Initial Ideas for Digipak

This is a rough sketch I did of the
cover so I could visualise my idea. I
thought the title to be along the top
of the cover in a small font, then the
artist’s name (Natasha North) to be
along the bottom in a larger font.
Initial Ideas:
While doing research into album artwork of a similar genre, I came across these
designs (see left) whose composition really interested me. I liked the idea of
having a wide shot of a landscape which seems to never end; I thought I could use
Cromer pier, the location of one of our shoots for our music video production. The
image creates connotations of isolation and sadness, which matches the tone of the
track we picked for our music video; therefore the album artwork will promote the
tone and atmosphere of the track, so when the audience is browsing the shelves,
they will be aware of what to expect from the album.
Rough Sketch:
This is Cromer Pier,
looking down the
walk way, out to sea
Ideas for Fonts:
The recurring font choice in all these album
covers are very stripped back, often sans
serif fonts. However, serif fonts are used,
such as on the Staves album If I Was, to
create a vintage, type-writer effect. The text
must be clear enough to see in a small font
size, as the album covers I found in my
research often have minimalist titles.

More Rough Sketches:
This is another rough sketch so I could
visualise my cover. I liked the old,
worn-down design of these albums
(see above – the crinkled edges, coffee
rim stain and faded photograph) and I
wanted to incorporate this into my
design, adding to the vintage appeal.
Worn, faded edges
(like a battered photograph)
Silhouettes of the characters
This sketch shows two faces (Olivia and my characters in the music
video) looking on at one another: the expressions are going to be
very empty and sad. This will juxtapose the image in the centre of
the cover, where there will be an image of the two of us in a happier
time of the relationship; this image will be slightly faded, almost
ghostlike (almost like the memory is fading away). I was inspired by
the ghostly images I found during my research (see below).
Ghostly image
of happier times
Portraits of main
characters
I thought I could use images
for the “happier times” aspect
of my cover from stills from
my music video (see above).

Initial Ideas:
I came up with another design, this time for the digipak as a whole. I made a rough model to explain:
The album cover (image 1) will unfold to reveal two panels (image 2). It will be an
extended landscape of the beach (a location visited in our music video); panel one will
have the beach in a bright, sunny light, but then it will fade into panel two where the
colours become darker and more moody, highlighting the deteriorating relationship
portrayed in our music video. Panel two will also include an image of Olivia – the main
character – overlaid on the beach landscape, like she is looking back on her relationship.
The second panel would then unfold to reveal two new panels (image
3): the three panels will now reveal the full extended landscape of
the beach, beginning with the bright, sunny colours of panel one and
fading into bleak, dark colours in panel 3. The CD will be placed on
panel two; its design (image 4) will be Olivia and my character
running along the beach holding hands, with the title of the track and
the name of the artist above the horizon of the sea.
image one image two image three
image four
image five
image six
However, when the disc is removed, the image underneath will be Olivia
and I standing on the beach, although one of our silhouettes will be fading
out, almost a memory, again the melancholy tone of the music video
(image 5). Finally, image six shows the reverse of the digipak. I thought
some driftwood would make a good background for the track listings, as
usually simplistic textures are used in the covers which I researched; also,
it would be in keeping with the beach theme (see middle panel).

Unedited Photos:
Most of my initial ideas centred around the beach, so I decided to go to Cromer
and take some photographs of the beach and the objects you find there. I was
particularly interested in finding some interesting textures which might work
well as cover designs for the CD disc. The woodwork of the beach huts were
stripped down and rustic, which I thought would work quite well. I also liked
the tangled mess of seaweed and rope, also the moody skyline that appeared
that day. I was inspired by the textured designs of these CDs (see right).

Further Font Research:
I did some research into some other fonts I could consider using in my final album artwork. While I already
considered simple sans serif and serif fonts (see slide one), I also had a look at the handwritten fonts on
dafont.com. This is because, in many of the covers I researched, there is a combination of fonts used.
Here are a selection of album covers that
I found which use handwritten/brush-
stroke fonts, as well as basic sans serif.
I really liked baby fox as a
font, as it is very delicate
and stripped back; the
petite font reminds me of
the album cover for Bon
Iver or Kodaline, artists
which have a similar genre
of music to Natasha North
(the artist which I used).
Out of the loopy,
handwritten fonts which I
found, Signerica is my
favourite; however, some
may find the handwriting
illegible, so may find
difficult in locating the
name of the artist if I was
to use it on my album
cover. However, I could
some one of the serif fonts
to promote Natasha’s name,
while using Signerica for
the track name.
Which fonts
should I use?

Initial Ideas for Digipak

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Initial Ideas for Digipak