New Front and Back Design CD digipack + Record Label Logo

We started the front cover again; we looked back on Adele's CD designs. We aimed for a black and white style design with one colour that stands out. We took one of the pictures from the photo shoot and cropped it out using the magic tool eraser and lasso tool. We made the picture black and white and adjusted the Brightness and Contrast that help with making it look brighter, which is what Adele's cover does trying to not to make the photo look lost or too blended into the background. 

We used the lighting effect to act as  sort of spot light studio effect, we did this by going to Filter, Render and lighting effects. We placed this in the top right hand corner as my face was looking in the bottom left hand corner. 

We stayed to a font through out, Lucinda Sans Unicode, a simple modern text that makes it look professional and not making it look boring,

Here we have the Record Label Logo, we didn't want it to look too bright or to artists, something that looks independent, something new and yet doesn't lose interest in what the company is trying to sell. We used the Plastic Wrapping text for the effect, we decided on this as it looked different and made a 3D effect. To make it stand out a little more we moved the text lettering a bit out of the embedded effect that made the Plastic Wrapping effect around the letters. 

 

 

Promotional Package Set #2 Poster/Magazine Idea 1

This is only the first idea. Getting feedback today to see what we can improve on. The background would need changing and the font colour and size as some aspects of the poster dominate other parts of the poster. The album cover will have to be bigger and more of a central image of me would be useful. Keeping the star rating and maybe have some comments would make this look better. We are going to aim for a black background and a black and white picture of me, keeping with the style of Adele.

Promotional Package set #1 CD Cover and Inserts Idea 1

The CD Insert, the insert where the actual CD will go (Background)

Still keeping with the poppy theme, I found this image on DeviantART and so we decided, after thinking of what we could do with it, we cropped it out and created a PNG of it so then we can copy many of the onto the CD Insert canvas.

 Here is the CD Insert where the CD would go. So we used a blue background to make the poppies stand out as well as the title and we layered the poppies out in no particular order, we have rotated them and layered them over each other, to create some sort of texture effect; The title outback will be a curve for the CD, we thought this was a good effect, it was something to fill empty space and not make it look too crowded.

Promotional Package set #1 - CD Cover and Inserts Idea 1

The CD Inserts

This is the tracking list for the back of the CD. Here I have PNG file of track list, with two fonts used, one for the numbers and another for the names of songs. The font used for the numbers is a font called "The Last Font I'm wasting on you" and the font for the track list is called "Poor Richard" which made a nice variety in the design, they go well together.

Here I used a texture that is free from the site DeviantART and I have used Hue and Saturation to change the colour of it to make it brighter and so it won't clash with the colour of the text. We also used a shot from our music video of me playing the guitar. This proved difficult as we had trouble cropping me out and making it look presentable. We used the blur tool to soften the edges as well as the eraser to erase the parts we dont need.

 Here we are in process of creating another piece of the inserts for the CD. We took this picture and found an effect called Diffuse Glow. We very much liked this effect and so we applied this to the image.

 Here you can see that we can control the Glow amount, how much the glow exceeds and the clear amount is how much the glow can stretch across.

 Here is the Diffuse Glow effect after. After we did this, we realised we have to crop it out. As you can see from this picture, my nose looks odd and my head as a few bumps that need clearing up. So I went back to the original picture, used a tool called Magic Eraser, in which is detects areas of similar colour and erases them, so I clicked the background and only I was left. Applied Diffuse Glow again and used the blur tool to soften the edges and erase some of the edges I didn't need.

This is the one we used on the above CD Insert

And this is the one I went back to and edited. It looks much softer,  some of my hair on the edges as gone but when applied to another picture; it doesn't have any bumpy edges and doesn't look like its unfinished.

This is a possible insert for the CD.

Feedback

We got positive feedback on the inserts and the track list. However there still needs to be changes made, such as the track listing. We will be removing the numbers and making them into a centre format on the design. The background would be used again and also the purple background for one of the inserts. I made the mistake of putting Hiding My Hear cover by Adele. This will be removed and just be Hiding My Heart. The cropping out of me will still be used. We just need to come up with more ideas for the inserts.

Promotional Package set #1 - CD Cover and Inserts Idea 1

The Front Cover Process

We did a photo shoot trying to portray a sort of  style Adele has, Melissa did the makeup and hair styling and I picked out something simple yet effective. So we decided on a front cover picture and began to experiment with ideas and see what we can do. We knew we wanted it in black and white, later we went with a sepia look.

So through the programme Adobe Photoshop CS4 we start to edit the picture. Select the picture, double click and make it a layer, so it isn't a background as we can't edit backgrounds, and as a layer we can edit this as it's a free moving image. We place the black and white effect on, and as you can see down in the right bottom corner, the panel is indicated Layers and Paths, this allows us to use the layers to edit which layer comes first and which effect is on which image. We had a bit of experimenting with the effects we could use and found Neon Glow was very effective as a front cover feature for the design.

 To apply the neon glow you go to Filter/Artistic/Neon Glow which will take you to a separate window in which you can go on to adjust the settings of the Neon Glow

Through this we can control the how big the glow is, its brightness and its colour, but as we are applying this to a black and white image we just set it to white as no colour will appear through the black and white effect.

 And here we have the result from the Neon Glow. For the front CD Cover we have to make this picture fit the size requirements for the CD Cover/Inserts, so we have to move this to a blank CD Cover sized canvas/picture document and continue editing from there.

 This is what the picture looked like after applying the Neon Glow

 And this is what we did editing it within the CD Cover size canvas. We used a cloning tool, to make sure the background from the original picture is covering the rest of the CD Cover, by doing this we select the area we want to copy, and then as a brush we click and move the mouse over the area we want to fill in. This makes it look like the background is consistent through out the picture.

 Here was the first idea for the CD Cover. "Treasure" was just an idea for the CD and this would be changed and another font will be used. We also added the information that the Cover of the song we have done is mentioned on the CD. My name is used, as a signature for my Album in a fancy/curly font. We are using the colour red as a symbol of the poppies in the video; we are keeping this as a constant theme. We used a sepia effect on the CD to give it some more colour.

 Here is the final product, for the CD Cover. A change in font makes it less boring but not to out stage the rest of the product.

Feedback

We got feedback on the first idea for the front cover. The picture blends in with the background and the writing at the top wouldn't be on the front cover of a CD. So we will be going back to our photo shooting pictures to see what we can use to make it look better. Looking back at Adelel's work, her black and white images consist of a black background and she is in black and white but through Photoshop she stands out and looks brighter to catch the audience's attention. Through this feedback we can improve and know what appeals more to an audience and make it look more professional.



Editing Process...With Syncing Issues and step by step

After collecting all the footage we can now start to place pieces of footage onto the time line, in the programme we will be using Adobe Premier Pro. This is an advance software in which you are able to do a lot more with you're footage than the simple tasks you can conduct through a simple software such as Windows Movie Maker, in which I use for personal use to create fan videos and upload them to Youtube.
Here we are using a variety of shots to make a more entertaining video, to stop it from being boring and as well as this using the locations to our advantage we are able to create a constant appearance of the same mise-en-scene.

Here we are making transitions from one clip to another by using a crossfade which fades out on clip and another fades in. This transition is commonly used for a variety of videos which allows to make a transition less boring and to cut to the next scene without looking to sudden, this also allows it to move the video along.

Here we have the continuity editing. This is where we recorded the action from two different shots to make it more entertaining and give more variety to the video, trying to make it look more professional. We had to cut certain pieces of each piece of footage and rearrange the pieces of each footage to make the sequence look as though we had two sets of cameras and to fit the actions of what I was doing.

Here we have to listen to the song and look at the piece of footage that shows that part of the song that I am singing. Through this process we have sync the footage to the song by slowing down, which we did for majority of the singing shots, and also move them on the time line to the point where it fits the song. By doing this we make the time line bigger by zooming in so we can move to every milli second and accurately make it fit, as oppose to being zoomed out in which we would be making hard work for ourselves just trying to make it fit, where it just wouldn't go to every milli second.

Here we have to sync the miming of the guitar to the song, in which we have to look at the times of my hand strumming the guitar fitting the sound of the guitar where it is being strummed and try and sync it to the song. Same with the singing shots we had to slow some of the shots down to make them fit with the strumming of the guitar.

We are able to use different locations within one area. We used Towneley Hall which is open to the public and as a wide range of beautiful places to film. So we wanted to create  variety and as you can see we have different shots from different pieces of the film showing the same location in a different area, such as the fountain. We have done some work next to the fountain and we have also another piece where (I am walking out of the Hall) and I am walking away, in which you can see the fountain in the foreground.

Here we used one location to our advantage and used many different positions as possible.We have used different parts of the song and to fill the time line up and give variety to the video and make it more entertaining. The first piece we did was with the second verse of the song and  I walk towards the monument and go to the floor. The second one is where I am sat next to a statue singing the third chorus. So with this we are revealing different parts of the statue, and as with the continuity editing part, this is where we see different parts of the moment too, using it to our advantage.

By using variety, through singing shots, none singing shots and performance shots, we are able to create variety, entertainment and use features that are normally found in a typical music video. Here we are using the footage to fill in the time line and filling in gaps that we have, we also filled in part of a verse with performance shots before moving onto other singing shots and none singing shots, giving a balance and allows us not to lose interest for the audience.

CD, Magazine article and photoshoot research

I've looked at other artists promotional material for ideas and how the photo shoot can be similar to the CD Cover etc I have also explained what CD Covers I liked and why, as well as this I have also looked at what we are trying to aim for.


I have used this website and took what covers I like and explained why I like it and what works.

http://spyrestudios.com/inspirational-showcase-of-50-famous-album-covers/

 Motley Crue have always portrayed this sort of background, they keep with the leather clothing and big long hair, with that street mise-en-scene with bikes. This is targeted at both male and female audiences, the females would be drawn to this by the big hair and the bikes, possibly the title "Girls Girls Girls" might be a contributing factor. The males would also be drawn by the bikes and for both the female audience too, the music. Youths would try to follow in their footsteps and the word Motley comes from the term "consisting of many different types of people or things that do not seem to belong together" Motley Crue have been a band, wanting to be different, write songs perform and be their own.

 Guns n Roses have created a funny CD Cover depending on which audience views this. If particular types of people are into their style, they will understand that the skulls represent the band members and the cross is used within Metal bands quite a lot. Both Female and Male audiences will be drawn to this through the humour and this being the style of Guns n Roses and many bands like them. Females would like the music but also because they will have "crushes" on the band members. Males will want to be like these rockers and try and follow their fashion style.

 Korn is another rock band/metal band; they have used humour here in an ironic way. The Title "Follow the Leader" where the letter R is twisted the other way adds to the style of Korn's name. The title also tells all for the picture, the children are "following the leader" and as we can see the leader, a girl with blonde hair in a red dress seems to be the centre attraction, being the only thing with a colour that stands out. As we can see a hop scotch being a normal children's game, is on the edge of cliff, somewhere children are not seen. The blonde girl is heading towards the edge of the cliff and the children are sceptical not to follow.

 Mariah Carrey appeals to both the Male and Female audience. This CD cover is very creative as the digital art rainbow in the background is creatively being completed by the drawing of the rainbow off Mariah's top. Mariah's music would appeal to females as she is a female singer normally sings about what females think, feel and go through in which they can relate. Males would be drawn by the lack of clothing and the attractiveness Mariah has the windswept hair and "perfect" body.










 





Seen as Adele's style is what we are aiming for here I have done some research on her style so we can draw inspiration from this and try and portray a sort of Adele style design through our promotional work.


Her face is the centre of the picture, the eyes; make up and hair are her assets, the features that she is well known for. The text is simple and creative, the use of black and white and one colour makes it stand out more and look more simplistic in a modern style.  

Youtube Feedback - Postive

This positive feedback as allowed us to see that people other than our friends, people through the Internet, like what we have produced. From this feedback they said:
 

"The images and the song itself were lovely" 

So we have combined the visuals with the audio, the song fits the style we have produced and as successfully completed one of our aims. She also added on supportive negative comment saying:

"Only noticed one "hiccup" where lips were out of sync with music." 

As a group we are working on this as this isn't the final cut. From this feedback we feel more confident with our piece.

We hope to receive more comments on this and also through the Internet I have connected my Youtube account with my Twitter and my Facebook, so all uploads will be posted throughout my social networking sites, which allows us to post this to a wider audience and to gather more comments and feedback for our piece.

Facebook Feedback

We already noticed it was too dramatic, but through this feedback we have gone back to the film and noticed the song being too soft and my actions being too over the top. We are in process of creating another cut, making sure the syncing is done perfectly and see what other effects we can add in to the video to make it look better.

Youtube Upload for Feedback

We have filled the time line up and crafted a first draft that would be great to put up on Youtube to require feedback from people which will allow us to improve on our video and appeal for a wider audience and allow us to entertain and variety of people.

Here is the First Cut uploaded to Youtube