FINAL DIGIPACK DESIGN

After a lot of different drafts and ideas, my group has finally decided on a digipack which we think is appropriate and suitable for sale. After gaining a large amount of audience feedback and making several changes to the digipack including changing the actor and many of the images many times we have created something which many people felt would be suitable for sale as it is professional, attractive and of a high quality as well as being totally original to our group. As you can see from the many stages described in my blog, the final thing for us to do was add the appropriate writing, shown on the spine and back cover of the digipack. This was time consuming as it required me researching what was required, finding out the details of the record company and also fitting all the relevant information in to such a small space. Me and Chris were not fully aware of how to insert each particular image on to the template so therefore we required help from the media assistant Michael, who showed us the best way to do it, ensuring all of our images fitted the guidelines snugly. Now that we have produced a digipack that everyone is happy with it will be sent off to the manufacture with the remaining ones from the rest of the class, ready for printing.

We took a lot of influence from existing media products to make such a digipack. Although we had previously considered album cover design, our front cover does not particularly fit any of the ideas we looked at although I prefer it this way as not only does it include a position for the artist but this means the typography is also positioned in a particular style. As you can see from the examples provided below, many artists choose to do this if they wish to have a mid shot. My idea is also very similar to the Calvin Harris example as the wall is a major part of the image and they have been very particular with detail, including a clear sky exactly the same as I have.  It works well for our particular idea as we have chosen a background colour which makes the remainder of the image stand out, therefore encouraging the target buyer to consider who the artist is and the name of the band and song also stand out, alerting them to what this particular album is.

The colour manipulation image which we have created for the image behind our CD is very similar to other designs out there which are actually being brought by the consumer. Many bands/artists choose to try and use colour to sell their album as people are more likely to purchase something which stands out. The problem with ours is that this particular image is in the inside of the digipack so therefore people would not see it until they purchased the item. This was one of the reasons we were more wary about the outside images as once a consumer had brought the album they would be less fussed about the inside cover. As you can see from these selections below, colour is a major part in many album covers and we have adapted this idea to work within our own idea.

 

EDITING OUR DIGIPACK [trial 3]

For the final editing to our digipack I took the two images I took in the final digipack and used the software, Picasa 3, and edited the images on my laptop, As the photography was so good we did not really need to do that much editing although me and Chris wanted to add effect to the image taken in the school grounds, especially in relation to lighting. The first image we edited was the front cover as this was the most important as we were required to show an example of our artist on our digipack. As the image we had chosen to used had a slightly uneven bridge in it, we decided to tilt the image so that it was parallel to the sky. This was a very simple task and once done made it much easier for me to add the text and get it to also be parallel to the bridge. Choosing the right text, as explained in a previous blog post, was a very time consuming task as we wanted a very specific type of font. Once we had chosen the correct font for us [Batang] we needed to choose where to position the font. We both chose for it to go in the large free space although me and Chris disputed whether it should be sat on the wall or floating in mid air. In the end we went for Chris’s idea to sit the text on the brick wall as we felt this was more stylized and would be more liked by the target audience. As the sky in the image was already very white which made the remaining image stand out, we chose to leave the colour of the image, as the white created a very peaceful idea.

The other image which we needed to edit, the image required for the inside page of the digipack, was more complicated as lighting was a big issue. While Chris was busy dealing with personal problems, I began editing the image trying to find something which affected the lighting. I created two designs, one which blurred the image and one which had the centre of the image focused and the rest of the image made darker. I appreciated both edits although at first I did prefer the blur as it created really good effects, especially with the bushes which added a lot of green to the image. In the end we chose to use the bottom image out of the following too as this had much better lighting. It also drew more attention to the image of Sam walking away from the camera as well as the guitar which is the main element of this image as we wanted to bring in something which resembled music.

We have decided to use this image as it is a lot more suitable for the idea we are trying to create bringing music and design to one single image.

 

DIGIPACK PHOTOGRAPHY [trial 4]

Before sending our digipack off to the manufacture we asked around for some consumer criticism, asking our friends and teachers what their thoughts were on our digipack so that we knew people liked it. After speaking with our media teacher Mr Zaidi we were made aware of the fact we were required to change the image of the brick wall. Personally I had never really liked that picture, although, due to a lack of ideas, I had felt forced to put in to fill up an empty space so I was quite happy to change the image although this meant more photography for us. While this decision was being made of when to re-take photos, many discussions were occurring about the progress of our group and also what was best for us in terms of actors and commitment. The final decision, as explained on my blog, was that we would change our main actor to someone who was more committed to helping me with my coursework. For there to be a consistent flow between video, digipack and advert I felt it suitable that we also changed the image on the front cover, removing the image of Josh and inserting a new image of Sam, one which we would take within this session of photography. As we were aware of the ever growing need to complete this digipack we asked around in the hope that we would uncover some hidden talent and we could use someone who was very keen to achieve a career in photography and would be willing to help us with the task. Many people suggested a year 9 student who had a keen interest in photography and he joined us to take the new images for our digipack.

This time round we completely changed the location for our digipack, even though we were only changing two of the images. We decided to take the new image for the front cover, this time involving Sam instead of Josh, at Nine Bridges. This is a commonly favourite place for the residents of Glinton to walk their dogs as it is away from much passing traffic. For this reason, we felt it would be good because our actor and ourselves would be at less risk of getting run over and also this would be the place which we filmed the majority of our music video so there would be a connection between both the digipack and music video. Our plan for our music video featured a bridge so we felt it would be appropriate to use the same bridge, and we styled our image around this setting. Our photographer was very willing to take a selection of photographs for us, including using many different shots and angles to try and achieve the best finished product. Throughout the process, the photographer spoke to me and Chris, asking what we wanted, what types of shots we preferred while showing us the shots he had taken previously. This required co-operation from us all, including the actor, as it was crucial that we got the right shot the first time around so that we did not have to return once again. This was a major problem for us as time was beginning to get very short and therefore we needed to waste as little time as possible. After taking about 20 different shots we packed up and drove back to school, knowing that we would be able to select a shot which suited us best when we had uploaded them on the computer as this would make the images a lot more accessible.

The following day we were required to take another image, this time, one that suitable for the inside page of the digipack. We required a grassy area for this particular shot so to make it easier for everyone we decided to shoot this in the school grounds, using the playing fields as the location. After much speculation of what image to use for this particular concept we decided to use the artist and combine this with some type of symbolism towards music. After discussing the idea with our subject teacher we chose to encourage Sam to hold a guitar in the image, symbolizing the genre of this specific song. This image was slightly harder to form as we did not know what type of position Sam should be standing/sitting in. The weather conditions had also changed compared to the previous day so we found it hard to not focus the camera on a direct light source. We used 3 different parts of the school field, trying to find the best location. Another problem we faced as well as direct light sources was the building work occurring on the school grounds as we did not want the machinery in any of our images. We tried many different positions with Sam including him sitting on the floor, on a bench, walking towards the camera and away from the camera and also him dragging and holding the guitar. By taking the final image in the darkest corner of the field and facing the actor away from the camera, the affect looked really good and it made it look professional.

BELOW ARE THE TWO FINAL IMAGES WE HAVE CHOSEN FOR OUR DIGIPACK:

As you can see from these images, we’ve largely focused on the artist, as this allows us to create a star image which the fans can relate to. These are the two final images which we will take for our digipack due to time constraints. In each picture the actor is wearing a different piece of clothing which shows they were taken on different days. The image which we will use for our front cover is particularly suitable as we chose an image which has the actor to one side so that the typography will place perfectly in the gap on the left.

Many thanks goes to our photographer who greatly aided us in achieving such a high quality finished product.

DIGIPACK TYPOGRAPHY

Part of the editing process when creating our digipack was to add a title and other specific writing to the digipack. For this to be possible me and Chris had to decide on a font which we both agreed on. As we had chosen a different editing facility to the first attempt at a digipack, we had to sift through the large variety of fonts available to us and choose our favourite – the one we feel was most suitable.  There are two major types of fonts available: Sans-serif and Serif. Whereas sans-serif is a very basic font which is easy to read, Serif is a more luxurious type of font, completed with flicks and extras. We were willing to compare both when examining all the fonts, as we felt there were benefits to both although we felt something more simple would suit. This was very time-consuming although it allowed to get a font we felt suited the genre of the song and also one which fitted out chosen image. Below is a selection of the fonts we examined and the reasons we either chose this font or chose not to use that particular font.

The font above, Arabic Typesetting, was the first font which caught our eye but we carried on looking through the different fonts to see what else we could see. There was nothing particularly wrong with this font apart from we felt the letters were very wide and therefore we require a larger amount of space on the front cover. They were also very bold letters compared to some of the other options we looked at although some were very outweighed. Examples of this include the ‘a’ being very bold but the tail and remainder of the letter ‘y’ is very thin. This is consistent throughout all of the letters which makes it extremely hard to take the font seriously for a front cover of a serious song.

Although this font was very similar to the other ones, we were not keen on how bold this one appeared as we felt it looked less professional than some of the other options. Once again we were bothered about the width of each letter which meant that it would require more room on the front cover. One thing that we particularly preferred about this font was the tail on the ‘y’ which drooped down considerably more than the other options as we thought we would be able to work with this and intervene it into the other letters and create amazing effects. Some of the flicks on the edge of these letters means that some letters appear joined eg. the ‘v’ and this did not suit the idea I had forming in my mind.

The letter shapes in this particular font were very peculiar and I felt that it resembled something which was related to a horror.The edges of each letter were very strange and shaped strangely, so much so that I could not take the font seriously. The song that we are creating a digipack for is very serious and therefore using such a peculiar font which does not appear professional or serious would not be appropriate. The letters are very close together which would mean we would not need as much room on the front cover of our digipack although the shape of the letters, after examining the font, would not be suitable for the design we were trying to create.

The letters in this font were particularly thin compared to the rest but we felt this added professionalism and suited the genre of the song. It is a very basic serif font with slight adaptions to the edges of each letter which add to the professionalism. Another thing I particularly like about this font was the size of the letters which were average size and well clumped together which meant that the font would not require a large amount of room on the front cover of my digipack. The tail of the ‘y’ is particularly high on this font although as we like this font loads, I feel we would be able to work around this problem and still create a font which we particularly like.

There are many reasons why we did not choose this font, specifically because the letters were too spaced out which meant we would require more room on our digipack cover compared to the other options. The width of the letters were very large, aswell as the letters being very far apart. As you can see from the image above, the letters are very thin and basic which makes it look very simple and it does not provide the professional look we are trying to create. In other circumstances the font would be great as it would appeal to a much wider audience including younger people, including teenagers, the target audience the song was originally aimed at. The ‘y’ on this particular font has a very short tail, whereas we wanted a longer ‘y’ so that we could fit it around the other letters properly in an attractive way.

For each of the capital letters the boldness is very focused and for this reason we chose not to use the font ‘Gulim Che’. As you can see from the image above, the boldness of each letter is to the left of the letter which makes it look very unevenly weighted. Although this could work if we took images particularly aimed away from the sun we would be able to focus on this boldness as a shadow but seeing the misty, pale image we are attempting to create this would not be possible. The font looks a lot more professional than some of the other options we have looked at above although we felt it looked too serious for our song. Once again, the ‘y’ on this one has a very short tail which means it would not fight into the other letters as good as some of the others we looked at.

After much speculation me and Chris have made a decision on what font we would like to use when creating our digipack. This decision, to use the BATANG font means that we are now able to progress with our idea and production process. Now we have a basic font we will be able to play with the effects available including italic, bold and underlined in the hope that we find one suitable for our digipack design. We will also have the opportunity to play with the colour of the writing to make it stand out against our chosen images. This is the chosen font for the front cover although the font for the writing on the back page may be changed depending on preference.

EDITING DIGIPACK [trial 2]

After the failed attempt of our first digipack, and being in high spirits due to the new pictures which I had taken with my friend, I was ready to create something of a much better quality. As I was not fully aware of all the features of photoshop I decided to use a program which I was much more familar with: PICASA 3. This program allowed me to edit the pictures with very basic instructions/methods, in a very short amount of time. Although I had not used the facility that often, I found it much better for me as I was able to download the software onto my laptop so that I could carry out any editing at home and I was also able to sit with my friend after our photography session and she showed me what the software was capable of as well as we researching videos on youtube, in the hope of finding suitable tutorials.

As discussed previously, me and Chris were going to use the image of Josh took a few days previous as this was of a high enough quality that it would be suitable for a professional album cover and I also really liked the way the colours stood out against the rest of the image. This made my job on this particular evening much easier as instead of having to edit 4 images, we only had to edit 3 images. The first stage of this process involved uploading each of the images onto the computer and flicking through them repeatedly to find the images which we felt were best shot including the angle of the image, the quality of the image and also how the image was shot. When we had found the 3 images we wished to use we examined each seperately, considering the different effects we could use. It was then that we took each image seperately and began editing them using the effects and options available to us.

IMAGE 1 – BACK COVER

This image, of me holding a feather was a very clear image although it appeared very dark compared to the front cover we were trying to fit these images around. Much of the features available to me when using PICASA allowed me to edit the colour saturation of the image, making it look clearer and lighter. We also managed to sharpen and tune the image as this made it look a lot more professional. Many of the other options did not appear suitable to this particular option although me and Chris did test them to see what type of effect they created. Here is a screenshot of all the options available to me, including the colour changing options and the text options. This image already looks very professional due to the high spec camera we used as this allowed us to zoom in and still get a great looking image. Although we could of edited out the blemishes on my hand, including the veins, I felt it looked more realistic, especially as the hand had very white skin so the colour stood out well. The positioning of this image is also really good for the back cover as the top left had corner can be used to place a list of songs and the other relevant information/writing can be written around the main image. 

IMAGE 2 – INSIDE COVER

There was not much editing we could do to this image, apart from making the green leaves stand out against the brick wall and making the original image sharper. I feel that my lack of motivation to carry out any real editing on this particular image came from the fact I did not feel it was appropriate for the design we were trying to create and also the image was very boring and plain. I chose to use the tinting facility as this allowed me to tint the colours, making the green stand out against the colours of the brick wall. I also used the tuning facility many times until I felt I had the right colour for the images which took longer than I expected as the original image was very basic so I tried my best to impress the look of that specific image. Although I could of played with the colours of the image, I did not think this would be suitable as it would of meant changing the colours of the leaves and that would of been very peculiar with the seriousness we were trying to create with our digipack.

IMAGE 3 – BEHIND THE CD

This image was the image which required the most editing as it provided us with many opportunities to edit the image, changing the colour and shapes of the effect we had created. We played with many different effects including using the heat map which provided a very bright and colour image compared to the one above. As you can see from the screenshot to the right of the screen, there were many different options available to us when using the Picasa 3 program and to know we were getting the best effect, we tried many different options. It was soon apparent to us that we did not want a really really bright image as this would not suit the design we were trying to create although we still had many different colours to choose from. As the selection below shows, we tried lots of different colours, even though the red one was my favourite. For each option that we chose, it allowed us to choose more options which then led us to bars which would let us change the hue and saturation of an image, allowing us to manipulate the image as much as we wanted too. This was very similar to an image we had put in on of our sketches so therefore I tried to recreate the idea I had in my mind then although this proved very difficult. Opposite the idea I had back then, I found a setting which allowed me to have a black and white effect known as Holga-ish. As well as carrying out the colour change, which we chose to use inverting colours so that the image was so no longer green but blue, we also sharpened the image, making it a lot clearer which would be good when it was printed. We also managed to tint and tune the image, which altogether provided the suitable image shown at the bottom of this page. Below is a selection of the colour effects we played with when using our editing software. 

THESE ARE THE FINAL EDITS OF THE IMAGES WE WILL USE TO COMPOSE OUR DIGIPACK

DIGIPACK PHOTOGRAPHY [trial 3]

After much speculation over the weekend, I decided that we needed a wider selection of images and also a more professional looking digipack as a whole. For this to happen I would need to carry out more photography although this time I chose to do this on my own without Chris, using a close friend of mine as an assistant. I also chose to use a completely different location for this photography as I wanted to see what creative ideas I would come up with if provided with a different situation. For this to happen, we headed to a miniture forest in Werrington, a location very close to my own house meaning not much travel was required. I used the same camera we had used the previous two times although this time played about with the different effects it provided. I was happy to use the picture we had taken of Josh a few days previous; it was the other 3 images that I had problems with.

When we entered the forest we tried to find interesting concepts although this proved very difficult so we started taking pictures of trees, leaves and also walls. We found a wall, which we felt joined well with the front cover, and had some nicely placed shubbery surrounding it. Although it was not very exciting we did not know what other images to take. We repeated the same image many times so that we could just flick through them all when editing and choose the best shot one. As we were running out of ideas we began to use the shutter feature on the camera which allowed us to take one image, move the camera with a very fast paced motion and then take another picture. This produced some very interesting concepts, much of what showed a mixture of different colours. We carried this out many times in the hope that we would find one which I really liked when editing the digipack together. We did this for around 20 minutes until we felt we had a wide enough selection of images, some which we would be able to blend together if necessary. We needed one last image for the inside of the of the digipack so we tried to find interesting objects which we could justify using in our digipack. When walking back towards the house we found a feather and dandelion on the floor. We felt these were very delicate objects which we could relate back to the ideas of the song which talked about losing things and things being delicate. We took many different angled images with these two items, including taking a picture of me holding the feather in my hand and also a close up of me blowing the dandelion towards the camera. These both looked really professional due to the camera we were using although while in the field we were not sure which one we would choose. It was slowly getting darker so we headed back to the house with the images we had, taking a few random shots as we walked back.

Below is a selection of the images which we took on this photography session. Compared to the previous two sessions, I feel this one was much more successful as I had witnessed two failures and went into this session open-minded, aware of what i wanted to achieve. I my own without the support of any of my group and it showed that I am capable of building on my weaknesses and using my creativity to create something which is of a high quality standard.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE ALBUM COVER [media magazine article]

ICONOGRAPHY: symbolic representation, especially the conventional meanings attached to an image or images.

An article recently published in MEDIA MAGAZINE considers something which has consistently popped up throughout my look at music, albums and everything else involved in publishing music – whether or not albums can exist with the ever growing technology which is making downloads more and more popular. Christopher Budd got the chance to go behind the scenes of creative agency ‘ The Intro Partnership’ of which he wrote an article explaining that album cover art is alive and well.. This is my take on the article:

THE DESIGNER’S PERSPECTIVE

Album art is part packaging, part advertising and allows the consumer a brief insight into an artist’s worldview and is ‘usually the happy result of a successful collaboration between creative minds‘. The best album cover art is able to illustrate and accompany the music in a way that creates a whole package.In the last 70 years, cover art has become a cultural object and some have become influential works that have made their mark on other media.

Christopher Budd  was given the chance to find out more about the work of creating album cover art by talking to Julian House, a member of The Intro Patnership team in London. Intro work across a number of sectors, and Julian’s work is predominantly music-based. His first wish from the interview was to know whether other album cover designers worked in agencies like this, or whether it was more commonly a freelance occupation. Julian’s reply was as follows:

“We’re quite an unusual company in the breadth of work we cover; often jobs from one sector come in through another one. We have done corporate work where the client has responded well to the music industry work we’ve done, for example. As regards music industry work we do pitch, but only if we feel the client has come to us because they like what we do, rather than being part of a bigger competitive pitch process. Our best work comes from working with a client who wants us to do the job because they like other things we’ve done. But the work is better viewed as a collaboration, with a constant dialogue between the artist and us. We’ll work together as a team or as individuals depending on the project. There are designers at Intro who are known for their different approaches and often that’s what the client wants. In a way we work as individuals under a collective umbrella. Sometimes I’ll be doing a print campaign/cover and when that requires a video I’ll work together with one of the other directors here to bring it to fruition.”

This response allows us to see that the structure of having a creative umbrella organisation can be very beneficial as it provides you with more resources. Christopher wanted to know more about the briefing process and how different parties could influence the artistic direction. He asked where the brief usually came from: does it come solely from the label or management, or does the artist ever get a say? Once again, his response is shown below:

“There may be a brief from the record company that covers the basics, like whether the artist needs to be on the cover, who is the demographic, etc. But we take most of our direction from the artist. More often than not this involves sitting down and talking with them about the ideas behind the album, anything they’ve seen that they liked (not just music-related, but films, books etc.). Then we’ll go off and do several sets of visuals and present them, then hone it down from there. Generally we work on jobs where we’rd expected to come up with our own ideas based on an initial brief. We tend to avoid jobs that are too prescriptive, but even when a client has a very defined idea we open up the conversation and bring new ideas in to complement, so it’s never a one way thing.”

This was a great response for me personally as it showed me that I did not need to panic about the lack of planning me and Chris had participated in as creativity would come naturally. If your brief is too particular then it is very difficult to make an original album but the majority of ideas comes from things you’ve seen previously. Another thing which Christopher and Julian considered in relation to the design process was how far genre conventions play a role in his design process, and whether, beyond the specific brief, there are things an album sleeve should always do?

“I tend not to think of designs in terms of genre; each specific job exists in its own world with its own set of reference points. An album sleeve is an entry point into the universe that the music is in; it’s a window into the themes and ideas of the artist. The Primal Scream covers I’ve created will start with a conversation about references, everything from world events to underground films, punk fanzines, pop art, early video art, Italian horror films… in amongst these contrasting things certain themes or images will start to emerge which can be twisted around to fit together.”

As I mentioned above, creativity is something which comes naturally and arises from the culture we see and experience but something which I was not aware of was that album covers are not specific to the genre which is something me and Chris should consider in our own designs. At least in the mainstream, is the album sleeve still considered to be as important as it once was as part of the overall package of a piece of music?

“There’s definitely a need for visual accompaniment to the music. Even if an iPod image is small, we still have to update all our artwork to work as a downloadable PDF book on iTunes for an album, so the demand is still there. And there’s a resurgence of vinyl: special packaging sells quite well to a select audience. There are a lot of people still who need a tactile product, something to pore over.”

This explains to me why the digipack is needed because consumers still find it important that there is a visual accompaniment with the music. It is a great way to sell a product and create a star image. As stated above ‘there are a lot of people still who need a tactile product, something to pore over’.

DECONSTRUCTING ALBUM COVER  ART

Below is a selection of questions which you should ask yourself when trying to pull apart an album cover. Album cover art can be extremely varied, utilising photos, graphics, typography, or any combination of these so therefore it is these things which need analysing.

Who made is, why, how, for whom, and for what purpose?

It’s important to think about not just who constructed this media text and why, but also who the audience is for any given text, and how they may respond to it. Of course album cover art is usually used to promote the album, and to make it eye-catching (this particular image will also be used for posters etc. as well) and to tell us something about the musicians and the music behind it. While the immediate target audience is likely to be those who frequently buy music, and particularly those who favour the specific band or genre, the artwork may be designed to attract a wider audience. With this in mind, we can consider what is actually in the image. As the image is a construction, everything has been put there deliberately and for a reason. This include all the text, graphics and logos.

Associations and connotations

Another important thing which needs considering is the difference between denotation, which means simply identifying the elements in the image, and connotation, which means examining what meanings and associations they might link to. For example, an image that denotes a powerful-looking car may have connotations of speed or power; but in conjunction with other elements making up the art it might also have connotations of escape, or thrill-seeking for example. On a hip-hop cover it may well have connotations of conspicuous wealth and extravagance, given that genre’s conventions.

Signs, symbols and codes

• A SIGN is a representation that refers to something else and has meaning, such as the car.
• A CODE means the structure of how signs are organised into systems to make meaning. These are usually divided into the technical (for example, what techniques are used to make the image, such as camera angles and lighting?) and the symbolic (what subtle indicators are there in the text to create the meaning, for example details of clothing or arrangement of objects?)
• There are also WRITTEN CODES that include the use of language and text layout.

Composition and framing

This looks at how the image is composed such as: is there numerous objects or figures in the scene? If one of them favoured against the rest? Are they all in focus? How is the image framed? How do light, shadow and colour play a part in the image? – Basically composition is anything in relation to how the image has been formed from beginning to end. We refer to conventions as established ways of doing things – in this case they mean established forms of presenting an image. There are set conventions depending on the genre of the music the Album art relates to. Album cover art can also be self-referential, adding an extra later of meaning to the image.

A media text can mean many different things to many different people. With this in mind, there is no end to the level of analysis you can make of any media text, including album cover art which is why myself and Chris need to be very particular with the decisions we make in relation to our digipack.

TEN ICONIC LANDMARKS IN ALBUM COVER ART HISTORY

The final segment of the article looked at the most iconic landmarks in album art including the most iconic ten. This was a great help to me as it allowed me to consider what people thought were good album artwork and why so that I could apply this knowledge to my own digipack. Below is the top ten albums as rated by Christopher Budd, with a reason, taken from the article, as to why they were so significant to British Culture:

Evaluation of source
This was a very long source of information but certain pieces were of much use to myself and Chris when creating our own digipack cover as it gave us many things to consider including composition and design. It also assured me that making a digipack was a necessary thing as people still rely on the visual aspect greatly. The interview part, although it did explain what people look for in album art, was very wordy and I did not find much out other than about the interviewee so therefore I would not rate that highly in being useful. I felt the middle section about decomposing album art was the best because it allowed me to see what the consumer would consider when looking at our album cover so that we could make the best decisions. It was good to look at previous examples which had made a big impact because we can take some of their ideas if needed but I will not focus on this information too much.

SECONDARY RESEARCH: EXISTING PRODUCTS

While in the process of creating my digipack with Chris I wanted to look at existing products. One day when up town I headed into our local music shop very briefly to look at all the different types of album artwork already out there to see what particular ones stand out to me. One thing which greatly surprised me, which you can see from the image below, is that much of the album covers today are very plain and include a picture of the artist/band to encourage a star profile as stated in my previous research about album artwork. The plans that me and Chris have already made include a picture of Josh sitting on a stone and, using editing features we would make the colour of his shirt stand out from the rest of the image to make it look original.  Doing this research at this particular time will allow me a very brief period where I can make any changes to my proposed digipack before it is sent for printing. The font and location of the title is something which stood out to me on each of the digipacks as this personalised the single and linked to the genre/audience of the song. This was something we considered greatly when planning our own digipack cover because we wanted location to be exact and the formal font to link back to the seriousness of our song. This is similar to what is shown in the below image with serious songs having a formal font and more relaxed song used fun, curvy and funky font.

FIRST DIGIPACK DESIGN

Below is an image of a printed copy of our first digipack design, one which is very basic due to the time constraints we faced. It is this image which led me to much thinking about the digipack and encouraged me to go out and start the whole process again as this was what many people would say was ‘rubbish quality’. The idea behind the digipack was a black and white theme as Chris felt this would work best although after printing the idea it appeared we had made the wrong decision. When we printed this particular copy out, we were aware we would require to make some quite extreme changes including changing the font as the font Chris had used was put in place to just give us a basic idea of what it would look like – although I was not happy with this I am glad he did it as it alerted me of how important choosing a good font is. Another thing which is greatly incorrect with this particular design was that the images are below the template, meaning lines which were put in place on the template to encourage users to place the images correctly were over the top of the images. This made it incredibly difficult for us to truly picture what the final digipack would look like but from the many things we disliked, it was obvious we would need to make drastic changes. The last problem I faced when considering this digipack was the missing writing and logo’s on the back cover which are required on digipack covers by law.

DIGIPACK TEMPLATE

To ensure that all of the students at AMVC have digipacks which meet the standards of the publishing company, we were provided with a basic template which we had to follow to ensure that our digipack would be suitable for printing. This template provided us with many different measurements, shown in different colour lines. As you can see from the example below, the front and back covers were highlighted to us clearly by the use of text. The top square on the left side is allocated to be the image which is present behind the CD and the other image would be what was on the inside of the digipack. Due to the folding lines shown on the template, it is clear to us that the top two images must be added upside down so that they are vertical when fully completed and assembled.

There are many different lines around the digipack which show the different guidelines we had to follow. This idea was made even more obvious by the measurements provided to each student which are shown by the numbers parallel to the lines. The crease line, shown in blue, is only neccesary when we are folding the digipack as it guides us to where me must fold. We do have to be careful about this when planning and creating our digipack though because we do not want to place images incorrectly. The cut line, shown in pink, is very minimal but shows where the plain paper will be cut away and therefore any image which crosses this line will be discarded by the publishers which means we must ensure that no text or images which are important do not go over this line. We can also see a bleed line [purple dotted line] which shows us where we have to drag our images so that they fit the digipack. If we did not reach the dotted lines of the template then our digipack would not print.

Following the simple guidelines of the template below means that our digipack should print first time and we would not need to make any amendments: