Final Digipack Draft:

This is our final draft, with 4 panels and spines included…

Self Assessment:

Front cover:

Overall, I like how our digipack front cover turned out. I like the natural, earthy colours. They’re soft tones and shades that complement each other. The tree/ forest background supports our band’s environmental values and ideologies. It’s also convenient for our genre. We made the trees slightly blurred, to focus on the sharp lines of the filmstrip. The film strip is eye-catching and unique. The faded sides make it look more realistic. I think the colour edits we made look effective. The black and white are subtle. It focuses the audience on the coloured parts of the image (band members or their instruments). We made sure to give the members equal attention and representation, by giving each member a photo focused on them. The typeface we used is sans-serif. This is another generic convention. The band’s name is bolder and more of a serif font. This is to suggest the importance of the band. It clearly shows their fans whose album it is. The hearts are a relevant touch. They hint at our music video and merch illustrations. Whilst also presenting our digipack with a hint of pop.

Double-page spread:

We decided to add more colour to our double-page spread. We chose to add a mixed gradient for the background. This matches the lighting of the lighthouse. The sunset idea is a common idea used by other bands of our genre. The bright red represents love, romance, and passion. We have used the colour red throughout our other media products too. Then the darker cyan is a similar tone to the green on our front and back covers backgrounds. It resembles the sea/ ground. The colours are also contrasting, and grab the audience’s attention. Then we designed the lighthouse in adobe photoshop, then illustrator. We went for a realistic silhouette. This supports the cartoon ideas we’ve included throughout our projects. We added a light beam coming out of the lighthouse. We used a gradual gradient (in a triangular shape), with faded edges. To create a realistic illustration. The sides of the light beam frame the outside rim of the CD’s placement. We added the lyrics, on top of the lighthouse, from the band’s main track. By curving the text, it suggests that it is wrapped around the lighthouse. This is a way of making the drawings look 3D. This is also a reference to our music video (of the single’s music) which was partly set at a lighthouse. I like that our products are all coherent and match.

Back cover:

For the back covers background, we used the same idea, colours, and trees as used on the front cover. This kept our digipacks theme going throughout. It also means that our albums are recognisable from the front or back. Which makes it easier and quicker for fans to pick up, from stores. We include the same filmstrip feature, with the same coloured effects added. This is because it’s aesthetically pleasing. However, we only did the middle pictures of the band in colour, instead of individual members across the strips. This helped bring the focus back onto the band’s brotherhood and friendship. Which is shown throughout the various shots of them together. These filmstrips are a common, fun way, many friendship groups use to capture the memories they are making. Therefore, it conveys our stars as ordinary. They are dressed smart-casual in all the photos taken, as is conventional for indie-folk bands. We used the same typeface for the titles on the spine, as used on the band names title. Instead of having photos for each section of the filmstrips, we used 4 alternative squares to display four different track titles. The font for these track titles is sans-serif, so they were legible/ clear. We decided to include tildes (~) at the start and end of each title. This is the same as the album’s name, on the front cover. Finally, we included copyright information, a bar code, and a record label logo. These were key elements required for a digipack. These conventions make our digipack look professional.

Reflection:

To summarize, our digipack publicises and conveys our bands star image. It represents how we wanted to portray them and their ideologies/ personalities. We planned out each aspect and feature involved to construct our desired effect. We wanted their fans to see them as down-to-earth, role models, and most importantly a group of good friends that are hopeless romantics.

Digipack Draft 3:

This is the third draft of our digipack in a CD case…

Peer Feedback:

This is the peer feedback sheet we did as a class. We got another media class to guess what genre our band is, based on our digipack. We are very happy with the results, as our band is primarily folk with an indie/ pop twist. So this feedback is very helpful and lets us know that are generic conventions are fitting.

Targets for Improvement:

• We will adjust the hearts, in the title, so that they don’t have a white border/ background (as this wasn’t intended to be there).
• We will change the fonts of the subtitles, and song track titles. We will aim to stay conventional in our genre.
• We also need to edit our photographs. We will follow our teacher’s feedback and colour-correct them whilst also cropping out the unwanted areas, in the backgrounds. This will make them more fitting and coherent. Overall, we want to make the images fit the filmstrip aesthetic and look different from a basic studio shoot.
• We would also like to change the lighthouse, to make it more realistic. We will add windows to the top where the light shines out. This way it will make more sense. We’re going to make the light ray bigger to fully fill the circle (where the CD will go).
• I am going to change the gradient background so that the colours match the theme better.
• Finally, we need to include a barcode, record label, and copyright information on the back panel.

Focus Forward:

I think that this draft is better than our second. It has more generic conventions and is more fitting. It makes the genre of our band’s album more responsible- which is good for attracting new indie-folk fans. I think that adding a green background makes it more eye-catching and less bleak than the white one. I also think that the heart might’ve been too much. So our covers now have a good balance. The fonts are now closer to what we want. We also filled in our track names now. I believe that the film strips now look more realistic and detailed, by us decreasing the size of the gaps between each photograph. By reflecting on this new draft, we can see what improvements have been effective and what we still haven’t done. It helps us plan ahead.

Digipack Draft 2:

This is the second draft of our digipack, including the spines…

Teachers Screencastify:

This is our teacher’s screencasting that has given us some verbal feedback. He has suggested we edit the photographs’ colourings and backgrounds. So the backgrounds are plain and the lightings all match each other. He also suggested we change the title and subtitle, to something more conventional. He also suggested that we change the position of the light (coming from the lighthouse). This is so that the light shines upon the outside rim of the CD.

Targets for improvements:

We watched the screencasting as a group and decided what we want to change/ edit together.

• We will look at other options for the title and subtitles. In particular, we might change the main title to a sans-serif font so it fits our genre. Or we might add some hearts to the “o” or “I” to match one of our original ideas.
• We really want to edit the photos, used in the filmstrips. We want to do some simple colour correcting so that each image has a similar tone and lighting. We also want to erase or select and mask our stars from the backgrounds. This will make the images look cleaner, without any distracting objects in the backgrounds. This will make our digipack covers look more professional.
• We will plan out where our CD will be going by placing a circle in the middle of the 3rd-panel frame. This will helps us whilst editing. Specifically, so we can line the top and bottom lines of the light rays with the outlines of the CD.
• We also want to look into adding a different background to our front and back covers. We think it might look too plain and could cause our genre to be confused with pop.

Digipack Draft 1:

This is the first draft of our front and back panes/ covers for our digipack…

Self Assessment (marking):

Our self-assessment is based on; how well we used the camera to take images, what we were able to edit/ manipulate in photoshop,  if we used appropriate images and typefaces, and finally what mise-en-scene we used. We need to do all these things to assure the meaning we want to communicate, is conveyed.

I think that the first draft is just that, a first draft… It is missing some key elements but it has the layout we wanted. We have mapped out most of the placements. For the barcode, copyright information, and record label logo, we have discussed where these could go. We have a good idea of what we want to achieve.  We also haven’t chosen the colours and typefaces yet. We need to finalise what song titles we want, from our list of ideas. I like the overall aesthetic of the covers, and I think they fit the genre (it includes the typical technical features).

Targets for improvement:

• Add the key conventions necessary for a digipak,
• Add something more quirky, like some cartoon hearts or speech bubbles (similar to how we added cartoon-like things to our music video),
• Change the text typefaces to be more aesthetic and fit our theme/ genre,
• Include a range of shot types in the images,
• Add something to the background or the filmstrips to make it less plain,
• Colour correct the images (and give them the same lighting or theme),
• Fill in the rest of the song titles,

Evaluation of shoot or graphic design:

These are the best images…

Reflection:

This slideshow of our best photographs is from our white studio shoot. We only picked photos with the whole band in, so that they all get equal representation. We wanted the images of them holding some instruments. As this is a typical convention for indie-folk bands and explains that it’s their music/ them playing. We chose the 6 best photos, out of over 300 images. Even Though we haven’t used the single shots, we made sure to follow our shot list ideas, in case we needed them. By having two of us photograph on different cameras, we got different lighting and angles. So, as a group, two of us worked the cameras, and one did the directing/ lighting set-up. We agreed that most of the shots for our front cover should have all 3 band members in it. We might include some two shots, as long as it’s not all the same members. Our aim is to advertise all band members as a group/ equals. I think our photoshoot was successful, we gained a good range of images, that we will be able to use.

Contact Sheet or Graphics/illustrations Drafts Ideas:

These are our contact sheets from our shoot in the white studio…

Reflection:

We managed to get a good amount of photos, which means we have more options to choose from. Some of our images are overexposed due to the flash and camera settings. Whereas, we also have some shots that are black or too dark. Luckily, most of our shots have good lighting, and the white studio is a good place to plan and implement/ manipulate how our results turned out. We took a range of closer, longer, and angled shots. We also took some of the band together, then each as an individual. We also took a few two shots. Some of the photos did not have any props so we had the option to use propless photos if we wanted to.

Focus Forward:

The majority of our photos are serious. Which we wanted, but we do want to add a sense of humor/ quirkiness. So we will plan to do this in editing. We will add some more cartoon-like effects. We many also add a filter (like pop art) or change the colours.

Digipack Mockup:

This is our very quick digipack mockup…

Explanation:

For our covers, we had a selection of different ideas. For the mockup front cover, we chose our best, most thought-out idea. Our stars will be dressed smart-casual, looking pleased. We might also have them pose with their instruments for some shots (which isn’t shown in this example). This will display the key meaning that they are hopeless romantics, happy to be experiencing love. We went for this type of appearance because it’s similar to our research on similar bands’ CD covers. The colours are the same and the mise-en-scene connects to our genre. We placed the title of our band’s name, then the album’s name, in the middle of the composition. This is a common convention. We added a small heart, instead of a dot, for the ‘i’ in ‘romantics’. This is another hint at the album’s theme. The name of our album is “lighthouse state of mind” which is a reference to a possible cover location shot, the lighthouse in our music video, and the idea that he wants to be alone with his lover. We think that a lighthouse is a romantic scene (particularly for a date).

Our back cover idea is that we involve the heart sunglasses. These are great props. They’re quirky and add a sense of humour to the love story/ stories. They will be faced with looking out to sea. Like the sight, you can see over the railings at the lighthouse. The back idea is simple, like most indie-folk covers. The colours are soft and neutral for the background, with bright red glasses to add contrast. We think our back cover has a good balance of details and doesn’t look under or overwhelming. It fits the narrative as well as our other front cover design. We involved the crucial aspects for a back cover; a barcode, a record label logo, copyright regulations and some placeholder text for our track titles. We decided the song names would look cool in the lens of the sunglasses (especially since they’re black and would make the text easily legible).

We briefly discussed some ideas for the inside of our CD. We thought we could do a close-up guitar, and spread the landscape across the two pages. We would have it from the strings to the hole of the guitar. This would link to our band’s musical skills since two of them are guitarists.

Possible track title ideas:

• Romance never dies
• Endlessly in love
• Hooked 
• Hung up
• Dandelion Dreamer
• Lighthouse state of mind
• Stuck on this feeling
• Lost in your eyes
• Meet under the moonlight
• Falling
• Sweet torture 
• Otherside of the door

Focus Forward:

This has been a really useful way for us to plan and share our ideas for our digipak front cover, as a group. We were able to get photos, composition and text ideas. We used some images from Google as inspiration. That we will create ourselves for the real thing. The overall meaning of doing this helps us understand how we will portray our stars, to fit our genre. It has helped us plan what we need to do next, and who is involved. We will make sure to stick to the typical formal and general conventions, however, we may change some of the ideas we’ve produced. As this was a rough, quick idea and we may get better ones as we make it.

Digipak Conventions Analysis:

This is the slideshow of my digital conventions analysis…

Reflection:

In this slideshow, I individually looked at a professional album’s front and back cover. I wrote about the conventions they use to achieve an effective digipack. A good album cover should include a; masthead, album title, star, image/ artwork, tracklist, bar code, credits (including record label), and copyright information. I captioned each technical convention I could see, and then explained what it achieves. I mentioned the meanings of each aspect and what it suggests to the audience. The most important features are the conventional ones, like portraying the neat, clean, and classical aesthetic typically used by folk bands.

Focus Forward:

This slideshow has helped me figure out what the key conventions of an album cover are. Which will be extremely useful when we create our own. I also know what effect each element has on making a professional piece of work.  As a group, we tried to look at different examples of artists’ album covers (within our bands’ genre). The more key conventions we have the better the album will be. We may also add some generic conventions; which are for specific genres (unlike formal ones). I now know what will heavily contribute to and adapt our digipack to make it better.

The Look Book – The Package:

This is the padlet lookbook my group created…

Reflection:

This is our moodboard of the looks, fonts, styles, charities, social media pages, digipacks, etc… that are relevant to our genre and main character stars. It includes at least 20 photos and captions on the relevant information/ ideas revolving our digipack. We made this as a group and summarized why we added the pictures we did. We looked at what these components had in common with our theme and music video.  We looked at the same locations and typefaces that the other album covers used.

Focus Forward:

This padlet moodboard gave us a better understanding of our band as artists of an album, not just the song from our music video. To be able to add the connotations to our images, we needed to research our genre of music. This is good because it gives us more information on what we need to achieve to make it look realistic and professional. By thinking about our audience we were able to imagine how they will perceive our work/ artists. Overall, looking at these inspirations has shown us how to approach the design of our Digipak/ Social Media Page. If I needed to make another music video, I would make another lookbook of some type because it helps display what we need to achieve visually.

Our Mission Statement – The Package Brand:

This is our google slideshow on our mission statement and package branding…

Reflection:

We looked at our target audience, call to action, who the competition is, unique selling point, and mission statement. We used the website YouGov to get research a band similar to ours. This helped us confirm who our target audience is. We also spoke about different brands that would advertise or sell our artist’s music. We found out that most indie-folk bands have similar conventions in their album covers. Their social media pages also have a lot in common (looks-wise). Our unique selling point is mainly the story between our main characters, and how we use mise-en-scene to portray it. We listed a group of names to choose from so we have more options. It will save us time, instead of trying to plan out album/ band/ song names, when we get to creating the album covers.

Focus Forward:

So after doing this slideshow, we now have more knowledge of what we want to produce and achieve. It’s helped us understand what some professional indie-folk bands make and sell. We will use the bands, we mentioned in this google slides, for our padlet lookbook. This blog post will also help us explain how the elements in our production work together to create a sense of branding. Our mission statement will be used to refer back to when we create some of our social media posts. It also informs our decision-making process and provides clarity of our groups’ thoughts for our digipack. Overall, this research will make our digipack more fitting for our target audience.