Digipak progression

and final product

After going around the pencilled image with black to make it look digital, we then used Photoshop to edit our drawing for our album artwork. We had to remove the background (white) from the image. When we applied a background to the image the white should not show through. We removed the white bits by using the magic wand tool. This way the background behind the drawn image would be removed and all that was left was the outline of the image so we can therefore play around with the image to make a front cover.

We then used the brush tool to fill in the gaps that the scanner had missed to make the outline crisper and bold. This made the image look less like a drawn image and more like a digital image. This gave the outline a more professional look and it all started to come together with the font. We added a stronger and more even red to the image to really emphasise the joker reference we are making. Then we added red to the font. We did this as we found our colour scheme was red white and black. These colours are commonly used for rock bands and themes. Kerrang! One of the Uks biggest rock magazine uses this colour combination as the black symbolises the darkness , the red symbolises blood and passion and the white symbolises innocence and blankness.

My group chose the font, Adler. We chose this font because it looks destroyed and edgy. This looks a lot like fonts that rock/metal bands use as it symbolises the attitude of the genre of being bold and distorted, standing out and looking different. The font that we have chosen actually looks a lot like the avenged sevenfold font itself that is used for their album covers. Therefore we have tried to stay close to Avenged Sevenfold’s work, whilst adding our own twist on things. This way people will recognise that it is Avenged sevenfold.

Here we used the design from the poster and outlined them in different colours. The colours represent being different and standing out from everyone else. Each death bat is a portrayal of the band members and they all have their own distinct colour. Also because we went for the joker (clown) theme the vibrant colours link to the circus. The font has a drop shadow to add depth to the image. The shadow itself links with the idea of a nightmare as shadows are used in horror films to add tension of being alone and surrounded by darkness.

Here is the back of the Digipak which lists the contents of the CD. We added lots of images of the death bat to add detail and really promote the band’s symbol. Therefore the image of the death bat we be recognisable to the band and everyone will know who the band is when seeing the death bat. The font has a red fill with a black stroke to add depth and to make the font stand out. We used the colour scheme of red, white and black as we found from our research that this was a popular colour scheme for the rock/metal genre. The red symbolises anger and blood which is stereotypically placed with the rock genre.

Here is an image of what our first draft looks like. We have found that it looks rather plain and too bright for a rock album Digipak. Therefore we are now looking at ways to change and progress our first draft to make it look more professional and more of the rock style you would stereotypically see. Changes to make would be to add more black to show it is a dark album as we are doing a dark song. The background colour we have had trouble with as the lighter colours make the font and drawings stand out but it does not really fit in with the heavy metal style we have gone for. In addition we need to find a way to add the dark scheme in to the Digipak without it dulling the rest of the contents.

Here we have progressed the Digipak to match the chosen genre we are aiming for. We added the starry night background which was used in the poster therefore we have a consistent theme running through the products. The starry background looks good with the idea of a nightmare as people have nightmares when it is dark and it adds to the emphasis to not knowing what is in the dark. We then had to add a white outer glow to add depth to the text. This way the font stands out and looks clearer. On the left hand side image we added a rectangle with a gradient overlay starting from the middle so the colours of the death bats stand out. The middle image which would be the back of the CD case has 4 different coloured bats, this way there is a consistent colour scheme running through the Digipak as each bat represents the band members. The reason there isn’t a red bat is because there is red text on the page; therefore each colours has been used. The spaces where the CDs will sit will have manipulated images of the woods. This is clearly not in the dark colour scheme but the starry night background could act as the sky above the woods and this way it may link quite well.

When the filming is completed we will add still images of the woods to the Digipak where the CDs will sit. When the Digipak comes together the dark sky images will link well to the images of the woods as it will look like the ‘Nightmare’ sky of the woods.

Something like this

We included the parental advisory logo to the front cover of the digipak as warning that there will be strong language within. My group did consider beeping out the swear words in the song but there was a lot of bad language. This would have been very time consuming and most of the song would have been in silence.

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. We thought this would be a nice little detail to include. Not everyone will understand why this was done but if the fan knows the song well they will hopefully see the connection we have trued to make. We did this to just promote the song even further by having the footage from the song on the CDs. This will help gain recognition for the song and getting the nightmares fan base up and going.

Therefore we opted to keep it in and to just add a parental advisory label to the front cover to show that there will be bad language inside. We also thought it would be unfair to remove the language because that is the attitude of Avenged Sevenfold and many other rock bands. Bad language is used to show that someone is really angry and rock was originally formed to show you was a rebel. We also added the Warner Brothers logo on to the front cover to show who owns the rights to the song . This is called synergy because two large companies are working together to promote each other.

Here on the CDs there is an image of the nightmare. When the buyer removes the disk the nightmare has gone. Therefore when you remove the disk you are putting the nightmare into the CD player, bringing your nightmare to life just like the lyrics say. This code and convention links to what Andrew Goodwin would say.

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On the advertisement that would feature in a magazine such as Kerrang! We thought it was necessary to add Facebook and twitter logos. Again by using synergy everyone will benefit. Our target audience is fairly young and a general stereotype is that all young people use the internet to socialise and interact with friends via social networking sites. By working with Facebook and twitter those who do not have face or twitter will join to get all of the latest news about avenged sevenfold and those who do have Facebook and twitter can access and promote the song. This way we are appealing to our target audience and making the news more accessible and easier to spread the word. This can be done by posting YouTube links and sharing information with friends for them to follow.

On the poster/advertisement we added an image of the front cover. This was done so that when the album is available in stores or on iTunes for example the customers will know what to look for and will recognise the artwork. Also this gives a sneak preview to the fans and hopefully start a trending discussion into what they might expect from the new album. We added a date underneath the album so the fans know when to purchase the album and they will hopefully spread the news through Facebook and twitter.