Evaluation Question 1

Making the CD holder for my digipak

Making the CD holder for my digipak

The CD holder is for where the CD will be placed. Whilst the CD is in the case, the background will not be visible, so this is maybe the least important side of the digipak. I decided to go for a simple design, and only use 2 elements. I used fire as the background of the digipak, this shows the music is 'fiery'. The Panda over the top was cropped to be just around its head using the magic wand tool, and I edited the image to be red. I decided to place 'PANDAMAN' over the top of the images so that it can be advertised one more time.

This is the final digipak CD holder, I like how the Panda is almost the same size as the CD and how it relates to the music genre.

Making the lyric book for my digipak

Making the lyric book of my digipak

A lyric book is key for a digipak, it allows the fans to follow the songs and sing along to them. For the cover of the digipak I wanted to use a unique and different style. I used images of a Panda, food, a picnic blanket and a boombox. The background is of a field, and I used this as the first layer. I had to use the magic wand tool to crop around each item.

The lyric book doesn't have 'PANDAMAN' or 'EMBRACE THIS DAY', and this is because the lyric book will be inside the digipak rather than on the outside. I faded out all of the objects apart from the title and the Panda. This draws attention to the Panda, and makes it clear who the lyric book is advertising. The lyric book is different from the rest of the digipak as it isn't filled with bright colours, the reason I did this is because I wanted one element of the digipak to be comical rather than just about clubbing. 

This is my final lyric book, I am pleased with the result as it is different to the rest of the digipak.

Making the back of my digipak

Making the back of my digipak

Unlike the other sides to my digipak, this one does not have a panda on it. I decided to do this because the image is so clear and bright I felt that by adding a panda the image may be ruined. I also had the dilemma that if I added a panda there is nowhere it can go. I added the 'Available on iTunes' and the barcode to make the back of the digipak more realistic. I had 7 layers to this side of the digipak, this is because I had the font placed in a different way. The title of the artist is at the bottom of this side to the digipak, this is because I didn't feel a large title was needed as the title is on the front of the digipak. 

I used the same font that I used for the 'EMBRACE THIS DAY' throughout the pack. This was to add familiarity to the digipak and to avoid using too many different fonts.

This is the final product I came up with for the back of my digipak, I like the simplicity of the design and how it matches the rest of the digipak with the bright colours.

Making the front of my digipak

Making the cover for my digipak

Just as I did for my poster, I decided that for my digipak I would also relate it to my musical genre. I have used bright colours and the background is an image of a nightclub. The reason that I added a chain to my panda is so that the image is different and it adds an element of humour to the front cover. I only had to use 5 layers for the front cover, because it doesn't have too many elements in it. I had to use the magic wand tool to remove the background from the chain and the panda. I sharpened the image of the panda as the quality of the image wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. 

This is the final cover for my digipak, the bright colours and bold clear writing make it stand out and would hopefully mean that there would be more purchases of the digipak.

Poster for Digipak

Making my poster for my digipak

As preparation for creating my poster, I had to find images that would match my music genre. Because the music is house, and would be played in the club, I decided to use bright colours, giving it the feeling of being in a club. The obvious reason of using a Panda on the poster is because the artist is called Pandaman. I used the smudge tool to make the Panda larger and to make it more unique, rather than being an image I clearly did not take myself. I chose to put sunglasses and add a tongue to the panda to make it more human-like, as the artist does have 'man' in his title. In order to make the poster an advertisement, I added the images of the digipak, the record company 'Virgin Records', and the release date. 

I used three fonts for my poster, so that it adds originality, and because I wanted certain words and sentences to stand out more than others. For the head title 'PANDAMAN' I used Chalkduster, and for 'EMBRACE THIS DAY' I used the plain font News Gothic MT, I used both of these fonts throughout the making of the digipak aswell. For all the other writing on the poster I used Superclarendon.

I also added quotes from Radio 1, and 5 stars to show the quality of the music and to get more buyers of the digipak. The bold title at the top of the poster makes it clear who the artist is and what album you are purchasing. As you can see from the image below, I had to create many layers onto my poster to allow me to move items around without moving too many items at once. I used 14 layers in total. 

This is my final poster, I am really pleased with the results, and I feel like it looks professional, and I know that personally I would be attracted to this bright poster.

Digipak Research

Digipak Research

" Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.
Since Digipaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipak-style packaging made by other companies, the term digipak or Digi-Pak is often used generically, even when the media holder is a hub or "Soft Spot" rather than a full plastic tray.
Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak) is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets. Such packaging is less resistant to abrasion than jewel cases, so it tends to show signs of wear relatively quickly. Licensed digipak manufacturers such as domestic U.S. printer and disc replicator Oasis Disc Manufacturing recommend coating the raw printed paper with a protective UV coating, thus ensuring greater longevity.
Although less vulnerable to cracking than a jewel case, the disc tray inside the package (particularly the "teeth" of the hub which secure the disc in place) remains rather brittleand is prone to cracking if the package is crushed. Digipak-style cases grew in popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000s. " Source - Wikipedia

Different artists sell themselves in different ways. I analysed 3 artists, Chase and Status, and Disclosure, which are of the same genre as my song, and Beyonce, who is nothing like my music genre.