Digi pack - Final version

Here is my completed Digi-Pack, finally! after editing the photos on picaza and paint, I was fianlly able to produce the Four sided Digi pack that is promoting my album - Pixie Mix Broken Arrow.

[anaylsis to be blogged]

Further Digi-Pack Research

My "putting together" of my digi pack is taking rather longer than I thought, but I want to get it looking to the best quality it can and in order to do this, I need to edit the photos the best I can. My Sister was recently in a photo shoot and her friend who is studying graphic design at uni editing some of the photos and the contrast on them came out looking fantastic! This is the similar contrast I want to achieve on my photos of Elle as it will really make her stand out and the audience will get her attention on this album cover straight away.

Digi pack ideas...

I downloaded "paint pro plus" and was able to expand on my editing skills. The first photo I uplaoded is a balck and white shot of Elle. I changed the focus usign the "spot" tool. I hand drew (quite badly) a red pouted kiss shape and then in a swirly text I wrote "Pixie Mix - Broken Arrow". This was in a small black font so it was visible, but Elle was still the main focus.

The second photo is my favourite. It's shot of Elle standing against the big gate with a beautiful house in the background. I used the "spot" tool once again and this time I changed the focus so that Elle stood out much more then the background. I think this looks really effective and will make a great album cover. I hand drew "pixie mix" with the airbrush tool and used black as this stood out against the background. I used a baby pink and did "hearts" for the dots on the eyes as this gave it the little girly edge that Pixi lott would have. I then used a swirly font and wrote broken arrow in a smaller font.

The last photo I uploaded it the same as the first one but this times it's in colour. I then used the airbrush tool and hand drew pixie mixx as I did on the second photo.

These are all very basic ideas but I hope to put my final piece together over the weekend!

Digi pack attempt...

This is very VERY basic, but having not used photo shop before, I am struggling a lot! I uploaded a pohot of Elle which was a print screen from our music video. I then converted it to black and white, adjusted the contrasted and also added the album name and artist in a girly font. This is just a rough idea and over the weekend once I have got to grips with photshop I will look fowards to being able to producing all 4 sides to my digipack!

Digi-pack research

Going back to my original artist research, I remember I did some on the unique group called "The Streets" with it's main member Mike Skinner. I then went back and looked t my research and I remembered that a certain song of theirs "Never went to church", the video is all in black and white, just like ours is.



The Streets - Never Went To Church on MUZU.

I love this video because I think the black and white really portrays the emotion in this song about losing a loved one. There are some really nice scenic shots and close ups of Mike which I could also take into consideration when it comes down to designing my digipack. The close ups re really good and I love how his face is in contrast and the rest of the background is slightly out of focus. Here are a few print screens of my favourite shots from this video and have given me excellent inspiration for my digi-pack cover.

These two print screen I like because the mise en scene is excellent. I love the first image of Mike walking along a platform nearby to a river of some sort, with the beautiful mountain in the background. Obviously, when it comes to my digi-pack I need to keep my ideas realistic and that there are no mountains anywhere near I live! So, instead, I will focus on the river idea and perhaps get a photo of Elle walking long a bridge near the River Thames. The second image I really like because of the snow on the platform with the train pulling in. I love that the snow stands out in the black and white effect. However, because its February, the lack of snow is here so I will perhaps have a really unique image of Elle standing in the middle of train platform, perhaps smoking a cigarette, with the train pulling past her in the background.

These next two print screens were taken from the part of the video where Mike Skinner is sitting on the train. I love the image where is he looking out of the window and you can see his reflection on the window. This could be an option and if Elle is looking out of the window, it shows that she has a lot on her mind and this reflects with the title of the songs on her album. The second print screen is very relevant to our music video as he too, is looking at a Polaroid photo and looking back on a memory. I thought of another idea which I can do for my digi-pack is by taking a photo of someone holding Polaroid photo with a picture of Elle on it. This way, Elle is still included on the cover, but she is represented as a memory instead.

This screen shot is the favourite of all the ones I have taken from the video. I love it because it is both a scenic shot, but with Mike incorporated in to it in a clever way. I could perhaps take a picture similar to this, but use a car window for a reflection rather then the caravan/trailer shown in this shot.

The final print screen I have chosen is a close up of Mike's face. I really like this as the composition of the shot is perfect and within the headroom that is left, I will still be able to put in all the necessary details that re needed on a digi-pack such as the price, title etc. I also love the fact that in black and white, this shot will really capture the emotion in Elle's eyes and how she is feeling whilst singing the song "broken arrow".

Digi pack design Idea

Having completed some research into album covers and digi packs that are available, I am beginning to work on my own design fro what will be my digi-pack cover. I was thinking because we have chosen as a group to make our music video in black and white, for the front cover of the digi-pack I would like a shot of Elle against a background that will really make her stand out. I have taken a few print screens (which are in colour) which I will convert to black and white in photo shop of the sort of cover idea I am looking for. The printscreens I have included here are from "filming day 5 footage" where myself and Elle went and took some more close up shots, fter looking at the exam brief nd trying to ensure we had completed everything on the checklist in order to get the highest mrk and grade possible.

This is a shot of Elle against a brick wall. I love the composition of this shot and think when put in black and white it will look really effective. Also, I like the way Elle is looking directly towards the camera and this will bring the audience into buying the album more as it will catch their attention straight away.

This is another idea in which I can use. Rather then having Elle against a simple background, I may use this shot of her leaning against the white gate and looking down. I like the fact that she is looking down as this is showing the expression of how she is feeling in this album, as most of the songs are emotional and about love and feelings. I also like that Elle, the focus, is in the foreground and yet the background of the shot is slightly unfocused. This will look perfect in black and white for what I want on my digi-pack cover.


Of the three print screens, this is my favourite. When in black and white, the contrast of the white wall will really make Elle stand out. I also like how the rule of thirds is composed in this shot as there is space either side of her and also enough head room. In these spaces I will include the elements that re also included in a digi pack such as the bar code, album name/title with the artist's etc.

So, from my research I have decided that my image on the my digi-pack will definitely be black and white and will include an image of Elle with a certain background, being it a brick wall with great composition, or leaning against a gate, with a good background.

Font/Digi-pack Research

Myself and Elle are currently in the media room discussing different fonts to use for our digi-packs as well as possibly having 'Pixie Mix' at the opening of our song..

We googled Pixie Lotts actual font on her album cover but no luck, so we typed in 'scribble font and crayon font' and found a few to download. They're not the exact same as the original Pixie Lott, but nethertheless they look really good!

Unfortunatly 'blogger' will not let us upload these fonts onto a post!

Album cover analysis

For my digi-pack research and CD cover, I have decided to analysis two vary contrasting album covers, both of a pop genre, one is more stereotypically pop where as the other is classed more as indie pop. The covers I will be analysing are "the Kooks - Sway" and "Britney Spears - Circus" as both are very different and I think by doing this analysis, it will help m,e a great deal when it comes to designing my own cover.

CD digi-pack

Now that I had done some research into existing CD covers of my pop genre (see 9th January post) I need to define what a CD digi-pack actually is and how it is different from a normal CD cover.

So, What is a CD digi-pack?

- It is made from cardboard so is light weight, is shatter proof and allows great graphic display for any images that want to be used.

- It was originally used to package albums

- They make a bigger statement that what an average Cd cover does and represents the ultimate custom packaging for our CD cover project.

- It's more environmentally friendly than originally CD covers were.

- Rather then just having a front and back cover, it "folds out" into different panels which have different functions. Most commonly it is either 4, 6 or 8 panels.

- The front cover and back cover of the CD Digi-pack are different. The front cover usually has the artist's/band's name, illustrations and most commonly the logo of the artist/band is featured too. The back cover will have a track list which simply includes all the song titles that are featured on the album and some will perhaps include the name of the producer of this music or some form of management label/website address.

- When it comes to consumer use, in order for the customer to be attracted to the Digi-pack, they are placed frontwards on shelves. This way the buyers can see the bright front cover with the artist/band on and will be immediately attracted to it.

CD Digi-pack Research

With our chosen song Pixie lott - Like a Broken Arrow, we have to create a CD digipack to go alongside our music video. In order to achieve this successfully, I am having to undertake some background research on Cd covers and digipacks that are already existent in today's shops. I will look at some of a similar genre to ours which is "pop" and i will also research some that are of a different genre, to see what other contrasting images are used.

Christina Aguilera - Fighter

Although Christina hasn't been "On the scene" for a while now as she has recently had a baby, she has always been a key player within the pop industry. This album cover for her 2000 album "fighter" caught my eye immediately.

I love how the whole image on the front cover is just her eye itself. The lighting used has captured the brightness of her blue eye and makes it stand out. The "feather like" eye lashes also bring more attention to her eye, as they are long and take up a lot of space on the cover.

A co-ordinated font colour has been used to match the colour of her eye make up and edited skin tone. Also, a simple font as been used as the image on the front is already striking enough to attract the buyers interest. A more "fancier" font has been used for the title of the album. I like the way it has been used in a white colour as this stands our against her skin tone. This has made me realise that the image on the front doesn't have to be an image of the whole singer/artist and could just be a small part of them.

Katy Perry - Ur So Gay

This CD cover caught my eyes straight away when searching for a cd cover by Katy on google search engine. With the almost "drunk" photo of Katy placed amongst a blackened background, it immediately makes her stand out more due to her pale skin tone and bright retro glasses and hair accessories.

The colour and font of the writing is multi coloured, almost rainbow like as it fades into different colours. These bright colours match well with the accessories Katy is wearing in the picture and connotes this "retro" feel very well. Also, the font used looks rather 70's/80's and this is when the common "retro" period occurred.

I like how we can't really depict Katy's features at all on her face, yet by the image having her tongue sticking out, it creates this whole fantasy about her and that she is a fun pop star and has fun music to go along with her bubbly personality.

Lily Allen - LDN

Similar to Lily Allen's crazy personality and slightly weird lyrics within her music, is this rather "wacky" CD cover. Lily herself takes up most of the cover and is placed centered int he middle so when people are buying this CD, they know it is hers straight away.

The title for this single is called "London town" and the mise en scene in the background of this cover represents this title well. There is Big Ben and the London Eye in the far background and to the right of Lily is a typical red London bus in which you will find pretty much anywhere throughout the entire City of London.

Another thing I really particularly like about this CD cover is the fact that the dress Lily is wearing isn't real and has been animated on to her figure. With its striking white patterns and different fonts of "LDN" written across it, really stands out against the red colour of the dress. this has made me realise that costume is actually very important when it comes to making the front cover of a CD digi-pack.