A2 Advanced Portfolio Music Videos JD

In this post I explore the typography used on existing album covers. History Alex Steinweiss of Columbia Records is credited with the concept of album covers and cover art, coming about in 1938, replacing the plain covers used previously. Cover art became cultural icons and marketing tools. The following work is by Alex Steinweiss, and his use of bold colours and creative typography is still seen as iconic. The work below is by S. Neil Fujita; the first piece "strange interlude" was created for Lew Davies and his orchestra in 1961; the overlap of bold, large typography and colour is still seen on modern cover art, as it is timeless in its simplicity. "Big, bold and brassy" is an example of mid-century album covers, released in 1960. Both of these covers focus primarly on the typography against a off-white background. The cover art for 1965 jazz album "The Rumproller" was designed by Reid Miles. It features distorted/shaped text, in bold ora...

In this post I research digipacks and their history. Digipack = A registered trademark for a style of optical disc packaging. Digipack cases typically consist of gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card outer binding, with plastic trays (flexitrays) holding the CD. Digipaks were first created by MeadWestvaco, who trademark "Digi-pak," but as the product format became more popular, "Digipak" became a more generic term used in reference to all paper based CD packaging. Digipack style cases gained popularity in the early 2000's, and is considered a modern, stylish alternative to a standard CD jewel case. Well designed CD artwork is combined with print finishing options such as Spot UV, Embossing and Matte Lamination. The most common CD Digipack is a 4 panel digipack, however there are also 6 panel CD Digipacks, and even 8 or 10 panel Digipacks available. The main appeal when it came to the digipak CD packaging format was its aesthetic appeal; they are primarily...

In this post I explore existing A Level digipak designs as part of my digipak research After researching existing A Level digipak designs, I felt that it would be beneficial to my research to explore digipaks created by past A Level media students, in order to help me create my own. The first digipak example I found follows common conventions of digipaks, through use of the close up of the face for the main cover, alongside a range of nature shots. It is interesting that the candidate uses a variation of editing effects on the non-nature shots, and chooses to have one shot in colour, one in black and white and one in a sepia effect; this isn't commonly seen in exisitng professional digipaks that I have explored throughout my research, and seems slightly confused and over-edited. I am personally inspired by more simplistic digipaks that use a consistent colour scheme and similar variations of images. However, I like that this digipak included text on the spine of the albums and a...