Creating our Digipak

Research I first started by creating a simple sketch of what I want the Digipak to look like. I used the template of a six panel Digipak and explored possible photos that I would take, or if I would use photos from the music video itself. I thought that the most important aspect of the Digipak would be the front cover. I wanted the front cover to be eye catching in order to attract the most attention from our desired audience. I therefore decided to research into successful album covers from artists in our genre of music.

The original cover for Cyndi Laupers 1983 track is an image that has been taken whilst filming the official video. Lauper appears to be dancing in the street with the same costume she wore at the beginning of the music video. I believe that this is an effective cover and I like the red font that represents a female colour. However, the title is not as clear as it could be. The producers have decided to focus the viewers attention on Lauper herself as her pose reflects the track list, as she appears free and unaware of others around her or what they think, as she is just focusing on having fun.

Lily Allens album covers for The Fear is relatively simple. However, although it lacks in complexity, it is still very effective in promoting her image. Her image comes across as fun and innocent, and you can see that she is proud to be promoting her album. Through her pose you can tell that she is enjoying herself and that is the message that comes across. I enjoyed the pose she created as, like Laupers cover, she comes across as care free and enjoyable in a much more subtle way.

I then researched into English musician Birdys album cover Live in London. The photo caught my eye as I immediately recognised the red London bus. The creators have also used a clear, white font in order to promote her product. They have done this as she is a young artist, who is not as well-known as other artists. I liked the setting of the cover and that the busy crowd around her are dressed in dark clothing, whilst she is wearing white which enables her to stand out from the crowd. However, although the location of the image is effective, I did not think that the pose she is displaying would be effective for our song. Birdy is known for her heart felt cover Skinny Love, and our song is much more light hearted and enjoyable. Therefore, although I liked the setting, I decided that I wanted our main character to perform a more entertaining pose.

Template

This is the Digipak template we have decided to use. It has a six panel layout with one disc tray. I believe it was crucial to have a template before creating our design because I could be able to be more creative when it came to deciding images, as I know how the template folds and how it would look overall.

Editing images

InstaEffect

SplitPic

InstaText

I took all the possible photos on my IPhone because I felt it would be easier to directly edit the photos from my phone. I downloaded three apps that would assist in making the photos stand out and become original. The first, Instaeffect enabled me to add a unique, colourful image to overlap our original image. This app was extremely useful as I was able to edit the picture so they had a colourful image that blended into the original photograph. The second app, Split Pic, enabled me to have one image, yet one half would be a different effect that the other. When deciding on the best image to use with this app, I thought about taking two photos of our main actors face, with one side in black and white and the other colourful and vibrant. Initially, I wanted Ambers facial expression to be dull and sombre on the right side, and fun and excitable on the left. As both images juxtapose each other, I wanted to make an even clearer contrast by creating a split pic that looks like one image of Ambers face yet it shows two sides to her character. Image inspiration This photo was on the popular page of the social networking site, Instagram. I thought it was extremely effective as it was eye catching and unique, something we wish to create.

Original Images

This is the image that I created by taking two photos of Ambers face, and combining them into one image. I wanted the photo on the right to look like she is looking at herself having fun, and that she is day dreaming about the times that could have been.

Edited Left Image

Firstly, I edited the left photo to achieve a warm and colourful vibe. I changed the background colour to softer beige as supposed to a sharp white, and I brightened Ambers skin and whitened her teeth and eyes, as the original image was taken in a darkly-lit room.

Edited Right Image

I changed the right image to black and white because I wanted it to represent sadness and jealousy. I also added a focus to be on her facial expression, and her hair and the background out of focus in order to draw the attention entirely on her face.

Final Edited Image

The final image did not come out as I had initially hoped. I was unable to move the two images so that it was one whole image of Ambers face and instead had to zoom into her facial expression to make sure that the two images were in alignment with one another.

After reviewing this image, we decided that it did not create the desired effect that we wanted to achieve. I asked some other media students and other people in the same age range that we are trying to appeal to, and they agreed that they did not understand the initial idea of one side being dull and unhappy, and the other care free and excitable. Therefore, we have decided to not use this image in our final Digipak design. In hindsight, I should have dressed Amber in smart, uniform clothing for the right image, and a colourful outfit in the left. I should have also taken the photo as a mid-shot and not a close up; as this picture does not reflect the image I was trying to create. After this trial and error attempt, I decided to take one photo of Ambers face, with only half her face in the frame. I then used this app to flip the image so it looked like a reflection. I then decided to test my original idea to have one side colourful and the other black and white. Original Image This image was taken on an underground train. Therefore, the lighting was not ideal. As a result, the photo is darker than we would have liked. Ambers eyes arent as defined and clear, and the background of the picture is quite distracting as a train is going past.

Edited Image I first started by editing the left image by whitening Ambers eyes and adding a focus to her face, so the background wasnt as distracting as the original image. I then added a softer effect to the image which made everything brighter and clearer. For the right image, I went through the same procedure as the first, yet instead of adding a softer effect, I made the photo black and white. Finally, I blurred the lines separating the two images in order to make them blend into one another.

Final Edited Image . I finished editing the image by moving the entire photo up, leaving a white space just at the foot of the image as supposed to the top and bottom. This enabled me to add my chosen lyrics from the song onto the image. Furthermore, I blended the under part of the image into the white strip, and finally added some shading to give an even more striking effect.

This image will be used for the Extra Panel of the Digipak because it isnt too effective as a front cover yet it is still a unique and prominent image that would set our Digipak apart.

Creating the Front Cover After researching into professional front covers, I had a clear idea of what I wanted ours to look like. I wanted a famous landmark in the background of the image, with Amber in front performing an excitable pose by raising her arms in the air and laughing. Therefore, when we went to London to film part of our video, I decided that the best landmark to be on the front cover would be Trafalgar Square. I believe that this was the most suitable area because it is creative and extremely identifiable.

Original Image This is the original image that we have used for our front cover. I wanted Amber to raise her arms as if she is singing and laughing along with the lyrics of the song. Although Amber is not as visible as I would have liked, through editing the image I was able to create a focus on her. I would have also of liked the flags at the top right of the photo to be more defined, so I eventually decided to crop them out of the image in order to keep the attention on our main actor.

Using the first app, InstaEffect, I decided to add a different colourful overlap image to the image: First Edit This was my first practise at using this app. I used our chosen image and added a subtle effect that made the picture brighter. I liked the rainbow effect at the bottom of the image also because it gave the photo a distinctive edge. By adding colour effects, we are able to respond to the fun feeling of the song and physically represent it on our final Digipak cover. Although this image was effective to our audience, we felt that it was a little too subtle for a front cover effect, as we want the cover to be memorable and exciting. Second Edit -

When I added this effect to the image I thought it was the least effective out of the four. It did not change the original image by making it brighter and instead detracted the attention from our main actor as supposed to highlighting her. The bright lights are also quite distracting and, as a result, it is obvious that the image has been edited. Whereas, I want the edit to blend into the image, so it looks like a still photo.

Third Edit -

This edit enabled me to swap the colours between the noticeable images. I decided that the darker colours, blue and pink, should be on either side of Amber and that the yellow, which almost created a spot light, should be the middle colour as it highlighted and brightened her face. This made it easier for the audience to read her facial expression, which is crucial because they are able to see that she is having fun. It is also effective in helping Ambers costume become more defined, which is the case because the background is slightly burred, yet the landmark is still noticeable.

Fourth Edit -

The final edit was the most striking of the choice. It includes bold colours such as bright pinks and yellows, with green and blue tints. This undoubtedly made the image stand out with a unique background colour edit that looks like Amber has created with her pose. However, I would have preferred that the centre of the colour mix have our main actor in the centre, as supposed to the landmark. Although this image was our second choice, we decided that it was too bold and, as a result, it detracted the attention away from Amber.

We decided to choose the Third Edit image for our cover photo because it rated the best amongst the people that we received feedback from. Although we liked the fourth edit, we decided that we wanted a more subtle image for the front cover. However, as we have to make six images in total, we will be able to experiment with this effect in more detail for another panel.

Finally, the third app, Insta Text, enabled me to apply text over my chosen image. I found this especially useful when it came to creating the cover image for our Digipak. I had already decided that I wanted the colour of the font to be a deep red, similar to the original Lauper image. This colour will not detract attention from the main image and red is predominantly known as a female colour, reflecting love and romance. I experimented with different fonts before adding the text to the image: Font 1 This font appealed to me because of the italic look to it. It seems feminine at first glance, which reflects the song and its content. However, the main flaw with this font is that it is hard to read due to the connection between letters being constant.

Font 2 I thought that this font seemed the most childlike of the choice; it also looks personal, as if someone has actually hand written it. Although this font may be used in another Digipak photo, I believed that it was too informal for a front cover.

Font 3

This font seemed the most modern out of the choice, and its design made it eye-catching. It is also very clear, as supposed to the first font which, if used, people may not be able to see the title from afar. We also liked the fact that the font is automatically presented in capital letters. This makes the design bold and distinctive.

I tested the three fonts on our chosen image:

I decided to add the font to the sides of the image, facing into each other. I did try to add the text to the image itself, but it was hard to decide where to place the text that didnt detract attention from the main photo. It was also hard to read the title and artists name if I placed the text over the image, because it has numerous different colours included in it. I therefore made the sides of the image white, which enabled me to be a lot more creative in choosing the font. We decided that we would have Font 3 as the chosen font for our front cover. I thought that this image was the most bold of the choices and it was unique, as no Microsoft word font was similar to it. Whereas, the others are easier to find and copy. The dark red colour of the texts was chosen to match Ambers costume, as well as being unique and striking to the viewer.

Creating the Back Cover

I wanted the back cover to be relatively simple, because I needed to add the correct information for the product. I wanted an image that reflected the ending of the video. Therefore, I decided to take a lone photo of a train leaving an underground station when the station was empty. This is to reinforce the idea that Amber and her friends have had a good day out, yet the day has ended as they are returning home. Possible Image 1

This image was taken at Bank station. I took it whilst the train stopped, so all the commuters had already entered the train. The bright colours presented in this photo reflect the bold atmosphere of the song and its content. Furthermore, I thought that the train itself is effective as it is a famous image represented with the idea of a British theme, along with the blue, red and white colours, which reflects the British flag. This enables us to portray our own British interpretation of the song, as supposed to the original.

Possible Image 2

This image was actually taken on our return home from London. A train had just left the station so the platform was clear of crowds. I tried to represent the perspective feeling to the image by taking a low angle shot that showed the dark tunnel. Final Edited Image Although we liked this shot, we didnt think it was as effective as the first at showing the audience that our actors have gone home after their day, because there isnt a train in the shot.

Final Edited Image -

We eventually decided to use Image 1 as the final photo for our back cover. I thought it was more interesting if an actual underground train was in the shot as supposed to just a dark, empty platform. I added a barcode to the lower left side of the image to create a more realistic effect. This makes the back cover look more professional as we can imagine how a real product is made. Furthermore, I added the title of the song and artist yet again to put emphasis on the product we are advertising. I used the same font as the front cover for the name of the song because I wanted it to be a running theme throughout the Digipak. I also used an italic, dark red font for Laupers name as I believed it assisted in helping the name stand out.

Creating the Inside Left Panel For this image, I decided to create a collage of our days filming in London, as it is our main location and a running theme throughout the video and Digipak. I used a fourth app to make this image, Frame Your Life. It enabled me to choose a layout for the collage and then add a selection of images in each space.

This is the final edited image for this panel. Firstly, I edited each image individually before combining them. This enabled me to go into greater detail with each photo. For example, the centre left image seemed more effective in black and white, because you are able to see Stephs and Ambers facial expressions more clearly. Finally, I created a shadow between each picture to let them flow into one another, which creates a smoother effect.

Creating the Inside Centre Panel For this image, I decided to have an extreme close up of Ambers mouth. I initially wanted to have a bold lipstick design such as the one below-

Although we liked this image, we felt that it was too overused in professional Digipaks so; instead, we decided to do something different. When we visited M&M world in Leicester Square, we thought that it would look effective if we bought a variety of coloured M&Ms, and take photos of the chocolates in our actors mouths.

Original Image-

We decided to take this image as it is unique and creative, which complies with the idea of fun that we are constantly trying to create. Furthermore, the bright yellow chocolate contrasts with the bright red of Ambers lipstick, which makes the entire image eye catching to the viewer. This original image was taken with our main camera, as supposed to the other Digipak photos, this made the picture be of better quality from the outset, and I as able to be even more creative with the editing of the final image.

Final Edited Image -

For the final image I decided to use the first app, InstaEffect, to add an overlapping colourful image to the original. I used the effect that I practised with the front cover, which was our second favourite of the choices. When I added this effect, it automatically made the image more vibrant and striking, which is what we are trying to create. After this, I added a focus to Ambers mouth, which enabled the yellow to become the most prominent image in the photo. By adding this focus, the rest of our actors face and clothing was blurred out, which assists in drawing the attention to her mouth.

Creating the Inside Right Panel Original Image We decided to use this image in our Digipak because it involves a lot of distinctive images. For instance, a red telephone box. This reinforces the British theme throughout our video and Digipak and enables us to appeal to a wider target audience, as audiences around the globe are able to relate to the images presented.

Left Edited Image By making the left image brighter I was able to draw all attention to the main part of the image, which is the red phone box. For the right side, I used a black and white effect to represent that Amber is too concerned about having fun, and the rest of the world is too traditional and dull. Final Edited Image

Right Edited Image

For the final image I decided to combine the first two images to create one whole photo. By making the right side of the image black and white, I was able to further brighten the red phone box, which is essentially the main image. Furthermore, the right side also assists in bringing out Ambers costume. This image can be used to represent either the idea that Amber is the only one having fun, whilst others are content going about their daily lives. Or it could represent the idea of past and present.