DigiPak - Ideas

During my initial exploration of creating a Digipak I managed to create a rough draft for a DigiPak that I intend to use as a starting point to work with as I develop my ideas further.

I'm very fond of having the Capricorn image on the front of the album, especially as it's the key piece of iconography I've decided to associate with my artist. The simplicity is also bold and eye-catching, which is useful in making sure it's memorable and distinctive to fans. 

However, the extreme simplicity of it doesn't link to the style of the music video I have created, nor does it feel appropriate to Briggs' alternative genre music. 

Given this, one idea that i've had to make it more appropriate is to use photoshop to create some sort of combination of the Capricorn logo mixed with a photograph - possibly one of the river - to have the effect of the Capricorn being filled in by this 'memory' (as this video does.) 

Another idea that I toyed with was drawing my own original Capricorn logo. 

To create this image I used the Sketches app on my iPad. I googled images of the Capricorn symbol and had a go sketching it out, experimenting with the different tools on offer. The above drawing was the most pleasing result. 

The softness of the design - an effect created through the uneven looking edges of the drawing - is more appropriate to the genre than the vector Capricorn I originally used. The soft curves of the lines and the slightly heart shaped tail also connote a femininity to the design, which fits with the fact that the singer is female and the video is supposed to be from her point of view. 

I also had the idea of incorporating polaroid shots into the DigiPak.

One way of formatting this could be to have a picture of a range of polaroids spread over a plain background (e.g. a wooden desk), possibly lit with candle light, maybe spread around a diary featuring the above sketch. 

I'm considering using this idea as the image for the inside covers of the Digipak.

An example of a polaroid I'd use. I think I'd play with the focus so that the polaroid's were out of focus, with the drawing of the Capricorn perhaps out of focus as well. I quite like the idea of handwriting some of the lyrics of the song on the open page, next to the drawing, and having the focus on them.

I think I'd still leave the back panel of the DigiPak to be a plain, solid colour, featuring only track listings and legal info, but obviously with the colour matching that of what's on the front.

I think I may go for a light coloured background instead, as this brings a softer feel to the product as a whole. I'm going to explore have a pale background that looks like fancy, cream-coloured paper, as this can be linked to the idea of memories. 

In regards to font, given the my ideas about drawing the Capricorn icon and handwriting the lyrics, I intend to use a font that looks (maybe even is) handwritten, in a dark colour so as to stand out against the pale background. 

Using the iMac app font book, I discovered the above three fonts - all of which I will experiment with during the creation of the DigPak.
The style of all these fonts feels congruous with my Capricorn icon drawing, so it will simply be a matter of deciding which one looks best.

I'm hoping that the overall effect of these ideas will be that I am able to produce a DigiPak that is much more fitting to the music and the music video, and that conveys a very personal feeling to the audience - like looking at a scrap book.