Making my Digipak

I have decided to proceed with my 3rd digipak cover idea as I feel it fits the genre the most due to its artistic, unique approach aswell as its dark themes.

Step One: First I took a photo of my singer in the position I would like him to be in:

Step 2: I then drew around my artists facial features to produce a rough outline

Step 3: Here is my rough outline:

I have quickly drawn a rough guide to where the outline of the pattern will go also. This was a quick test to show if the album art would actually look good and suit the square format.

Step 4: I have now added my patterns to the eyes, I really like how the detail gets larger the further out the pattern gets as it shows  its intense emovement towards the camera.

At the end of the drawing process, I will be inverting the drawing and background creating this look: 

I have now added all of my patter to the illustration, in total this had taken around 4 hours: 

Now I have finished the main image of the album, I feel a background is needed due to the empty space to the left and bottom of the illustration. I feel I could use rugged sound waves to symbolise the heavy bass guitar the song in my music video has. 

To make the illustration appear even more gritty I have made some mono-prints / rubbings using ink.

Objects I rubbed over included my Art room number: Ash 18 and some money. The rest was done with really dry ink that barley marked the page. I just kept adding layers very roughly. 

Using the layer blend tool on Multiply, I was able to create this grungy effect on my rugged sound lines. This I feel gives the background more of a rough edge. 

Now I have added the bands name to the design in order to relate the design to industry / digipack conventions. I have distorted the rough type around the head giving the image a dark, sinister vibe. 

I feel there is too much white in the design now so to separate the head from the background, I have added a dark red offset line. I chose dark red as it relates to the colour scheme of my music video animations. 

Final Digipak Cover

Making the inside covers of my digipak

To create the inside right cover / flap, I first created a pencil rubbing over a rough circular surface: 

I then rendered this into Photoshop and coloured it a very thick, saturated white

After colouring my textured rubbing, I also rubbed parts of the edges out with a textured rubber on Photoshop, this gives the circle more of a rough, grainy look. 

Once again, I then pasted my other ink rubbing, within this pencil rubbing to improve the scratched, gritty vibe. 

At this point I thought that this design would be great to use as a logo/ background to put my bands logo typography in. When I pasted my logo type, I rearranged the lettering to different sizes so it looks more distorted and joined together. This idea was inspired by popular moder typographer; David Carson: 

David Carson likes to distort type so it is no longer able to be read, creating a geometric but gritty composition. I used him as inspiration as this grungy, unique style fits the indie rock genre quite well as it is different and has an urban tone.

I then coloured my band's typography in dark red to follow my animation's colour scheme which features in my music video:

The layer which included my ink rubbing was put on the layer blend called "Multiply" which makes it appear on the red text aswell as on the white.

I felt that this design still felt very bland and average for an indie rock cover design, so I decided to keep a consistent house style and add some illustrated pattern to one corner with my graphics tablet.

I think this little addition really finishes the overall design.

Disk cover design

My disk cover designs is one design spread over two disks, this is because it is a long, landscape image I have created using a screenshot from my music video. Initially, when creating this designs, it was meant to be a quick experiment however I really like the outcome result: 

Although the design doesn't show a whole lot of illustrative skill, I still feel the artist is artistic and the white and black house style is kept in the background. The difference between this image and the one on my previous post is that I have quickly increased the contrast a little more on the photo to make is seem more dramatic, I also improved the resolution of the background so it wasn't as bad quality.

Back cover design of digipak 

I started out by choosing a relevant font that I feel reflects the gritty genre of my band, this particular font is called Cut The Crap and is available on DaFont for download. I then centered this font in the middle of my back cover as this is a very common layout on digipak designs. 

I then added an illustrative border, similar to the pasterns used on my front cover, this will help maintain a consistent house style throughout my digipack.  

I then started to add the conventional features of a digipak back cover such as the barcode, record company, band name and date of release. I feel these add a professional edge to the overall design. 

This is my digipak so far, to create my last panel I need a photo of the artists stood together, I will then add a patterned background behind them on a black background.

Making my left inside cover

This is the image I am using for my inside left cover: 

As you can see I have copied the framing of a two shot which is displayed on the secondary image I used for my thumbnail design: 

I didn't want both artists to look at the camera as I wanted the photo to look casual and not appear purposefully staged.

To then fit the black and white theme, I changed the threshold of my image and deleted the background. This is so I could create the effect of the artists blending into a black background like on the AM digipack I previously studied: 

I then experimented with the jagged background which I have used on other panels, however I felt like it didn't fill the screen as much as I wanted it to. 

I decided to stick with the original patterned background as I planned. 

I then added the ink rubbings to create that gritty, indie rock theme. 

Looking at the image, I felt that the artists clothes were too solid in terms of colour, because of the high threshold setting which I added to create the shaded look on the artists faces. To alter the clothing, I re-added the threshold on the original image except made it less intense, I then selected the clothing exclusively then copy and pasted onto my artists heads. This allows for more detail to be shown on the artists and doesn't make them fade into the background, which appeared to be dominating the image in the panel above.  

To link the artists face to the band, I added the logo subtly in the top right hand corner. I felt this made the overall image look more professional and finished. 

Finally I cropped the image down to a square format so it could fit on my digipak template, this resulted in me moving the logo typography also. 

Finished Template

CD and DVD Template

Here are two CD templates I made, I feel they needed to be more simple so they don't over attract from the designs in the other digipak panels. Reflecting on this, I have created two simple designs that link the product to the overall house style of the digipak as well as the music video style itself. 

As you can see, the first CD template matches the patterns displayed on both the front cover of the digipak as well as the artist panels. My second CD template reflects the animated distortion that is planned to feature in my music video, here is a story board sketch of it: 

Due to one of the CD's being a DVD, i need to make the message clearer else the audience will be wondering which one to play. 

To make it clearer which CD is the DVD I included the official international signs displaying the information. I feel I have fit the symbols well along with the design as they are not covered by the design but don't take up too much room either. I chose the design that relates to the music video as the DVD design because it relates to it directly. 

Overall I feel my design ideas have been carried out very successfully due to the fact I have designed a product which follows the conventions and it's purpose very well. I have also created a consistent house style throughout my panels as well as linked this product to my main music video by including screenshots and the same artists.

Initially Digipak ideas and Digital Thumbnails

This is my digipak template:

When a music video, digipack and magazine advert is released, the design of a consistent house style needs to be maintained throughout. Because my music video follows a very illustrative style I have decided to keep this as a running theme. I also think it would be good to relate to the narrative of my music video as it is very psychological and confusing.

Screen Shots of my illustrative style in my music video: 

Front Cover

Here is one of my first initial ideas which I have illustrated using secondary sources and Photoshop: 

                                               

I think this quick mock up really brings together my idea for a digipack cover. I like the idea of a normal man looking out to an illustrated city. Not only does this fit the illustrative house style and colour scheme but it also relates to the narrative of my music video of a man seeing himself walking into an animated world.

What I would change about this composition is the type of photo I have used, I would prefer to have a boy looking out, above a city rather than looking up to the city positioned below it. I also think a photo from the secondary sources perspective would be extremely difficult to take. I like the typography I have used as it appears very "glitchy" and distorted like my protagonists memories from the night before in my music video narrative. It also looks very damaged and has a gritty style which relates to the indie rock conventions very well.

Digital Thumbnail 2

Here is a step guide to how I have made my second thumbnail / digipak cover design idea. This idea was my first, it is based around a close up, profile shot of the main artists face, where one side of his face is normal and the other side is illustrated in white with a black background. I feel this links to my music video as the narrative that takes place is a teenager stuck in an animated reality.

This is the secondary photo I have started on:

Initially I was thinking of having a photo where the artist faces the camera head-on, however I like the idea of him slowly turning into an illustration further back into his face.

                                             
To start, I am cutting the model out of his photo's background, this requires the pen tool. The pen tool allows you to bend and curve lines you so you get a realistic, clean selection rather than a straight, rugged one. With the pen tool, you select all around the models face until you have created a perfect shape all the way around his face and shoulders.

I have then copied my artist onto my own formatted background. I then turned the background black however you can still see the white previous background through the gaps in the models hair. To fix this I have to use a rubber with a low opacity to subtly remove these white patches.

As you can see in the above image, using a soft rubber with the opacity at 19% I have gradually started rubbing out the white background in my models hair. I have completely rubbed out the center of the white background. However as the background gets closer to the hair, I subtly still include faint parts of the background in order to make the picture look realistic as if the model is stood with the black background instead of pasted onto it.

As you can see I have removed the white gaps between the models hair, however it still appears like he isn't part of the black background. This is due to the pictures lighting being so bright. To change this, I need to now subtly rub around the edges of the image with a rubber on a low opacity. This will make him look like he is coming out of the darkness. Also using a black paint brush with a low opacity, I need to darken the shadows on the artists face to make the picture brightness lower.

After I darkened the face and faintly rubbed the edges of the image, I felt the image was too bright so I went to Image - Adjustments - Brightness/Contrast where I lowered the brightness and increased the contrast using the slide bars I have shown above.

Next, I have illustrated half of the models face whilst gradually erasing it. I have also darkened part of the illustration to allow the drawing and face merge together. I have not taken this design further as although I thought it was a good idea, I don't think it has worked in production and will have to think of another, illustrative design to relate to my music video. 

Thumbnail 3 / Design 3

For my third design, I was thinking of doing a cover that was completely illustrated in white with a black background. The cover would consist of highly detailed patterns and textures. I took inspiration for this idea from Mika's album covers:

 

As you can see they are both highly illustrated and are centered around an average lifestyle which is transformed into a wider, more exciting one, which is what happens in my music video. I prefer the 1st album as it includes more patterns and geometric elements which I feel will suit my digipak.

My idea is to have my protagonist from my music video illustrated in black and white with various patterns streaming out of his eyes and mouth. This will imply that the fiction, animated world that features in my music video is slowly consuming him. I also think the overall design will look very dark which reflects the genre's ideology accurately. 

This is the type of illustrative patter I want to include:

This type of pattern was inspired by graphic illustrator Iain Macarthur who also combines realistic figures of animals and humans with illustrative pattern. Using his style I feel like I can convey my music video's narrative well. 

Left Inside Cover Ideas

Idea 1

I feel that I need to advertise the main artists more in my digipak rather than having it all illustrated, most digipaks conventionally have the artist photos on the inside of the digipaks. My first idea is to present the artists in black and white on a black background. Except some parts of the artists will be covered as the threshold on one of the images will be changed. 

I have got this inspiration from the AM digipack by the Arctic Monkeys: 

This is the secondary source I am using for this quick thumbnail: 

This photo is the band Royal Blood, whose song I am using for my music video. I have chosen this photo as my artists will be dressed in similar mise-en-scene in my photo. 

What I have done so far is selected the background of my image and put a black layer behind it, this is so when I delete the background, I will then have a black background underneath. 

Here is the main image with the black background, as you can see it appears very un-realistic and obvious that it is photo edited. Now I am going to change the Threshold of my main image by going to Image - Adjustments - Threshold. 

In like this effect as the artists subtly blend into the background, it also fits my black and white album theme. 

I started to add the geometric sound waves that are going to appear in my music video. This will link the digipak to my music video. 

To reflect Royal Blood's heavy, gritty sound. I have made some mono-prints and rubbings which I am going to use as a texture on the sound waves. 

This is the texture overlapping the sound waves:

I think this is a very, simply but effect design that is needed in my digipak inside cover as the inside designs tend to be less complicated and busy.

Second Inside Left Cover Idea

This is my other Inside left cover idea, I have incorporated the pattern on the cover work, into the background of my secondary photo:

I really like the detail on this panel except I feel it could be too detailed  as inside covers are meant to be more simple. I also like this design as it continues a consistent house style all the way through the digipak.

Here I have placed the gritty, mono print texture over the top of the pattern in order to reflect the genre's ideology. I cannot decide which one I prefer.

Inside Right Cover 

The inside right cover, covers the CD case, it is the flap you open up when wanted to get to the CD. This conventionally has the most simple design as it is already accompanied by the left inside cover image. 

Idea 1 

This is my first idea for the inside right cover, I like this style because it is very simple yet effective. I am trying to keep the pattern work a consistent design along with the distorted, rugged sound waves. I also added the mono-printed texture I used earlier. However, this idea I was also thinking of doing for the back cover along with the track list so I will re-think my ideas.

Idea 2

This is the band's logo which I have created, I prefer this to my other idea as it gives the band more recognition as well as still maintaining a simple, consistent house style throughout the digipack. To create the rough circle, I made a rubbing using card, a pencil and a rough surface, I then used different Photoshop brushes to rub edges out.

CD template designs 

This is my first inside template design, I feel the pattern work has been overused in my designs so I have included the animated distortion to show a bit of differentiation. Even though the pattern has changed I still feel the grungy, decayed house style is maintained throughout. This design is the simplest as it will be mostly covered by the CD itself.

Instead of making the above design be copied across two panels (looks repetitive) of my digipak, I feel like i could use a screenshot from actual video across both of the panels. This has been done of previous digipak designs and I feel like if will break up the layout and composition of mine.

Here are the possible screenshots I would use, it will definitely be the ones which are taken in the most action packed scenes; torture scene and fight scene:

I like this photo as it keeps the illustrative house-style which i'm trying to make consistent throughout my digipack whilst advertising the music video. I also like how the realistic background is very gritty and urban which reflects my genre's ideology. 

However I also really like the angle and framing of this picture, I also like how he light just captures my actors makeup as well as well as the water. Along with the brick wall background, it really conveys the violent ideology of the rock genre. As well as the dark theme's of the indie rock genre. 

I like how my actor is fading into the background, I like the fact the main attraction of the image is off center to imply a distressed environment. It also is one of the most exciting parts of my music video which I think promotes it well. 

Here I have tried to incorporate my illustrative house style along with the image which I feel is very effective, however I don't like the was the line passes through the actors head. I need to make it fade of erode away as the line draws nearer. 

I feel like I would like to use this idea in my digipak as even though this was an experiment, I feel like it has turned out really well and has a very professional edge.