Obviously, there is a major theme running throughout my digipack, advertisement and video. With the name of the band 'Plan X', I also turned the 'X' in to the roman numeral for 10. With the Album being called 'After dark' I thought that this worked well and gave a mysterious edge to the merchandise as a whole. Therefore, the entire digipack is black and white images, representing the dark. I think that this is a useful marketing strategy, and without my research on digipacks previously, I do not think that I would have come up with the idea. The font has also remained constant, and i used AMerican Typewriter. I think this is important as a marketing strategy, and I learnt this when doing research and looking at examples such as Ben Howards album 'The Fear' and the range of consistency with his font etc.
FRONT COVER Final Piece:
The is the front cover of my digipack and CD cover. I designed this on Microsoft Word Publishing Layout. This gave me the tools that I needed in order to design and make the final piece. I used this mainly because I had used it before, and it was a software that was available to me. I downloaded Adobe Photoshop Elements 12, however, I found this hard to co-ordinate. I was constantly looking up different tools in the online manual, and I did not think it was very productive of my time.
It features both Andy and Molly on the from page. I thought that this was necessary to publish the band on the front because when consumers are buying the product, it is because they want to get to know, learn and feel as if they know the band.
The image is black and white, as is the rest of the digpack because, it refers to the name of the album 'After Dark.'
Originally, I had the idea of an image that I had found on Pinterest, shown in my blog. The image had a woman sitting down, but her face had been copied and pasted as a new image and turned upside down. I thought that it was really effective and 'indie' and unique, therefore I thought that i would try something similar.
Firstly, I made the image 16.2x16.2. This was a sizable image. Next I copy and pasted another one of the identical image below, and made it 16.2x16.2, as shown below.
Now I had two identical images.
I then cut out the image of Molly's head and shoulders, as seen below.
Once I cut out both Andy and Molly's head, I turned them upside down, as shown. I place them on top of the image. This was my first hurdle. I did not like the image, it looked very off balanced and didn't seem to make sense. It looked like a box had covered their faces and obscured our vision and once more, it took away the effectiveness of thee background. I did not like it and therefore though of other ways that I could portray a different look.
I then decided to take another approach. I used a software online to cut around the image of Molly's head, as shown below. My idea was to have the same black and white background, but have their cut out faces on top in colour. I thought that this would be effective, as their faces would stand out as a contrast against the black background. I found it challenging to cut the image accurately. I found this a time-consuming and the end result was not what I had wished for. Therefore, I thought that I would use a different software and see if my overall outcome was of a higher standard.
I tried cutting it out on word, which again was very time consuming and not very accurate. After trying to make it net and accurate for quite some time, I decided that it was neither good use of my time, and the outcome would not be very rewarding.
Therefore, I had two of the same images, one in black and white and one in colour, and I cropped parts of the graffiti out, and placed i over the white and black. I often changed the contrast to make it softer so that it blended better with the image. I think that matching the graffiti up to the correct position on the image underneath was intricate work, and something that would have been easier to do on a different type of software, perhaps something such as Photoshop which had more attention to detail. However, I think that the final product was promising and I was pleased with the end result.
Overall, making the front cover was a really enjoying experience. I thought that my location was perfect for my genre, as it captivated a typical place whee my target audience would hang out. I did not use any props in the cover, because I thought that it would steal attention from the detailed background. I used the full beams headlights from my car, as additional light was needed as the shoot took place in the evening and the image would not have been legible. I would use these again, as although I would not classify them as professional equipment, I had to work with the resources and budget that I had. Andy and Molly were very prepared for this shoot. I told them to wear ordinary clothes, which they would wear everyday. They did this, and I am pleased with the result. If i were to do this again, I think that I would test out different software before beginning my actually project. This is something that I learnt through the editing process. If I had the time, I think this would have meant that I could use my time more wisely during the editing process. However, on the other hand, I would also keep some things the same, for example, the location and the actors.
BACK (of inside the digipack)
The inside of the digipack was of a similar process to the front of the digipak. Again, I used Microsoft Word Publisher Layout, because it is user friendly and had the right tools for editing. I copied the image in to the documnet and sized in to 16.2x16.2, so that the digipack remained consistent. Once I had edited the image black and white, i copied another identical image with the same proportions, only this time kept it colour.
I then copied parts of the graffiti and placed the colour version over the black and white version, similarly to before. Again I think that this created a unique and eye-catching image.
Next, I copied an image of a lighter that I had taken a photo on Andy holding and changed the transparency to 33%. I also dulled the edges so that the lighter look like it had loomed in to the image rather than having definite bold lines. I was happy with the result.
Finally, I drew a text box and wrote some brief information about the names of the production and editing for the album. I had this idea when I analysed the digipacks of Kasier Chiefs. Although, I am the editor, the designer, the productor, it would not be like this if it were a real CD and would feature individual names.
Again, I did not use any props, as I thought the image was just as effective without them.
If I were to do this part of the digpack again, I think that I would perhaps have more light projected on to the main image of Molly and Andy, to make the details even more fine. However, I am very happy with my design and feel that it portrays the genre of the band well. What more, both the images of the graffiti and the lighter are part of the video itself, and i think that it is more effective when it links to the visuals as the audience are able to remember it more.
CD:
I created the CD once again in Microsoft word. This is because I knew it possessed the simple tools such as shapes which I could use to my advantage. Firstly, I made a template of a CD, by simply using shapes. Next, I copied the image and pasted it in to the document. I used the manual online to show me how to crop a photo in to a circle. This is something that proofed very useful and is something that I learnt throughout this process. Once I had completed this, I edited the image so that it was black and white and change the contrast so that the transparency of the image was quite strong. Then I added the roman numerals round the outside of the CD, as if it were a clock. This represents the 'after dark' and the name of the band, Plan X. Then 'X' was made more prominent and I made it 33% transparent so that the image was not disrupted. I grouped the roman numerals together so that they would stay in a perfect circle shape. After this, I added the title of the album in American Typewriter font to remain consistent. I did not put the name of the artist on there for a reason. I think that it was not important as people have bought the CD, therefore they no the band.
Lastly, I used word art to add details about copyright and piracy. I thought that this was very important, as piracy is a major issue in the music industry.
Once again I did not use any props in the photo. I used a school projector to project the image of Aztec patterns on to Andy and Molly. The videos that I projected I found on Youtube, and I chose it because i thought that it was an interesting and unique image.If I were to do this again, I think that I would find a way to make the font around the edge smaller, as i think it is possibly to bold for the outside. I, however, could not find how to do this. However, I would keep the projector image the same as I think that it is interesting, and adds different dimensions to the CD despite it being black and white.
Finally, the back of the digipak what a black and white image showing from a distance the bridge including the graffiti. I changed the image to black and white and as similar to before, I copied the same image in colour and added it on top to create a special effect. I included the clock with the roman numerals around as a clock, and included the names of the other songs on the album. Of course, i made the 'X' large to stand out and made it transparent so that it did not distract from the image. Despite it sounding simple to paste an image on top of another image, I often spent quite a long time perfecting it as the right dimensions were needed in order for the image to make sense.
The images above and below show me cropping the exact proportions of the colour image to put on top of the black and white image. I found that different shapes and patterns were more effective, as well as lots of smaller ones rather than larger images.
Therefore, This is how I created my digipak. I enjoyed this experience, as I learnt many new things, and I am happy with the work that I produced.
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