Draft Digipak Cover Ideas

These are my first mock up ideas for my final cover idea, working through and making improvements I have created my final idea for my draft digipak. In the first mock-up I have used a 'stained paper' style background to give the cover a vintage feel. I have used the font 'Scarlet Ribbons' from my research for the artist's name, I have also added an outer glow to create a 'bubble' feel around the word, which adds a fun and pop element to the overall appearance of the cover. The main image used within the cover is a 'retro' style milkshake which ties in with my idea to incorporate the america diner style to reinforce the 1950's era of influence. I feel the prop itself and the high contrast and saturation used in editing makes it represent this idea well. The text used at the bottom for the album title 'Ghosts' is in the font 'Air Conditioner' which also works really well with the 1950's retro american diner theme as it reflects this perfectly. However, I felt that this album cover could be improved because, although all the elements work they way I intended and well represent the ideas behind it, I felt the overall look could be altered as the texts used don't balance well.

In the second mock-up I have used all the same elements, however I changed the text used for the artist's name. I really liked the font and the editing so I decided to change the placement of the text to try and better balance it with the title, 'Ghosts'. I did this by removing the arc layout, making the text straight and in line with the text at the bottom. I felt this worked much better as the layout made it easily broken up using the rule of thirds. It also meant the text was straight and better matched the straight line at the bottom. However, I still felt that the feel of the appearance was not right and it could still be improved and better balanced. Within the third cover mock-up I removed the editing on the title, so it was just a simple title that let the font stand out better. I made the colour of the font match with that used for the album title as this helps to balance our the two texts. However, at this point, I did not like how different the two fonts I used were, as I felt this was the reason they were not balancing and so at this point I started considering what other fonts I could use. Looking back at the fonts I found whilst researching, I experimented with various fonts for the artist's name, as I felt the font I was using up until this point, 'Scarlet Ribbons' was too bold and didn't fit the elegant and simple appearance I had created. After trying several fonts, I decided the font 'Channel' was the best option, as it was thinner but also still bold enough to make the artist's name stand out. I also felt that this font was better balanced with the image of the milkshake, as after changing the font and looking back at the previous font, I felt that the 'Scarlet Ribbons' font had taken too much attention away from this main image. Although I much prefer this font, I felt that it was still unbalanced as this font didn't have such a 'straight line' appearance. I then started to consider what I could change to improve this, and so I decided to add in the line either side of the text so that it appeared more in balance as the album title as the also had the line either side of it.
Therefore, this was one of the key changes made for my fourth mock-up. I also decided to experiment with changing the bottom font used for the album title 'Ghosts'. I had refrained from this previously as I felt that 'Air Conditioner' font really well reflected the ear and the 1950's retro american dinner theme. However, at this point, I felt that using the same font for both text elements on the cover would help to balance the appearance of the overall cover. I first decided to try using the 'Air Conditioner' font for both the artist's name 'Lexi and the Spectrum' and the album title 'Ghosts'. I really liked the use of this font because it best fits the era, however, when using it for both text elements on the page it became lost and make the main image more of a statement than I intended. For this reason I felt the font 'Air Conditioner' would not work for my cover. I then decided to use the font 'Channel' for both text element; I feel this works much better and gives the cover a really balanced look. At this point, I also decided that perhaps a photo of the artist would work better on the cover than an object such as this milkshake, as this is a prop that could be used elsewhere within the digipak, such as the back cover with the track listings. I experimented with these ideas and created my final first draft digipak cover and back as shown here:

Digipak Cover:

Digipak Back:

Digipak and Advertisement Research: Colour Pallet

For my digipak and advertisement I want to use a specific colour pallet. I think a 3 colour pallet would work best for my advertisement as this helps to create a bold appearance that catches the audience's attention. However, for my digipak I may use a 4 or 5 colour pallet as there are more sections and elements to take into consideration and the use of just 3 colours may make the album appear to simple and uninteresting.

Advert Colours:
For the advertisement I intend to use a worn/stained paper effect background, therefore a pale brown/sepia colour will be one of the 3 within my colour pallet. The second colour will be either a dark browny-black colour or a greyish colour, such as the one shown below. As these two colours are to be used for basic elements such as background and text, they are therefore basic colours. For this reason I will make the third colour a contrasting colour to these dull colours and use a pale, pastel colour such as light turquoise or baby pink to make the overall appearance more interesting but to also add character and a fun, pop music feel to the advertisement that will reflect the artist and her music. The two colour pallets below are the type of colours I intend to use.

Digipak Colours:

For the digipak I will use more colours as there will be a larger amount within it. Similarly to the advertisement I intend to use a worn/stained vintage-looking paper effect background, light brown/sepia will therefore, again, be one of my main colours. I will also use the same colour for the text, either a dark brown or grey. I will also use a pastel or pale colour within the digipak, to match the colour theme of the advert, but I may use one or two more to create a more interesting appearance. I may also use a darker colour to add contrast, such as a darker shade of purple or pink. The digipak will contain black and white photos, therefore these will be two of the main colours within my colour pallet. The colour pallets below show some of the colours and kind of colours I intend to use.

Digipak Research: Cover Layout

I really like the idea of using a simple layout for the cover, I intend to achieve this by using an object as a focal point picture for the cover and the artist's 'logo' and album name to appear above and below this respectively.  I want the main object to be a prop that relates to the 1950's era, props used within the music video and/or the american diner theme of the logo. Here are some examples of the type of appearance I would like:

I really like the use of the old retro monitor on this album cover as I think it has a statement appearance that makes it stand out to the consumer and it also has a really strong retro feel to it. However, I would like to incorporate more colours into my cover to emphasise the pop, fun and modern side to the artist and her music. I would also use bolder font to emphasise the artists name and the album title. I would also prefer to have a sepia, more vintage background as opposed to the grey used here as I think it would help it to look warmer and friendlier rather than the cold, harsher feel of this one.

I like the idea of using an object, such as this 1950's telephone, on the album cover. I think this type of prop could make a really clear connection to the 1950's as well as a link between the music video and the album as this is one of the props we're using within the video.

These sorts of props are also easy to draw, giving the option to either draw or photograph props for my digipak.

Digipak Research: Requirements for Digipak

Record Label Information and Copyright Requirements:

The album back shown below contains the following information:
© 2010 679 Recording Ltd
© 2010 679 Recordings Ltd. the copyright in this sound recording and artwork is owned by 679 Recordings Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited. All rights reserved. Made in The E.U. LC14666

I will use this same record company details, but change the date:
© 2012 679 Recording Ltd
© 2012 679 Recordings Ltd. the copyright in this sound recording and artwork is owned by 679 Recordings Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited. All rights reserved. Made in The E.U. LC14666

This is the back cover of Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels.


Other Requirements:

Back of Digipak:

Barcode:

Record Label Logo:

I will be using the record company 679 for my artist as this is the same label as 'Marina and the Diamonds' and other artists that we have taken inspiration from in order to create our artist. It therefore has similar music under the label so our artist would fit well.




Track Listing:

This is the track listing from Marina and the Diamonds album - Electra Heart. This is the album we took our song choice from for our artist to perform in her music video.

Digipak: Cover Ideas

For my album cover I have considered using either photographs or a drawing as the main image, as well as for images throughout the digipak and on the advert. I like the idea of using photographs of the artist as this could help to give the digipak a really professional look and finish, however the photos must be really good quality and well lit in order to achieve this. I have not yet taken any of my own photographs, however, the photo below of Marina and the Diamonds is an example of the type of photos I would like to get.This is just an example of the sort of appearance I would like both the photographs and the artist within them to look. However I intend to edit my photos to make them either sepia or black and white to help tie into the vintage theme. For my first draft I will use these images edited the way i would like my actual photos to appear.

Marina and the Diamonds

I really like the strong appearance of this photograph, this is the sort of photograph i intend to use within my digipak and advert as I think strong photographs will help to give it a professional look. I really like the spotlight lighting used here, this is something I intend to replicate within my own photos. I also think close ups, like this, of the artist will work better in my digipak.

I have also considered using drawn pictures, below are albums i have looked at for inspiration:

Maroon 5 - Overexposed
I like the busy appearance of this album artwork, I think the colours work really well as it's bright and stands out. However, for my album I want to achieve a more subtle, simplistic look, therefore I would probably limit the colours I use to a basic 3-colour-pallet throughout my digipak and within the advertisement. The main element of this album I like is the drawing style itself, the blocks of colour and cartoon effect with some pattern mixed in works really well and creates a cluttered effect that suits this album. It is also a style that's relatively easy to manipulate or recreate myself. If I use this style I would draw and image of my artist in this style in black and white and scan it in to edit on photoshop and add in colour that way.

Digipak Research: Artist Logo

Logo Ideas for 'Lexi and the Spectrum'
I felt that the idea of an artist 'logo' could work really well for my artist, using the idea of the logo for 'Katy Perry' as below I have created some logos, using fonts found in my previous research, that I could use for both the digipak and advertisement.

This first logo idea uses the font 'Scarlet Ribbons', I really like the way this logo looks, as I think it has a playful and fun appearance that looks both modern but also reflective of the 1950's inspiration. The font has a really strong 1950's connection as it has connotations of the 1950's american diner style fonts used at the time. However, the over all logo has a modern feel as I have used bright, pop colours and I feel it connotes connections to current artist such as Katy Perry who uses a similar logo idea for her name. I have used an inner bevel and glow on the text to create dimension and give a more exciting, 3D effect. To improve this logo I would make a bubble around the text to make it a solid object as opposed to a font.

Here, I have improved the above logo, using the same font and adding in an 'outer glow' to create a bubble like effect that ties all the text together to unite it in a logo form.

For this logo, I have used the same effects as the previous one but changed the font. The font i have used here is called 'Rocket Script', I really like the retro 1950's appearance of this font.

For this logo I have used a different font called 'LambrettistA'. I have kept the same colour scheme and font effects as I feel this colours well reflect the artist and the pop genre of music.

This logo uses the 'Channel' font. The different layout gives the logo a more simplistic look which may fit better with the overall look i wish to achieve. Having all the text all in the same colour also creates a more united look. This is my favourite look as I feel this best fits the appearance I would like my cover to have.

Digipak Research: Font Ideas

1950's Style Font Ideas

Here are some of my font ideas for the title of the album, 'Ghosts'. These fonts could also be used for the logo design for 'Lexi and the Spectrum' and within the advertisement. These fonts have been taken from www.tackorama.net/Fonts.

'Channel' - I really like this font, i think the swirly appearance would work really well as it has a vintage feel but also works really well in bright, pop, vibrant colours that match the kind of look I want my album cover and digipak to have. It also goes well with the 1950's diner feel.

'Cinerama' - I really like the unique look of this font, however I don't think it's quite right for the look I want to achieve, though it does have a really good 1950's vibe.

'Classic Car' - I really like this text as I think it's one of the best at reflecting the 1950's retro american diner feel, however I feel it is a little to strong or harsh as a text, I would prefer a more curvy and fun font.

'Scarlet Ribbons' - I think this is my favourite font as it captures all the element of my artist; the 1950's vintage feel, the fun american diner look of the video and album and the modern artist's music. I feel it has a more modern day feel whilst also feeling very 1950's inspired.

'Air Conditioner' - I like this font as I think it best shows the american diner idea, it's also very 1950's and fun.

'Swizzle Sticks' -  I really like the fun, retro appearance of this font, it really helps to emphasise the links with the 1950's and american diners. I think this could work really well as the font used for the album title.