Initial Advert Ideas

After i finished my music video and before i started my digipak and advert research i took images from my music video to use on my advert. The images were blurry and they didn't look like they were a advert promoting an album. I scrapped them and decided it was probably best to start by creating the digipak and then move onto the advert.

Back of the Album

I decided the back of the digipak should have the same background as the front because i wanted the album to flow and have the same themes throughout. I then had to collect the necessary components to put on the back which included:
Tracklist
Barcode
An image which related to digipak
Record label 
I found this out through my research of different posters.

I then decided to creating the tracklist & started by looking at the artist existing songs.

I decided to use the 2 song titles highlighted in red as i felt they fit in with my album.

 &  

I changed the other 2 names highlighted in Pink slightly.

From 'Red Paper Wrapping' to 'Paper Wrapping' - this was done as i felt it wasn't necessary to have the colour but also i think it sounds better without it.

From 'Final Bow' to 'Final Blow' - I changed this as most her songs are about heartbreak i felt final blow fitted better with album but also had a better ring to it.

I had 5 songs altogether so far:

It Is

Paper Wrapping

Final Blow

Across the Sea 

If Only (music video name)

I decided I would have 10 songs on my tracklist as it's clear from my research mainstream artist have maximum of 16 songs. This is because new/unknown artist tend to have less songs on there albums (around 4-10 tracks) then big time artist. As my artist is widely unknown which is why i have chosen a maximum of 10 songs. 
2 Examples of new/widely unknown artist tracklists:

I needed to come up with another 5 names and decided i would make them up but had to make sure they fitted with the album theme. 

Below is what i came up with:

As it's written (was one of my initial album ideas)

Already Gone (was one of Kaity Rae songs on Soundcloud)

White Knight (based on Taylor Swift-White Horse)

Lipstick Stain (related album title & was one of my initial ideas)

In the beginning (song is the beginning of her love story the happier times, before the heartbreak)

Once i had my tracklist I then needed to decide on a record label. I decided to use the same record label as one of my artist which i analysed. I chose Ed Sheeran as he is extremely popular at the moment and he is signed under Atlantic Record Label. I  went onto there site to see what other artist were signed to them and found a few other singer/songwriters highlighted below.

I then google image searched for there logo and decided i would use it on my digipak & Album Advert. I also google image search a barcode and took an image from there to also put on my digipak.

Once the tracklist was decided i then put a black background on the back of the digipak and typed in the tracklist. I then changed the font so it was the same one i used for my artist name. I decided that it should have the same 3D effect as the 'Lyric Book' did and the same colours should be used, this is so there is clear distinction between the artist name and the other text within my digipak. I made sure the leave space at the bottom so that i could place my barcode in the bottom left hand corner and the record label and space on the right hand side for an image.

I place the writing on the left side of the album but thought this looked a bit plain so i decided to add in numbers. This is still following convention as it's clear from my research that other digipaks also did this. I decided that the numbers font should be same font as the rest of the writing on the digipak but red in colour so it stand out from the tracklist. 

After looking at it i felt there needed to be a barrier between the numbers and the tracklist so i place a white line between them and was happy with the way it turned out. Once i was pleased with the tracklist i then place the barcode & record label accordingly. 

I then had to decide what image to put on the back and since i had an acoustic guitar featured inside i thought i would have one on the back so this was a constant theme. I used an image of my guitar and got rid the the background and used the rubber tool to get rid of excess and then manipulated it onto the digipak.

After looking at the guitar i decided i needed to put the album name on it as i did this on the 'Lyric Book'. I would make the album cover have better synergy as the common theme of the lipstick kiss with the 'xx' appearing on the guitar will be apparent to the audience making them recognises this as part of the artist brand identity. 

The image below was my final complete digipak back.

Feedback on Digipak so far

Feedback given by Teacher

CD & Lyric Book

I decided to start with the CD as i had the perfect image in mind to use on it.

Once i put it onto Photoshop and place it in the right position i decided to look at filter to see if they might add/ improve the image. The cd looked good but i felt lacked & needed stand out more and hoped at looking at different filter might help.

After i found a filter i was most happy with i applied it and was ecstatic with the out come. The cd looked really good and all that was left to do was make the grey cd more transparent.

 

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To do the lyric book i first chose one of the images from my photo shoot with my guitar.

I decided to chose the image below as i really liked it and the way the guitar looks like it

has been abandoned on the sofa. The colours also give it a homely warm

feel but also natural with the wood of the sofa and green pillows.

Once i put it the image onto Photoshop i then thought it would be a good idea to put the album name on the guitar. This would make the name more memorable if it was featured throughout the digipak. I dragged the image from the album cover and place it in the album insert, then i made the image smaller and rotated it look like it belonged on the guitar. After i was happy with the album name placement i then had to put the text 'Lyric Book' on it. I wasn't sure if it should be Red or White so i tested. I couldn't use black as it wouldn't stand out therefore it had to be one of my other colours, red or white.

 After looking at the plain white i didn't even look at the red because i decided that the title needed more depth to it and i wanted it to be 3D. I still wanted to use the red and white colours but i now had to decide whether the white would go on top with a red shadow or if the red would be on top with a white shadow.

After looking at both i decided the white colour looked better on top as it made the writing more clear and easier to read. The underling red is subtle but noticeable giving it a 3D look making the writing eye catching. 

I was happy with my image but it didn't match the CD as that had a filter on it so i decided to see how the filter would look on this image. Once applied the filter looked really nice and i was happy as there was now more consistency to the inside of the digipak.

Album Cover - Placing Artist Name

I used the Text tool to put the text on the album cover and moved it so her first name 'Kaity' was on top of her last name 'Rae" but also so they connected as it made the name look more unique then just being next to one another. This makes her name stand out more to the audience as her name is part of her brand identity because the public will remember the style in which her name is as its not common but different and unique. Once i had the text positioned i then changed the size making it bigger & its angle.

Typography

After doing the rough cut for my album cover i then had to decide on the artist name typography. This was important as the text has to be clear so that the audience can read it but at the same time has to stand out and look different from a simple Arial text. It's important that the same font used for my artist name is also used on the other text with the album. This is so the album is consistent and makes the audience relate that font to the artist. 

I started by going onto Powerpoint and typing the artist name into a text box. I then looked at many different fonts but chose 3 of my favourites (below).

  Font 1  

I loved how big the first letter and how fancy it looked but i was looking for a more personal feel to the artist name. The font below almost looks like writing that would be used on wedding invites which is why i decide not to use this particular font.

  Font 2  

I liked how the font looks handwritten and gives a more personal authentic feel to it. This font is closer to what i was looking for. I wanted it to look like the artist had signed her name on the album. I decided not to use this font has i don't like how the K&R weren't connected to the rest of the writing but i also didn't like the look of the letters.

  Font 3  

I chose the last font as it was perfect for my artist. The font is clear and all the letters are connected making it look like it's handwritten. It's boldness makes it stand out but more importantly i could imagine the way it would look on the cover. Keeping in mind that i had to use this font on the rest of the album i thought i was simple but recognisable. This would mean that the audience would be able to recognise this font as part of the artist brand identity.

Development of Album Cover - Image 3

I looked back on my planning moodboard and really liked the kiss mark the image below so i decided i would this image as my album name.  

I then got rid of the background and placed the kiss mark in the left corner.

After doing this i decided my colour scheme would be Black-Red-White as the white or red writing would stand out against the black. The colour scheme represents the different range of music this artist makes. Black colour represents the heartbroken melancholic side to the artist music, red represents love/desire/passion and also danger of love which is conveyed in the artist lyrics of her songs and the white represents the light, hope of new love in the artist music. 

As all the colours blend well together they will look ascetically pleasing when put together. They are also bold colours which will catch the audience eye when competing against other albums. Now that i have the base of my album i need to do the artist name Typography as i have learnt this is also important part of the artist brand identity. 

Initial Album Cover Experiments - Image 3

I selected another image (image 3) and used the quick selection tool to get rid of the background. I chose this image as her face expression holds more emotions and the angle is almost like she is looking up at the audience. The artist is participating in direct mode of address as I found it make the album feel more personal and grabs the audience attention.

Once I got rid of the background I had to edit the image before I could tested the image on different backgrounds. I used the rubber tool to slim down the hair and get rid of excess background.

Before i tested backgrounds i wanted to see the different filters and how they would look on the artist image. After looking at the filters i decided i wouldn't use them on the image of the artist as i think a more natural look would be best. 

 

After testing I then was finally able to test the image on different backgrounds. 

After looking at it with different backgrounds I decided that the image was perfect for the album cover and decided that this is the image i will be using. Despite being happy with the artist image i felt the flower backgrounds looked too busy and would take away from the artist name/album name and even the image of the artist. I liked the piano background with music notes however felt they were too busy as well and they didn't really look like a album cover.

Non of the backgrounds I chose fit what i was looking for however i really like the cover below but felt it didn't fit the singer/songwriter genre but more the pop genre.

I decided to use the plain black background would be best to use as it if simple and effective and won't take away from the image of the artist, the artist name or the album title. By doing this background test it helped me realise the simpler the better and this is reflected in my research and singer/songwriter genre as they all use simple strong colours. I still really liked the idea of the lipstick stain and by looking back on my research on Ed Sheeran using symbols i decided i would use a lipstick stain as the name of my album cover. This way the audience would associate lipstick stain with the artist and make her album more memorable. 

Inital Album Cover Experiments - Image 2

While creating the framed album & then scrapping it I had chosen another image (image 2)
below and manipulated it's colour but also into different backgrounds on different themes. After looking at the images I thought the image looked too much like a profile picture that one might put on Facebook. I felt that the image was lacking in emotion and had no substance to it so I went back to my original images to see what other ones I had.

Initial Album Cover Experiments - Image 0&1

After taking my original images & doing my initial planning I then had to chose an image. I first picked out the image below (image 0) however felt it had a more rock look and didn't fit with the artist genre and her music.

I then chose the image below (image 1) and decided it might be good for one of my initial album ideas 'Framed' so I set about creating it however I still wanted other options and looked at other images that may suit the other themes.

While looking at other images I set about trying to make the 'Framed' album cover. I wanted to change the image to look like it had been drawn so I looked at different filters. I didn't want a filter that would change the image completely but make it look like it belonged in a frame. 

 Once I chose the filter I felt looked the best I then took the my artist image and manipulated it into a frame. I then put text of the album name going down the side of the cover. After looking at this image (below) I felt the album cover had more of a pop feel and didn't seem similar to any of the digipaks I looked at. This idea was then scraped so I could pursue other options.