Improvements for Draft

After watching the video together we decided upon points we thought we could have done better on. These will be considered for final copy.

List of things we need to improve:

·         Order shots with piece of paper with shot number on to improve speed when editing

·         Lighting needs to better- it’s not bright enough and there is more light on the left hand side

·         Mise-en-scene (you can see a plug and sometimes skirting board and wall corner)

·         The transitions need to be smoother because it looks jumpy at times

·         The lip syncing needs to be spot on

·         Drum and guitar playing needs to look more realistic and in time

·         Band members need to look more authentic e.g. not looking awkward throughout

·         Band members need to look forward and not down unless storyboarded

·         Storyboard needs to be more fool proof; there were two occasions which extra shots had to be added in which weren’t on the storyboard because we hadn’t accommodated for a few seconds of the music. These are where the shooting star scene repeats itself three times when it was only intended once and the shots of the drum ‘Cheap Kicks’ wasn’t written into the storyboard and only appears as it was an extra shot and we needed to fill space.

·         More interesting angles used on band? A lot of it seems to be repeated and standard shots

·         Location change? The cream wall we shot against wasn’t in a big enough room as we couldn’t fit in everything e.g. long shots didn’t show below the knees when they were storyboarded to. It was hard to fit the drums in- wasn’t wide enough

·         Change of ideas at beginning? Where the hearts should be (not in YouTube clip as we didn’t complete the first minute of draft due to technical issues) seems to be harder than anticipated as it goes on for too long and when we tried to take pictures for these shots the camera can’t fit them all in or pick up on the chalk.

·         Camera wobbles on occasions need to be stricter with tripod

·         Camera angles move

·         Hand appears at the side of one shot which wasn’t realised until editing

·         Continuity Ellie’s head is suddenly facing a different way towards the end

·         Need to accommodate for the fact the display picture on the camera actually crops out slightly which meant plug socket appeared unintended

·         Zoom changes on scenes of Ellie and Sam

·         We need better time keeping for filming

·         Better organisation for filming and editing- not leave it last minute (although wasn’t our fault for editing software only just fixed in time)

·         Need to recheck shots once filmed as previously we didn’t check which meant we didn’t realise when shots weren’t as successful as intended

Draft Video

Today I spent the whole day editing on the school computer to try to get it done. I started a bit into the song as the first few shots I was unable to upload. However I have managed to complete about 3 minutes of footage. It clearly needs a lot of work but will help us to progress in getting a much better quality final piece.

Progress

Today towards the end of school the program 'Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0' finally began to work with a few change of settings. Because of this we will be able to start editing properly tomorrow however it will be hard to complete as we will only have a matter of hours.

Despite all the difficulties outside of editing software I have managed to Photoshop all the frames which required layering with photos. These are for the stop/start sections and are shown below (put together quickly with alternative music than what we are using as I don't have song on computer used):







These give an idea to how these particular shots will look in our draft video. They also show that despite having been limited with what we can do editing wise I have still tried to utilize the time.

Editing So Far.

Editing is proving to be a lot harder than initially intended due to the lack of software available to us. The Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 programme we were going to use is unfortunately unavailable to us at school at the moment due to technical issues but me and Izzy both don't have it at home. The alternative iMovie is also unavailable to us as neither of us have a Mac and there is only one at school which has been occupied when trying to use it. Movie Maker seems to be temperamental in that only a select few of computers actually have it and those that do aren't reading our video files. The editing quality on Movie Maker is also limited and if we decide to pursue it we will be much more limited with what we can do. We have actually already tried to use Movie Maker on a home computer but unfortunately it was unsuccessful and the computer crashed leaving all the work deleted. Also Izzy has been off school with a throat infection this week so unfortunately we have not progressed nearly as much as we would have liked.

Despite this I am continuing to Photoshop frames for our stop/start section as we have around 100 and about 60 that need images layered onto them. Hopefully something will sort out and we can get it all done last minute if we try our best but so far everything seems to be going wrong.

Stop Start Practice Ideas

Originally, for our stop start sections, we thought we were going to draw the background, take photos, print the photos, cut the photos, glue the photos onto the background and then take a picture of the final image and upload this to the computer. However, to do this about 100 times for 0.5 second frames seems a bit unnecessarily time consuming. Therefore I came up with another way which we could complete the frames (still time consuming, but hopefully less so). This is to still draw the background but then to scan the image into the computer and then Photoshop the photos of the characters on top. This would save time, paper, ink, glue etc etc. It would also mean the background images should line up as taking photos of the final image would cause a bit of a hassle getting it exactly at the same angle and scale for about 100 times.

I decided to practice this theory I should complete a quick trial. Here are some screen grabs:

First I scanned the hand drawn background onto the computer and opened it in Photoshop.

I then opened the photo of the character (in this case Sam) I wanted to have in the scene.

I then moved the image onto the background.

Then using the 'magic wand' tool I deleted the actual background to the photo.

As this tool isn't full proof I used the 'eraser' tool to get rid of remaining bits.

I then rotated the image.

I then moved and scaled the image onto the background. 

I did this process nine times and moved the image across varying backgrounds so that it would create the illusion of Sam walking if they were all played together. I then uploaded the images onto Movie Maker and set 0.5 seconds for each frame (as this is how long they will last in our actual video) and added backing music (not the music we will use in our video). Here is the final result: 

Obviously this video isn't perfect as it was just a quick practice but it gives the general idea of how to create the frames. If we do decide to go with this idea we would spend much more time and effort to perfect it.

Filming Update

Today we began filming. It was a lot harder than we anticipated as organising several people at once seems to be a lot harder than it looks! However, once the first few shots were repeated and redone we started to move off a lot more quickly.

We mainly took on the roles as myself on filming and Izzy for directing for the band performance and Izzy filming and myself directing for outside scenes and table scenes- this however did vary slightly when we needed each others help. For the photos we require for the beach scenes we took it in turns to take some so the work was equally weighted.

We did not complete all the filming however we got all of the shots which require actors in so we now need photographs for several bits of stop/start. Me and Izzy intend to do this over the weekend. Hopefully the shots we captured come out well and can be put together effectively!

Film Prep: Prop List

Band Performance: 

• Costumes (previously spoken about in earlier posts)
• Two guitars
• One drum set

These should be all props required for the band performance aspect as it is being kept relatively simplistic so the focus is on the actors. 

Table area: 

• Costumes
• Lined paper
• Pens
• General 'mess' to make realistic e.g. mug/glass, magazine/newspaper etc.
• Table
• Chairs
• Pictures on walls (to make realistic 'home' feel)

Letterbox/ Street: 

• Costumes
• Letter/ envelope 
• Letterbox
• Houses on street (obviously part of location but is vital for believable aspect)

Other locations are the 'beach' where costumes will be the only prop required on screen and also lined paper which obviously requires no props just a pen to write on it with. 

This list should be helpful in making sure the mise-en-scene is effective and believable and should make sure we don't leave any obvious things out. 

Further Film Prep

As I talked about in our last post I have been doing some film prep including making sure the locations were sorted. To show this I have taken photos of the main locations; these being the plain backdrop, the 'beach' and the table for the intro and the ending. Other location shots include the postbox/street but I have been unable to take a picture of that due to it being dark outside and this factor being misleading to of how it will look as it will be in daylight. We also have lined paper as a sort of location so I will also include some tester images of this also.

Location 1; Table for intro and ending:

Location 2; Plain backdrop for band performance:

Location 3; 'Beach' for choruses:

Location 5; Lined paper (quick idea of what text will look like):

These are all the shots of locations although obviously amendments will be made to them before they are used. For example the table area will not have the same mess on it, although it may have some mess as part of the mise-en-scene, but this will be more thought through and relevant e.g. a pen and paper for writing. Also the plain backdrop will be much better lit and the 'beach' will have photos on top. Other than that you get the general feel and idea of the locations and they should hopefully be effective.

Filming Preparation

Due to work and holiday commitments our filming is yet to have been done however we have assigned tomorrow, Friday 21^st October, as our main filming day where we can get as much of the filming done as possible. We will have the whole day to work on this. In order for tomorrow to run smoothly we have taken necessary actions to make sure the locations, props and actors are all going to be readily available. So far, it is looking positive and everything seems to be in order.

We will be using our shooting list to make sure filming is as straight forward as it needs to be and there is no unneeded interferences. We have also booked out a video camera to make our filming possible and have borrowed a tripod to allow us to use it effectively. We have got lighting sorted to an extent- we obviously have no professional lighting or spotlights but we will be filming most (if not all) in the middle of the day where hopefully the sun should be shining and also have chosen well lit rooms to complete filming as well as having lamps etc at the ready to increase lighting where we may require it.

Preparation work already completed includes the many beaches (drawings for our stop/start choruses) to have been drawn and coloured by myself. They will be ready for photo’s to be stuck down and to be filmed. The photographs for these shots will also hopefully be completed tomorrow although the filming of these may not as they are the easiest to complete without actors so me and Izzy would easily be able to arrange another date if time is running short.

Hopefully tomorrow should go well but we will keep you updated.

Digipack first draft

This is my first attempt at my digipack. I am not completely happy with at as I don't think it all completely matches and it looks a bit disjointed.

The front cover and back cover match but the other panels dont follow suit which is something I will need to improve when finishing my final version. The idea of the discs was from the Beta Band's album, I initially planned on doing a booklet but I was unsure on how many pages to do so I  sticked to doing the standard 6 panel digipack. I will make a decision on whether I want to do a booklet when I have taken my images, as I don't want to make a booklet of not very strong images when I could do a 6 panel digipack with better images.

The font on the front/back cover is just a test also, as I wanted something that looked more similar to the 'House of Holland' font on his t-shirts

However I have not found a font that is exactly like that so for my first draft I have stuck with georgia, I will experiment with fonts later on to see which best suits the style of my album cover.
Another problem when creating my final copy will be the images that I will use, as I won't be able to use the  starry background for my text as that is not my image, this will be the same with the images on the back of the digipack.

I like the handwriting font that I used as I think it fits the genre and gives the digipack a handmade feel but it also looks professional.

I also am aware that I have put the top row of images on the wrong way round.

Mock Advert Draft

From the original ideas I completed, this is a development of the third one- the one I stated I would like to pursue. It is a bit more complex as has a fourth image of the CD and also has the pattern as an outskirt for the four CD cases. However I think the overall impact is still the same as it still uses minimal writing to get the attention of a customer who may perhaps feel daunted by masses of text.

Although I am submitting this idea as my draft I am still unsure as to whether the original advert I have now developed may in fact be better. However, I am going to wait for feedback before I decide which will be used as my final advert.

Mock Adverts

As I didn’t want to go straight into making a final idea for my magazine advert I experimented with different ways in which I could go about making it.

My first idea shown here incorporates the brown paper for the background, which represents the link to the album. It also uses the same pattern which is used for the album so that the audience can recognise what the advert is advertising without even having to read. Obviously the writing does aid this as well although I tried to keep it to a minimal. I used the band name, album name, release date, ratings and preorder details. I feel this is keeping the required information to a minimum to allow for a simple look yet also says enough about the product to sell the item to its target audience. By using ratings it gives the album a reliable basis for which more sales can be made as it isn’t a risk buying the album as it has already been listened to and rated. The high ratings attract more customers.  I think this idea works well however if I was to pursue it it would need moving around and changing a bit as I think I could make it yet more minimal. 

This second idea I think looks less effective than my first as although it carries certain aspects of the theme from my digipak, such as the font, brown paper and pattern, it doesn’t look completely representative as the jigsaw pieces are not relevant to anything. Although they look pleasing in some ways it is more important I feel to have a consistency through my digipak and magazine advert so I feel this idea is flawed in that respect. However, I do like the minimal simplistic approach I have created again.

My final idea I feel is my best. It is as simple as I think it will get. I used the cover from the digipak and two edits of it in a row to create a horizontal strip. I then outlined these images with a thin lining of lined paper (linking to my digipak) so it stood out from the brown paper background. I used the complete minimum of text and left out both the band and album names (as they are on the cover images) and only added text specifying the release date and that it could be preordered. I feel this is the best idea because its simplicity makes it look professional and believable for my band.

Although I am aware of which I feel is most successful I will ask other members in the target audience to get a definite decision that the third advert is the one that I should pursue. 

Mock Digipak

This is the general idea of how I want my digipak to look. Obviously there will still be a few tweaks to get a complete finished product however I am confident I am on track to achieving this.

I have shown a version of my digipak both with size guidelines provided by ‘Disk Wizards’, which helped me to get the correct sizing, and also without to give a more accurate idea of its appearance.

I tried to keep the colour scheme and theme consistent so throughout the pack I try to stick to a homemade feel and the colours brown, black and white (with the exception of the main pattern).

For the front cover I further developed one of my practice ideas so that I could build on an already existing idea. What I changed was essentially just the background colour- it was cream and I changed it to a scanned image of brown paper. I think this adds to the creative and artistic look of the piece as well as drawing a parallel to a similar ‘homemade’ look that we are going for in our video. I chose to use the brown paper as a running theme for the rest of my digipak as it shows consistency and professionalism.

For the back cover I used the magnetic lasso tool to cut out parts of my pattern to recreate a section onto the top right corner- this was to make reference to the front but also to add colour and a bit of interest to the sometimes boring looking track list. I also used the same font as on the front cover, which was ‘Orator Std’, as again it kept the theme running throughout and also as I feel it is a simple yet effective font choice which echoes elements of the band. These elements include a ‘vintage’ feel which the bands styling might incorporate due to its alternative nature which therefore links to the old vintage style typewriter like font I chose. I listed eight tracks for my album as I feel this was reminiscent of other indie albums which are quite minimal in terms of length. I chose to have the track list relatively small to keep the back looking clean and simple. I then added a barcode, an obvious convention of all digipaks and also a copyright notice which is reminiscent of actual warnings as I researched into the wording record companies use for this. I chose to add the record company logo ‘Columbia Records’ as this is the record company who produced the debut album for ‘The Vaccines’ who I think are a band we can draw a parallel to.

The left cover is probably the simplest panel of them all as it is literally just a quote on some brown paper. However this utter simplicity I feel works really well as the overall impact is better due to the obvious focal point. The use of a quote was to show where the band could have potentially gained inspiration from. Even though all artists have influences and inspiration I felt it was valuable to actually display this influence and reference a previous artist as it shows respect and gives a bit of background on the bands initial idols. It also broadens the potential target audience by referencing a famous artist from the past which gains automatic recognition and adds interest to people who may not have initially noticed it or have been interested. It helps to establish band image.

The three inside panels are not the same in terms of background and font choice to the front three however the theme still runs through by the use of brown paper and a general homemade feel. I chose to vary the background and font choice as I felt the lined paper added to the overall ‘put together by hand’ illusion but also allowed an effective basis for the lyrics to be displayed. This is why I chose to use an alternative font for these inner panels as it represented handwriting more effectively. ‘Lucinda Handwriting’ was therefore the font choice as it looks like it has been handwritten which is the effect I am going for; it also links to the music video for ‘Plage’ where we incorporate lyrics handwritten onto a lined sheet.

I chose to incorporate some lyrics more for the visually pleasing element rather than to actually be read- although obviously this is a good selling point for using them. I think the text looks like sort of ‘doodles’ which again adds to this general feel I want to get across. I only chose to use the chorus for two songs for use to this purpose as there was only room for this many and likewise as I already said, I wanted them more for the visuals than the actual aid. I chose to include lyrics from these two particular songs as ‘Plage’ is the one we are creating a video for, and also the one the band are to release as their first single, and ‘Young Lions’ as this is the song from which the album title was chosen. I used brown paper to aid the lyrics as hearts reference the love in the lyrics ‘my love is calling’ and stars represent the stars being sung about. They are very literal aids to the words but once again are there for the aesthetic pleasing they produce rather than any other factor. It also allowed the brown paper link to again be included and they look as though they have been cut out once again bringing the homemade idea all together. I chose a brown paper backing for where the CD would be also as this again adds to the overall idea and links the whole thing together.

Overall I am pleased with what I have achieved so far and think the creation of this digipak has been successful. I am not completely finished with it as I feel there is going to be more work to be done before I can be entirely happy with it, but for a draft I am confident it is on its way to achieving this. The main aspects I feel I may have to change are the inside panels, this is because although I believe they look effective there is work that could be done to further their potential. However, this is the first time I have tried the inside panels so my ideas are only initial and further inspiration may come of it.

Styling Conclusion - Harry

We have decided we want all three band members to wear black skinny jeans; so Harry will be following through with this also. This is because we noticed it was a typical convention for indie based bands and it looks effective for them all to look quite similar so they look like a 'gang' - which all well styled bands do. Obviously we don't want them all dressed the same as this, in my opinion, looks tacky and is very typical cheesy 'pop' band. So for the top half and footwear there will be obvious variation.

We want Harry to wear a burgundy woolen jumper as this is something that we would expect to see similar band members wearing as it is very 'granddad' style, which many bands are using to give a sort of alternative/vintage twist on things. It will also contrast against the grey shirt Jake will wear and (hopefully) whatever we decide Sam to wear (this is so far undecided as he is the main member and most featured so will need the most attention to detail in terms of styling). Therefore although they will be dressed in some respects similar, mainly through general style rather than specific items, they will all be able to achieve a represented personality through what their clothing connotes and so will not all be seen as 'clones'.

Styling Conclusion - Jake

From our post 'refining ideas; styling' we narrowed down a list of what our band members could potentially wear. Now as the shooting day draws closer we thought it would be valuable to further refine these ideas and give a definate decision to what each band member and extra (Ellie) should wear. This is to avoid confusion and unessessary hassle on the day so it should hopefully run as smoothly as possible.

For Jake I have decided he should wear a casual grey shirt, black skinny jeans and white vans. I feel this is reminiscent of something an actual band of similar genre would wear.

I have found images of similar items to which I describe so that we can picture his final image.

These items represent Jake to be casual and laid back. They will give him a representation in the band through what they connote as well as giving him an image.

Style conclusion - Sam

As Sam is the band's frontman it is of vital importance that we dress him to make a first impression of the band. I wanted him wearing something similar to in this picture as I felt that it suits the genre and makes a good first impression on the band. We wanted him wearing jeans as we felt we didnt want the band members to look too formal as the audience could lose identification with the band as we wanted the band dressed how they would be. We also wanted him wearing a shirt as it looked smart/casual which is another impression we wanted to get across to the audience. Sams hair would be styled as in the picture as again, it fits the genre and the 'look' we are trying to portray. Styling is extremely important as it gives the band their image and their house style.

Styling Conclusion - Ellie

After doing more research as to what female's wear in 'indie' music videos we thought it would be best to clarify on here what each individual would be wearing. We decided to research further into what Fearne Cotton, Caroline Flack and Alexa Chung are wearing as they all have a style similar to what we want Ellie to be wearing in the video.  Although Ellie is not a band member it is important she wears something that looks like it will fit in with the style, as it keeps continuity and makes the video look more professional and well rounded. We decided we wanted Ellie to wear a cream lacy top with khaki shorts, black  tights and maybe a big coat to finish off the look we are trying to acheive. She'll wear her hair down as it is long and wavy it will match with what we like her to look like, as well as some light make up because we want her to look as natural as possible. It is important we are specific with how we dress her as on the day we might feel differently and the outfit might not suit the feel of the music video, it also makes it easier to tell her what to wear other than deciding nearer to the time. We also wanted her wearing lighter colours as this will match with the feel of the music video.

Update on Filming

We have recently decided that we are going to film our footage on the Friday of half term. This is the 21st October. To allow this day to run smoothly and to plan we have booked out a video camera and have got hold of a tripod. We also had to make sure we, me and Izzy, were free as well as Harry, Sam, Jake and Ellie.

This proved to be a harder task than anticipated due to work, family and holiday commitments. However this day does seem to be the most promising in terms of getting everyone together. We managed to organise the date through texting as it allowed quick responses. We now have to hope for good weather for our outdoor scenes!

Back Cover; Digipack

I decided to give a digipack back cover a go to a style that I think matched my first attempt of a front cover (Jamie T Copy). I think that by copying other album artwork it will increase my skill in creating a cover that will suit my music video the most.
Here is my first attempt;

And that was another attempt. 

I am unsure but I think I prefer the second one as I think it looks more ' busy ' and like thre is more going on. I like the song choice and the aesthetics of the names. I also like the star background to the letters (this is an element I am a fan of as previuously using the star image in other posts). I will ask others for audience feedback in which looks better, and most likely will use one for my final digipack design. 

Magazine Advert Analysis Three

Here is my final magazine advert analysis- I chose an image from the internet rather than my NME magazine again as this is the kind of advert we are required to create rather than a tour date one (although I am contemplating this also). I really like the overall effectiveness of this advert as the image has real impact however since my advert isn't going to contain any photography this idea won't work for me so I will be using a broader palette to gain effect in other areas. Despite this, one thing I will take away from this advert is its simplicity- it is something to be admired and I intend to create a similar effect. 

Magazine Advert Analysis Two

For my second magazine advert analysis I chose to get an advert from a copy of NME (8th October 2011 edition) which I purchased to gain inspiration. This was instead of getting one off the internet again. What I noticed when looking through the magazine was that straight forward magazine adverts were limited, in fact there were non. They were all adverts promoting tours rather so than just the album. Therefore I thought it would be effective to analysis a tour date advert which not only promotes the album (through same photo/font/colours of the album case) but also promotes their tour. This gives more to analysis and is a more accurate idea of what magazine adverts are like and also implies to me that as well as the normal advert we are required to complete I should also perhaps consider creating an assisting tour date advert also. The band 'The Vaccines' advert that I chose to analysis is because of the similar nature of their band to our created band 'Cheap Kicks' meaning anything I gain from it could be applied to how I go about creating my advert as the conventions are similar so it would be believable and effective to do so. 

Santogold - Magazine Advert

After looking at the style of Santogold's album cover and advert I realised that her clothing style also matches the style of her album cover and advert. As I have decided to just use the main band member (Sam) on my cover I will have to dress him accordingly in order for him to match the 'house style' that I am creating. I also need to create ultimatley a logo for the band as I think it looks very proffessional and keeps that house style. I will need to look at different album covers/adverts to see how important a house style really is. I also think the next step is to look at font's to create the band 'logo'.

Magazine Advert Analysis One



I chose to analysis this particular advert as it is reminiscent of the genre of our music video. This being 'alternative'. It also links into my idea of using pattern rather than photography for my digipak which would then link through to my magazine advert to show a consistent theme. This allows me to see how pattern can be used to the same effect of photography and it still works well and looks professional. 

Further Work Towards Digipak

After asking for feedback from my last post (experimenting with ideas for the front cover of the digipak) everyone, with no exception, said this one was the most successful and appealing. I only asked about seven people but the 100% record it produced left me with no doubt this was the idea I should pursue. 

Obviously it still needs work and I have alternative ideas for the background; one of which includes scanning in brown paper instead for a more creative and textural feel. 

However, I am confident that my font choice is successful. I have no immediate intention to change it as I feel it is clean, simple and professional. I also think the pattern in the middle is successful as I feel I have the ratio right in that I have not exposed too much or too little of the pattern. Again, the pattern I think works well as it is reminiscent of the styling for this genre- it has a sort of 'vintage/indie' feel. 

Now I have decided upon the idea that I feel will work best I can continue work on the rest of the digipak and it is now obvious the theme the pack will take as it will be running theme/ colour scheme throughout. 

Testing ideas; album covers

After seeing Lydia's post on doing similar album covers I decided it would be very helpful with my research to do the same. I chose 5 album covers to copy to give me a sense on how to do it effectively. Again I will be using the image of me that I used in my previous post as I haven't taken any images, yet I know I want to take a similar one for my cover.
The first one I attempted to replicate was Jamie T's Kings & Queens.

Although my attempt isn't an exact copy it is clear where I got the inspiration from. 

I will complete more copies.

Further testing ; Layering on photoshop

I have decided to experiment with layering on photoshop. After watching the official 'Plage- Crystal fighters' original video, I realised it has a moving cloud video on top of it which plays throughout, it isn't immediatley noticable but it leaves a nice effect/ finish to the video. I have decided I want a lot of variety in my digipack so I think that it is best that I experiment with layering images on photoshop.
I have decided to use this photo that was taken of me last year for my friend's media coursework as it a similar camera angle to the one I want to use for my cover.

Firstly I chose to layer the picture with the background image of our blog

I really like the effect this has had on the picture, it reminds me almost of Tine Tempah's album cover called Disc-Overy. However I mustn't deviate from my chosen genre, with the right font and editing im sure I will keep to the indie/alternative genre.

I then decided to layer the same picture with several other images.

I then decided to layer the image on top of its self.

I think that combining the layering of a single image and they layering of a different image on top would be a very effective way to create an album cover/part of my digipack.

CD Case; front covers

I decided before I went into making the whole digipak I was best to settle on a front cover, as this would be the basis for the rest of the pack as I want the theme to be consistent. I used the inkwell background and also the noise distorted one to allow me to get completely different ideas.

I like the simplicity of this one, however I am unsure about the layering of the band and album name as it takes away from the 'simple' idea. I think it would be more effective with only the band name shown.

Again I like the simplicity but again I think the album name doesn't look quite right. It would perhaps look better if I moved it's size/position/font. I really like the faded out effect I have used on the band name and I also think the font choice here (star avenue) is particularly effective.

Here I have taken inspiration directly from 'Pala' by Friendly Fires (shown above) in that the album name is shown bigger faded out and the band name is shown on top. This is my favourite idea for this particular background.

Here is another idea I have which was to repeatably copy the band name and album name over the background. I think it does look effective however I think if I was to pursue this idea I would need to play around a bit more with the font use.

The background (the bottom layer) proved to be an issue with these next few ideas as the inkwell effect, although looking effective, was too busy to put writing (band name / album name) on top of it easily. Therefore I have came up with some other innovate ideas to be able to work around this issue yet still use the pattern. Above is my first one which is to have a black background and have the font coloured with the pattern. I think it works well and does have a professional look however like most things like this, it will need a bit more playing around with to finalize.

This idea was taken from inspiration from the Hotchip album 'Made in the Dark'. I think it works well and the font compliments the cover effectively rather than taking away from the theme. With this idea I played around a lot with the background colour and also tried out black and pale blue- both which also look effective, however this one was my favourite.

This idea is displays the issue I talked about previously about the writing on top of this pattern being hard to do. It looks too 'over the top' and busy. However, I think the font matches the pattern well and perhaps with further experimentation there could be a way around it. 

Here is a further experimentation. I used the writing twice and layered one behind the other in a pale colour which matches the background. This was to make the writing stand out more but without being obvious that there was a shadow on the original text. It does help to an extent but I still think it needs further work.

The idea behind me completing several covers is so that I can firstly come to terms with what works well and what doesn't and also so I don't waste time creating whole digipaks which I then don't use because of having better options/ being unsuccessful etc. The case gives a taster of what the whole digipak would be like so until I have decided how I want the front to look I won't think too much about the rest. The only thing I would say is that I want it to be relatively simplistic and to have a running style throughout.