Digipack Development: Complete Net [AMENDMENT- 20/03/13]

Here is my completed digipack as viewed as a net.
I have kept the idea of using the diamond logo on top of the artists face but adjusting the image to black and white. However, I have changed the diamond to be black and white and the original image to stay in colour. This was due to the bright colours of the artists hair that allows the cover to stand out. I used this image as I liked the effect that the wind blowing through her hair gave. I was lucky on the day of the shoot to get this image as it was a windy day and so was easier to achieve as originally planned. I have put the album title 'Howl' in the top right of the diamond. This is so that if I do add the planned sleeve idea the title will still be visible (along with the black and white section of the cover). The font is still the original 'Diamond D' font.
I have used the same image for both the DVD and CD slot  but flipped it so that the artist is facing the opposite direction. I used this image as it was against a plain background and showed no emotion on the artists face. I have also lowered the opacity of the image so that it became less apparent due to the DVD and CD covering this part of the digipack anyway.
I have made some adjustments to the back cover and added more tracks to the DVD tracklisting. The background image remains to be the three candles that appear at the beginning of the video. The font used is still 'Garamond'.
The bottom left image has not been edited as much as the front cover or DVD and CD slots. However, for this image and the other images I changed the hue of the image to +19 and the saturation to +55. This made the colours within the image  stand out more and appear much more vivid. This was especially effected on the orange and green colours within the image.
The final panel was the top right. Again, like the bottom left panel, this panel only had a Hue/Saturation  adjustment layer added with the same changes being made is the bottom left panel. However I also erased some of the adjustment layer on the skin as it brought out many blemishes in the skin and made it appear very pink.
The spines of the digipack continue from the image to the left. The left spine continues from the image by the tree but with the artist title and album title appearing. The right spine continues from the blank black background of the back cover, again with the artist name and album title in the 'Diamond D' font.

[AMENDMENT]

After receiving feedback on my Digipack I was told that it was unclear that the tracklisting on the back was divided between the CD and DVD so I have added the text for 'Disc 1' and 'Disc 2' to notify that the first seven tracks are from the CD and the last 5 are live performances and the 'Howl' music video.

Another point I was given was to rotate the spine on the left of the digipack. This is because the logo on the spine needs to be facing the same way when folded into it's shape.

I was also told that the hair was too bright on the cover, top right image and bottom left image and took away from the ginger hair being a trademark of the artist. This was an easy amendment to make as I only had to lower the opacity on the adjustment layers I had placed over those images.

Feedback: Digipack

Today I created 3 audience feedback sheets to get feedback on the two digipack designs that I created yesterday.

The feedback received has decided upon digipack one. This was not my favourite during the drawing stages as I preferred the effect on the cover of Digipack two. I will however listen to the feedback as that is the more popular of the two designs. 

Digipack: Photoshoot sheet

This is a photo sheet containing the images taken during the photoshoot for my digipack and poster.

The shoot took place in my garage and garden with a sheet being used in the garage to attempt to create a plain background for the darker digipack idea I have drawn.

I photographed images I had in my head for the digipack based on my drawn ideas but also improvised with other possible ideas whilst we were taking photos.

Two costumes were used for the shoot to help create a tie-in with the music video and the two costumes used in that. One being the black dress and the other being the white dress.

I was lucky on the day as it was very windy and allowed me to have many attempts and the wind-swept hair I had planned on my drawn digipack idea.

Digipack: Drawn plans

Digipack 1:

This is my first drawn digpack design. This version will be a more natural style which will closely link to my music video. I would like to shoot this version in the forest where I will be filming the video or in a different outside location. I hope that on the day there will be wind as for the front of my digipack I hope to have an image of the artist with her hair blowing over her face. Over the image of the artist I will place the diamond logo as an adjustment layer so that the area where the diamond is on her face will be black and white like this mock-up.

Like this but with the diamond being black and white and
the rest of the image in colour.

The image bottom left will be just and image of the artist in a natural surrounding as will the top right image. The top left and middle panel will be an identical image of the artist  against a black background and flipped. These panels will be the panels of which the CD and DVD will be placed.

Digipack 2:

This is my second drawn digpack design. This version will be a darker version than the other and show more of the artists style than linking it to the music video. The cover will be my artist looking straight at the camera in front of a black sheet. I will edit the image so that the artist is fragmenting into the diamond symbol. This will be like the mock-up I made.

The image bottom left will also be against a black background and will have the artist facing off camera with her eyes closed. The top right panel will however contrast the other panels and have the artist in a more natural environment. The CD and DVD panels will be a black background with a white diamond logo on each panel.

Digipack: Back cover development

1.

The background of the back cover is a block black background, this black background will be featured throughout the digipack.

2.

 I then added a shot that I took whilst filming some of my footage. This shot is of the three candles which I hope to feature in the music video. This then helps to keep the image of the video throughout the digipack.

3.

 I then added a filter to the the image of the candles which gave it a vintage and worn look which also fits in with the image of the video.

4.

 Because i do not plan to put the artists name on the cover of the digipack, I have made sure that I feature it on the back cover. Like the image of the candles, I added a filter to the image to give it a worn look, I also slightly blurred the text so that it did not look too harsh on the background.

5.

 I then added one of the most important parts of the back cover which is the track listing. For the track listing I used a selection of song titles that I found that I felt would be on an LP by artists similar to mine. I used the font 'Garamond' and used a 'wet style' brush with the opacity taken down a little to make parts of the text look faded.

6.

I then added one of the formalities of a digipack cover which is the barcode.

7.

  

   

Finally I added the artist website, copyright information and label logo's.

'Digipak' cover- Idea 2- Process

Here is the second 'digipak' idea I have had. Again I have used the artist 'Florence + the Machine' as a place holder for the artist as I have not yet conducted a proper photoshoot for the 'digipak'.

I have used a similar effect as the first 'digipak' but this time not as a fracturing effect but as a colour overlay.

1. 

2.

3.

4.

5.without sleeve

  with sleeve  

Step 1: To start off I created two identical layers of the placeholder artist. 

Step 2: I then created a clipping layer of the lower image and made this adjustment layer  -100 saturation so that it appeared black and white.

Step 3: I then added a layer mask to the top image to make it unseeable.

Step 4: I used the diamond logo brush I had created and made only a diamond shape of the top layer visible so it fades from black and white to colour.

Step 5: The final step was to add the title of the album which is 'Howl' to accompany the music video I am creating.

'Digipak' idea

One idea I have had in relation to my 'digipak' would be to give it a a 'sleeve'. The sleeve would be plain black with the white diamond logo almost filling the front. The centre of the diamond will be cut out to reveal part of the actual 'digipak' cover. The back of the sleeve will be identical to the back of the 'digipak'. 

Front with sleeve:

 Front without sleeve.

'Digipak' cover- Idea 1- Process

Original digipack mock-up

1.

2.

3.

    

4. 

5. 

    

6. 

7. 

8. 

For my first digipak idea I wanted to bring the diamond logo in but not just as the logo, I also wanted to highlight the red hair of my artist (in this version the artist 'Florence Welch' has been used to replace my artist). I was also inspired by a photoshop tutorial on youtube in which the showed how to make it look as if a person was fracturing. Rather than using the brushes they used and suggested I made a brush using my logo. I also used a generic forest background for the cover to use until I conduct a proper photoshoot.
The tutorial:


Step 1: For this step I got an image of an artist similar to that of my artist to act as a 'place-holder' until I do a proper photoshoot for the digipak. I then removed the background of the image and copy the layer but enlarged the image behind my main image.

Step 2: For this step, I created an adjustment layer where I changed the saturation to minus 100. To make sure that the layer only affected the layer below I created a clipping mask.

Step 3: I then used a black brush to paint around the hair, lips and eyes of the artist so that they were no longer in black and white and were the original colour of the image. I then repeated the image onto the layer below but gave that layer a mask so that it would not be revealed unless I painted over the mask with a white brush (which I will be doing later).

Step 4: For step 4 I used various brush sizes, opacities and rotations of a diamond (artist logo) brush so that it could help achieve a fragmented look.

Step 5: This step involved using the white brush on the masked layer using the same style brush sizes, opacities and rotations but this time avoiding the edges so that it made it appear that the artist is fragmenting.

Step 6: I added the original 'howl' text

Step 7: For this step I used an effect similar to the diamond brush but this time sing a leaf brush to make it seem as though leaves had fallen on the logo.

Step 8: I removed the forest background and replaced it with a black background which I felt complimented the fragmented effect better than the forest background. I also changed the colour of the logo and text so that it was now visible on the black background.

Rihanna- Talk That Talk [Deluxe]- Digipak Analysis

Rihanna- Talk That Talk [Deluxe]- digipak analysis from ryan_woodley95

Florence + the Machine- Ceremonials [Deluxe]- Digipak analysis

Journal: 05/10/12- Digipak Research

A Digipak is a style of packaging used commonly for CDs and DVDs.

Here are a few examples of recent popular digipak designs:

Rihanna- Talk That Talk (2011) Digipak, Insert, and CD

Muse- The Resistance (2009) Digipak, Insert and CD

Mumford & Sons- Sigh No More (2009) Digipak, Insert and CD

 Digipaks are most commonly used now for EPs and Deluxe albums. The digipak design is used instead of the usual jewel case used most by record labels. The digipak has a more stylish look and allows the artist to put more information on the case and also use the the leaflet inside to get across an image or to contain lyrics for the EP or album tracks.