Bath Bomb Experiment

For my CD cover and digipak, i decided to experiment more creatively with ideas and concepts. Due to my style being mostly abstract throughout my video, i knew i was able to broaden my horizons in terms of what i could use the CD cover and digipak as this would help to reflect the elements of abstract in my video. After previous usage of a bath bomb bought from lush, i decided to use the rest of my bath bomb and capture it in action, as it gives off a pastel pink burst of colours in different textures and shades and personally, i think it looks visually interesting and helps to reflect the indie/folk genre which is popular in using simplistic design methods which still appear to be powerful in their artistic qualities.

Conventions of Indie/alternative digipak designs

CD Sleeve Research

This is some album artwork from artists of similiar genres and some past artwork for The Naked and Famous themselves. I have found that they tend to be colourful yet simple, sticking with abstract styles and geometric shapes. Because of this simplicity, The artwork can be easily remembered. For example, the famous 'The XX' artwork of the Black X depicts an iridescent oil spill in the shape of an X, which covers the most of the front of the cover, it is minimalist yet is a good response to the unusual and artistic music style.

Still Shots from Music Video

For my digipak I decided to look at my video and screen shot anything which i could possibly use for my digipak. I decided that i wanted to include the forest on my digipak as this is the main setting of my video and creates the feeling that she is lost. I think the still shots which have the blue hue are the most appealing as they look more effective then the natural light shots, I also like she looks lost and she is looking around, and the forest is blurry behind her, which could reflect her state of mind.  

I like

 

 

Final Digipak Plan

Types of Digipaks

4 panel digipak:

If i were to use a 4 panel digipak i may be restricted in terms of being able to fit all of the information of the artist and CD onto the digipak. Ideally, i would like to be able to fit on the lyrics of all of the songs or selected songs, general information about the artist and CD, Track list, the disc tray and the front cover. However, this would be quicker and easier to manufacture and would not lead to overloading the space with too much information. although i would like the CD case to be informative, i also would like it to be simplistic and abstract in its design to reflect the artist, song choice and themes of the song, like 'The XX' and 'The Smiths' digipaks below.  



 

 

6 panel digipak:
If i chose the 6 panel digipak i would have to be more consistent in my house style and i would have to make sure everything matched, such as the fonts and graphics as there would be alot of space i would be working with. It would take longer to manufacture and i would be using more card. I like this digipak by Nirvana, as the graphic is very striking and is still highly symbolic and representative of their music today. I think it is important to establish a brands identity as well as the music as this helps the success of the music and to create merchandise.

 

 

8 Panel Digipak

Simiarily, If i were going to use the 8 panel digipak, i would be working with even more room. I would have to decide whether to use images to fill up the room or use information such as song lyrics. Ideally, i would like to use song lyrics but i wouldn't want any element of the digipak to overpower it as i want it to stay simple.

What is a digipak?

Digipaks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipaks 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 digipak that hold the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background. Digipaks were first created by MeadWestvaco. One of the most recent albums having an digipak only release on US is Teenage Dream by Katy Perry.

 

Digipak templates usually have six panels but can have four. The six panel template consists of; a CD tray, 2 inner panels, a back panel, a front panel and a fold in panel. An example of a typical digipak template is on the left. Some digipaks have 2 CD trays so that they can have a CD and DVD in it. At the moment I think that when I come to make my digipak that I will have 2 trays, these trays will hold the album CD and the video I have produced.

 

 

Promotion Package Briefs

 

Alongside my music promo video, i had to select two other briefs to create a promotion package for the release of an album. I decided to go with:

 

--a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
-a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)

Digipak Ideas

For my digipack I decided to get inspiration from similiar videos, my actual video and different artforms. I looked through my actual video and similiar videos and paused it on certain abstract parts. I decided to screen shot stills from the video to create abstract images to represent and promote my release, as my own video has abstract qualities to it and represents a montage of feelings.

I decided to experiment with some simple line drawings and illustrations i had put together and edited on photoshop. I like this idea represents the visual, abstract and unusual elements and the simplicity of my video. Because of the feminist qualities embedded in my video such as the dancing and the candles in the bath, i decided to use shades of pink.