Overview of 'Do's and Don't' of design work. - Planning

After looking at digipaks from other artisits I have come up with a list of 'Do's and Do nots'. 

- An important one is to always use a very clear and readable font in a distinctive colour from the rest of the digipak again so it is easily readable by the audience.

- The type of font is also vital for portraying the kind of artist you are trying to promote. For example the font used for the title of a rap artisit's digipak would be vastly different compared to that of a country artist.

- It is important to use an eye-catching front cover so that it can stand out among hundreds of other digipaks from other artists. The front cover is the selling point and a good cover will help to draw audiences in and to pick up the album.

- There must also be a consistent theme that spreads across the entire digipak.

- Almost all artists have at least one picture of themselves on their digipak either on the front or back cover so the audience can identify who they are.

- Do not distort the picture used on the digipak as this will make it look badly done.

- Do not make the digipak too cluttered either as this will give the viewer more of a headache then a curiosity about the artist. It also makes it look like it has been badly done.

- Do not forget to include the record label's name, copyright symbol and barcode on the bottom right side of the back panel of the digipak.

Short-list of fonts, colours, layout and design ideas.- Planning

    

                                                                                                                                                                     Font Panel 

For the front of my digipak I decided to use two shots of Hannah Marie our artist placed side by side and her name at the top of the cover in a distinctive font that it would be visible on a store shelf. I wanted the whole album to be vibrant and colourful with a vast colour range. I also wanted a border of black at the bottom and the top of the digipak that would frame the pictures and make the white font I would use for the title be very clear. 

Back Panel

On the back of my digipak I would place a simple medium shot of Hannah holding a guitar with the record company's name at the bottom right alongside the barcode for the CD. I will also place the song titles on either side of her face. The particular guitar in the picture I used because it was a brilliant mix of light and dark browns that contrasted with what she was wearing and the green of the tree behind her. 

Inside Panel 1

For the first inside panel I wanted to use another simple but distinctive picture with the clear blue sky in the background. I felt that it went well with the kind of artist Hannah is. I also liked how the light blue contrasts with the grey of the building along with how the dome is centred perfectly in the picture. 

Inside Panel 2

For my second inside panel I put together a montage of photos of faces that are in the music video of her single and the main song of her album.

Completed Advertisement - Production

This is the final edit of my advertisement.

Completed Digipak - Production

This is the final edit of my digipak.

Analysis of three digipaks

Florence + the Machine // Lungs
The front cover of this album is directly linked with the title of the album; "lungs" as there is a pair of lungs on her chest. The lungs are the focal point of the digipak. 

The numbers labelled on the back cover of the digipak is a number on the track listing. By doing this, it looks as if the audience is looking into the anatomy of the lungs and that in turn, it will relate to the song.
The lungs are a focal point across the her website, and other advertisements such as on the television and posters.
As the focal point of advertising was lungs, they could have just used a set of lungs instead of Florence and the lungs. By having Florence and the lungs, it helps the audience put a face to the music. From the name "Florence + the Machine" it sounds as if it would be a different type of music to what it actually is so by the use of font, and showing the artist it helps the audience identify the music style which is indie. 
There is a continuous colour scheme of a kind of grainy black and white. 

Marina & the Diamonds // The Family Jewels

These photos that they used focus on one of her assets, which is her hair. They use her hair because it is her prime asset the people could recognise her from her long flowing hair.
The tapestry background here works well with the title of the album "The Family Jewels". The tapestry thinking of old curtains that families would have.

The font is thick and bold, it looks like it's been painted which also adds a sense of personality to the cd.
They also edited her skin, she looks flawless and I'm sure in real life she isn't but to market her as perfect rather than inperfect because no one will want to look at huge spots and such. 

The backcover keeps with her hair, using her hair as somewhere to put the tracklisting. What is slightly unusual about the back cover of this is the barcode is in the top right corner, the copy right details are bunched in a corner instead of spread out at the end. But, there is nothing wrong with this. It just shows that not everything has to follow the convention.

MGMT // Oracular Spectacular 

This is a band and both members of the band are shown equally on the front cover. This shows that neither one is a more important than the other.

The clothes that they are wearing help suggest the type of music that it is that they make. Though not clear and it kind of looks like tribal music. Their music video that promotes this album, "Time To Pretend"  features the members in the same setting and wearing the same things in the first few frames. This helps the audience remember that they are both by the same people. The music video helps the album and the album helps the music video.

On the back cover again is in the same setting with them wearing the same clothes.
The font of the tracklisting is small, this could however be detrimental, but with the front cover being what it is, looking so interesting, the audience are bound to go to the cd and turn it over and see the tracklisting.

Digipak

I have had a lot of problems trying to make the digipak not seem dull and lifeless.
The initial idea was to have the same colour as in the background continued across to the back panel. However, this just looked dull and boring and as the background colour was beige, it looked like a sample paint for decorating walls with.
I wanted to bring the digipak to life so, I had the idea of having a starry background/nebula merged with the photo.
I plan on expanding this photo below and merging it with the other pictures that I am using.

I was finding difficulty using the image I had chosen in my draft digipak, as the image was a still from our video and the quality was very bad. Also, I was finding it difficult because from creating the practise digipak I remember that I had found it very difficult to find a colour that worked well with a textured background. Thus my plan was to have a background that was the same colour as the rest so that it would be easy to see the text. This is where I was finding difficulty in it becoming dull and lifeless.

Do's and don'ts

From seeing the adverts for other artists I have seen what works and what doesn't work.The following are the basic simple rules that should be applied:

• The use of clear font is important 
• Use befitting sizes for images and fonts.
• Use clear, in focused images.
• Use Photos that are an appropriate shape for the page.
• Use a layout that follows the rule of thirds. To be taken into account when taking the photos.
• When choosing the font, it should follow genre conventions and be clear from a distance. here you place the font. The font should follow genre conventions and be clear from a distance. 
• Follow the conventions of the three colour rule and use colour that is appropriate for images, font and background.
• Use appropriate industry logos and conventions, properly positioning the barcode, date, copyright, titles and artist names.

Things that shouldn't be done as it will result in the product not looking that good:

• Stretch images and distort the quality of the image.
• Use unnecessary effects that do not suit the genre
• Use a font just because you like it. What you may like, may not fit in with the target genre and therefore the target audience. 
• Have a different theme for every panel. Unless done properly, it would look messy and un-organised. Stick to a certain theme or colour scheme that can run throughout and tie everything together.