Photo Shoot for Album Cover

After planning the type of imagery we would like on our album cover, we went to the studio to start shooting.

We decided to take a range of different photographs so that we would have a wide variety of different poses- this would give us more to choose from during the editing process. A reason for this is as we were still not 100% certain on what our final decision would be for the photo that will make our final front cover. We also still had to consider whether we would use these photographs on our back cover too and would therefore need slightly more of a range of shots so that the pictures don't look too similar.

We used studio lighting so that the photos would look as professional as possible with accurate colour and sharpness. I think this worked very successfully as they appeared clear and crisp in the end so therefore looks a professional quality.

Shooting in the studio also meant that we were able to use a white backdrop. I think that this was a good idea because it meant that there wasn't a distracting background which could potentially detract the audiences attention away from what we want them to focus on (Nova's face).

To conclude, I think that this photo shoot was very successful as a large number of pictures were taken that we thoroughly liked and even if they don't make the digipak, they will definitely make it onto other means of artist promotion such as the tour poster.

This is our artists makeup being done, we planned for Nova to have a bold look with statement eyes and a nude lip. Our reasoning behind this was that we wanted her eyes to have a brightening pop in order to capture the audience straight away.

Album Name Ideas

Within this Prezi attached below we explain the different names that we could have possibly named our album and the reasoning behind selecting them. We also explained why our final album title 'Fragments' was chosen.

Conventions of a CD Case

To continue on from our research into digipaks, we looked at the typical conventions of a CD case so that we were able to familiarise ourselves with the key aspects of one in order to apply it to our own.

Front Cover: We noticed that many front covers generally have the artists name in a large font clearly displayed on the cover, this could be because the record label need to make it obvious who the artist is in order to attract their fans and/or potential buyers straight away. We also noted that most text fonts are very unique, this therefore makes it more personal and so much more recognisable to the public. Another factor that can have a huge impact on the quality/professionalism of the album is how well the artwork visually represents the genre of the music- for example, if an indie album were to have bubbly pop artwork it would not be taken seriously. Front covers almost always feature the artist's name in the top third of the cover to signify importance- as well as this, the artists name and album title are often in different fonts and sizes (album name typically smaller) to differentiate the two and show which has most power.

Back Cover: The back cover on the other hand features the track list predominantly of which the font is very clear for the viewers to read and also typically links to the front cover font, showing a strong sense of continuity. It also always features elements such as the label's name, catalog number, barcode, website URL, social media sites, production credits and producers name. This is all information that we feel is important to go on our own album as attention to detail is most effective to me.

Disc: The disc, realistically, is the most important feature of an album however, to me, not visually as it is inside and the album artwork on the front cover needs to jump out in order to be picked up off the shelf in the first place. The artists name is normally on the disc alongside the album title but not always. Sometimes there is no feature of any titles or artist name and just visual imagery that ties in conceptually with the album artwork so that there is, at least, a link. Some artists leave their disk blank to seem artistic, but not many.

Inside: The inserts in a CD case are normally thank you letters, lyrics or pictures of the artist on their album cover themed shoot. This needs to show a clear link to the rest of the album's artwork on both the front and back covers in order for it to seem continuous and as one.

Spine: The spine conventionally includes both the artists and album name alongside the record labels logo. This information is always kept to a minimum so that only the important details stand out to the viewer.

This research has been very beneficial to us when knowing what to include when designing our own digipak later in the process.