Construction of the DigiPak

I repeated this process for all of the photographs used on the album/digipak.

 This is our original photograph which was taken on my iPhone 4S. We went to a place in Thamesmead which some of the music video was filmed as we felt that the effect in the background would be beneficial for the digipak.

If you watch the music video back, you will see the exact scene in the music video, where both the male and female characters are miming part of the song.  This relates and shows the consistency between both the video and this photograph.

Although we next edited the photograph, the background already gave off the beautiful effect we were looking for-even though it was freezing and windy!!!!!



Our next step was to upload the photograph to open it on iPhoto. This program allowed us to edit the effects. The effects we changed most were:

• Contrast
• Levels
• Saturation
• Sharpness

We also cropped the photograph as a whole into a square so that it fit the CD criteria we needed.


 


 By the time we edited the photograph on iPhoto, this is what the photogtraph ended up as. The background was still clearly visible and fit the scene we wanted. Charlie fit the scene more in the black and white saturation with the sharpness changed to give the edge we wanted.

We was not sure if we wanted Charlie to give eye contact to the camera or not, but we chose against it as we felt it shows more emotion this way, as him looking away could portray different feelings and emotions, explaining the CD as a whole, as if the user goes to look at the back cover, they will notice the names of the songs are not very happy.





We then opened the photograph in PhotoShop to add the text and finish the editing. We used the font "Georgia" to finish off the writing as we felt that it both stood out as we wanted, and gave the effect and edge we were looking for.

We kept to the colour scheme and house style, which was the text of use in both black and gray. This meant the consistency was relevant and related to the other digipak ancillary tasks we created, and of course, our music video.

 This is the process to how we got to our final version of our CD cover.

We created the same effect for each and every photograph on both our CD cover and music poster, by creating the same effects on iPhoto and adding the text or missing features on using PhotoShop.










Construction for Music Advertisement

 
 This is the original photograph we started off with. We felt this was most suitable for the music advertisement as not only is he giving eye contact to the camera, expressing emotions and feelings, but there is space for writing underneath his jacket.

This is because we needed to input information such as the dates, title of the artist and the album cover etc in order to advertise both the artist and their products.

 However, in order to make the consistency the same as the CD cover, the photograph needed to be edited.




 


Firstly, we began to edit the photograph and thought it would be better to add a effect to the poster rather than just leaving the photograph in a ordinary rectangle size. We used both the effects to change the shape of our photograph:

• Matte
• Edge Blur

We then moved on to change the adjustments. Alike the CD cover and pack. we edited the following:

• Levels
• Contrast
• Saturation
• Sharpness

This is what the finishing product looked like before we opened up PhotoShop and added the text that was necessary for a music advertisement poster.

We then needed to add things like text and photographs including the HMV logo, and album cover in order to make the advertisement look more professional and alike others currently in the music industry market.











We then opened PhotoShop up and added the text and features. Howver, we overcame problems and these incldued that we needed a background colour or rectangle in order to add text therwise we could only use one colour and this would not make the text stand out to others. By adding the black retangle it enabled us to use other coloured fonts and texts, but also to keep in with the colour scheme and house style in order to remain the constistancy throughout the ancillary tasks and relate to the final product of our music video.

Back Cover for CD digipak

This design shows the back of the case which the CD will be held in. This was quite simple to create as i opened Photo Shop and changed the opacity of the photograph so that I could see the plastic template as well as the photograph at the same time. I chose against placing another photograph of "Alex Lloyd" on the back cover for the CD as I feel that we have used too many photographs of him and as he is on the actual CD, it would not work. The photograph we have placed is the scene which is first shown on the video for "What we started" so the resemblance carries out. The colour scheme also fits this photograph as it is quite similar with a mix of grey, white and black.

Actual CD Design Digipak

This is our final version of our CD for "Alex Lloyd." As you can see from the research I performed below, I have used ideas and features I found on previous and existing CD's in the market to help give me an idea to what will fit in if sold at shops in retail. The use of colouring reflects the other designs I have previously created and so the house style relates through all the designs we have created for the album. The use of the track list means that even if the CD case is lost or broken, the fan or listener would still be able to listen to the CD. I am happy with the design as i feel the rest of the designs are consistent with each other.

CD design Research for Digipak

I then began to adapt and think of designs and ideas for the CD for our CD cover.

Looking at "Gotye's" CD for their album, the design is very creative and effect to the listeners and gives a sense of emotion and the feeling of losing someone. The design of the paint dribbling down in the red shows a lost sense of feeling and the feeling that the CD is about heartbreak or love. The colour scheme also reflects this but the use of the photograph of the artist on the right is a good idea as it shows the fans and listeners who it is that produced the CD and will still be able to tell if the CD case was lost. The use of the tracklist which is written on the CD is a good factor that we could think about adding to the CD as it involves the lister and tells them whats on the CD. This CD shares good ideas about what we could add to our CD for Alex Lloyd.

This CD above also represents and is similar to Gotye's CD above. This CD is produced by "Meatloaf" and has the same feautures and designn as Gotye. Looking at both, they also have a thin line of writing around the outside edge of the CD displaying small font writing that could talk about the copyright of the CD. However, after thinking about this, I feel it would be slightly too difficult to add to the CD. Seeing that both designs have the same ideas as what we would like to add, we feel that we are ready to start to design our CD cover.

Construction of Music Poster Advertisement Digipak

I then decided to get started on the music advertisement poster for the digipak. I started producing copies then came across problems. The first design I came across was:

To begin with, I designed the poster above for the music advertisements. I created the edge blur and the effects whilst using iPhoto on the Apple Mac, before opening the photograph on Photoshop. However, when I started to add the text and effects onto the photograph, I reliased that I could only use one colour font on the poster, and this was white. This was because no other colours would either show up at all or be able to be read on the poster. This caused me many problems as I found that other posters used one or more colours on the posters in order to make specific words stand out, and I felt that no words stood out in the above design for the advertisement. Because of this, I began to edit and modify this design to see what I can come up with.

I then went on to again refer to the poster created for Jessie J's album "Who You Are" and reliased that the producer and designer have put a black rectangle at the bottom of the photograph so that they can contrast the colours together and use more of a range of designs and colours. In conclusion, I brought this to the design for Alex Lloyd.

The poster above shows the new design I produced with the rectangle at the bottom of the page. I feel that the rectangle works well and allows me to contrast different colour texts to be used on the advertisement. I feel this advertisement is suitable for the final product as it represents and relates to the album cover with the same house style, effect on the photographs, the use of colours and finally the use of the fonts.
I then needed to add on the album cover as although the same house style and font/colours were used, and the final music advertisement looked like this:

We then tested out what the music advertisement would look like on a real advertisement so we played around with PhotoShop.

Back of Digipak

This shows the editting and the design of the back of our CD cover for our digipak.
This is our final design of the back of our digipak. It displays the use of colours and text perfectly.

Front of Digipak

This is the planning to the creation for our front cover of the digipak. We are showing proof of testing of the editting of the photograph, adjusting things like the contrast, saturation and brightness.
This is our final image of our album cover. We decided against adding our female character into the front cover as she is not the main artist and is only included in one of the songs on the album. The effects used bring out emotions and the saturation gives the feeling and emotion, and we have a corresponding house style.

Possible Digipak Photographs

Exsisting Examples of 4 Panel Digipaks

I have been research 4 panel digipaks in order to give me a idea to take back to our next media lesson to share with Emma for the designs of our digipak.

My first design I came accross was an album by "Nini+Ben" which are unknown to me, but have produced a design smiliar to our expectations for our CD when we go into making them. They have the same layout for the digipak we are looking for. The effect of them both on the CD and the cover gives a great effect as if the CD cover was lost and the user only found the CD, they would reliase and know where the CD is from without playing it. The same photograph that is on the CD is on the front cover, representing a house style and a consistancy running throughout the digipak. This is a good effect to have and one of the ideas both me and Emma were thinking of. The inside photograph shows both the singers and gives an insight to what the CD is going to be about; love and relationships which is exactly alike ours. The colour scheme shares a good consistancy and I feel that we should create our CD based upon this.

 

The second digipak I found online was the one on the left. These CD covers demonstrate the albums in different ways. The digipak placed at the back of the photograph to the left shows passsion and fire, whereas the "Fat Cat" CD simply shows the red colour scheme as love and passion. Both share a consistant house style and colour scheme throughout, with the images translating to the CD's themselves. Both myself have set our colour scheme as colourless to show pain and emotion, which translates throughout the digipak.

Both digipaks above shows both colour schemes, house sytyles, and consistancy between and throughut the CD, which are three of the key factors we are concentrating on. I am going to take these ideas and features on the CD covers and take them to show Emma for our next lesson before we begin the creation of the ancillary tasks.

Template for CD cover

I then took the time to design and create a CD template for our album cover. These are the designs an photographs I took of the completed template.

Ideas and Testers for CD cover

As a group, both myself and Emma decided what we wanted to have as our CD cover. This was a photograph of the man on with the girl in the photograph but with a changed opacity so that it tells the story of her maybe being there and breaking up etc.
Below, I have quickly created a design which could be one of the choices when thinking about the CD cover for our music video.

However, after researching other indie type music CD covers, we found that many of the bands did not actually have their band or characters from the music video on the front cover. This means we will be looking for photographs of either just "Alex Lloyd" or maybe a design for the front cover and then have photographs of him inside.

Day 9 of Filming

Day 9 of filming included a place in Thamesmead which backed onto the river. This was because we had left the timing too late and we desperately needed footage but due to school time hours, if we went up to London to film, this would have meant the weather would be too dark to film. This way, we traveled to Thamesmead and filmed some good footage!! We then went back to my house and began filming the ending-she was going to die. We researched the ending before performing it and watched a video "Jamie T-Sheila." In this video, it is spent with a male character walking and miming, and at the end he ends up putting flowers on the grave. This video was very simple and ours differed from this, but the ending was similar. We thought this was a good idea as it didn't give the storyline away about how she died, but made it clear that she did. Feedback from our rough cut said there was not a straight forward storyline, and I think we gave that story line for our final cut. We also filmed the "You know what we started" part on the wall at my house as I had a plain and large wall suitable for filming. The memorial part was filmed in my back garden.

Day 8 of Filming

Once we got our feedback from the rough cut, we reliased we really had to do some work in order to bring our music video up to the standard we want. We began by filming the female character in the house again, but tried new things and established a storyline. It was set-the ending had changed but we were mysterious as to unravel it to the class. We filmed all the females parts and were happy with the footage we got from this day.

Design for the Digipak

Next, I have created, designed and produced a outline made out of paper/card to show the basic model of the digipak.
Below shows a slideshow to show what the digipak consists of. This is a front cover, a inductory cover, a cover for the CD to be held, and finally the back of the cover. This means that we will need a number of photographs to choose from in order for our decision to be the best and most appropriate for the CD cover.

Day 7 of Filming

Monday 30th January 2012
Due to work commitments, I was unable to attend the filming. However, Emma and Charlie went to London to re-film some parts which were unsatisfactory. This included refilming the graffiti parts in South Bank to overcome the problems.

Day 6 Of Filming

Tuesday 24th January 2012
On Tuesday, myself, Emma and Charlie all went to London. We re-filmed the stair process at Crayford Station and went to London Oxford Street to film the rest.
PROBLEMS
When we looked at our footage from this day from a long and hard day of filming in London, we reliased that the filming from Southbank Skate park/Graffiti area, the footage was lost. This left us devastated as it meant we could not edit it into the music video as we hoped, as we would have to all try and find another day we could re-film this part.

Day 5 Of Filming

Wednesday 18th January 2012
On Thursday, we decided to re-film the bad memories from the park to ensure we filmed precisely and so it looked much better.