Digipack.

AdvertisementRickieandtheIslanders

DigipackRickieandtheIslanders Digipack Back DigipackCover

The Band.

So, after the shoot at the studio on Monday night, I looked through the images and found one that stood out to me in particular.

I feel that this image is the perfect one of the band. I think that as well as the whole image compilating well together, the image also allows an audience to understand who is the lead singer of the band etc, without someone telling them.

I think that the shoot went extremely well overall, I think that both girls lace dresses are a great contrast to Rickie's leather styling.

When editing this image, I firstly adjusted the lighting curves and saturation before using the 'stamp' tool to airbrush each of the band members and make sure that their skin tones matched i.e. the foundation on the girls faces and their arms. I used the 'dodge' tool to add highlighted areas on the skin to make the image appear softer and well balanced in terms of lighting etc. I also used 'burn' in comparison to this, so that details could be highlighted, for example on the earrings, as well as darken the shine of Rickie's faux leather jacket to make it appear more like genuine leather which I feel adds to the proffessionalism of the image.

I used 'liquify' in order to heighten Catherine's beehive as it had lost volume in the car I believe. I also felt that by doing this, Catherine's hair would have a similar height as Sarah Jayne's hair on the left which was unedited.

I used the 'stamp' tool as well as 'liquift' and 'mask areas' to edit out festival wristbands that Catherine was wearing and could not remove for the shoot. This was a long and greuling task but I think that I achieved the illusion of them not being there in the end.

Although this image caused me a late night on Photoshop, I think that the image is successful and comes across as professional.

Filming Update.

Last night w\as hectic but well worth it. I had booked the studio in Oadby for half seven and when I got back at four, I had so much to do.
All day, I had been organising lifts for everyone and what times, confirming that we were coming and props etc. and as soon as I got in, I had to get the camera ready, style and dress both girls as well as Rickie who would be arriving abit closer to when we were leaving as he didnt finish college until five in Coventry.
The band instruments were all set as well as the clothes, other props, makeup, tripod etc. as well as some Dutch courage as we definetly needed some!
We got to the studio at about quater past, everything was going smoothly which was good. The studio was an outer building of the owners house as he was a photographer himself. It was perfect, really well lit, panoramic screen, huge macbook, we even got tea and coffee.
As we were all dressed and ready, we could start immediately and not waste any time.
I had decided that we should shoot the promotional and digipack shots before filming so that everybody's styling was fresh and so noone looked tired in any of the shots.
The lighting really helped, connected to my E-PL1 by a wire to its flash sync socket and set to manual, I could easily check the aparture and change it in order to make the white balance in the photos correct.
We had two hours to film and shoot everything, which proved to be the perfect amount of time. The owner was really nice and showed me around the studio which I really enjoyed. It was good to be in a professional environment as I feel it furthened my learning and I hope that the professionalism is translated into the music video.
All that I need to do now is film the final park location which I can do in the next two weeks before the deadline which is no problem. Tonight I will begin the editing for my final digipack draft which I am really excited to start doing.

Digipack Draft Feedback.

After getting the feedback for my Digipack, I am pretty happy with the mark I got, considering that they were not my own images. The marks I got were 8/10 for my CD Digipack and 7/10 for my magazine advert which were both pretty much what I expected.
To improve my CD Digipack for the final draft, I will take my own images and edit them with a similar look to the images I found of Warhol and Bailey, except using Rickie, and I will also increase the number of panels of my digipack to six. I also had the idea to produce a in-sleeve booklet with lyrics and location shots etc which could be quite easy yet effective.
To improve my magazine advert, I will use my own images as well as increasing the band font size and making the date slightly smaller. My feedback is positive about the simplicity of the large date and minimal text on the page so I'm pleased about that.
I will also need to adapt and use a record company name and logo to use on both my CD Digipack and magazine advert. Apart from those few things, I think that the digipack could work out well and I can achieve the level grade that I want.

Track titles for the Digipack.

To decide on other track names for the album, I went onto www.wikipedia.com and clicked on random article until I found suitable titles. Now I have to decide on which tracks will make the final cut.

• Cubic threefold
• Jacqueline Jones
• Diamond City (Up in the Sky)
• M8 Bridge to Nowhere
• Lady Cop & Papa Crook
• The Frank Show
• The Death Collector
• Mozart & Friends
• Fire from Heaven
• Box the Pony
• 1996 in the United Kingdom
• The Cotton Club
• Win or Lose
• Sleeping Cow

Draft Digipack #2

Draft Digipack #1

This is the first Digipack that I have created for the album. I have been researching and downloading countless photos of the factory, Andy, and Edie and one image that I found of Andy that stands out alot to me is the one I have chosen to put on the cover here. I am really fascinated with how the multiple images of Andy's face have been layered together with the transparency lowered and I think that this is something I could easily do with shots of Rickie's face. I adjusted the curves of the image and exposure etc before adding a render filter of 'lens flare' , using two of the different lens flare types to give it this look. I think that the lens flare is relevant to the concept and has a reference to the art 'look' of warhol, relating to his films and photographs.

I then inverted the image and placed it on the inside left page. The inside right is an edited image of David Bailey in his studio, which is something I could include of Rickie and the girls on the shoot, taking movie stills perhaps.

The back cover of the Digipack is the same colour palette as the front, although I placed the image of andy side-on and reduced the transparency to 6% so that the image is slightly seen only.

I added the barcode and compact disk logo to add believability and added the album tracks on the back.

I think that by using the image of Andy three times, changing the way the image is portrayed adds continuity and almost relates to how Andy repeated silkscreen photographs of his 'superstars'.

Analysing Album Magazine Adverts #1

Here is the first magazine advert I have chosen to analyse, 'Florence and the Machine- Lungs'. 

First of all, the image of Florence Welch intrigues me as an audience as the mise-en scene seems unusual at a glance. I really like the use of the lung necklace as although seeming whimsical, relates directly to the title of the album. The lung necklace is also in direct alignment with the title 'LUNGS'  which is a clever editing technique from the art directors. The mise en scene of the image and the way Florence is dressed immediately signifies her 'look' and as this is the first album from 'Florence & the Machine' allows fans to identify her artistic style and star image.

I think that the fact that the image is centred and takes up the majority of the layout on the page adds to the adverts aesthetic appeal and would make the image stand out on the page of a magazine. The ratio of text to image is good I think as the text is mostly in a smaller font which doesnt distract from the image.

I like the classic typography on the page and how the date is just typed '6.7.09', almost implying that the date needs no description to its significance and increases the importance of the band, creating a status that hasn't been created as to yet.

However, I dislike how dark the colour scheme is surrounding the image and I think that I want my advert to be slightly less deep and more art based.

Analysing Album Artwork #3

The last album cover I have chosen to analyse is 'The Rolling Stones' cover for their ninth studio album 'sticky fingers' released in 1971. The album was also the first album release from the newely formed label ' Rolling Stones Records'.

The artwork for the album was thought up by Andy Warhol, photographed by Billy Name and designed by Craig Braunand features a cover image of a male's crotch wearing jeans on the front and the opposite on the back whilst inside was a photograph of the male wearing white cotton briefs. The front zipper featured a real working zip with a mock-up beltbuckle that pulled apart to reveal the insleeve of the vinyl record. The images were roumered to be of Mick Jagger although Warhol said otherwise and inside, 'Andy Warhol' was printed on the waistband of the briefs in the same typo as on the cover of 'The Velvet Underground's' first album.

I think that the image, although risky to print on an album cover (especially the size of an LP vinyl), would prove rewarding for the amount of publicity the band would get from it. I don't think that I will be re-creating this album although the idea of taking a mid-shot photo of a bodypart, and not the face of the artist, could be interesting so I think this could be somthing to keep in mind when designing my digipack and suring shooting. I think that this could also link to some of the extreme close-up shots of Rickie's face I have included in my animatic for the music video.I also like how a photograph is used on the cover and simply edited, the vintage 'look' of this image is something I could look into experimenting with on Photoshop.

I think that the grayscale photograph with the red and white fonts on the label and the band name and album title proves effective, applying to the three colour palette and keeping it simple.

I think that the 3D element of the zipper adds a huge interest to the cover as it makes it interactive to an audience, which in a strange way, might make a person want to buy the album. I think it also adds value to a collectors point of view.

Analysing Album Artwork #2

The second album cover I have chosen to analyse is the third studio album by music producer Mark Ronson entitled 'Record Collection' and released under the name 'Mark Ronson & The Buisiness Intl. in 2010.
The album artwork was created by Art Directors Gerard Saint and Mat Maitland which make reference to several famous album covers including 'Rio' by Duran Duran on the cover left to the centre. Click Here to see what I mean.
I think that the compilation of records, using different artwork, and creating a single image of the artist is a really nice idea. I like how amplification has been used to draw reference from existing records, perhaps this is something I could take into consideration.
I think the layout is really well done, as the album name and the artist is clear, although it almost looks like the floor of a teenagers bedroom and as if the album cases have 'fallen' into place. The white 'studio' background is something that I think adds to the cover and balances out the use of bright colours, making it not appear too busy.
I think that the colours used work well together, using hints of the same tones in each album cover in the compilation. This is something I believe I should definetly think about doing, as it almost has an influence from Warhol's artwork during the pop art movement in New York. Although the cover overall looks more '80's, I think that the idea is there and could work extremely well with the concept I have created.
I like how the typography isnt too obvious although is clear due to the placing of it, and I like how it is white on a darker background which makes it 'pop' to an audiences perspective on the shelves of a music store.
Because this is a modern album cover, I think it backs up my idea that the 'vintage look' is appealing to a younger audience and I should continue in the same direction.

Analysing Album Artwork #1

The Velvet Underground were an American rock band from formed in New York City in 1964, their best known members being John Cale and Lou Reed. The Band had little commercial success whilst together, although the band was named by critics as one of the most influential and crucial bands of the 1960's.
Andy Warhol became the Manager of the band who became the house band at the 'Factory' and played his 'Exploding Plastic Inevitable' events, which was a series of multimedia events organized by Warhol between 1966 and 1967. Warhol's management allowed freedom to the band to play whatever music they wanted, and their debut album 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' (featuring German singer Nico with whom they collaborated) was named the 13th Greatest Album of All Time by 'Rolling Stone' in 2003.
The Album cover for the bands debut album was a design by Warhol which featured a yellow banana with 'peel slowly and see' printed near a perforated tab. For those that removed the banana 'skin' discovered a peeled pink banana underneath.
Here is the album cover, I love the instant 'pop art' impact the cover gives as soon as you see it. I also think that the unusual aesthetic would draw in a persons attention on a cd or vinyl rack in a music store. I think that the child-like nature of the cover would relate directly to the childlike, simplistic first impression an audience may recieve from viewing a piece of  Andy's artwork. Therefore, this could represent Andy's influence on the group, making the Album cover also a piece of art, signing his name at bthe bottom of the image. The silkscreen effect also seems to resemble a stamp which could imply Andy's 'stamp' he put on the group with the debut image and the idea to collaborate with Nico.
The unusual and almost disjuncture effect that the image gives could relate to the unusual and provocative music the band produced, an intelectual indication to the genre on the cover of the album.
I believe that to produce my album artwork similarly to this would have an ideal link to the Warholian image that 'Rickie & the Islanders' have for their debut album and video for the leading track 'End of the Night'.

1960's Album Artwork.

As the concept of the album and the band's aesthetic having a huge vintage influence, I thought it would be a good idea to research origional 1960's album artwork and apply the factors of album artwork from that era to my final digipack design.
I used 'bing' images to research album covers (vinyls) and these are some of the images I found, I can already see aspects of the artworks that I can use and evolve to fit my intented concept and apply to my intended audience.
I really like the arty feel of this vinyl cover by 'The Mothers of Invention', at first glance, I think that it has a real similarity to the 'DFifference Clouds' filter on Photoshop, which is something I think I could experiment with on the artwork, and have already done so on the temporary 'band banner' for my blog title.
However, I don't think that the overall aesthetic design of this album cover will bode well with my ideas although Andy Warhol's artwork holds similarities to this which would work better with the concept so perhapos I should do a post on his work and how his art could influence my design choices.


Here are some more examples I found of 1960's Artwork.

1960's album covers

View more presentations from Matthew Needham.