Practice Digipak Designs

Design One

This is the first rough idea for the inside of my digipak. I used a picture of the artist, and on the opposite side I used an image of a location that I plan to use in my video. I used this particular picture because I think this fits into my music video. I would also be able to use this picture in my real digipak because I took the picture myself rather than getting it off the internet. I will experiment with different colours for my digipak but also with the aspect of black and white, and I will then use the one that I think is more effective. I like this idea most as I think that this one is more effective and looks more proffessional as well as looking more interesting.

Design Two

I have been experimenting different designs that I could maybe use for my final design for my digipak. As my chosen artists fall under the genre of Indie (pop-rock) I didn't want  to design anything that is to over-the-top. As the artists don't use an image of themselves on their album covers, I won't be using an image of the artist but will instead use an image that relates to the artist, but I might be using an image of the image on the inside cover. I used a microphone as The Script are about their music, so I used this to promote their simplicity but also the value of their music for them. I also thought that The Script is about lyrics, so I used a microphone to symbolize them being spoken.

I edited the microphone image using filter on my second design and texture to make it stand out more compared to the background. I then used bold yellow and orange for the title and name of the album to stand out next to the grey, and also because they are associated as being Indie colours.

I then used my created barcode on the back next to the production label to attempt to make it look more convincing, with a picture of a microphone stand next to the track listings, which relates to the front cover.

I edited the second picture by rubbing out the rough edge of the image and then edited the shadow and part of the microphone in purple to give it an edge, and also changed the shape and style of the writing to match. Then I added a stand on the background, and on my real one I will take pictures of the microphones stand for this part.

Creating A Barcode

In todays lesson we learnt how we could create a personalized barcode. I included my name and my candidate number on my barcode, and I will use it on my digipak to make it look more proffessional.

I generated this barcode on this website: http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php

Photoshop Practice

Before: This is the portrait that I started with, and I got this picture from google images. 

After : This is my finished result, after I had finished editing it in photoshop. 

When I had chosen this picture, I opened it up in photoshop using Bridge. I first used the lasso tool to draw an outline around my artists so I could delete the background and just have the image of them, and then copied it onto my page in photoshop. I then used the eraser tool to go around the edges, to soften it and get rid of any rough and jagged edges. I used the magnifier so I could zoom into the different areas of the image to make it more neat. 

Once I was happy with this I slightly enlarged my picture, so it would fill up more of my page. I then manipulated the colour of the image by changing the saturation, making them darker with a slight shade of red. I then went back onto google images and found an abstract image to fit the background of the image. I changed the layers by putting the background as the first layer so it would fit behind the image of the band. I was pleased that I had decided to change the scripts colour as it stands out more compared to the bright background. I also slightly changed the background colours slightly, by making them brighter by editing the colours in the tools menu, and also made the saturation lighter to make it contrast against my chosen artist more. 

Filming

Yesterday I was able to film more of my music video. I filmed more areas of my video including shots of photographs for the introduction to the song, the lip syncing, a scene of the artist and the girl together,  and another shot that I believe will work well in my music video.


I got a range of different shots to make it easier to edit together, and so it looks better in the final video. I was pleased with the footage I filmed, and am planning to arrange another date when more of my casting will go out to film.

Practicing Using Photoshop

In today's lesson, we got taught the basics of using Photoshop Elements on the Macs. We learned how to  open the application bridge, so we can upload pictures onto the project. We learnt how to cut pictures, use tools, such as inserting images, and also learnt how to arrange our pictures into different layers, such as background, picture one, picture two, text, to make it look more effective. This are my first attempts at using photoshop, and the images are based on my chosen artist, The Script.

This will be very useful to help with my music advertisement and c.d. digipak, as I will be able to apply more practice in using photoshop, and so I will be able to use it for my work to make it look more professional.

CD Digipak

What is the history of the CD Digipak?

CD were originally only seen as limited edition, however improvements in CD production and CD packaging printing techniques has meant that this sleek CD packaging solution is now available at much higher quantities and at much lower prices. These were the first alternatives to the jewel case to be used by major record companies. They give the music a professional look and feel,  compared to jewel cases. 

What different forms can they take?

These are some examples of commonly used Digipak designs;

This is a 4 panel 1 tray template.

                                                 This type is generally used for a single.

This is a 6 panel 1 tray template.

This is a 6 panel 3 tray template.

       This is an 8 panel 4 tray template.

   

What are the conventions of a CD Digipack?

They are made from cardboard, and can sometimes be made from recycled cardboard, which can give the view that they are more economically friendly, and the disk is held in a thin plastic tray inside the digipak. They fold out like a book rather than the usual  case of a plastic jewel case. However the plastic trays that hold the disk break easily. Although the covers will not crack they are likely to rip and tear in time.  The measurements in length are 139 mm, height 125.5 mm and the spine would be 8.5 mm. 

The conventions of a digipak cover are;

• Artists name and the name of the album on the cover.
• An image on the cover - could be the artists themselves, or an image that relates to the album content.
• The side (spine) will have the name of the artist and album name.
• The back of the case would be expected to have track listings, perhaps with track lengths. 
• Basic background information on the artist can be found sometimes in an insert.
• Reviews of the album.
• Barcode on the back of the cover.
• Production credits.
• The design of the cover will usually run through the inside.

Textual Analysis of Digipak's

1. This Oasis digipak has 6 pannels, and from looking at the cover it's clear from the guitar that the genre is Indie-rock, even if you are unsure what the genre is, and the use of the brown colours also promotes the indie genre. The font for the artist is bold black and white and the name of the album is colours similar to the rest of the digipack.

The use of the guitar shows that the artist Oasis is keen on promoting the image of their music and the genre of their music, rather than the artists themselves as there is no picture of the artists on the cover. This is similar to other Indie album covers, and is similar to my artist, The Script. The design of the digipak is quite simple, which is similar to other arists digipaks that I have looked at.

The cover includes the conventions of a digipak, such as the artist, band name, and an image on the cover, as well as the artist and the name of the album on the spine. The track listings are listed on the back of the cover, in colours alike to the cover, and these colours run throughout the digipack.



2.  The album from snow patrol also uses the conventional aspects of a digipak cover, with the artist name and the album name on the cover, as well as having the song listings on the back of the cover.

It is similar to the other digipak in the use of an image on the cover, rather than the artists themselves, and they both represent an aspect of the band. In this one, as snowflake is used to manipulate the name of the band 'Snow Patrol'. This overall design of the digipak is simple but sends the message out that the band is successfull in promoting their music, rather than the bands image. I can connote that the Indie genre digipaks are generally simple, from looking at other Indie digipaks.

The vibrant colours that are used are not always associated with the genre of Indie music, but however the use of the black, whites and reds are still conventonal and stand out to the target audience. The writing is simple, and not over-the-top, but is neverless effective because it stands out.