CD Package Design Plan Drafts
Submitted by jtirrell on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 13:12.

We will all log out and return to this page. Then we will remove our names from our drafts and copy and paste them into an anonymous comment. After the design plan drafts have been posted, we will all select two that are not our own and offer constructive criticism over them. Please keep in mind that plaudits alone are not productive feedback. Isolate specific strengths and weakness of the design plan draft, keeping in mind our design plan rubric criteria and our design plan tips.
Design Plan
Packaging and Promotion
Songs
• Chris Isaak –“Let me Down Easily”
• Seether –“Fade Away”
• Jack Johnson –“Banana Pancake”
• Rembrandts –“I’ll Be There for You”
• Tom Jones –“It’s Not Unusual”
The audience is college students being that they are were all chosen by college students that have an insight into what other college students would listen to. The copulation of songs has been put together so people who are looking for love or have someone they love can find that perfect song to go along with it. Each song plays its own part in the different stages of a relationship. The person listening to the compact disc can just pick which stage the lovers or to be lovers are in and they will have the perfect song to set a romantic mood.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:46.The design will be a used to help market and advertise the compact disc when seen in electronic, music, or department stores. The design has to tell about the romantic songs that are to be used on the disc and to appeal to a college crowd. The compact will also be made in a way that it appeals to both sexes so it can be used by either depending on who is planning the romantic evening.
The compact disc will have a jewel cased cover with a booklet, a label for the CD and back cover. The reason for the booklet is if the couple would like to join in on some karaoke of the songs the word are right there for them to follow along.
The arrangement of the cover should help to show the underlying meaning of each of the songs and the stages of a relationship. It should give you the feeling that it is romantic and yet young and edgy to appeal to the college crowd. The colors will be consistent between the three different parts of the CD.
The audience seems a bit forced. I am much more likely to believe that this c.d. is for a young romantic couple than for a romantic couple in college. The culture of college is just too diverse to claim that a handful of college students are a good sample with which to gather songs about the entire population.
Submitted by mhorstme on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 10:15.The argument for why you chose different stages of love songs is a little weak as well. It makes it sound like you can only listen to one song through each stage. I would suggest promoting the idea that, whichever stage you are in, you can look into the past or into the future with your relationship and remember the good times you had going toward each.
I love the idea for a karaoke. I think this would help promote and sell the cd because of it fun and playful quality. Other than that, it looks pretty good.
The idea of having a romantic CD is sort of a unique idea for this type of audience, but I think that it could work. The sense of purpose seems clearly defined as helping people in all stages of a relationship find that special song. The audience is for college students. This plan could probably go into more detail about the design and what types of imagery and fonts and colors might be used to convey the idea that this CD will be good for couples. The plan needs to be proof-read to eliminate some of the problems with extra words, and it should be re-written to make sure that its talking about the design in the present tense.
Submitted by Bdawg8569 on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 10:37.Having a CD that progresses as you listen is always a clever idea. You provide a location/context for the CD, however I am wondering how these songs selected should appeal to the masses. Also, you list what the CD will do, but what specific strategies are going to be used to make it clear that this CD is meant for your purpose? Other than that, I enjoy the idea.
Submitted by InvisiblebiRON on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 11:21.Project 2 Design Plan
Songs
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:46.• “Let Me Down Easy” by Chris Isaak
• “Get It Together” by The Go! Team
• “Arco Arena” by Cake
• “Fade Away” by Seether
• “Banana Pancakes” by Jack Johnson
Sense of Purpose
The purpose behind this CD is to remind its audience of the movie that had been playing in theaters and increase interest in it by reminding them of certain parts of the movie.
Audience
The audience likes movies containing adventure and love. Thus, these songs evoke the same feelings they felt while they were watching the movie or, in some cases, what they would feel.
Context
This CD is a soundtrack to a movie titled “The Perilous Flight.” It contains songs that had been heard in this movie. Hence, the packaging contains scenes from the movie and other related graphics.
Strategies
Colors used give off a slight sense of hopelessness and despair, yet evoke an overall mood of resolution. Scenes from the movie give more information about the movie and its storyline. A list of the songs is on the back cover and on the CD itself.
Arrangement
The songs are arranged in order of when they were heard in the movie.
Medium
The CD is packaged in the standard CD jewel case with a front and back cover, and a song sheet on the inside cover.
I like the concept of this being a movie soundtrack. How did you pick these particular songs? What about these songs suggest "Perilous Flight?" I assume that this movie is fictional - where/how are you going to get the images you use for this fictional movie? What about these songs give you the "slight sense of hopelessness and despair... evoke(ing) an overall mood of resolution." that you are concerned about with the CD materials?
In essence is the movie an advertisement for the CD or the other way around? Generally I always assume that the CD's that come out are to advertise for the movie but if thats the case what kind of marketing materials are you going to use?
Submitted by dan_bortnick on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 21:36.That's a very original idea. It seems like a good idea but I would have to know a little more about this movie than what is said in the design plan (you probably have a good idea of what you see in the movie though). I'm interested to see what other medium you choose to supplement the cd cover. It would be cool to see some sort of commercial for the movie that would explain its plot points and also give insight to how it relates to the cd.
Submitted by aaurella on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 11:42.This sounds like a great idea, but the audience may be too specific. Perhaps, you could gear it toward lovers of all romantic films or action films.
Submitted by dayodel on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 16:26.The CD, “A Day in the Life,” features songs that are consistent with a common day in the life of a common person. Thus , this CD package is geared towards a common person, a person of the status quo. It will be put in a normal CD package , because that is common. A picture of people sitting around a table eating dinner is on the front, because that is something that could be common and relate to. The purpose of this is to show that there is no common. In fact, uncommon is common, because no two people live the exact same life. This is shown through different photographs on the CD packaging of things one can do in life, but not everyone will react the same way to everything. “A Day in the Life” features five songs
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:47.Ginuwine – Pony
A lot of people have ridden a horse in their life, and this might lead them to recall those memories.
Jack Johnson – Banana Pancakes
Some people eat breakfast, some people don’t.
Jars of Clay – It is well with my soul.
Some people go to church and will recognize this harmonic version of a classic hymn.
Cake – Arco Arena
Some people have played in an arena, and this will bring back memories of those incidences.
Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
This song just has a lot of situations that people might have interacted with, and harbors a lot of visual imagery that one could relate to. It is also an encourager to close the CD that says to not stop believing and leaves a good message.
I liked how you gave reasons as to why you chose these songs. I'm wondering if you were going to put your reasoning behind your choices in your packaging. Also, how do you plan on getting the message across that “uncommon is common?” I understand the different pictures, but my question is are they going to be similar events, just in different settings? For example, would you show two different pictures of people sitting down to dinner? These are just my thoughts…
Submitted by sarlwils86 on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 17:22.So your audience is everyone? I like your scope, but marketing may not be so kind. You target "common" folk, with displays of common pictures and events, using music that may appeal to some. Is this really just trying to get the widest range of possible audiences ever? I'm not sure of the support for the songs themselves, saying that a song shows something that someone may possibly do...are people going to get this message of "uncommon is common" by appealing singularly to possible preferences? I'd get your idea more if the cover displayed your common pictures and then totally flipped out with five songs that are crazy and random and weird. Uncommon is common.
I suppose that may be an issue of context as well, where will people encounter this CD? Somewhere where an appeal to conformity will be met with derision or a closer look? Is that a Beatles' reference? If so, you gonna use it? I like how you've got a deeper meaning going on here, but it needs some help getting through to the audience.
Submitted by Adam on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 13:56.The audience for this compilation might be too general and hard to pin down. Are you saying that the simple, ordinary visuals will entice passers by or cause them because the package is unique in being ordirary to look closer at the CD. I would suggest a clearer message to your audience.
Submitted by dayodel on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 16:31.Design Plan – CD package
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:47.Free running offers a mental and physical workout to the normal person. Surprisingly, a person must be more mentally fit to accomplish their tasks than they need be physically. Much confidence about an action comes from practice. However, most people need some motivation to safely perform many free running moves.
To help free runners accomplish their tasks easier, a “power” c.d. shall be created to help motivate the free runners. This type of music is generally either upbeat, or very dramatic. The beat of the music will help free runners have a consistent step that their body can listen to. Because free running focuses on using the environment without breaking fluidity, music for a free runner should flow together smoothly as well. The music should energize and uplift the free runner into an elevated mental state to help elevate worry or concern from something that they know can be accomplished.
The c.d. and cover will include inspirational pictures of a couple of different free runner moves. The pictures are in black and white to emphasize the move itself, not the person or environment in which it was performed. The picture helps emphasize that any free runner can be this one, and the possibility is not far off.
Each song selected brings a different quality to the entire c.d. Some songs start out slowly, allowing the free runner to build confidence and make a proper plan as to his goals and route. Then, the music will become more upbeat to get a general rhythm of the run. The music will help bring encouraging thoughts, rather than anything sad and slow. While the music is upbeat, much of it is relaxed. A free runner cannot tense up his body too much during a run. One should stay relaxed while performing their moves.
The c.d. package will display music an images to help inspire the free runner. The music starts out slow and powerful, leading up to a quicker tempo, and finishing off with a fast but very relaxed setting. The order and arrangement of the music help emphasize the qualities that a free runner must possess before a difficult challenge can be accomplished.
The idea is very original, i don't think i've ever heard of a compilation towards free runners. Some things you might want to think about though, the Design Plan itself is for the CD package. I found that most of it was geared towards the relation between the free runners and the music. Because of this, the arrangement, context, and medium of the CD package are not very clear. Although you do talk about the arrangement of the songs on the CD, not much is talked about how the black and white pictures are placed, where a free running CD can be found, or specifics on the CD packaging (i.e. paper or plastic). Talk about the title. I like the fact that you made the images black and white though, the ipod-type advertising strategy, as we discussed in class, is a powerful tool. You may also want to be careful of your use of future tense (e.g. 'shall be', 'will include', 'will help'). "At this point, your multimedia text is a finished product. You should only talk about what it does and how it works"
Submitted by rsaba on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 13:16.-- Take advantage of your idea, it's very good! Maybe put a warning label on the front next to the images ('These are performed by professionals'), or a lyrics booklet showing various stunts as the background? Something to keep in mind, not many people here are aware of what free running is, it is practiced much more internationally.
I enjoy the idea of a running album. I am curious to see what songs you are going to use since you're trying to maintain an upbeat rhythm but keep it relaxed simultaneously. I like how you go about explaining how the CD will affect the runner, but I am having a hard time visualizing what you mean by runner moves. You describe the purpose of your CD really well and how it will affect the listener, but you might need to help create a more vivid visualization in your design plan.
Submitted by InvisiblebiRON on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 11:33.Statement of Purpose
Buying this cd will get college students pumped up for gameday. Whether that be baseball, basketball, or football, this cd will be an outlet for student fans, and athletes to get rid of the pre-game jitters. It also serves as a stress reliever not only on gameday, but also any time you feel stressed and need a break from the rigors of work/school.
Audience
This is intended for a college-aged demographic. Preferrably this is for the college sports fan, but technically this could be sold to high school and professional sports enthusiasts. In a much more broader aspect, the cd could be sold to anyone with an interest in fast paced, upbeat songs.
Medium Used
The main medium will be the cd itself with supplemental magazine advertisements in sports magazines.
Arrangement
The cd cover will most likely include a sports theme. Something along the line of a pigskin texture on the front of the cd case to give it a distinct look. It would not actually have to be leather bound but at least have that appearance. The cd could also be shaped like a baseball or basketball.
The magazine ad would then have a silhouette of the crowd. The crowd would be giving high-fives, holding up a number one foam hand and what-not. Someone in the front row would then be holding up the cd cover, which would not be blacked-out like the rest of the crowd. It may also include the box score in the back just for emphasis of the environment.
Songs Include:
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana (O Fortuna)
Journey – Don't Stop Believin
Primus - John the Fisherman
Ram Jam - Black Betty
Darude - The Drill
Testing
In order to get a general consensus about the effectiveness of this cd, it will only be sold and
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:47.advertised at purdue for a period of one month. If it becomes popular here, then the cd can be sold to other campuses around the country. From there it can be decided whether or not this product would be viable in the general market.
Sounds like a really fun idea, and i really liked it. Just a reminder that you are supposed to have two separate design plans for the CD design and the ad that goes with it. So, that's all the criticism I can really think of.
Submitted by polkastripe on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 16:04.I like the idea a lot, seems like everything would fit together really well. The only questions I have are: How do these songs target sports enthusiasts? Is there some sort of survey that has been conducted that shows sports enthusiasts like this particular type or music? If I were an avid sports fan, why would I like listening to Primus, or Journey?
Submitted by rsethi on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 12:07.This CD idea seems to flow together very well, and is a great idea. I would however think of arrangement in terms of the songs, and maybe either organize it in terms of what the song pumps you up for, or level of pump-it-up-ness that the song gets you ready for. As far as the song selection goes though, I think they are good choices.
Submitted by dpaulat on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 15:07.CD Package Design Plan
The most obvious purpose of a CD package is to sell the CD to a specific
audience. However, this particular package also has another purpose. This
package will do as other CD packages do in advertising the CD and the songs
which are included but it will also target the audience in a particular manner.
It will target them with advertisement of a low price, as well as advertisement
of the CD itself.
The audience targeted by this CD includes high school and college students who
like a variety of music while they study, relax, and party. This will be made
evident not only by the songs which are included in the CD, but also by price
advertising and package designs.
This particular CD package will be found on the shelves in the CD section of any
major seller of CDs. It would also be found online, on the websites of those
stores. It will be mixed in with thousands of other CDs and thus must have some
attributes which allow it to stand out amongst the rest of the CD packages.
Some of the strategies which will be employed in targeting the audience include
that advertisement of the songs as a great mix for studying, partying, and
relaxing, a cheap price and an aesthetically pleasing package. Colors, designs,
and images will be manipulated to catch the eye of a student looking for a
great, cheap mix of music.
Also, because of the target audience, the CD package will include a cover, back,
inside cover, inside back cover, inside booklet, and a design on the CD itself.
This detail is intended to appeal to the audience and interest them in
purchasing the CD.
The arrangement of the package will be relatively similar to other CD packages
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:47.so as to not lose the fact that this is a CD.
The medium is perhaps obviously a CD package, either in paper or perhaps
displayed online.
You seem to have a clear idea of the project concept in general but there aren't really a whole lot of details involved in this design plan. The high school/college crowd is an extremely diverse audience. Many peoples tastes in music change drastically over that 8 year period. Also, the concept of picking 5 songs that work for studying, relaxing, and partying seems like it would be extremely tough. If you can pull off picking 5 songs from our pool that would fulfill all three of those situations then more power to you. I would suggest however limiting your audience more in order to be able to focus a more direct purpose. Also if you limit the usage of maybe picking two of the three inbetween studying, relaxing and partying you would have an easier time picking songs that justify your purpose.
Submitted by dan_bortnick on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 21:42.Its good start but I think you need to go more in depth with what your design of the party, study and relax mix. You say that they will be aesthetically pleasing but nothing really about what kind of strategies are you going to use to make the cd appeal to your huge audience. That also might be something you want to rethink is maybe to narrow done your audience a little bit to make the design of the CD a bit easier.
Submitted by julie4646 on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 15:09.Design Plan
CD Packaging
The purpose of the CD packaging is to convince its audience to listen to the music and to buy the CD.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:48.The audience for the CD is most likely going to be college students or older teens who like to listen to rock genre music.
The packaging would have to stand out in a way that it would interest the audience amid all the other CD’s on the shelves or in the bins. Other potential locations for the CD cover and design would be on a website such as amazon.com, in a magazine article, or in newspaper article reviewing the CD.
Strategies that I’ll use are visual appeal, and the use of imagery to try and tickle the imagination of the audience and the use of particular colors to try and reinforce the message being sent by the music on the CD.
The overall purpose of the packaging is not to trick people into buying the CD, but rather to reinforce the content that is actually on the CD.
I think your design plans needs to be more specific in some of the elements. What is the overall theme to this CD and what purpose does it have other than just selling CDs to college students?
Submitted by Mrmann on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 16:28.Your audience is a little too broad as well. You should explain why your audience is going to go out and buy your CD.
It's a good start, but I think you're being a little to broad in your audience. You might want to explain why college students would listen and buy this cd. Also, I think you should narrow down the demographic instead of just making it a cd for all college students. This would give you a better idea of what you're shooting for, and you can subsequently gear the cover of the cd towards that. Otherwise I really won't be able to tell what you're trying to get across until I see the final product.
Submitted by aaurella on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 11:45.This is a great start to the design plan but I feel like it needs some more detail. For example, in the strategies section perhaps you would like to explain how you are going to 'tickle the imagination' of the audience. Also, what is the message begins sent by the music on the CD? Our songs are very diverse and I think you would find it difficult to chose a specific message from five different songs. However, if you can and you are able to exploit that then it is a great idea. Also, I like the statement that the purpose is not to trick people into buying the CD but to reinforce the content. I would include how that will be accomplished in the design plan.
Submitted by jdortiz on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 12:19.The songs chosen for the compilation CD are: “Get it Together” by The Go! Team, “Black Betty” by Ram Jam, “Don't Stop Believin'” by Journey, “Face Down” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and “The Drill” by Darude. Each song provides a quick beat and fast pace that fits together into a coherent theme for the compilation: energy. The CD features energetic music designed to get the listener up and moving and the packaging and marketing emphasizes this fact. The name of the compilation is “Caffeine Tracks,” a CD to be played in the morning while getting ready for the day, on the way to work in the car, or on the CD or MP3 player on the way to class.The target audience for this CD is primarily college students who need a boost when waking up in the morning or while heading to classes.
Due to the varied styles of music on the CD, the audience itself will be a varied group of college students. The context of the marketing and CD design reflects this fact by focusing on the shared college experiences of staying up too late studying/working/partying, and needing to get up early for class/work/projects. The songs themselves hit many styles that are usually associated with popular music, including punk, dance, and hip hop. The older songs of “Black Betty” and “Don't Stop Believin'” are also well known due to their play on classic rock stations. The songs are in styles that are familiar to college students and the CD is designed to combat common college student problems by providing energy in the morning to get going.
The strategy for the CD package design reflects this target audience and appeals to the theme of energy in the project. The cover features a collage of images of students moving, dancing, etc. in front of Purdue campus shots. The CD title of “Caffeine Tracks” is also displayed. The CD is backed by yellow as a base that continues around the spine to the back of the CD with a track listing and an image of coffee cups on a counter 1-2-3-4 with the fifth “cup” actually being the CD itself. The packaging works to both emphasize the energetic nature of the songs within as well as the idea of caffeine (as coffee) being replaced in the morning by this music. The inner booklet of the CD continues to emphasize this idea with a faux-diagram of the slogan “Get up, get going, get moving” with generic, drawn people resembling the type found on public restrooms, road signs, etc.
The arrangement of this packaging highlights the excitement of the music first, and second, the need for the audience to get excited and awake by listening to the music. The first image is one of excited students on the cover, with the coffee imagery on the back cover. The inner booklet provides some amusement for the viewer and reinforces the idea of the CD as a “how-to guide” to waking up in the morning. You could get up without the music, but it makes things easier. Similarly, the medium of CD packaging lends itself to the idea of a central theme or message showcased on the cover and reinforced on the back and inside. Continuing the trend of energy and caffeine through the packaging itself lends an image to the music to be expected on the CD itself.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:48.You seem to have a very thorough understanding of the design for your album cover, and also how it helps tie the tracks together to create a cohesive total package. The cover art itself sounds very creative –– from your detailed description I was able to picture it perfectly.
Submitted by jajansen on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 17:34.You’re definitely thinking about tying the cover art into the rest of the piece, so kudos for that. In your final design plan however, I would provide more detail in the description of “arrangement” –– right now, it’s not very clear HOW these efforts will actually contribute to your overall objectives.
I think it entirely plausible that this CD would appeal to your intended audience –– because I am a college student, I just KNOW this, as I’m sure you do, as well… but this isn’t enough. I would suggest better articulating your discussion of how/why this mix of songs would appeal to your audience. Narrowing your intended audience might aid in this.
Overall, an excellent first draft. I’d buy it if I saw it on the shelf –– or on iTunes, which is more likely!
I like your theme of “energy” and your songs have been well-chosen to exemplify that. You mentioned that the pictures will be of students on Purdue’s campus. Does this mean that Purdue students will be the main focus of this compilation? Also do you have any ideas as to how the songs are going to be arranged? These are just my thoughts…
Submitted by sarlwils86 on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 18:13.Reaching the audience is highly important when it comes to creating an album. The album art design that I propose illustrates what the album stands for, and informs the consumer of what the album has to offer. It will demonstrate a quicker paced collection of music.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:48.Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and needing more subject matter when music is involved. The target audience is primarily the gaming community. A lot of games currently focus on a quick paced game play. Music has worked as a mood modifier since the history of music. Gamers will be playing games that require quick reflexes and an elevated mood.
The album will consist of fast paced, upbeat songs. The album art will illustrate the general mood of the songs provided. It will take a conceptual approach in which the meaning can be interpreted. However, it won’t be abstract to the point that the meaning cannot be derived. The subject matter of the cover will consist of a scene containing action. The inside of the cover then will clarify the scene by showing a view of someone sitting at their computer. The viewer will realize that the cover is taking place in a computer.
Promotional materials will consist of a flyer. This flyer will relate to the CD consisting of characters seen on the album art itself. The flyer will show a supposed release date as well.
Media is meant to be eye catching to the viewer; therefore the album art and promotional materials will consist of brighter colors that stand out from the rest. The purpose is to avoid blend-in and also to appeal to a certain age range. This age range will be approximately between the ages of 15 and 25 years old. Gamers are maturing and these songs are spread out to a point where it would appeal to a wide range of listeners.
When viewers examine these materials, they will be drawn in.
It is an interesting idea, to create a CD for the purpose of providing music to a quick-paced gaming culture. You might want to think about how you describe the type of music you're selecting. You said "quicker paced" - this implies that there is some sort of slower paced music you're comparing to. As a standalone product, you will want to solidify what feeling you're going for in the music. In your design plan, specify some examples of games that use quick paced game play - this will provide a more compelling argument. Also, remember that you are supposed to have a separate design plan for the CD package and the promotional material - I know this is a rough draft, but remember to keep from using future tense, as this design plan should eventually describe a finished product. It will be interesting to see which songs you choose to fit into the quick paced feeling.
Submitted by strigidae_rider on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:09.The purpose of this CD package is to distribute excellent technical musicianship to consumers that enjoy song that are well written and performed exceptionally well. This will be accomplished by drawing an audience of people that enjoy musicians that are great technical players. Many of these people play instruments themselves and wish to attain the level of skill that these musicians can play. The audience will enjoy this CD because it will fall into their appreciation of good musicians.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:48.One would find this CD on a web site dedicated to guitar or other instruments, possibly being advertised as a CD for great musicians that their readers would enjoy. This CD could also be advertised on the individual artists' web sites for their fans to buy and listen to. The medium is going to be a CD, including a CD sticker, jewel case booklet, and jewel case insert. It will contain images or words somehow describing the overall goal of the CD, which is to introduce these great musicians to people that enjoy good music.
The CD package will be arranged specifically for the purpose of attracting people who enjoy technical musicians. There will possibly be pictures of guitars or other instruments on the cover, with a title that conveys some sort of message about musicianship. On the back will be the track listing and in the inside insert, there will be information about the artists and the instruments they are proficient at. The stratagies will be simple, using imagery of guitars and other symbols that would draw an audience interested in technical music.
This is a good start, and I think you can make this a very successful project; you just need to figure out exactly where you're going with it. The criteria "excellent technical musicianship", "well written songs", and "performed exceptionally well" are all very vague and subjective. Who is to say that one song is well-written over another? I certainly know some well-written songs, and some songs that aren't so well-written *cough* Fergie *cough*. You should narrow down that criteria into something more measurable - maybe focus on a certain aspect of musicianship, such as use of chords in the song, or varied melody. An idea for reaching out to those who play guitar - include tabs or chords to the songs, so the people who play guitar or other instruments can play along with the music they listen to. You could market it as a "Play Along" CD. Just an idea.
Since most of these songs are very well known, the purpose "to introduce" is not exactly feasible. Another thing, in your design plan, you should specify certain websites that are dedicated to guitar or other instruments.
Submitted by strigidae_rider on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:20.Here follows a rudimentary design outline for the Project 2 CD Packaging. It is an extremely rough draft.
Rise and Shine ––
Instant Breakfast Club!
Statement of Purpose:
This CD, titled Rise and Shine: Instant Breakfast Club!, provides a 20-minute, condensed breakfast club experience that seeks to:
(A.) pay tribute to the unique institution that is Breakfast Club,
(B.) quench Purdue students’ thirst for Breakfast Club during away games and its very dry off-season, and
(C.) provide students who cannot/will not participate in Breakfast Club with a basic, musical knowledge of the early morning festivities.
Audience:
Purdue students, existing in two disparate parts:
1) breakfast clubbers who are suffering from Breakfast Club withdrawal, whether due to the end of football season, or simply because of an away game, and
2) students who cannot/do not participate in Breakfast Club, but still wish to gain knowledge of the true Breakfast Club experience.
Context:
Breakfast Club’s uniqueness and role as a long-standing Boilermaker tradition make it deserving of its own musical tribute. This 20-minute condensed breakfast club experience will provide Breakfast Club “regulars” with a way to cope when Breakfast Club is no longer in season, and will provide non-breakfast clubbers with a faithful musical portrait of the early-morning festivities.
*The overall goal is to encourage people to participate in Breakfast Club.
Strategies:
The cover art will, in theory, resemble cartoons found an Adult Swim. These programs’ popularity with college students –– and especially with those constituents who take an interest in participating in Breakfast Club –– ensure that the same style of art will appeal to the same college student population.
Medium:
On a CD – easily downloadable to anyone’s computer and iPod. It will be packaged in a cardboard trifold envelope rather than in a traditional plastic case, a package that is much more appropriate for a CD that contains only five songs. Because students will import the music to their computers, they aren’t likely to keep a cumbersome plastic case (or the CD, once they’ve imported the music).
Arrangement:
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:48.The songs are strategically ordered –– they provide a Breakfast Club narrative, which is best described as follows:
1.) Banana Pancakes –– This low-key, harmonious bit of pleasantness, compliments of Jack Johnson, provides the perfect background music for waking up and greeting the dawn. While you don your spandex, leg warmers, and wig, you’ll begin to grow hungry for the banana pancakes Johnson describes… or some such other suitable “breakfast fare.”
2.) I’ll Be There for You –– Who doesn’t love Friends? This song offers a tune you’ve heard a million times, and also provides you with some reassurance –– Your leopard unitard won’t fit over your beer belly anymore? Good thing your friends are there for you to lend you theirs! Life may not be what you’d like for it to be, but you’ve got the entire breakfast club crew behind you!
3.) Pony –– Breakfast Club has begun! Let’s get drunk and “get all up in each others’ grills!”
4.) The Drill –– Breakfast Club is in full swing now (and has been for quite some time) -- You’re at your third bar and have consumed countless beverages. This song has no words for a reason –– you wouldn’t be able to pronounce words anyway. Instead, just try to yell over the thumping bass.
5.) Don’t Stop Believing –– “C’mon, guys,” the barkeep says. “It’s time to close up.” You finish off your last round to this Journey tune, then make your way to Taco Bell for a late-morning binge before (A) sleeping it off in preparation for tonight’s party circuit, or (B) donning your BTFU shirt and heading to the game to support the Boilers with your spirit… and profanity.
Sounds interesting, but like we discussed in class yesterday, I am very unsure about the cartoony appearance of the CD cover. As a college student, that wouldn't appeal to me. It might appeal to some, but not so much others. I really like the cardboard case idea, though, because it's very true that college students don't really carry around CDs.
Submitted by polkastripe on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 16:08.It is a great idea with a lot of potential. It does however seem like there may not be enough put into the pieces accompanying the CD, i.e. the case. Even if it is not looked at for very long, it still needs to catch they eye of the consumer, so the consumer would still like to purchase it. Also, the adult-swim style cartoons are a little iffy. Many people don't watch adult swim, and many who do aren't familiar with everything. If someone sees a box of french fries with eyes on the front, they might get the wrong impression.
Submitted by dpaulat on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 15:11......When listening to a song, sometimes it’s hard to understand what the singer is saying which in turn makes it hard to understand the message of the song. The normal pronunciation of a word in a song is usually changed just to make it rhyme with the lyrics. With words being pronounced differently left and right, it can become a mess. This especially hurts when you’re trying to sing along and are singing the wrong words – which you thought were right. Since the message of the song is hard to crack by lyrics alone, people usually tend to listen to the beats of the music and judge from that angle. This ‘cracking the message’ process has become second hand nature to many music listeners. It is clear to these people that lyrics aren’t necessary to understand a song. That is why this track is comprised of songs without words. The message in these songs is stated clearly in the beats of the music; stimulating emotion and perspective without words. Many feelings can’t be expressed with words and that’s why a lot of lyrics fail to meet a listeners standards. These listeners look for specific songs, songs that spark a sort of emotion which lets you ‘fill in the words’ to the music.
.....This compilation of tracks can be bought exclusively via our website or by phone order. Since the CD itself is targeting a smaller type of audience, as opposed to those solely interested in mainstream music, it would be unnecessary to have it located in all music shops. Those that are interested in this compilation will most likely look for this album on our website which is dedicated to CD compilations of songs without words. The website has an amazon.com type of environment in which users are persuaded to buy through reviewer comments and previous buyer comments (only positive comments are posted of course).
.....The CD leaflets have music notes around the front and back outside and inside covers. These notes serve as a pre-indicator to the fact that this CD doesn’t have any words. The music notes are arranged in a way which seem appealing to the buyer. It is in fact a very simple design. The colors are very soft and comfortably work with each other. This promotes the CD as a comfortable item to buy. A comfortable appearing package serves as a selling strategy, it gives buyers confidence in the item. The CD case is standard plastic as to not be different from what buyers are used to and the CD itself has music notes going around the center-hole. This gives it a good image and the music notes on the CD are meant to correlate with the back and front cover. The song titles are written both on the CD and the back cover. Although it would go along with the theme (no song lyrics) to have no printed song titles, no one would buy a CD without knowing what they’re buying. Plus the song titles allow the listener to skip to his or her preferred track easily.
......The title of the CD is ‘Clearly in the Music’ which is printed on the front cover surrounded by music notes. Although it is surrounded by music notes it is still clear and organized nicely for easy-reading. The music notes simply accentuate the words making them seem boldly comforting. Bold to be easy to see and comforting to give confidence in the buy. The title helps represent what the CD is all about, a compilation of songs without words whose message is clearly in the music and not the lyrics.
Song List:
Carl Orff - "Carmina Burana (O Fortuna)"
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:50.The Go! Team - "Get it Together"
Darude - "The Drill"
Cake - "Arco Arena"
Buckethead - "Bird With a Hole in the Stomach"
The audience and other aspects of the design plan are there, but I had a hard to determining the specific purpose of your idea. Perhaps the purpose should be a little more specific and explained more thoroughly in the design plan.
Submitted by Mrmann on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 16:18.The rest of the elements seem to be explained very well though.
It is an interesting idea that seems like it needs more support. You mentioned not wanting to go completely silent on the cover, well, maybe experiment a bit to see if you can get a working design? Something striking like a white album or the opposite of that XTC cover full of type. I mean, you say that it will only be distributed online or by phone order, so the package design itself doesn't need to list songs, right? It could be a purely visual design.
More discussion of audience would also help. We know that the songs do not have words but perhaps there are other aspects of the tracks that could appeal to an audience.
Submitted by Adam on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 13:41.Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual
Rembrandts - I'll Be There for You
Josh Garrels - Restless Ones
Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
Journey - Don't Stop Believin'
Purpose
This CD package is meant to be energizing to middle aged people, and it has a constant theme of energy, and happiness throughout. The CD cover itself will catch the eye of an onlooker at an online store, and it will fit into the theme of the promotional spot on TV in order to make it look appealing to buy, and listen to.
Audience
Targeted individuals include people who are older than 30 and in a long-term relationship. These people are getting to a point in their life when they start looking for inspiration from outside sources. Since they have been working the same job for many years, and have been with the same person for quite a while, life is beginning to wear them down.
Context
This CD is designed to be purchased off of an infomercial-style TV commercial. There is a possibility of it being offered in large chain stores such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy, in the CD section, in which it would be advertised as “As Seen on TV”. Also, this can be offered online, possibly on iTunes – these factors depend on how well the CD sells.
Strategies
In order to target an older audience, the CD design includes pictures of couples enjoying themselves and having a good time, like walking on a Caribbean beach in midday, or laughing while having some drinks at a bar with friends around. The image this CD portrays is that it will invigorate the listener to “relive” the good times they had in their twenties. Also, bright colors will be a pervasive theme in the design, in order to make it seem exciting. The songs included mostly deal with relationships, intense love, joy, and a sense of pushing on through life.
Medium
This includes a CD, CD cover (front & back), and liner notes.
Arrangement
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:50.The liner notes are booklet style, with 4 pages. This allows for the pictures mentioned in the ‘Strategies’ section to be included. On the front cover of the CD case, there is a picture of a young couple leaning against a fence, overlooking the ocean at sunset. The CD itself will have the songs printed onto it, so the viewer can use it outside of a stereo CD player, and away from the case.
I really enjoyed this idea, a kind of inspiration for middle-aged people. The sentence "The CD cover itself will catch the eye of an onlooker..." seems to fit in as a strategy though rather than a purpose. Something you may want to think about though is explaining how a relationship with a long term person would wear someone's life down. People are usually under the impression that a long term relationships represented a strong romantic relationship. It seems though that you are using this example (long term relationship) to say that this CD will 'spice up?' your relationship. You may also want to be careful of your use of future tense (e.g. 'will catch the eye', 'will have the songs'). "At this point, your multimedia text is a finished product. You should only talk about what it does and how it works"
Submitted by rsaba on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 13:48.I must say I love the audience selection for this album. It is a refreshing and new concept. One thing you might want to think about is hwo the arrangement is going to affect the consumer. Will there be a sort of progression over the four pages? Will the couples on each page get a bit older, or will the situation get a bit more friendly every page? This might help to reinforce the idea that the consumer's life or relationship still has many good moments ahead. This is perhaps the most motivating and revitalizing thought around. That is, the future still holds many bright moments...
Submitted by jdortiz on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 12:26.Songs
Seether - Fade away
Muse - New Born
Buckethead = bird with a hole in the stomach
cake - arco arena
primus - john the fisherman
College Rock CD for college students
Today’s college students listen to a wide variety of music from a range of different bands. In order to help reduce the amount of money college students need to spend to get their favorite music, I propose to create a compilation of “college rock” that will be rock songs submitted by actual college students.
The CD is marketed towards college students. The idea is that the music was submitted by college students, for college students. The additional unifying feature is that all the songs on the album are of the “rock” genre. The album contains imagery that is consistent with the types of things that college students typically like. The artwork used for the packing is intriguing to capture the attention of college students as it sits on the shelf in the stores. The cover artwork contains a combination of images and text. The fonts used on the back were chosen to fit the “rock” theme.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:50.If you are going to take the route of claiming the CD is for college students, then you need to provide some real evidence of that. The sample population that this class has is not nearly enough to represent the type of rock that college students like. I would suggest finding local college rock bands that play this type of music for real examples that this a a good sample. Again, how do you know what college students typically like. You will probably not be able to just claim that the population likes some types of images. The rock theme in general is a good theme. There should be plenty of examples for how to bring out and show different styles from rock. I think that if you find solid examples as proof, you would have a very solid design plan.
Submitted by mhorstme on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 10:23.It seems like a good idea, but there is very little detail on how you will achieve the goals you stated for your CD package. What types of images do college students like? What kind of text are you going to put on the cover? What fonts are associated with the "rock" theme?
Submitted by rsethi on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 12:13.Songs
- Johnny Boy – Generation
- Ginuwine – Pony
- The Go! Team – Get it Together
- Rebrandts – I’ll be there for you
- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – Face Down
- Tom Jones – It’s not Unusual
This is the most galvanizing, pulse grabbing, go-get em’, triumphantly glorious musical jubilee ever to hit the market. Its target – energetic and outgoing youths across the Nation. Understanding how academically and emotionally demanding school can become at times for students, “Mega Mixtape 07” promises to be a daily jolt of spirit juice during those stress-out moments.
Composed of old school jams infused with indie rock and Tom Jones, the cover art for this compilation will be retro, artistic, and mature all at once. Its features will include Simpsons-like animated characters created to imitate some of the biggest rap, rock and contemporary moguls of the current “MTV” generation. The cover will depict these characters gathered together in a portrait-style homage to the popular group “Bone Thugz N’ Harmony”.
This combination of humor, variety, and throw-back style is sure to be a hit with the target audience who likely grew up watching the hit animated series “The Simpsons” and will probably recall listening to the then widely popular Bone Thugz N Harmony albums. In addition, animated images of some of the most popular artists known to the audience together in animated form will be sure to spark their immediate interests.
The comedic and yet intriguing design of the CD will make it an attention grabber in any major location where music is sold. However, it is anticipated that the desired effect of the cover art will be most felt by patrons browsing through local indie, underground hip-hop, record stores or novelty shops. In such places of congregation and observation, youths will be most likely to look closely at the cover and browse over the CD’s contents which should appeal to a broad range of tastes and styles. Mega Mixtape 07, with its comedic-retro-modern design and old-school, beat boxing, jump’n jiving jams will be the next anthem of every young music enthusiast out there.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 17:54.The tone of your design plan was enough to grab my attention –– and it seems to be appropriate to the CD itself!
Submitted by jajansen on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 17:51.You have a firm grasp of the context within which this CD will appear, and have clearly taken this into account when thinking of the design of the packaging itself. Because of this, I think you probably have a firm grasp of your audience members, but I think you could improve in your discussion of them –– right now, we don’t get a clear picture of the people that comprise your audience.
You discuss some of the different graphic elements meant to appeal to your audience, but I think you could better articulate how/why they appeal to the audience, and then discuss the strategic arrangement of these elements within the total package.
Lastly, I think you might need to pare down your song list to five (unless you have special dispensation to use six) –– or maybe you’re still deciding?
Overall, you have a great start. Good job!
I think that one thing you need to go into is the actual design of the CD. I know you talked about something that is attention grabing but what kind of design would be attention grabbing to your audience. That what you need to consider. Also that fact that you are using 6 songs needs to be address being the with the asignment you are only allowed 5 unless you have asked him already otherwise you might want to look into that.
Submitted by julie4646 on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 15:40.Best Guitar Riffs to Learn
Cake - Arco Arena
Solo Work
Ram Jam - Black Betty
Rock/Blues Riff
Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
Acoustic Guitar/Rhythm Work
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down
Electric Guitar/Power Chords
Seether - Fade Away
Electric Guitar Riff/Harmonics/Acoustic Arrangement
Purpose:
The purpose of this CD package is to provide five different types of songs that distinguish guitar work. A person picking up this CD should be able to hear the different guitar elements being used in each song and if they were to learn those styles would have the knowledge of a very strong gamut of guitar work.
Audience:
The people who would be targeted by this CD release would be people who are interested in hearing guitarwork used in different ways. This would be for the type of person who is just getting into playing guitar and is trying to find a style of their own. This would also be for someone who wants to expand their guitar repertiore by learning the interesting riffs from these songs.
Context:
This CD would be found in bookstores near the guitarcraft section. The CD would also be released in mass to all of the department stores. Legitimately this would also be sold online however I want to steer clear from making a website for this particular thing due to the copyright infringement problems with putting up guitar tabs these days.
Strategies:
The design needs to have a balance of both being visually appealing and get the point across. The title is: Learning Diverse Guitar Riffs. The design on the front will simply have a guitar silhouette with some retro effects on the background around it.
Medium:
This will have a CD, the CD case with front and back and liner notes. Also, there will be an adjoining flier to be put up to advertise the release of the album.
Arrangement:
The CD cover will have the image referenced in the strategy section. The back will have a simple design and a track listing. The liner notes should be around 3 pages. The first page of the liner notes would be the cover, the remaining 5 pages(if you include the front and the back) will go in depth into how the guitarwork is different in each song without going in to particularly too music-heavy terms.
Please forgive the delay in posting this.
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 21:24.I think that this is a very interesting idea. Its cool that you have found a way to market this to an audience that is something other than just "college students" like most of the rest of us. I think that your sense of purpose is more clear than others because your idea involves an instructional component. That also defines your audience more clearly as well. I think your ideas are a fantastic start to a great project. I realize this is just a draft, but your design plan ultimately should be a narrative instead of having sections that are labeled. Also make sure that the final version speaks in the present tense. Overall, nice job.
Submitted by Bdawg8569 on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 10:50.