Final Digipak - Max

Digipak Changes from Draft to Final - Michael

 This was my first completed draft. Originally I was pleased with this as I liked the continuity throughout. From feedback I received I was pleased with people's initial reactions. Many people commented on the  photography and said the inner stretched out photo worked very well alongisde the front cover. I also received a comment that stated the change in colour between the black and white collage and the inner two panels worked well. as it was a nice blend. 

 In my second draft, I decided I wasn't fond of the use of the collage as I believed it looked messy and less professional than it could, so I got rid of it and took another photo that fitted in and had a similar style to the photo on the first inside panel. Many people told me they liked this photo and it suited the overall digipak much more than the collage and that the layout still worked well.

In my third and final draft I decided to keep the same photo that I used in the second on the right inside panel. However, I also decided that this didn't fit with the theme that had continued throughout the rest of the digipak, as only one person is present in the picture. To fix this issue I went into Photoshop and duplicated the first figure. This then meant my final digipak was consistent, clean and appeared professional throughout. 

Final Digipak and Magazine Advert - Michael

Magazine Advert Changes from Draft to Final - Michael

Even when creating my first draft I was aware that I wanted to make a obvious visual link between my album cover and the advert that I would create. I decided I would do this by incorporating the image used on the front cover  onto the magazine advert. In my first draft i decided to put the image in the middle of a white border and used the band's name as a visual statement by making it bold, black and by locating it at the top of the poster. Originally I liked this advert as I believed it looked clean and simple but I was recommended, through feedback from a friend, to try a different design as this one may not look as good in a magazine, as the white border makes the page appear smaller.

In my second draft included all the same information, but instead of keeping the same layout, I moved it around. I focused the majority of the white space on the image and only left a small rectangular shape at the bottom for the text and information to go. I also made the band's name a lot more predominant by changing the color of the name and putting it over a black background. I did this as the band's name is very important as people will need to remember it i it is to be advertised properly.

In my final draft I left everything the same as the previous, except for the colour at the bottom of the advert. It was suggested to me by a friend that I make this section of the poster black to make the white text pop even more than it did before. I tried this and kept this idea as I believed that it made it look as if the over image was carried on and the space beneath the two figures was a lot larger, further adding to the desired professional appearance.

The final changes I made to my magazine advert were minimal. I removed one of the star ratings as I believed it looked a little clustered. As well as this i simply changed the names of the companies that had given ratings. I decided that the previous names didn't fit into the correct genre, so entered magazines and companies that did. 

Final Digipak - Milo

Creative Journey // Sachin Mistry

Creative Journey - Max

1. This was my first inspiration or my final piece. I really like the simplicity of the artwork and how the band members are facing the camera. Also the placement of the band name I liked.

2. My next piece was instead of having someone look at the camera I could go for something different from the majority, I decided that having the back of the heads would look good.

3. I kept looking the same artist has he had done many photo shoots in the style that I was a fan of, this is where I got the idea of using a plain background to take the photos on.

4. After looking at different styles of the images I liked, I decided to not use an image of the backs of the artist’s heads as it does not look professional, instead I went for a face on image of both the artists staring at the camera.

5. I got inspiration to use a blank background of one solid colour from this. Although it is not an album cover I took a look at photo shoots and magazine covers or inspiration.

6. I was contemplating using a black and white edit on my cover image, after much consideration I decided not to go with it as it did not look professional also it did not suit the pictures I had taken.

7. This image I liked as it was almost exactly what I wanted mine to look like, however the colours were too bright. The artist is staring blankly at the camera in a somewhat slumped position.

8. Following on from the previous image I wanted to find something similar to this style. In this image I liked the use of a slid colour being the background as it made the artist stand out more.

9. Whilst looking at similar images to the ones I had looked at before, this was a possibility. I could have changed the colour scheme I would have used to have lots of colour in it; however I chose not to do this in the end as it did not reflect the ideas of our music video.

10. From this cover I was primarily looking at the background, as I had already chosen how my artists were placed. I liked the background of this as it was natural and the band members did not stand out. However I could not find a place in real life that I liked and also the lighting was wrong when taking mine.

11. I thought about having the entire body of my artists in, however after taking a few photos I did not like this as you could not see the artist’s expression on their faces.

12. This was the image that I most liked on my creative journey as it was exactly what I was looking for. This had two artists on a white background, facing the camera with blank expressions on their face. After taking many photos in similar styles to this I finally got one that looked right.

13. This was the first photo I tried as the front cover, I liked this as the lead singer (Left on the image) was looking up and the backing artist (Right on the image) was looking down. However I chose not to use this image as it did not have the background I was looking for.

14. This was another possible cover. I liked this one as it had the right background and having both artists facing the wrong way went against conventions of album covers. After much deliberation I chose not to use this as it did not look professional enough.

15. These were some of the font options I could have used for the text on my digipak. In the end I decided to use the top font as it looked professional and was very easy to read.

16. This was the colour scheme I chose. I decided that grey, white, and black made it look formal and was very clear. During this process I could have change but I thought keeping it simple would suit how I wanted to have the artists standing.

17. This was the end product of my creative journey.  The image I took most of my inspiration from was image 12 as it was what most related to the image I had in my head. Different to 12, I had the artists facing the camera, similar to image 7, as I found this made it somewhat personal between the person looking at the cover and the artists. The text was placed where it as it does not take anything away from the image however it still stands out as the black text is on a white background and the white text on a dark background.

Creative Journey (Digipak) - Michael

As part of my research and development for the creation of my digipak, I came up with many different ideas and took inspiration from many different sources and other forms of media that already existed. This document represents the 'creative journey' that I took to end up with my final media product.

In the top left hand corner of my creative journey piece, I have included three photos that broadly represent examples of 'Levitation Phototgraphy'. I have taken photos in this style in the past and found that they always have potential to look professional and intriguing. I was always interested in using this kind of photography when creating my own digipak so that I could give my own cover something interesting and a little different, so that it could stand out from the crowd..



The next section of my creative journey represents the stage in  my planning where I decided that I wanted to include both band members on the front of the digipak. When planning my own digipak, I thought of albums I knew myself and liked with a theme of two people on the front, I took inspiration from albums such a Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' , Biffy Clyro's 'Only Revolutions', The White Stripes 'Get Behind Me Satan' and Fleewood Mac's 'Rumours'. These album covers played an important role in aiding when making a decision on whether to incorporate the band on the front of the cover.

After deciding I would use both band members on my cover, I got an idea from the White Stripes album, that I had already took inspiration from. On this famous album cover the duo are shown in front of a red curtain. This gave me the idea to find other albums featuring a similar theme. I found  that Eminem's 'The Eminem Show' was very similar. I was so inspired by watching Kings of Leon's music video for 'Charmer', as is set in a sparse theater in front of a dark red curtain.  

After finding inspiration in all of these different examples, I ended my creative journey by taking a photo that incorporated all of these visual styles. I used the photo I took, alongside some minimal text, to create a digipak cover I was proud of and that fitted into a genre I was aiming for.

Changes to Digipak

After reviewing the comments people had left on my digipak, I found that there were many places I could improve this to make it more appealing to an audience.

The first change I made as where the text was placed on the font cover, as in my draft it did not look professional, it does not fit well with the image. After looking at actual bands album covers I found that having the text over laying the image of the band looks professional. I also changed the name of the album as I did not like it. On the spine of the digipak I added the name of the album as this is what is on the spine for professional digipaks also I used a catalogue number as then it looks like an actual digipak. Also the song list on the back cover I moved due to me having to change the image I wanted the text to stand out.

The next change I made was the image on the back cover. I changed this because the draft image did not match the feel of the digipak and looked out of place with the rest of it. The image on the final piece was the image from my draft advert that I changed, I felt that having a back cover that matched the front looked professional.

Also I changed the inside right cover as, although I liked having the band logo there, I felt that having a better image there would look more professional. I first changed it to an image of an A I wrote using a light on a black background, after getting feedback on this I felt that changing it would be a good idea. I then took a screenshot of the opening scene to our finished music video as this way they would link very well together.

On my first draft of my digipak I had a black layer on the inside left panel, after getting feedback from this I decided that it was too plain so I tried to find an image that would it well there. I chose the image I had previously used on the inside right panel, this fit well in that spot. However, due to this panel having a slit in it for the in-slip to go in, it distorted the image slightly. I decided to change this for my final piece 

Updated Digipak and Inslip

Feedback on Digipak

Feedback Received from Draft Magazine Advert - Michael

Feedback Received from Draft Digiak - Michael

Draft Magazine Advert - Michael

Digipak inspiration // Sachin Mistry

For my digipak I took some inspiration from ‘Years and Years’, this is a band which I like to listen to but also their style of music videos and also photography in terms of photoshoots and interviews suits our band well. So for example the middle picture is of the band ‘Years and Years’, this is a picture of a photoshoot they did for ‘COUPdeMAIN’ is a New Zealand based music/lifestyle magazine, and they present the bands members/artists through a polaroid which I think look good and goes well with our theme. Also the bottom two images are of the ‘Ghajini’ Digipak which is a digipak of the songs from the Indian movie. It had a similar theme where on the left hand side it had a cut out of the border which is produced when you take pictures on an instant camera. I liked this effect an implemented it into my digipak design. I did this by creating an envelope which you can access on the left hand side of the digipak which just like the one in the ‘Ghajini’ digipak. But unlike the other digipak where it had a booklet I printed out individual photos of the band members doing different poses. This is just like ‘Years and Years’ photos for the magazine as they are also pulling random faces. I was going to writing on the bottom of the photos like the ‘Years and Years’ photos but then when I slotted then into the sleeve, the simplicity of then and the clean looks of the printed photos looked better in my opinion.

With the actual photos I wanted a similar theme which ‘Years and Years’ did, where they were against a neutral coloured background, and their expressions and body language would be emphasised by the flash when taking pictures. I achieved this look by setting the focus on my camera to automatic, this is because I switched the lights of in the room so it was completely dark. Then when the flash is triggered it would auto focus on the subject which are the band members pulling faces. Before I turned the light off I made sure that I had them in frame posing in the correct manner which I directing to do. Although we had professional lighting in the room, by switching the lights off and taking the picture I was able to create the shadow effect which is seen in the ‘Years and Years’ photos as this gave a simple yet effect look as the flash light would be solely on them and not bouncing off the walls. With the professional box lights the aim is to eliminate shadows and to ensure correcting for photoshoots, but I wanted to intentionally have shadows which kind of acts as its owns filter on the photos which I really liked the look of. 

6 Panel Digipak Decision - Michael

When planning for my digipak, I had to choose on the style and design of my media product, but as well as this I also needed to make a decision on the practical element of my digipak. I used the site 'DiscWizards' to research and locate different types of digipak and the wide variety of shapes and sizes that were available. This site would also give me a template as a basis for the creation of my digipak.  In the end I decided to make a 6 panel digipak, meaning there would be six panels all together in both the inside and outside of the album casing. I decided to pick six panels, as opposed to four, so that I could fully make sure I was able to both follow and defy conventions whilst maintaining the same theme throughout. I researched and looked at many albums to help me aid me in my decision.

Draft / Final photos from my photo shoot // Sachin Mistry

Draft Inslip - Max

Draft Digipak - Max

Digipak Design Idea // Sachin Mistry

This is a design idea which I thought would be suitable for my digipak as well as the music genre which we have chosen. I saw picture of a man with a bag on his head and I cam up with this idea. The material on his head could be some sort of rag or cloth which will be old fashioned and could have a flowery/ancient design on it which I though would look good and contrast against the plain white shirt and the dull grey background.