Digital print tests

 

When attempting to print the sleeve using a digital printer, I firstly made the mistake of putting the paper through the wrong way when doing the inside of the sleeve, so that they layered on top of each other. I thought this created an interesting outcome however, as it created interesting shapes over the text.

Once all components were successfully printed I was able to experiment with putting holes through the sleeve in the shape of the map use for the sleeve design, inspired by the records sleeve designs of Sähkö records and FatCat records. The holes went through all components, which was my first intention however I think it makes it all appear too chaotic. I experimented with different kinds of holes; pencil punch, cross using a craft knife and hole punching. The hole punch would be most successful as you would be able to see through into the sleeve to see the inner design, however it would be too difficult to do, due to the limitations of a hole punch. It would also take up a lot of the sleeve. 

When asking my peers for their feedback on this idea they suggested to cut on big hole out of the sleeve, which is similar to one of my original ideas of having an offset cut out hole to represent the underground isolated music scene and contrasting sounds of the music itself.

 

 

 

I firstly tried cutting a hole straight through both sides of the sleeve in the corner. This works for the offset cut out hole, but looks a bit to random. Going straight through both sides also discard a lot of the inner design. I had the idea of putting the holes where the artist is, surrounded by the track title. This would but the holes in different places and work with the design better. It also reveals the record itself and inner sleeve design when the record is out of the sleeve, again relating to the underground nature of the music scene. The 7" I chose to use inside the sleeve is a blue colour, linking to the blue in a Finnish flag, which would be an effective pop of colour on the monochromatic design of the outer sleeve.

 

I experimented with printing green and blue versions of the inside of the sleeve and concluded that blue is the best option, with feedback from peers saying has a stronger link to Finland and the darkness of the blue in comparison to the green works better with the record sleeve design as a hole. The blue aspect can also be continued throughout other aspects of the module such as the flag design, as it has a direct link with flags and the genre, therefore making blue the more versatile option.