Now that the dimensions and design for the digipak have been completed, we got to work. I started off by designing the front cover first.
The first thing I did was open a new file on Photoshop and input the dimensions for the front cover: 5.45 and 4.95 inches, width and height respectively, the standard dimensions for a 4 panel digipak.
Next, I opened the image we had previously selected of the painting by pressing Ctrl + O and selecting said image. I dragged it over to the file I had created. Due to it's high resolution, the image was too large and had to be transformed. To do so I pressed Ctrl + T, pressed shift while adjusting the image by dragging the corners closer so the proportions of the image wouldn't be distorted. We chose to use elements from the painting on the outside of the digipak since the painting, the coming together of all three colours represents all her moods and different emotions, finally striking a balance, in a way showing the conclusion she reaches and her self reliance. The bright colours of the painting would also do a good job of framing the picture of the artist which has a dark bold black background.
Before I added the image we selected of the artist, I clicked Ctrl + R to create equal borders by clicking and dragging the lines till they were at equal distances against the ruler. Next I used the square shape tool to create a square within the border where the artist's picture is supposed to go so I don't have to later adjust the image by approximation but just put it in place of the shape.
The next step was too open the picture which I did by pressing Ctrl + O, choosing it and then dragging it onto the file I was working on. I used the clipping mask tool, to put the image within the shape. Due to the high resolution the image was too big and had to be adjusted which I did by pressing Ctrl + T. I then pressed shift while adjusting the image by dragging the corners closer so the proportions of the image wouldn't be distorted. We chose to take this picture against the black backdrop because that is essentially the location associated with her creativity, the location where she creates all her artwork. The green of her shirt creates a contrast with the primary colour scheme, something which will instantly make the eyes of the potential consumer drag towards her. This is especially important as its her debut album. Her disinterested expression and slightly ruffled hair sets her apart as an indie artist from the picture perfect mainstream artists.
It was then time to add the name of the artist and the title of the album onto the cover. I chose a san serif font called Bebas Neue which I downloaded from a website called DaFonts. I thought the san serif font would give it a more inviting look, formal but not too formal like that which a serif font would appear as. I tried placing the text as we had planned but it was lack luster and there was little distinction between them. As a debut album it is important that any potential consumers can tell the difference between the title of the album and the artist name. Therefore I enlarged the title name, as per the conventions of digipaks. I placed the artist name where it was originally supposed to be and make it yellow instead of the red, the album name was to distinguish the two and make them both standout while following the colour scheme. To achieve this I used the text tool to write, the move tool for arrangement and the color tool + dropper tool to change the colour of the fonts. The alteration of the sizes of the typography was done via transformation by pressing Ctrl + T, pressing shift and dragging by the corners till the size I wanted was acquired.
After this team SAD?? sat down and discussed the cover and how it could be improved. We decided to make a few changes. Mahnoor was in charge of the refinement of the digipak.
She started off by transforming the image by clicking Ctrl + T, pressing shift (to preserve the original proportions) before adjusting to make key elements of the painting obvious, so the audience would be able to easily recognise it e.g the lighthouse becomes more obvious and it becomes clear that the red underneath a person. She then used the warp tool to straighten the background image to perfect its symmetry with the help of the ruler tool (Ctrl + R). She then increased the brightness and contrast of the background, so the painting would appear brighter and therefore capture the attention of our potential audience.
While we aren't going for that picture perfectness a mainstream artist has, we still wanted to increase some of the aesthetic value of the cover which is why she used the blemish tool to make the artist's skin clearer than it was in the original picture.
She also used the blemish tool to fix the background of any flaws. Below are a before and after of the background after the use of the blemish tool, respectively.
Since the colours of the background were quite bright, we decided to use cooler shades for the image of the artist to create an eye catching juxtaposition which is why she then used the colour balance tool (Ctrl + B) to make both, the image and its highlight a cooler shade.
While the background itself is textured to an extent due to it being an actual painting, we felt the cover seemed a little flat which is why we decided to add some texture to the image of the artist. Mahnoor picked a texture from a website called Transparent Textures. She first selected the background of the image with the help of the magic wand tool so the artist themselves would not appear textured. She then applied the texture to the layer, locked it to the layer and used the brush tool to colour it blue so it stands out.
She then once more used the colour balance tool to change the mid tones of the artist's glasses to make them brighter, less reflective anf prominent.
Finally, while the font we originally chose was not a bad one, we thought we should use a more conceptually cohesive font. We decided to use a pixelated-looking font, also picked up from DaFonts for the album title, matching the pixelated hearts, a key element in both the music video and the inlay. We chose another font, a variation of the font we used for the album title, to create enough distinction between the two while retaining cohesion. Mahnoor, upon unanimous agreement, also rearranged the artist name, since with the given font, it wasn't very noticeable against the green of her shirt.
This is what the Digipak cover finally looked like:
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