Digipak CWRA. A2 Media.

1. Digipak Mock-up #1 – Strengths, Weaknesses and Review Analysis
The background of the digipak perfectly displays
spacecharacteristicsas I planned.By combining
different stock images and playingwith the
opacity,and options in which they aredisplayed,
I was ableto create this background of nebulas,
clouds,stars and contrastingcolours,as my ideal
representation of an unknown sector of space.I
am very happy with this background and will be
keeping itin my final product.
The image of Thenuka, who is portraying“G-
Money” is another positiveaspectof this front
cover. Thenuka’s facewould create meaning by
showingthe audience that this record is more
downbeat, and serious,focusingon the injustice
aspectof rap rather than the wealthy aspectof
it. The hoodie makes stereotypical connotations
to rap and the image options,in which I reduced
the opacity of the image so that itcould blend
with the background also works.We can see
auras of spaceblendinginto Thenuka’s image,
which creates a great aesthetic. I will bekeeping
this for my final product.
The “Parental Advisory” logo is a
convention of stereotypical rap genre
digipaks. Due to the mature materialof
rap songs, this logo is sent as a code to
audiences from institutions that
discretion is advised because of the
content. This would also give the
institution a good reputation as it shows
they careenough to protect young
audiences from such content. To keep in
line with institutional factors, I will be
using this in the final draft.
The Purplefont colour with the inner
and outer Photoshop glow add to the
spacethematic that I was lookingto
create and stands out againstthe dark
features of the album, I will be using
this in the final draftof the digipak.
One factor that I will
want to remove is the
“G-Money” text. My aim
to portray G-Money as a
world renowned artist
who is instantly
recognised by fans and
audiences,and is
embedded as one of the
most popular people in
the music industry,and
by removing his name, it
will allowfor more brand
identity, so as soon as
audiences see him, they
will recognisehim.

2. The background was created in a similarfashion to
the front cover. I took different stock images,put
them in a Photoshop composition and then I played
with the opacity,blendingoptions and colours,
which brought me this finish.The different colours
resemble that of a planet-likeatmosphere, with a
touch of space, comingin from the top right corner
(the blue colours.The stars were created using
another stock image, which I blended in to the
other stock images. There is a planet on the right
(which was bright red in the original photo),but the
Photoshop tools I was ableto darken it. The useof
planets,nebulas,clouds and stars again creates a
spacetheme, which acts as continuation factor of
the front cover. It has a good aesthetic to it and so
it will bepresent in the final draft.
The image of the model is good. The emotion
he portrays creates meanings again for what
the content of the albumis.Also,the way in
which the picture is presented also creates a
good visual.I cutthe background out of the
image to justhave the model then I reduced
the opacity of the image to create the blending
effect, and to further add to this effect I used a
variantof the Adobe Photoshop eraser tool to
erase details of the image to have it blend into
the background so it’s almostas if the model is
a nebula (keeping up with the spacethematic).
I will be keeping this in my final draft.
The font colour of the track
listingissimilar to the
colour of the titlein the
front cover, which
establishes continuity
between the two digipak
conventions and even
establishes brand identity.
The font itself is bigand
bold so that the track
listingcan instantly beread
by consumers,especially if
any of the pre-album
releasesingles arepresent.
The barcode is a convention
of a back cover in a digipak.
The institutional logos arealso
present as they are conventions
of a digipak.The creditingof
institutions isoneof their aims as
it brings recognition to people
responsiblefor the production
and distribution of the album.I
will,however, need to add
copyrightinformation in the
future drafts,as they arealso
conventions of an albumcover.

3. The background of the insidecover was
created in the same way as the front and the
back covers of the digipak.I brought
different stock images together, blended
them, played with opacity levels,blending
options and colours to get the finish.There is
a lot of detail in the background involving
planets,rings,flares,and dusk orientated
atmospheres that adds to the spacetheme. I
am happy with the finish of the backgrounds
and I will useitin the final draft.
The text in the insidecover is a personalised
message for the audience, who purchases
the album, to maintain a relationship
between the artistand the audience.
However, I intend on takingit out for the
final draftbecauseittakes away from the
aesthetics of the background,and does not
blend in with the detail of the background
that well.
This is an image of the model. Using
Photoshop, I was ableto add this detail and
animate it. By animatingitthis way, italmost
makes the insidecover feel likeart,and
perhaps an artistic interpretation of the idea
of ‘spacebound’ as the model looks up
towards the detail of space.I used the
rotation and transformation options to
position the image the way it is.
This is a signaturefrom G-Money, which
again bridges a connection between the
artistand the audience.

4. A background is present in the CD panel,
however, I put less emphasiseon it, as
most of the background would be
masked by the CD, itself.
I am going to keep the design of the CD including
the animated image of the model’s face on the
top that adds to brand identity and continuity to
the insidecover. The black colour of the CD
creates meaning by connotingthe dark themes
that the album covers.I give credits to
institutions and givecopyrightinformation,
which are conventions of CDs. I also describethe
CD number and the edition of it, another
convention. The title of the album adds to create
a good aesthetic. The font was manually created
usingan external pad.
What I will wantto change is the CD
itself.The shapeof the CD is elliptical,
but itdoes not actually look likea CD or
have the aesthetic feature, so I will find
a template of a CD and lay this design on
top of itso that there is more of a CD
aesthetic to the product.

5. Next Steps
Front Cover:
 Remove the ‘G-Money’ text to fulfil brand identity requirements.
Back Cover:
 Add Copyright information to meet the back cover conventions
 Any other necessary changes for aesthetic purposes.
Inside Cover:
 Remove the text for aesthetic purposes.
CD Panel:
 Create a more CD-like aesthetic for the main CD.