Front Panel: This photo encapsulates Olly Patriarca as a youthful urban pop-star, indicated by the subtle attitude of his body language (e.g. arms crossed, head tilted back) exuding a confident character. We married this with a pair of Rayban Wayfarers and a denim aviator jacket - alternative/indie items of clothing that resonate with charismatic British male singer-songwriters such as James Morrison and Olly Murs (key style icons that inspired Patriarca's star-image). This styling gives Olly a 'guy-next-door' image which creates an identifying point with his male/female demographic and prevents his appearance from verging on egotistical which can be the common convention for most modern urban stars, such as Usher and Tinie Tempah. In addition, the logo of his interlinking initials in a graffiti-esque font appears in the top-left corner and is a graphical representation of the artist's urban nature. However, the album title and artist name appears in a sans-serif grey font to emphasise simplicity and a serious tone to the album, as an over-use of graffiti font would make the digipak look amateurish. Finally, I used a cross-process filter to give a vintage quality to the photo alongside black burnout edges, creating a cinematic moment.
Inside Panels 1&2: These two panels work together to make up a whole photo of the artist. I decided this would be more effective than compressing the landscape photo into a 14cmx12.5cm canvas, as the striking symmetrical photo appears extremely prominent and acts as the focal piece of the digipak. Furthermore, the fact Olly is 'holding up' the Jack Kerouac's quote: 'The only truth is music' alludes to the star's philosophical and passionate side (reflected in the album) and detracts from the typified 'reckless youth' British stereotype making him appear more of a musical intellect.
Inside Panel 3: Behind the CD and plastic tray is a photo of a secluded urban street from the Philippines; walls covered in artistic graffiti. I chose a black&white filter to portray an element of melancholy and then breathed some vibrant colour back into the left-half of the photo to draw attention to the graffiti art of a lively cityscape. In addition to reflecting the exploration of two juxtaposing tones on the album, this imagery represents Olly's cultural/background roots, in turn making him seem down-to-earth and personable to his audience. I wanted to steer clear of over-exposing Olly's physical appearance to the point where it would seem I was desperate to sell my artist.
Back Panel 1: The idea of a four quarter panel was inspired by the Britpop movement as it seemed to be a common convention across albums from this genre. For example, the album artwork of 'Blur: The Best Of' and a page included in the booklet for Oasis' 'Dig Out Your Soul'. Despite Olly being an urban solo artist, I thought I would incorporate this wholly British convention and depict two quarters as close-ups of the artist and two quarters conveying his urban roots representing he will never lose sight of where he came from (e.g. the dull city street and the multi-tonal brick wall - conventions associated with city-bred artists). To give this a more urban edge, I used a vignetting effect to exude a distressed quality.Back Panel 2: The back cover continues the motif of an urban cityscape present throughout the digipak and also evident in our music video through the choice of locations. The colourful blurry city lights against the natural simplicity of the picturesque skyline capture the authentic essence of our star perfectly - someone who is from a buzzing environment yet through music, manages to escape to a idealistic world and feels free. The tracklisting appears in a sans-serif light grey font which is similar to the front cover titles, maintaining continuity throughout the digipak to avoid looking tacky on the shop shelves. The track names are JR Aquino's own but I chose these ten in particular to reflect the theme of emotional life experiences creating a personal concept album. Finally, I included institutional information such as the barcode, production/legal information, artist website platforms and the 'Mega Records' logo to complete my digipak.
Reflective Final Thought
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