'Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion. Usually, the portion of the digipack that hold the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background.'
(http://musicians.about.com/od/ah/g/digipacksleeve.htm)
Other items that could go along with the digipack are promo packs. A promo pack is used for booking shows, looking for record deals and publishing deals and for gaining radio and television airtime. This links very well with the digipack as it gives information about the band and allows people to know where they can see the band. This is a good way of marketing as it can be seen by a wide range of fans and therefore the more people who hear about the band, the more likely they are to be successful.
I will now analyse two existing Digipacks from a band, here is the cover of the first digipack I will be looking at:
This is the CD cover for The Killers (released in 2006) called Sam's Town. On the cover we can see things that are associated with the country America. For example, to the right of the cover we see a women wearing a sashe which is what contestants get if they win a beauty pageants . Of course this is something that is closely related to the American culture.
Another element of American culture that we see on the cover is the goat. This symbolizes a group of people called 'hillbillies'. Hillbilly is a term referring to people who live in rural, mountainous areas of America. The term is used in celebration of their culture by mountain people themselves. The use of this image combined with the women wearing the sache creates a strong image of all things related to America.
The trailer used to create a back drop for the cover also gives a sense of American culture as this image represents 'trailer trash'. This is a derogatory term for poor white people. This goes hand in hand with the representation of the goat (hillbilly) as both these life styles are stereotypically seen as being a negative way of living.
All these images are used due to the title of the CD (Sam's Town). This title ref errs to an illustration called Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam is the national personification of America. This persona of uncle Sam fits perfectly with the chosen images as they all create a sense of culture.
Here is the back of the digipack:
Like the CD cover, this image is shot with the same back round to keep a running theme throughout. The band member on the left is wearing a sashe similar to that of the women on the cover. This again ties in with the American culture theme.
Also, it is important that the digipack shows a picture of the band so that it is easily recognizable and so that people know who the band are.
The black and white colour scheme that is continued throughout creates a retro feel to the digipack.
The facial expressions on each of the band members faces suggests that the music on the album maybe quite serious due to the fact that none of them are smiling.
This is another digipack cover for the band The Killers.
This is The Killers 3rd album called Day and Age. This cover has a mosaic look to it. It creates the impression of a relaxed vibe with the use of the big full moon and the tropical landscape. Maybe this reflects the vibe of the music on this album?
The title of this album 'Day and Age' also depicts and peaceful and tranquil image, which co-insides with the artwork on the cover.
It doesn't matter that we cannot see the band members on the front cover, as this would take away from the overall look of the cover, and the vibe it is trying to create. Just having the band name and album name allows us to focus on the image rather than anything else. However, it is still clear that this album is by The Killers.
The colours used on this album cover are very calming (with the use of purples and blues) which adds to the effect of a tranquil setting. It almost as if this album cover creates escapism for the listener.
For the back of this digipack, it's relatively the same as the front in respect to the back round image. We still see the tropical setting and night sky. There is not a lot going on in this image which could suggest a peaceful vibe. This helps to keep the viewers eyes attracted to the songs on the album, rather than the images used on the back of the digipack itself.
This back cover has a simplistic design because there is important information placed on it and therefore the viewer needs to know what everything says and by having just the back round image, this is very clear.
Flat plans:
I used the CCTV camera design as a continuous theme as it made the music digipack easily recognizable, even though it's a simple design.
For the front of the digipack i used a picture of a street with a CCTV camera on it. This again follows the theme but also relates to the music video as well.
On the inside panel where the CD will be placed, I designed a CCTV camera silhouette which relays a mysterious element to the overall feel of the digipack.
For the other inside panel, I was going to use an image of the band. However, I soon realized that this couldn't be done as the brief states you have to use images that you have taken yourself. So instead of using pictures of the band, I would have to come up with another idea.
For the back of the digipack, I used a picture of a brick wall as this again relates to the idea of being on the street and it therefore it gives people an understanding of what the music might be about. However, I will not leave the image of the brick wall as it is, I will add an effect to it (such as putting it in black and white) so it won't be as harsh and strong to look at.
For the inside of the digipack, I used an image of a CCTV camera as though you were looking straight into it. This is a bold image as gives the impression that you are being watched, just like a real CCTV camera might watch you when on the streets.
On the front cover, I thought it would be a good idea to use images of the band members as this type of front cover is very common and well known. Again I couldn't achieve this, as the brief clearly states I had to use my own images and therefore I had to use another idea. Although I could not use this idea, I could have done something similar by having the persona in the music video appear on the front cover.
I kept the inside page, where the CD would go, relatively simple by just having the name of the band along the top and the song title along the bottom.
I wanted to keep this flat plan design quite simple because using too many images and having too many things going on can distract you from what the digipack is about.
However, for the front of the digipack, i couldn't use the image of the band. Although we weren't allowed to use images from external sources (such as the Internet) I would use images from the persona in our music video to represent the band.
I still kept the idea of using the CCTV camera lens for the inside panel because I felt it was one of my better ideas and therefore look more appealing then anything else. Again, for the front of this digipack I used a similar idea to my first flat plan by having a picture of a suburban street as this clearly represents to music video by showing that the music has a rough edge to it.
For the back round of the section where the CD will be place, I used an 'establishing shot' styled image of what appears to be a city. This again depicts the mysterious feel to the music video as it's not clear as to what is going on in the picture. Also included on this section is the bands name down the left hand side and the album title down the other. I did this just to show what the CD included and also to alliterate further who the band are.
For the back of this flat plan I had the idea of using an image that looked similar the front cover as I felt this rounded of the digipack nicely. Even though this image isn't an exact replica of the image on the front, I think that it gives a good contrast of colours and is easy to see how to two covers are related.
Final Digipack Design:
To make the digipack I had to create it in Adobe InDesign. But before I did this I had to take pictures and upload them into PhotoShop so that they could be edited and improved. Below shows my digipack taking shape at each stage of the process:
Furthermore, the fonts I used for the making of my digipack were from the website dafont.com. This website contains a wide range of font styles and enabled me to pick a font that best suited the theme of the music, and also what looked the best.
Front of Digipack:
My reasons for choosing this image would be due to it's simplicity. Some digipack covers can have too many things going on at once and confuse the viewer, however the image I have chosen has one bold element to it to show that it's the main focus.
After picking the image I wanted for the front of my digipack, I then edited the image using Photoshop. The effect I used is called 'cutout'. This effect makes the brighter colours in the image stand out by allowing them to run creating a more dynamic picture.
I decided to use this effect because I felt it added to the sense of mystery and fits the vibe of the music very well. Even though the picture I chose only had one main focus, it's still a very striking image and clear as to what it is. However, the font type I will have to choose will be a vital aspect in making this front cover more appealing as their is hardly any imagery to distract the viewer.
This is my finished front cover design. My reason for choosing this particular font is that I needed something that would stand out and be eye-catching. I felt that by having just a standard font style would be too plain and not look very appealing. This font (along with the other fonts used on the digipack) is from the website dafont.com.
I chose to have 'Stars of CCTV' written in a different font as I wanted there to be some variety in the cover. I felt that if the two fonts matched, it would have been too similar and therefore boring to look at. As I described early, the font style was a very important aspect of the cover because there isn't much going on so by having a font that looked unique and tied in well with the overall theme was crucial. My reason for having a black back round was that I felt it was a good contrast to the orange and that it allowed the title and the image to be the main focus as it directed for attention to these objects.
Inside panels of digipack:
However, to make this image really stand out I edited it by making it brighter. Even though it is only a suttle difference between the finished image and the original, I think that it grabs the attention of the viewer more so.
I left the colour scheme the same (greys and blacks) because the rest of my digipack uses darker colours, apart from the splashes of orange on the front cover and on the back as this shows they are the most important pieces of the whole digipack.
For the inside panel where the CD will be placed, I used an image of whats looks like outskirts of a city. I created this look by adding the same effect that I gave the front cover (cutout) as I thought make the digipack flow better by creating similarities between each section of it. I also adding the effect of making it black and white. I did this because allong with the music video which will be shot in black and white, it creates a good resembilance between the two. I think this picture fits the theme well because like the front and back cover, you can see one particular part of the image that stands out the most (the lights which look like they are glowing).
Back Cover of Digipack:
Advert:
Once I had completed the digipack, I had to design an advert to promote it. This would also be done using Adobe InDesign as it would enable me to create an advert that was original and one that was relevant to the digipack itself. However before making the advert, I had to analyse two other adverts from existing bands / performers to identify the key features of them and to see what would make my advert different it's competitors. Here is the first advert I looked at:
talk about: how it represents the genre, how it attracts the target auidence and what the image suggests.
Advert Flat Plan designs:
For my first flat plan design I wanted to create a simplistic advert so that the information dispayed on it would be clear and easy to read. One way I achieved this was by having only one main image as the back round. I also incorporated the digipack cover onto my advert, to show what the advert was for and so it was clear what the product is. Like the two adverts I analysed, I used slogans which would give an insight as to how the media portray this band (Hard-Fi). For these slogans, I used the magazines from the target market as this is more appropriate and appealing to the auidence. The font style I will use will be the same as the one from the front cover of the digipack just to create more consistancy.
For my second design, I wanted to use the iconic image of the CCTV camera as my main focus as this plays an important part in the music video I have created. I placed the two CCTV camera images in the chosen positions because I felt it was a good composition as your eyes are drawn to what is in between them, therefore the first thing you notice will be the band name and what they are promoting. Like my previous flat plan, I have encorporated the digipack cover into this design because I found out it was a very popular thing to do and therefore is likely to be more successful.
For my final flat plan design, I wanted to create a cascading effect in the way that the writing fell across the page. This we the main focus for this design and for that reason most of the attention to detail will be with the font style, colour of writing and font size. Even though this design doesn't have any imagery, it's still eye catching due to it's simplicity. My reasons behind this design were that most of the adverts I have looked at have very simple designs but end up being the most eye-catching and therefore you are more likely to take notice of it.
This is the image I will use for my advert .My reason for choosing this would be that it fits well with the overall theme of the music and that it has good elements to it. For example, in the fore ground there is a strong image of the light (right hand side), and in the back round the strip of the town creates a nice contrast to this. Another reason why I think this image would work well for my advert is that it's easy to make the link between this and the other images used on my digipack.
This is my completed advert to promote the digipack. Looking at both the previous adverts, I feel I have created an avert that represenst my chosen genre well and that it is easy to identify why genre it is aimed at.
Following the theme continued on my digipack, I gave the main imagery on the advert the same effect (cutout) to show a link between the two. I also kept the font styles for the same reason. Some insperation I got from the looking at other existing adverts was to include the cover of my digipack people would then know what the advert was for. It also shows a good comparison between the two.