Digipak new front cover design

As per usual, working on a design over the course of days or weeks means that you become your own biggest critic. It was difficult to stick to a front cover design that I was 100% comfortable with - especially when I had my step father offering feedback whenever I asked for help to learn Adobe's tools.



When deciding what my inside cover would consist of, I decided that the motif of the melting, dripping liquid which started from the text 'JAMES BLAKE', was interesting and effective - imagery that I wanted to continue in some form on the other covers of my digipak.

But constrained by my logical mind, I needed the motif of the dripping to have a viable, sensible source - something which could have been difficult if I wanted to keep my design both simple and meaningful.

The above paragraph might not make sense - but it is explained by my next design, below:

In this design I address some key problems. Firstly, the white line separater was unneeded and ugly - adding nothing but rather getting in the way of the simplistic design. Secondly, I decided a digipak would be more recognisable if it did indeed have the album's name on it - so I added 'OVERGROWN' (the name of the album with my music video's song on it) in the same font style as other text and in the same colour too - for consistency. Placing it within empty space so that it stood out, I also underlined it with a soft gradient, so that it may stand out even further.

Next, I liked my puddle idea, but I wanted to carry on the dripping motif into the sides within the inside of the digipak - so I wanted to give the impression that my cover was interacting with the elements around it, and that the dripping was coming from the same source as the front cover.

So I subtly made the 'puddle' into a bowl, or a barrel, and used InDesign's gradient and shape tools to give the impression that the barrel was full up to spilling point with the melting liquid from 'JAMES BLAKE'.

The motif turned into something deeper. I found out that James Blake was influenced in writing Overgrown by a break up in his life - something that effected him deeply. In many of his songs it seems as if he is trying to pick himself up again after set backs.

The barrel being full and then overspilling is symbolic of his attempt to pick himself up, but failing, as some is still tipping out and dripping away.

With the dripping liquid falling to the bottom of the front cover, I could carry on the same pattern on other sides of the digipak - as a continuation.