Print Productions Planning // Print Productions Outline & Vinyl Research

Now that I have completed and uploaded my music video, I am moving on to the next stage of the process, producing a Digipak and promotional poster to promote our music video artists. The digipak can be CD, vinyl or even tape format, so long as it incorporate at least 4 panels, which will be designed in Adobe Photoshop. I have decided to produce a vinyl sleeve for the artist, as I feel it most accurately reflects the independent target audience of his music. This does require a little more work and research than a typical  CD Digipak, but I feel it will be worth it as it better appeals to the target audience of my artist.. 

Record sleeves come in several basic formats, including 2-sided sleeve, 4-sided Gatefold LP, 6-sided Double LP and Box-Set. The properties of each are as Follows:


2 Sided Sleeve

2 Sided sleeve for 'They Threw Us In a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top' by Liars

This is the most common variant of record sleeve and is the cheapest and easiest type to produce so is often used by independent record labels. It utilises a simple 2 panel design with designs on the front and rear panel of the sleeve, the front panel typically bearing cover art and the rear track names and other basic information, such as the record label and catalogue number.

I feel that this variant of sleeve would be inappropriate for the task as it only gives the oppurtunity to produce two panels, below the minimum 4 panels outlined by the coursework brief, but also because it doesn't fit with the genre of the artist I am promoting. Dance albums are usually pressed onto 2 separate discs, in order to fit multiple tracks onto 45rpm discs, making them more appropriate for use by DJ's. A 2-sided sleeves only have space for a single LP, so would not be appropriate for the Dance Genre Vanilla fits into.

4 Sided Gate-fold

(A): 4 sided Gate-fold for 'Love Letters' by Metronomy

This is another common variant of sleeve, used more typically for 'Luxury Editions' and Dance albums.This kind of sleeve has had a small resurgence in recent years due to the re-invigorated appeal of records, as it best appeals to the audience who are drawn to the sheer physicality of the format. This variant can either carry one Disc (A) or two (B) which makes it versatile for many releases. It can also carry one disc and liner note booklet for variation, which makes it more versatile than a typical 2-sided sleeve.

This would be an appropriate type of sleeve for me to use for my Print Production as it meets the criteria of the production brief, having 4 separate panels which can design in order to help promote the artist. In addition, with this type of sleeve I can package 2 discs, which matches Vanilla's genre, due to reasons outlined earlier.

6 Sided Gate-fold

6 sided Gate-fold for 'Syro' by Aphex Twin

This type of sleeve has very similar uses to the 4 sided gate-fold variant, but with the added benefit of more storage capacity for extra discs or booklets at some extra production costs. This type is regularly used for more expansive dance releases or expanded double LP releases.

This would also be appropriate for my Print Production as it meets the guidelines and matches the genre. However, I am less keen on this type as it requires further work to bring up to a good standard and reflects less accurately  the independent appeal of Vanilla. I am not ruling out this type of sleeve completely however, as during the planning stage I may get an idea that requires 6 sides, but that will become more apparent as I continue.

Box-set
This is by far the most lavish and expensive variant of record sleeve, able to package many separate discs, booklets, posters and  other content. This is most commonly used for re-releases of classic albums, and to package entire collections from classic artists. 

This would be inappropriate for my print production as it does not incorporate 4 sides in its design and I feel does not realistically reflect the artist I am trying to promote as they are not established or classic. In addition, most box-sets are designed very differently, massively complicating the design process.

Overall, I feel the most appropriate type of sleeve for my print-production is the 4 sided Gate-fold. I have chosen this due to its correlation with my artist's genre, the simplicity of the design and the fact that it fits the print production brief. I may use the 6 panel variation, but this entirely depends on the ideas that I generate during the planning process.

UPDATE: 14/01/15

Due to the demands of the exam board, I cannot solely produce a vinyl record sleeve for my print production. Instead I will be producing a standard sized CD Digipak as the main part of my Print Production. I will however still be producing a Vinyl version of my packaging, as it will only require a minor resize and several small changes. I feel this will more accurately represent my artist as well as the wider record industry, which is transitioning back to vinyl as the primary physical format.