Initial digipak design sketches

Front (right) and back (left) cover

This is the initial sketch idea for the outside covers of my digipak. The front cover, shown on the right hand side, will most likely feature a shot of the band and Jack (who was initially in the band, though over the shooting period has taken up more of a 'friend of the band' role). It will work well as being a generic image to represent the genre, and also instantly establish the band (actors in this instance) and genre. I will use large, bold lettering that is iconic of ska, to present the name of the band in the bottom corner. The track name will also featuer on the front cover being formed by monopoly money to spell out the word 'moneygrabber', which is strongly referencing our video as we used monopoly money in this way in the form of stop motion, and establishes the theme of the song as being about a money-grabbing woman. I am likely to include a chequered black and white border which is also iconic of the two-tone sub genre. I will also experiment with different image effects, such as adjusting the saturation, to improve the appeal of the image.

For the back cover of the CD case, i will be using a large image of a news bulletin board (more zoomed than in the illustration, shown by the arrows!) where on the board there will be a news headline referencing a contemporary money-related political issue such as the education cuts or banking disaster. This would again be relevant to the theme of the song (money-grabbing!) as the bankers of recent times have been publicised as being overly greedy with the administering of bonuses, causing drastic negative effects on the economy. This lack of money and jobs within society is also a large issue raised in This is England, which would be a good intertextual reference. On the reverse of the news board, which will be presented at an angle to the page to connote the quirky, fun nature of The Skanx and ska genre, will be the track listings and any other information necessary to the EP. I again adjust effects to make it more appealing.

Middle inserts

For the CD insert i am contemplating the idea of using close-up shots of the actors' faces, dressed in ska costume, facing the camera whilst looking at each other across a quartered page in an almost pop art style, not dissimilar to that of the Blur album cover 'Best of Blur' analysed in a previous post. this would establish the band members themselves, as well as presenting them in an interesting, quirky way that is fitting of the genre. i will most likely be using diagonally relative black and white colouring for the boxes in which the faces will be, as it is a simple iconographic of the two-tone genre.

Finally, for the face on which the CD itself will sit, i will be using a simple image of scattered monopoly money, which will be the sole focus of the page. This will again be referencing the stop motion sections of our video, as well as the song title itself. I feel that this will work effectively as it will be a bold design, typical of the genre, that will grasp the audience's attention upon opening the case. The bright primary colours of the money will represent the fun nature of all of the ska genre, it's carefree target audience, and the song itself. The connotations of freeness that this bright colour brings are in a sense ironic, as the audience of the song living amongst contemporary political issues are anything but free.