7" packaging - development

I decided to start designing the 7" single cover first because that was the net that I preferred and thought would look best with my designs.
The single I chose to do the complete range for is the song 'Now, Voyager', which, annoyingly, is the same name as the whole EP... however it was my favourite imagery that I had generated from the lyrics so decided to go with it.
I started this without any idea where it would go, it just came to me as I went along, experimenting different styles and images until it looked right.
As soon as I started to use the abstract images, it all started to click. I wanted to generate some imagery which would not retract from the actual message of the piece, but would add layers so that it wasn't just the hand imagery.

This was the first attempt.
I wanted imagery to cover the wrists of both hands as they stop abruptly.
I also didn't want it to be reflected. I need different imagery for both sides of the piece. 

To add depth I added some more rounded shapes to the background to soften it up slightly. 

The droplets also add to the meaning, the whole EP contains a lot of water imagery... these both signify that element... and tears due to the sad meaning of the lyrics (death and loss).

I generated the rose from the lyrics. 

Red indicates blood and passion, death and love. 

This is a vector drawing that I drew and then coloured in photoshop. 

I then played around with different backgrounds.

The white provided too much empty space. 

This blue works, but does not have enough texture for what I want. It also blends too much into the abstract images.

This is using a crumpled piece of paper to add texture. 

The result is generic and somewhat tacky. 

TYPE

This is not my strong point. 

The annoying part about this piece was that none of the hand-rendered type that I had generated previously worked in context. 

This is some experimentation using this...

The angles of the type contrast too much with the images. 

I then decided to experiment with computer-generated fonts. 

This is Futura. 

For the information on the back of the packaging, I wanted to use a lot smaller type so that it did not reduce from the actual imagery. 

For this reason I chose a sans-serif font I have used a lot in the past 'Champagne and Limousines' in a small point size. 

This contrasts well with the bolder more impactful names of the songs. 

Type positioning. 

I think the type in the middle works the best. It compliments the imagery, leaving just enough negative space.

The final design on white stock. 

To get a better idea of what colour background I was going to use, I went to the library and bought three colours of stock that I thought would work with the design... and scanned them in on the A2 scanner in the print room. These are the three results.

The colours. 

Playing with colour contrasting and transparencies. 

This was blue sugar paper and I like the way that it comes up as a sort of lilac colour. It compliments the design well. 

Final nets to print.

Photographs of the nets printed. 

I printed off one copy with the net on it for an initial view... and one without so that there would be no black marks around the edges. 

The prints came out incredibly well. There were a few things that I changed in between the two prints, such as the colour and point size of the type on the back and the positioning of one of the abstract images.
If I had more money and time to re-think this, I would have printed on a thicker card and experimented with different stocks.
Due to the white detail on the skeleton hand, there was no way that I could print this straight onto coloured stock due to the fact that you cannot print out white unless I screen printed. Which would be a nice idea if I had more time... it would definitely be something that I would be interested in looking into with my next brief.