Album Cover Research Journey -

Digipak Journeys -

The following post contains a number of images which inspired me to create my final digipak. All of the following album covers have been taken from the Indie/alternative Rock scene and have all contributed to my final design. After watching a variety of indie rock music videos, i decided that the black and white colour scheme would be very effective for my video, poster and my digipak. This journey portrays the album covers i analysed during my research, the larger images are the ones which caught my eye the most, and contain the most features and techniques which i emulated and used on my final digipak.

Inspirational digipak cover journey -

This post portrays the journey which lead me to my final digipak cover.

Final digipak cover journey -

After my research, I started to photograph different images which I thought could look good as album covers. Many of the pictures I took were in urban environments and of the people and objects within the environment.  Whilst searching through my own photos, I found 3 images which I thought could be the ideal fit for an album cover.  After much deliberation, I decided to use the image of an urban alleyway. I wanted to use this particular image, as it was an image with the potential to be edited in a number of different ways.

After deciding on my image, I started researching other images of urban alleyways in order to compare my image and see if I could make any improvements. For example, taking the photo from a different angle or taking the photo at a different time of day etc. Whilst researching, I came across an image of an urban alleyway which had been edited or photographed in black and white.  I was immediately attracted to this Image and automatically wanted to in cooperate and emulate its style into my image.

Although I was fairly certain on using the colour combination of black and white on my album cover, I wanted to be 100% certain, and so began to research existing black and white, indie rock album covers.  After looking at a number of black and white album covers, I was certain that this would be the colour scheme I was going to use on my album cover.

After this decision was made, I began to edit my original alleyway photo into black and white, by using programmes such as Photoshop and Instagram. Once my editing was finished, my image looked extremely similar to an existing front cover which was released by indie rock band The Arctic Monkeys. The cover of the single features an urban alleyway and has been edited into black and white.  I began to analyse this particular album cover in more detail and started to look at the graphology of the page (the font, font size, and how the text was positioned)

From my research of indie rock album/single covers, I began to research into the font which I wanted to use on my album cover. Whilst carrying out my research, I discovered that the fonts used on existing indie rock album covers are simplistic, but very clear. After searching through a variety of fonts, I finally narrowed it down to just 3. After much consideration, I opted to use a font called ‘Bebas Neu’ due to its simplicity, boldness and clear appearance.
I then decided to emulate the style used on the arctic monkeys singe cover, and placed the name of my band into a white rounded box.


Although this looked good, it did not light up the cover or the name of the band in the way that I had hoped, and so I decided to in cooperate a symbol into the bands logo. After much thought, I finally decided to use a feather as the image on my bands logo. I then placed an image of a black, Ravens feather onto the logo. I opted to use a Ravens’ feather in order to connote freedom, arrogance and rareness, which are all traits that particular bird has. The use of the feather gave the logo the professional edge it needed, as it stood out on the white background and highlighted the text also. 


I then began to design my draft album cover. From my previous research, I had opted to emulate the style of the ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ front cover.  I placed my logo in the top left corner of the page, and added the album title directly below it (also in a white box.) After receiving feedback from my teachers, I discovered that there were a number of aspects which needed improving.


Whilst designing my final album cover, I took my feedback into consideration, and decided to follow the comments in order to allow my album cover to reach its full potential. To do this, I cropped the background image, to make more important and interesting parts of it stand out and to avoid having dark empty spaces on the cover. I also shrunk the size of the band logo, and changed the angle which it was placed at. Finally, I changed the text size of the album cover (making it smaller) and similarly to the band logo, changed the angle.  After following the feedback and making improvements to my draft, I had created my final album cover.

Teacher Feedback -

Shortly after submitting my draft music video, I received feedback from my teachers on the positives and negatives of my video, and what improvements I could make. Both of my teachers agreed that I had some good elements in my video, however both also agreed that a number of improvements need to be made.

Both teachers stated that aspects of my video, such as the shots of the band playing the song in their studio were extremely well done, however, neither teacher liked the idea of the outside, night time shots. The two also agreed that the use of certain shots to represent particular lyrics did not have the desired effect, as they did not match or portray the correct meaning of the lyric, for example, the use of a traffic light turning to red to portray the lyric "he told Roxanne to put on her red light."

I was also made aware that I need to re-frame certain shots, due to the lack of light and offensive writing written on the walls behind the performers.

My teachers also pointed out the fact that certain members of the band were not playing their instruments in the correct way e.g. the drummer was not drumming in time with the song or in the correct way.

Since receiving my teacher feedback, I have analysed the teachers' comments and have thought, in detail about how I can improve my music video. Therefore, I have decided to take the teachers positive criticism into consideration, and am going to make the following improvements whilst filming my final music video –

- Firstly, I am going to reframe the shots of the band practice room, to reduce the risk of offensive writing being seen by the audience.

- I am then going to add more lighting to the room, to ensure that all band members can be seen by the audience.

- I will then ensure that every single band member is playing in time with the song, and in a way which appears as if they are actually playing the instrument and the song itself. Although this will be difficult (as certain members of my band are unable to play certain instruments) I will ensure that the members practice, so that it appears as if they are and can in fact play the instruments.

- I am also going to take the teachers advice into consideration, and will focus solely on the band. The teachers have advised me not to include outside, night time shots, as they believe that simplistic shots of the band will be more effective. therefore, whilst filming my final music video, I am going to film the band in a variety of different locations to make the final video interesting for the audience to watch.

- Although the teachers did not point this particular point out, it is something which I feel needs to improve, this is the overall appearance of my band members. Although certain members were dressed in a suitable way e.g. the lead singer dressed in a white t-shirt with a leather jacket etc. other members were not. Therefore, to make the overall appearance of my music video appear professional and realistic, I am going to style my band members in a more suitable way.

- Finally, I am going to ensure that each and every lyric of the song is sung in time, and whilst editing, I ensure that every piece of lip syncing is perfectly in time, to add a professional edge and make it look as if my performer is actually singing the song.

Final Poster -

Final Digipak -