This is the process and creation of my digipak.

1. Task 13: Drafting for layout
of Digipak

2. My aim
The main aim of my Digipak design is to be of a similar layout and style of
the original full album so that you are able to see a clear link between the
two. The original album is AM by Arctic Monkeys. This means I will use the
same black and white colour scheme. The design needs to be simple but
effective; therefore I may use a cartoon style image for the cover which can
relate to the music video for “Do I Wanna Know?” which is an original song
in the album. The colours and images must be bold and artistic so that
they stand out and relate to the song while being inspired by the album. As
I am promoting the one song (Knee Socks), my digipak will be mostly
centred around the song as well as it being the name of the album.
I will design the:
- Front cover
- Back cover
- Extra panel
- Inside right
- Inside middle – CD
- Inside left
Software's to use:
- InDesign
- Photoshop
- Word

3. Original AM album/single images

4. Research into digipak designs
- Layout – covers both sides
- Artistic style photography
- Colours
- Similar image on inside cover and CD
- Minimalistic yet bold
- Conveys theme of album/band
- Simple design
- Bold colours
- Artistic images
- Portrays album/band personality
- Connotation of genre of music

5. - A2 media digipak design
- Bold, statement colours
- Constant theme that describes the band
and the single
- Artistic design
- Various features – band
members/lyrics/song variations
- Simple photos that stand out in
background

6. Questionnaire results
To be able to design my digipak, I conducted a
questionnaire and posted it on Survey Monkey so
that the general public were able to answer the 10
questions I created on what makes a digipak
interesting enough for a consumer to want to buy
it. I will analyse some of the answers to the
questions that are the most relevant to designing.
Analysed results:
1. How old are you?
Everyone who answered this question was in the
age range of 16-20, therefore I know who my target
audience is.
2. What genre of music do you listen to?
This question helps to find out what genre of music
my target audience likes to listen to which will
then allow me to explore further into the genre and
what appeals to the fans.
4. What album stands out most because of the
cover art?
The albums listed are all quite different in style
and colour but what they have in common is
creativity. Horehound consists of a surreal mirror
image, Dark Side is simplistic, Elephant consists of
the band, Sgt. Pepper is quite busy and Like
Clockwork is a cartoon surreal image.
1.
2.
4.

7. 5. What colours stand out on an album?
Black and white seem to be the most popular response,
therefore, my album cover will consist of these colours as
they stand out the most.
6. Do you prefer a simplistic design or complicated
and full?
All the respondents chose a simplistic design over a
complicated one, therefore, I know not to overcrowd the
cover.
7. What should be included on an album case?
The artist name, album name, cover art, song titles,
record company and logo are the basic necessities of an
album case and the most popular answers, therefore I will
include these on my digipak. The song lyrics, additional
photos, names of band members, a note from the artist
and website have also been chosen but as they are
considerably less than the other choices, then I don’t have
to include them or all of them.
9. What draws you to an album?
The cover art and colours according to the answers given
are the aspects of an album that stands out the most and
attracts consumers to them and through the various
answers given throughout the questionnaire, I can make
sure I know what fits best.
10. What artistic style do you prefer?
Cartoon and realistic are the most chosen designs which
means that I can incorporate the two into my digipak
cover.
5.
6.
7.
9.
10.

8. Research into inspirational
artwork
Banksy is a graffiti artist that uses stencils to spray his work on his
canvas. The stencils are hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate
of card before cutting them out.
Wikipedia states, “He mentions in his book, Wall and Piece, that as he
was starting to do graffiti, he was always too slow and was either
caught or could never finish the art in one sitting. So he devised a
series of intricate stencils to minimise time and overlapping of the
colour.”
His work is inspirational for my own because of the outcome of each
piece that has a stamp like, rough quality that could be used in my
own work in a way that it could reflect the band or the song.

9. My digipak template
Front CoverBack CoverExtra panel

10. Inside middle - CDInside left Inside right

11. Photo shoot for digipak
These image were taken from screen
shots of my music video so that they
could have a direct link to the
album’s digipak. This works well
because of the various shot types
and angles I had used while filming
gives me a range of images I can use.
These images will be edited on
Photoshop so that I can transform
them into the cartoon design that
was suggested on my questionnaire.

12. Photograph editing process
To create a realistic cartoon design for my
photographs, I have used the Photoshop
software to edit them.
2.
1.
Firstly, I opened up the image in
Photoshop and zoomed in slightly so that
the image was bigger, therefore, easier to
work with.
I scrolled over the “filter” tab at the top of
the screen to reveal a drop down menu. I
then scrolled over the “sketch” button to
reveal another menu where I selected the
option, “stamp”.

13. 3.
The photograph turned into a black and
white “stamp” of itself. This style is quite
like a cartoon/drawn image with realistic
qualities which is what I wanted for my
images.
4.
I don’t want any background in my images,
therefore, I selected the brush tool to paint
over the background so that it became
white.

14. 5.
The background imagery was then gone
and to experiment with the colours I
wanted to switch the white parts and the
black parts of the image around so that
they would become the opposite colours.
I scrolled over the “image” tab at the top of
the page and in the drop down menu, I
scrolled over “adjustments” and then
selected “invert”.
6. The colours switched around to create this
image. In this version, I didn't like the
shadow, therefore, I scrolled over the
brush tool and selected black paint.

15. 7.
The shadow was then painted black to
match the rest of the face. To change the
colours around again, I just clicked on the
“invert” button.
8.

16. Audience feedback:
-For the band name, I think I prefer the first
design because the good the gentle font of
the letters links in with the soft Indie name
of the band.
For the song name, I like the second font
because it fits in more with the style of the
band.
-Band name – I like the third font because
it fits in more with the actual font that
Arctic Monkeys use.
Song name – I like the first font because its
a little indie which brings out the indie side
of the band and song.
-The third font for the band name is more
artistic and for the song name, the first font
stands out the most to me.
Therefore, the overall result is the third font
for the band name and the first font for the
song name. however, as the second font
was also liked, I will use for the other text
needed on the digipak, such as for the song
lyrics.
Fonts
Band name fonts:
Song name fonts:
- WordArt
Ivory is Trouble
Ivory is Trouble - Adobe Caslon Pro
- Georgia

17. Front cover
Audience feedback:
-Image 1 for me personally is far more eye catching due to the detail being black rather than
white. Furthermore I much prefer the font in image 3 and would like to see it included in the
final product.
- The first image is my favourite for the front cover as it stands out the most and allows more
focus on the name written on the socks
Due to these comments and those of the fonts, image 1 shall be the final image for my digipak
cover.
Initial deigns
1. 2. 3.

18. Audience feedback:
- The first image (left side) doesn’t fit with the bands name as much as the image on the right.
Arctic is associated with snow which is a white colour and therefore the white background
correlates with this. However the black background could show that this is a new time for the
band, a change of direction; hence the contrasting black background.
- I prefer image 2 because it fits in with all the other images I like from the rest of the digipak.
The second image is the final image that I will use for the back cover. The song titles will be
placed on the panel with this image.
Back cover
1. 2.

19. Audience feedback:
- Image 2 fits better with the rest of the chosen images included on the digipak,
therefore, I think it would the better choice.
- For me, image 2 is more eye catching due to the detail seeming more realistic
as well as being able to see the question mark ring clearer as it is the main
focus of the image. Also the black nails looks more realistic than the white.
Due to the responses, image 2 will be the final image used for the extra panel.
Extra panel
1. 2.

20. Audience feedback:
- Image 1 for me is the most eye catching as her jacket and necklace stand out more from
the white. The second image is a little too bright because of the white jacket.
- I prefer the first image as the black seems to make more sense to be on the clothing than
the white.
Image 1 will be the final image I will use for the inside right of the digipak.
Inside right
1. 2.

21. Audience feedback:
- Image 3 is the best because you are able to see the shadow from the glasses which makes
it look more realistic and full of depth.
- Image 1 looks more professional and classic compared to the others because it is clear
and obvious what the image is as well as having an urban/ graffiti style.
Due to the responses in the audience feedback, the final image for the inside middle (CD) is
image 1.
Inside cover CD
1. 2. 3.

22. Audience feedback
- I prefer the image on the left as the legs stand out against the black and the lines of the
legs are more exaggerated due to this. The white lines on the right image look too thin to
me.
- I quite like both image, however, the second image stands out the most to me because I
think the first image is a little to bright and bold because of the white legs.
The final image for the inside left of the digipak is image 2. The song lyrics for Knee Socks will
be placed on top of this image for the digipak.
Inside left
1. 2.

23. Other text on Digipack
All other text used on the digipak will be in the font, Hobo std as it was quite
popular among the font choices. This will include the song titles, website
address, band member names and song lyrics.
Song titles:
- Do I Wanna Know?
- R U Mine?
- One for the Road
- Arabella
- I Want It All
- No. 1 Party Anthem
- Mad Sounds
- Fireside
- Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High
- Snap Out of It
- Knee Socks
- I Wanna Be Yours
Lyrics of Knee Socks written
on “inside left” panel of
digipak.

24. I have included a barcode on the
back cover of my digipak as it is a
basic convention of a digipak. I
used a barcode generator to
create it in which I had to choose
the type of barcode I wanted and
then type in 12 digits for it very
own code. I did this on a website
called http://www.barcode-
generator.org/. I have chosen the
EAN code because it is used in
retail across Europe and the band
is from the UK, so it would be
appropriate to use.
Barcode number: 236103939129

25. Final digipak design

26. Due to the small font and some details, here
are larger images of some of the panels.
Front cover:

27. Back cover:

28. Inside left:

29. Inside middle (behind CD):