Completed Digipak and Poster

Here are the images of the completed digipak and poster:

Poster Progression

For the poster, we used an image from the band photoshoot and contorted the image on Adobe Photoshop apart from the centre, in which the band members are situated. Using the software we distorted the surrounding trees and branches for effect, which again conformed to the theme of distortion in all products. We do this so that one product can be easily related and identified to another, and also as a magazine poster it is appealing to the eye and draws in the readers' attention.

After this, we then altered the lighting and contrast to darken the image, again apart from in the centre where it is brighter and therefore draws attention to the band members who are left unedited, however still leaves a mystery as they are not facing the camera.

At the bottom of the image is the text in which a poster entails, which includes the existing band logo in the same fonts and colours, which is important to keep the same so it can be identified. The poster conforms to typical magazine conventions with ratings, information, and links to websites. The final outcome looked bold and professional, and still contained typical Radiohead conventions which is the outcome we were looking for.

Magazine Poster Research

Looking at existing magazine posters in the magazines our target audience prefer, such as Q and NME, it would be appropriate that the poster we create would conform to such posters so that it suits the style of the magazine.
Looking at these magazines, it is clear that they all include the necessary information for a poster, including a clear artist logo with a large artistic/band image as the background. It also includes information about the record and its release dates for instance, as well as internet links and other small print.
It is important that we conform to these typical conventions of a magazine poster for it to be used as a legitimate poster.

Inside Cover Progression

This is a video of Helen explaining visually how we progressed with the inside cover.

The final outcome looked like this:

3-Inside Panel Progression

For the 3 inside panels, we thought it was important to include images of the actual band. As Radiohead never usually centre themselves on the album artwork, we conformed to this convention by keeping both the front and back covers simply to artwork, without the band. As our music video also doesn't contain the band themselves however, we felt it would be a good opportunity to include the band over a 3-panel image, with the centre panel being where the CD would be placed.

For this, we did a photoshoot outside with a backdrop of woodland again to conform to the rest of both our main and ancillary products. We narrowed down the choices to 2 photos, and spent time making the image fit to a 36cm by 12cm size, like below.

The image above is an example of an image we didn't choose to use, after testing out different effects. Instead, we chose the image below which is shown in its original form. The band members are conveniently spread out across the image for it to suit our 3-panel cover, so that one member will be on each panel.

Firstly, we cut the image again so it was a 36cm by 12cm format, and then the main adjustment after this was the effects we created using Adobe Photoshop CS4. We cut up the image into numerous strips, and then tilted them distort the image, but not enough to lose the initial photo. We also split the photo into 2 layers, with one layer using a greyscale, and the other in a sepia colour/warming filter of orange. Again, this was to keep the continued theme of woodland colours throughout the digipak, although this time the image was not completely similar to the front/back cover for instance.

Once we were happy with the look of the image, we then placed the CD shape in the accurate place over the centre panel, which was a translucent white circle, so that none of the image was actually hidden or affected. The final outcome is below:

Back Cover Progression

Following on from the style of the front cover, we wanted the theme to continue throughout the digipak. We decided to choose another woodland photo for the back cover and we liked this image most. With the same adjustments, we changed the size to 12cm by 12cm, altered the hue and contrast, added a 'Warming Filter' of orange, and again used the 'Stained Glass' effect, all on Adobe Photoshop CS4. This was so that both the front and back cover had the exact same theme, and reflected each other, as can be seen below.

Next, we added the necessary text on to the back cover, in order for the image to look professional and legitimate. Using a translucent orange box to place the song titles on, this lifted the text off the existing image making it clearer to see, without cutting out any of the original photo. We did however decide to use a different font here in comparison to the band logo font, as well as the colour and size. We chose brown to suit the woodland concept, and we made each song title different sizes for effect, to appeal to the eye. We then added underneath necessary copyright information which is included on all existing album artwork. The finished product is below and we were pleased with the professional outcome, and we think it compliments the front cover well.