Evaulation

What are the strengths of the piece(s)?

I think that the strengths that I have in this piece is the illustration. I have previously used illustration in my work but I unlike my last project I have used a little more colour. When contacting the client he was happy to go along with the 'simple' theme and so I thought of way that I could do this, but in keeping with me and my style. So I decided to keep to what I like and know how to do well. After showing the client, he was happy with the illustration and so I went ahead and did some editing to it in Photoshop which led me to the back ground (which the client liked and suggested) I did a few different options but it seemed he was pretty adamant in what he wanted. As he has sent me and image, I couldn't use it for copy right reasons so then I had to create my own tea stained background. In my other piece that I have also handed in I think that the collage looks good, I asked my class mates what they thought and they all said it was eye catching and something they think that they would look at in a shop as an album cover. I decided that even though my client wasn't keen on this.. I wanted to hand it in as part of my work, for one to show I have many ideas but also because I think that it works well as a cover.

What are the weaknesses of the piece(s)?

The weaknesses in the project for me is the tea stained back ground. It might be me just being picky as it wasn't my part of the idea, but I just feel as though it is very 'young' and unimaginative. I think that if I had more time and more contact with the client then this could have been worked around.  As a whole I think it works ok along side the illustration, I have changed the opacity to make it less bright and so that illustration is more vibrant. 

How could my piece(s) be improved?

I feel that to improve the album cover I would probably choose a different background but for this project it wasn't up to me to a certain extend. I feel that I gave the client what he was wanting and looking for and he hasn't told me otherwise so I feel as though I have fulfilled the brief in that sense. 

Over all I think that this project has worked well. I am happy with the outcome and what I have achieved. I am a little disappointed with the contact that was made between me and my client, I feel as though he just wasn't that interested and just wanted whatever then when I had developed what I thought (after no reply) he decides it's not what he was looking for. I know that this is something of what would happen in the real world of Graphic Designers but I feel as though if people are paying for your service of designing, they would like to be slightly more involved. A lot of class mates were also disappointed with the contact with clients, some even had none. 

Finals

 

This is my final set of CD cover, label and Business card. 

 I have also added this to my finals as an added CD cover.

Proof of Contact with Client

 

 

 This is the main lot of email that I had with the client. I have based all my work and ideas on what he has told me here and what he wants.

Further development

Here I am going to show the development and the logo and album cover that I am going to use. I have developed it from the collage piece.. As this is the direction that I would like to take the album cover and so I want to link them all together.

My client has decided that he would like to use my original design with the tea stained back ground. But likes the logo that I have designed so I am waiting on a reply about whether he would like to use this logo along with the album cover with the tea stained back ground.

Logo.

I have designed a logo using the collage that I made.

I have developed it slightly experimenting with opacity and putting things together.

logo idea 1 final.

The album cover which my client prefers and wants to use is this one:

I made my own tea stained back ground for this cover as this is what my client wanted. He has sent me an image from the internet which I couldn't use for copyright reasons so I have done my own and I think it still comes out just as well. He has said he is happy with this album cover and so I am just waiting to hear if he would like to use my logo I have from the collage piece or if he would prefer the business card, logo and CD cover with the illustration. For this cover I have used the font Bebas, for the album name and the name of songs.

Here is some emailsthat I have from the client that shows what his input is on the design:

I have decided that after speaking to my tutor that I am going to base my logo on the design which the client likes. I am going to hand in my collage piece as an extra final for experimentation, and hand in both but for the client I am going to concentrate on this piece in order to get everything right for their marketing by producing a logo, business card and CD cover which all links together as a whole.

This is my new idea for my business card. I have done the logo here which is simply th G from my illustration of Globox. I think that this works a lot better. I have decided to use the font Courier instead of Bebas because I feel that it goes better with the white back ground. I am going to do my CD label in the same design with the white back ground but use Bebas on the CD label as I think it would be more appropriate to match the CD case cover and label and for the business card make it slightly more subtle.

I am now going to make my CD label, which is the sticker that goes onto the CD.


I have found a template that I think fits the CD correctly. the only trouble that I an having doing this part of the project is that I have bought some CD stickers that will go on to a cd. But I do not have the soft ware which will help me print them correctly.

Here is some development of my CD sticker design.

 I found this template which I am going to follow to make my design..

But I then found this template which fits my CD stickers..

So what I think I am going to do is to make my design on InDesign and then copy in to word over the top of these green circles.. then I will be able to peel around what I don't need.
I think that this is going to be my easiest way of going around this little problem. 

I have managed to get this problem sorted by using the template as above from the whsmith website and then I have dragged my design over from InDesign. It has printed perfectly on to my CD.

Album cover

I have decided that I am going to go down the collage route. After getting feedback from classmates and tutors it has all come back that they all prefer this idea out of all my ideas and I think I agree. I am still awaiting a reply from my client but I think it has come to where I feel it would work best as a cover. I think that a logo can come from this too. With some type incorporated.

I am going to have a look into a designer called Rodchenko, focusing on his photo-montage piece.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_logttiZ0P81qatsq6o1_1280.jpg

When doing some research into Rodchenko this one caught my eye at first because of the grainy vintage look. On the site I found the image it says 1926 so there is the reason but I think it looks really good even if it is 87 years old I think that it has a modern quality about it which I really like and kind of aimed to get in my piece.


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I finally got a reply from my client and he has old me that the collage isn't really what he was looking for, so after speaking to my tutor, I think that I am going to carry on with what he would like as the final, but also along side, hand in my collage piece for extra idea design.

album cover designing and development

I have drawn up some little ideas which I have done for the album cover. I have look through a book called Hand Job, A Catalogue of Type by Michael Perry and I cam across a lot of inspiration for ideas for the cover but also for this to maybe evolve in to a logo. I think that even though I have designed a few ideas for logos that even if I come up with something in my album designing that could become a logo I would rather go with something where I could match everything up and to use what the client liked best.

Here are the few hand drawn ideas that I have come up with:

I am really pleased with these ideas and I am just waiting to hear back from my client about what he thinks of the ideas and whether there is any changes in which he would like. I think that it is more important to get the clients approval first just before I go ahead and develop these ideas futher. I am finding it quite difficult to get these answers at the moment as the client is also a student and so its hard to get a reply. 

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I have made a decision that if my client doesn't get back to me within the next day I will go ahead with what I think would work best as I have a deadline to meet also. 

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I have come up with quite a few ideas from my drawings. I have also done a few collages which I really like. I have heard from my client via facebook and he likes quite a few of these ideas. He has asked to use imagery found on the internet but I have been in contact with my tutor who gave me some guidelines about the copyright rules with this project which outlines that I cannot just use imagery that has been found on the internet like google where the client sent the image from. 

These are a few of the ideas that have been developed during talks with the client.

This tea stained image is the one from the internet. The client is asking me to create the teastain myself but I have sent him a few ideas to consider before I do this as from my point of view it does't seem exciting and so I feel like there is more potential from this. 

I really like this idea, I think the effect in the back ground works well, just as well as the tea stain.

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Here are my collage ideas:

This is the idea that I have come up with by using the collage piece that I created from magazines. I really like this and I think that it would really work quite cleverly as an album cover. The only think that I am worried about with this one is that there isn't much space for me to have the typography where as the hand drawn piece that I have created is all about the type but is also pleasing to look at.

I am waiting to hear from client to see what they think about the ideas and what they prefer.

Album cover research

I am going to look at some album cover which I have researched and tried to get some inspriation from. I think that it is important for me to look at other album covers to see what other desginers have done, especially for the genre of music that I am designing for. I am going to look at a variety of covers to take small parts and develop them myself with my ideas and thoughts.

Daydreamer – Dialogue (2008)
Bold slpashes of gold and red are used on this cd cover, which features a clever typography image. Haunting eyes peek out from beyond a mass of golden words that serve as hair.

This album cover caught my eye becaue the the typography on there. I think the use of type on this album cover has been used cleverly. I think that it would attract peoples view even if you didnt have the graphic knowledge that I do. The colours are harmonious and make you slightly relaxed therefore I think by looking at this the type of music could be quite calming.. Although I know just as much as any one that the cover on albums usually do not link in any way to the type of music that is inside. I think that is why I am not being too careful with my designing (in a linking to the genre way) I know previously I have thought that it would be good for me to do this.

Matt Elliott – Howling Songs (2008)
This strange, scary and truly original cover captures attenton and perfectly reflect the music’s essence (experimental rock and folk).

I chose to write about this because in the description is says that it reflects the music's essence with rock and folk. I don't particularly like the cover but because it links to the style of music I wanted to see one that isn't totally off of subject and genre. 

Thom Yorke – The Eraser (2006)
This cover, with it’s simple black, white and red hand-drawn design, is captivating.

I love this cover. I think this is because I feel like I can relate to the style. It is something similar to what I have done in previous projects with the style. It is a simple black and white drawing and I think that is a reason why I was drawn to it. I think that the red title panel works really well as it stands out perfectly and its not too big. The colour in a piece is what I need to work on as I dont know where to add it as much as if I was doing a whole colour piece. I think this album cover shows me that it can be put in quite easily with the right sizing and colours.

The Gossip – Live in Liverpool (2008)
This cover is simple, bold and effectively conveys the message in an instant. The dirty laundry pictured is a clever play off the band’s name.

I liked the simplicity of this cover. I think it shows that sometimes the most colourful things aren't always the most effective. I think that the small amount of colour that is at the bottom showing what the album is about shows all you need to know. 

Image and text above are from: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/05/13/100-obscure-and-remarkable-cd-covers/

Montgomery On My Mind

The reason I liked this album cover was the typography. Its quite country and western, the type of poster you would see advertising a country and western style restaurant. I like how it is all set out differently and the different fonts. It isn't something I think that would suit my band but I liked the style.  

Domestique

What I really liked about this album cover was it reminded me how much I like to do collage.. from magazines and newspapers etc. It has made me think of new ideas that I would like to do for this project. I am going to buy a selection of newspapers and use magazines that I have collected over time to create a collage where I can hopefully show the album. Although this album cover may not be a collage in the same way.. It has definetly given me the inspiration that I need to push myself for further ideas.

the two above images are from: http://inspirationfeed.com/inspiration/40-remarkable-band-based-album-cover-designs/