish to have something 'new'.
I also decided to tackle the current issue of illegal downloading, and online music piracy by blatantly offering this to my consumer. The use of the '/' symbol again asks the difference between 'CD' and 'ONLINE', as I have seen in my past research, many would argue 'OUTDATED' and 'CURRENT' would replace those. However, by posing these questions I hope to intrigue my audience.
In appealing to my niche audience I understand that their wish to see conceptual and abstract images and words, I believe my digipak would satisfy these wishes in its use of rhetoric, symbolism and imagery.

RESEARCH: BEST ALBUM COVER DESIGNS

1. Muse – 'The Resistance'
2. Manic Street Preachers – 'Journal For Plague Lovers'
3. Fever Ray – 'Fever Ray'
4. Massive Attack – 'Splitting The Atom'
5. Green Day – '21st Century Breakdown'
6. Pet Shop Boys – 'Yes'
7. White Lies – 'To Lose My Life'
8. Editors – 'In This Light And On This Evening'
9. La Roux – 'La Roux'
10. Depeche Mode – 'Sounds Of The Universe'

Klaxons 'Surfing the void'

These are from the NME award for best album artwork 2010. 


Whereas, this year Klaxons album cover for 'Surfing the void' made the top spot. 




From looking at the most popular covers, I would suggest that an abstract/somewhat humorous image would provoke the audience in the desired manner. Initially I was planning to keep the design minimalistic and more symbolic, having looked at the conventional album cover with a close up of the artist.


Yet, the most successful indie album covers JUXTAPOSE
and I see that this approach stands out more. 

FEEDBACK + YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK, VIMEO

In order to fuel more views of my work, I shared the Golden filter remix music video on my Facebook account, whereby many of the age range I targetted would be able to see it and have the opportunity to comment.
I was really pleased with the Feedback and felt that my video had drawn in my niche audience.

I was really appreciative of all the comments I received and found that the age range of those commenting on the video from Facebook ranged from 16-40 which I felt gave a clear indication that the niche audience could be expanded via promotion on social networking sites etc. The ability to gain immediate reactions was a great help in understanding the possibilities of further promotion. I was particularly pleased about many of the comments on the finish of the piece looking 'so clear' and 'professional'.
I showed the video to several contacts I have made in the creative industry, one was a graphic designer who said 'It's amazing, I loved the colour and attention to detail.' Another 24 year old creative working in Post Production said 'It's great!' I was immensely flattered that the reaction had been so positive. I was also shocked by the viewing statistics on YouTube and the respective ages which fitted my niche audience.

I also uploaded the piece to the massively successful video sharing platform 'Vimeo' in my own channel titled 'Music Video?'

http://vimeo.com/21654883

I then shared the piece on the central page for the channel 'Music Videos' and subsequently the number of viewers rose by a small percentage. Finally I intend to add it to my website.