Task 13: Drafting for layout of Digipak

My aimThe main aim of my Digipak design is to be of a similar layout and style of the original full album so that you are able to see a clear link between the two. The original album is AM by Arctic Monkeys. This means I will use the same black and white colour scheme. The design needs to be simple but effective; therefore I may use a cartoon style image for the cover which can relate to the music video for “Do I Wanna Know?” which is an original song in the album. The colours and images must be bold and artistic so that they stand out and relate to the song while being inspired by the album. As I am promoting the one song (Knee Socks), my digipak will be mostly centred around the song as well as it being the name of the album.

I will design the:- Front cover- Back cover- Extra panel- Inside right- Inside middle – CD- Inside left

Software's to use:- InDesign- Photoshop- Word

Original AM album/single images

Research into digipak designs

- Layout – covers both sides- Artistic style photography- Colours- Similar image on inside cover and CD- Minimalistic yet bold- Conveys theme of album/band

- Simple design- Bold colours- Artistic images- Portrays album/band personality- Connotation of genre of music

- A2 media digipak design- Bold, statement colours- Constant theme that describes the band

and the single- Artistic design- Various features – band

members/lyrics/song variations- Simple photos that stand out in

background

Questionnaire resultsTo be able to design my digipak, I conducted a questionnaire and posted it on Survey Monkey so that the general public were able to answer the 10 questions I created on what makes a digipak interesting enough for a consumer to want to buy it. I will analyse some of the answers to the questions that are the most relevant to designing.

Analysed results:1. How old are you? Everyone who answered this question was in the age range of 16-20, therefore I know who my target audience is.

2. What genre of music do you listen to?This question helps to find out what genre of music my target audience likes to listen to which will then allow me to explore further into the genre and what appeals to the fans.

4. What album stands out most because of the cover art?The albums listed are all quite different in style and colour but what they have in common is creativity. Horehound consists of a surreal mirror image, Dark Side is simplistic, Elephant consists of the band, Sgt. Pepper is quite busy and Like Clockwork is a cartoon surreal image.

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5. What colours stand out on an album?Black and white seem to be the most popular response, therefore, my album cover will consist of these colours as they stand out the most.

6. Do you prefer a simplistic design or complicated and full?All the respondents chose a simplistic design over a complicated one, therefore, I know not to overcrowd the cover.

7. What should be included on an album case?The artist name, album name, cover art, song titles, record company and logo are the basic necessities of an album case and the most popular answers, therefore I will include these on my digipak. The song lyrics, additional photos, names of band members, a note from the artist and website have also been chosen but as they are considerably less than the other choices, then I don’t have to include them or all of them.

9. What draws you to an album?The cover art and colours according to the answers given are the aspects of an album that stands out the most and attracts consumers to them and through the various answers given throughout the questionnaire, I can make sure I know what fits best.

10. What artistic style do you prefer?Cartoon and realistic are the most chosen designs which means that I can incorporate the two into my digipak cover.

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Research into inspirational artwork

Banksy is a graffiti artist that uses stencils to spray his work on his canvas. The stencils are hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate of card before cutting them out. Wikipedia states, “He mentions in his book, Wall and Piece, that as he was starting to do graffiti, he was always too slow and was either caught or could never finish the art in one sitting. So he devised a series of intricate stencils to minimise time and overlapping of the colour.”His work is inspirational for my own because of the outcome of each piece that has a stamp like, rough quality that could be used in my own work in a way that it could reflect the band or the song.

My digipak template

Front CoverBack CoverExtra panel

Inside middle - CDInside left Inside right

Photo shoot for digipakThese image were taken from screen shots of my music video so that they could have a direct link to the album’s digipak. This works well because of the various shot types and angles I had used while filming gives me a range of images I can use. These images will be edited on Photoshop so that I can transform them into the cartoon design that was suggested on my questionnaire.

Photograph editing processTo create a realistic cartoon design for my photographs, I have used the Photoshop software to edit them.

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Firstly, I opened up the image in Photoshop and zoomed in slightly so that the image was bigger, therefore, easier to work with.

I scrolled over the “filter” tab at the top of the screen to reveal a drop down menu. I then scrolled over the “sketch” button to reveal another menu where I selected the option, “stamp”.

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The photograph turned into a black and white “stamp” of itself. This style is quite like a cartoon/drawn image with realistic qualities which is what I wanted for my images.

4. I don’t want any background in my images, therefore, I selected the brush tool to paint over the background so that it became white.

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The background imagery was then gone and to experiment with the colours I wanted to switch the white parts and the black parts of the image around so that they would become the opposite colours.I scrolled over the “image” tab at the top of the page and in the drop down menu, I scrolled over “adjustments” and then selected “invert”.

6. The colours switched around to create this image. In this version, I didn't like the shadow, therefore, I scrolled over the brush tool and selected black paint.

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The shadow was then painted black to match the rest of the face. To change the colours around again, I just clicked on the “invert” button.

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Audience feedback:-For the band name, I think I prefer the first design because the good the gentle font of the letters links in with the soft Indie name of the band.For the song name, I like the second font because it fits in more with the style of the band.

-Band name – I like the third font because it fits in more with the actual font that Arctic Monkeys use.Song name – I like the first font because its a little indie which brings out the indie side of the band and song.

-The third font for the band name is more artistic and for the song name, the first font stands out the most to me.

Therefore, the overall result is the third font for the band name and the first font for the song name. however, as the second font was also liked, I will use for the other text needed on the digipak, such as for the song lyrics.

Fonts

Band name fonts:

Song name fonts:

- WordArt

Ivory is Trouble

Ivory is Trouble- Adobe Caslon Pro

- Georgia

Front cover

Audience feedback:-Image 1 for me personally is far more eye catching due to the detail being black rather than white. Furthermore I much prefer the font in image 3 and would like to see it included in the final product.- The first image is my favourite for the front cover as it stands out the most and allows more focus on the name written on the socks

Due to these comments and those of the fonts, image 1 shall be the final image for my digipak cover.

Initial deigns 1. 2. 3.

Audience feedback:- The first image (left side) doesn’t fit with the bands name as much as the image on the

right. Arctic is associated with snow which is a white colour and therefore the white background correlates with this. However the black background could show that this is a new time for the band, a change of direction; hence the contrasting black background.

- I prefer image 2 because it fits in with all the other images I like from the rest of the digipak.

The second image is the final image that I will use for the back cover. The song titles will be placed on the panel with this image.

Back cover1. 2.

Audience feedback:

- Image 2 fits better with the rest of the chosen images included on the digipak, therefore, I think it would the better choice.- For me, image 2 is more eye catching due to the detail seeming more realistic as well as being able to see the question mark ring clearer as it is the main focus of the image. Also the black nails looks more realistic than the white.

Due to the responses, image 2 will be the final image used for the extra panel.

Extra panel

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Audience feedback:- Image 1 for me is the most eye catching as her jacket and necklace stand out more

from the white. The second image is a little too bright because of the white jacket.- I prefer the first image as the black seems to make more sense to be on the clothing

than the white.

Image 1 will be the final image I will use for the inside right of the digipak.

Inside right1. 2.

Audience feedback:- Image 3 is the best because you are able to see the shadow from the glasses which

makes it look more realistic and full of depth.- Image 1 looks more professional and classic compared to the others because it is clear

and obvious what the image is as well as having an urban/ graffiti style.

Due to the responses in the audience feedback, the final image for the inside middle (CD) is image 1.

Inside cover CD1. 2. 3.

Audience feedback- I prefer the image on the left as the legs stand out against the black and the lines of the

legs are more exaggerated due to this. The white lines on the right image look too thin to me.

- I quite like both image, however, the second image stands out the most to me because I think the first image is a little to bright and bold because of the white legs.

The final image for the inside left of the digipak is image 2. The song lyrics for Knee Socks will be placed on top of this image for the digipak.

Inside left1. 2.

Other text on DigipackAll other text used on the digipak will be in the font, Hobo std as it was quite popular among the font choices. This will include the song titles, website address, band member names and song lyrics.

Song titles:- Do I Wanna Know? - R U Mine?- One for the Road- Arabella- I Want It All- No. 1 Party Anthem- Mad Sounds- Fireside- Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High- Snap Out of It- Knee Socks- I Wanna Be Yours

Lyrics of Knee Socks written on “inside left” panel of digipak.

I have included a barcode on the back cover of my digipak as it is a basic convention of a digipak. I used a barcode generator to create it in which I had to choose the type of barcode I wanted and then type in 12 digits for it very own code. I did this on a website called http://www.barcode-generator.org/. I have chosen the EAN code because it is used in retail across Europe and the band is from the UK, so it would be appropriate to use.

Barcode number: 236103939129

Final digipak design

Due to the small font and some details, here are larger images of some of the panels.

Front cover:

Back cover:

Inside left:

Inside middle (behind CD):