Digipack Improvements

The key criticism of my Digipack was the font. I decided that it would be best to use the Kenyan Coffee font that was also used in my Magazine Advert. At this stage I copied the exact version of the titles from the Magazine Advert into my Digipack so that the synergy was stronger.

After some discussions on layout I was finally able to settle on this as the final layout. It does not take up as much space as the initial design and it makes the cover more dynamic too.

Next, I fixed the fonts on the back cover of my Digipack to match those in my Magazine Advert with Kenyan Coffee being used for the title and then LondonTwo for the Track List and the credits. I also shrunk the barcode and record label logo slightly so as to create more space on the cover.

The most obvious issue with the outside of the Digipack as the lack of continuity throughout the panels. The only way to fix this without re-shooting the images was to use image editing to change the horizon. One method was using the Healing Brush on the right hand side of the back panel to slightly remove the trees to slant better into the panel next to it.

I did attempt a similar tactic to fixing the grass in the bottom left corner, but, this did not work as well. So, I copied a section of the grass, pasted it over the top of the grass and then rotated the copied grass to flow into panels to the left of the back.

The next problem was the side panels, or, mainly the left hand side side panel which simply refused to flow properly. Ergo, I had to edit the image quite heavily to get it to work. The first of these edits was to rotate the background slightly so as to begin to get the flow to work. The image was then copied in to the collated outside but it still did not fit properly.



Further attempts to fix the problem saw me stretching the image and then copying the trees and tilting them as best I could to make the treeline flow. This worked to some degree.

The final tactic was copying the grass and rotating that slightly to the right. This was then copied into the collated outside and the issue was fixed.

After fixing the outside I moved onto the outside which only needed a font update so this was quickly applied to all three panels.

With all of the main panels of the Digipack sorted I imported them all into the collated image and slotted them together so that there was a better visual representation of the Digipack.

A few days after receiving the teacher feedback which was about a week and a half before the deadline, I was told that I needed to include a greater variety of shots in my Digipack. The only way I could do this was to create a booklet with shots of the band and information about them similar to Razorlight's booklet in their album 'Razorlight'. To do this, I had to do a new photo-shoot to get the shots. Unfortunately because I was rushing and panicking my control over the lighting was not great so some shots had different lighting, but, I was really flustered and had no time to fix these lighting issues.

For the booklet I felt I needed an interesting background design. To create something that was iconic but simple I used the Vectors Brush. I used this on the Record Label logo but this design is much denser so as to make more of an impact.

A paper texture was then imported into Photoshop and placed over the design. It was then given a colour overlay to create the striking colour on the page. The layer was then set to 'Hard Light' as its blending option so that the design behind it was affected as well as the entire background to create a simple but complex style that suits the band. 

Using the Kenyan Coffee font from the cover, I wrote each of the band members' names and their job within the band. As this is for the band's Debut Album, it is one of tasks of the booklet to introduce the audience to each of the band members and this was one part of doing so.

Next I imported the best image of the band member into the panel. I positioned them close to where the inside of the booklet would be so that when the panels were collated the members would be standing back to back.

The backgrounds of the images were then cut away using a mixture of the Magic Wand and the Eraser tool in an attempt to get the cleanest cut possible. On Stephen's picture specifically I also used the Lighting Render tool to lighten the back of his face more because it appeared too dark.

The Blending Options of the images were then changed to Luminosity so that they blended into background a bit so as to make the cuts seem smoother. Profiles of the band members were also written using information gathered from the band themselves.

On the corresponding pages, I moved the design to the right so the band members on these pages (Tom and Matt) could be on the left in the back to back layout I had envisioned. I also used different colours for each of the band members to distinguish them from each other.



After sorting out the booklet pages I needed to create the outside of the booklet which I decided should be similar to my Digipack cover. Ergo, I used the same images as the front and back of the Digipack.



The key change was that instead of the vibrancy being decreased, I increased the saturation like the inside of the Digipack. This was also done on the front cover of the booklet. This was to suggest the welcoming nature of the band now that the audience have taken the time to look at the album. On the back panel, the position of the credits changed slightly so it was more prominent than it was on the outside of the Digipack. I also copied part of the sky and covered part of the horizon to make it flow better.

As with the outside and inside of the Digipack, I collated the images into their technical format so each of the pages were together as they would be when the booklet was opened up. Once all of the panels were collated as needed, the Digipack was complete.