DigiPak Process

The first step in creating my digipak was to take the measurements of each area that I was able to use and then create a page using Adobe Photoshop CS5 which allowed me to begin my front cover for my album with the correct dimensions. 

I was able to get each dimension using a digipak template that was given to each of us and used this as an example to my own work. 

I then took these dimensions and entered them into Adobe Photoshop so that I could start editing. 

I then selected the image of the male artist in my music video that I wanted to use so that I could use this as a template for the editing that I was planning to do. This image was going to act as a template so that I can create a line outline out his figure in order to create an illustration effect similar to those I had previously researched. 

I then selected the image layer and changed the opacity of the image so that I could see where I was outlining behind the image onto the background that I wanted to use. 

I used the brush tool in black in order to begin my outline. I decreased the size of the brush so that it would be thing enough to create an aesthetically pleasing looking brush stroke for my outline. 

The outlining using the brush tool ended up looking like the image on the left. It was a careful outline of my artist which I then used as the beginning of my album cover. To progress this I removed the background image to show the outline on it's own. Which is what is shown in the second image. 

I then added text that I thought suited the type of album cover that I was trying to create. The text reads the name of the artist along with the name of the album that is being released, following conventions of an album cover.

The next step I took was adding colour to the cover. I used an off yellow/brown colour as my background colour scheme as in my research I found that this colour is really popular within this genre and wanted to incorporate that. I then made the figure in my image white in order to allow it to stand out as it is the most important area of the whole product. I also decided to keep the text black so that it would stand out against the figure and the colours.

The next step in creating my front cover was duplicating the layer of the figure image and six times and spreading them out on either side of the main image. I then used red and blue on four of the duplicated images to create a 3D effect. This was done to add something unique to the image and draw the attention of the audience.

The last step I took was redoing the text I had originally chosen. This was because the other text looked too simple and not as eye-catching as I had wanted it to look and therefore I chose another.

I also put a white stroke around the text so that it would stand out that bit more and made the main image larger so that it would take up the majority of the space and become the most dominant part of the product.








In order to begin creating the back of my album, I had to use the template that I used in the first area of my digipak and use the dimensions as seen before. I then had to use a colour match as I wanted the whole album to be the same colour so that it looked as if it would go together properly.

In order to do this I used to eye-drop tool and selected the colour that I had used for the album cover. I then used the shape tool to draw a square with the dimensions used on the template in this colour, which I would then use as the background to my back cover.

I then used the ruler tools in order to add text to the back of my album. This was so that I could make sure that all my text was lined up with each part and did not look scruffy.

For this part of the process I also selected the same font as the one I used for the front cover. This was so that each part would link together and look like a product. I also planned to use this font throughout my digipak.

The next part of my digipak was adding more text in order to add other tracks to the album I was creating. For this I used the text tool and set it to the same font size as the numbers I had already put in place. I then chose six song titles, all from different Damien Rice albums as I wanted to create the link between this product and the real artists products.

 I then added a barcode as this is a vital convention which appears on all CD's so that the audience is able to purchase it. As I wanted the barcode to be part of the product, I used a google image and then used the eraser tool to lose any of the white background.

The last part of my album cover back is the image above the tracklist that I added. I used this because it is extremely similar to the style of Damien Rice and so I added this to create a stronger link between the two. Also, adding an image makes the album tracklist look a lot less boring.