My Final Ideas
After many days and late nights, I have finally come up with and agreed on my final decisions for the ancillary work. This took a lot of thought, as my creative side brought up many ideas and picking between them provided some difficulty. I had to test out a couple of fonts, images, colours and turn very long lists to short-lists. It was by no means easy and a quick decision, but I finally got there in the end. My research overall consisted of Google, HMV, iTunes, TV adverts, magazine adverts, billboards and many many artist websites. I was certainly going to put a lot of research into this project, as it was the first time we got a chance to be independent, and able to use Photoshop to produce a Media Product this year. My previous experience with Photoshop, gave me the confidence to allow my creative side to speak out and come up with thoughts and layouts which I knew were possible. So, without further delay, here are my final ideas for the Ancillary work for Leon Cross' new album ToGetHer.
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| These are the first words which popped into my head when sitting down to work on my ancillary project. |
To make simple, I was planning to create a simplistic feel for both my advert and digipak. I've always preferred album CDs which were simple and showed the artist, rather than trying to be all creative and causing a mess. As I am only a student, I didn't think I could successfully pull off a 'creative' design with all sorts of ideas going on, and opted for my preferred clean and smooth feel to the cover.
Digipak Layout
The idea was to keep synergy through all products, whilst also keeping it as basic as I could. However basic didn't mean boring. I thought that this look made my product much more professional and attractive to the eyes. I visited HMV only a few days ago and spotted recent X-Factor winner, Sam Bailey's CD sitting high up the shelves. I instantly was attracted to the CD and felt to purchase it, purely for the aesthetics. It looked very smooth and of great quality. Although I am not a fan of Sam Bailey, the front of the CD made me pick up the disk and have a look at the back and consider a purchase. I knew we were dealing with a Pop CD however so had to keep in mind I couldn't have the plain black background on back and front as the X Factor have done, so used the braces to add a little spirit into the digipak.
My idea to have the text under the face of the artist originated from these 3 albums. I liked the look of all 3, as they weren't too overdone yet still very attractive. All 3 have a close up of the artist, which is something I will intend to implement into my own work. This is what seems to be conventional to me, and is used by top artists because it is what simply works. Having the artists close up face makes the album easy to identify for fans and the wider audience, also helping those who may not be familiar with the artists work, recognize how the artist looks and look out for him in other media products. Therefore, the text had to placed underneath the artists face. This ensures that text will not overlap the artists face. I could have added a black bar on the top as Justin Bieber has above, however after assessing the usual pop conventions and Leon Cross' style of music, I decided to have all text underneath.
This image was the inspiration for the idea I wish to use on the 4th panel of the Digipak, more specifically on the actual CD. I was unsure on whether to actually have anything on the CD apart from the album name and artist name. This image however gave me the idea of involving the artist onto the actual CD. When I first came up with the idea of having the artists eyes at the bottom of the CD, I couldn't recall where I had got this idea from, but I found it really unique and interesting. I then came across this Olly Murs image again, and noticed it was the inspiration behind my ideas. It makes the CD clearly relating back to the artist and is another way I was able to incorporate synergy into my work. I also plan to make the colour of the CD, the same as the background gradient colour that I will have on the front panel. This helps to make obvious that they are all of the same project. Having continuity will make my project look a lot more professional and conform to the conventions of digipaks.
Fonts
Above is a Prezi I have constructed explaining my decisions behind font, inspirations and the final decision made.
Colours
For the background of the front cover, I am planning on using a gradient coloured background. I am still pondering on whether to use a horizontal, vertical or circular gradient but have tried many possibilities and liked the look of them. During the production of the Ancillary work, this is something which I will play around with and keep note of, in order to find something I feel perfectly fits. However I have shortlisted a couple of colours to keep in mind during the production, to make my methods of testing easier. I hope to use either Blue, Black, White or Grey. Blue would be my first choice, however due to having a Blue shirt on the front and the blue shirt with braces images on the back and inside cover, I wouldn't want any clashes or blending in with the colour. I hope not to bring too much attention to the background, but rather the artist himself, which is why I wish to have a plain gradient colour background with nothing else going on. Black, White and Grey are also neutral colours which will bring out the artists blue shirt and face even more, this is why I have shortlisted them for choice.
Pictures
The pictures i chose for my Digipak and Album had to be conforming to the ideas I had in the plan, or at least very similar. Therefore we used the college's camera for a photoshoot at college, taking pictures that could be used. It was rather wise to take pictures after the planning, as we were then able to make the right poses and correct distance within pictures. When taking the pictures, I wore the same outfit worn during one of the base- tracks in the Music Video. This is to create synergy between the two products, and also continue creating an identity with Leon Cross. Below I have chosen pictures which are suitable for my Digipak. As the pictures taken by camera are originally quite big, the close up picture will not have to be necessarily taken close up. I could rather crop out the top of some medium shots and still keeping the image size and quality intact. I also took this opportunity to get some pictures for the back and inside of my digipak,
The inspiration from the advert came from various other adverts. With an advert, there weren't many clear conventions on the layout and design so I had a lot of room to customize it to my preferences. I came to the idea of having a landscape layout as it seemed to give me a lot more room to add the information I wanted, such as tour dates and Leon Cross website address. During the mock-up, I felt rather restricted with a portrait landscape and didn't like how everything felt too close together. Having it landscape, makes my advert look a lot more spacious, cleaner and thus more attractive at a quick glance. Next I drew inspiration of having an actual image of the front cover of the Digipak on the advert from various artist adverts, such as Bruno Mars, Drake, Olly Murs and even Rihanna. As the advert will be used as a form of promotion, it would be wise to have the actual products image on the advert. This also created synergy between both products and gained awareness of the appearance of the CD cover for potential customers. The font style and colours will be the exact same as those used in the Digipak. This shows a form of continuity over all products. As the font I have chosen is specially for Leon Cross and a type of branding, I would definitely have to use the exact same font in order to be able to use my font to full effect.
It is quite clear that my inspirations are a combination of many artists adverts. There is not clearly one that I have taken all my ideas from, but rather bits from each and including my own ideas. For example, I have taken the idea of continuing background, font and image of the CD cover from Olly Myrs advert of Right Place Right Time but rather than having a track listing will have 'Including the Brand New Single..', which I have taken inspiration from Tinie Tempahs Disc-overy album advert. I also plan on having ratings from other pop magazines and websites, similar to that of Plan B's advert.
None of the album adverts above however have mentioned tour dates. This is something I had personally decided on, in order to fully promote Leon Cross's rise in the Music Industry. As I don't plan on having a new image of the artist on the advert, I have a lot more space to play with, so have incorporated Leon Cross' tour schedule into the advert.
Since I am going to be using Photoshop to construct the ancillary work, I had decided to get used to the software again and produce a photoshopped mock-up to help explain my ideas even better
Here I attempted to recreate all 3 mock-ups from before, to help me come to a final decision. This one includes the artists face and a 'X' background, which is referring to his surname 'Cross'. Although when recreating this ad, I did like the overall look and feel. I felt that the image of the star took up too much space and it couldn't be reduced in size. Also as there was already going to be the face of the artist on the CD cover, I was being cautious not to over-do the synergy, with the X and another solo image.
To the left is the mock up of the portrait advert. I decided to have the entire body of the artist standing. This also took out the possibility of having the tour dates but had a picture (full body) of the artist that the audience wouldn't have usually seen before. This didn't look too bad at first, however it did mean the text at the bottom slightly clashed with the dark coloured trousers I had in the photos. The research I had done also had steered me away from choosing a portrait image. Although for my artist, having a full body image could be worked around to conform to rules many pop artist adverts, such as Olly Murs did for his debut album, have practised but I felt that it would not look very professional. Also as my digipak will follow a clean, sleek feel, I felt that having less images on my actual advert would help keep a simplistic feel throughout all products.
This is the final design which I have chosen to replicate. This means that I will have to complete the CD Cover before I can complete the advert. The things I liked about this advert was that the text was clear and obvious, with the date and album name being the largest layers on the page. This makes the most important detail stand out and obvious at the top of the advert. Furthermore I have had the opportunity to add in Tour Information and 'Including 9 Brand New Singles' in order to further promote Leon Cross and make the album seem much more attractive. The idea of the new singles gives the fans an incentive of being able to listen to never-released before songs by their idol, this will follow the purpose of the advert, to sell and promote the album in maximum ways.
Final Words
So now I have completed my research and planning, I am set to go on and get started on my ancillary work. To reiterate my main design plans, I wish to have a simple design. The artists face and a simple gradient background will take up the front panel. There will then be an image of the back of the artists braces on the back panel of the CD. This image will be slighting blurred out or made less visible in order to make sure it does not interfere with the track listing or any production info at the bottom. The interior first panel will include the front of the shirt and braces, creating synergy and using the braces as a trademark for Leon Cross. The CD will not have much done, except for a picture of Leon Cross' eyes and hair at the bottom of the CD. The gradient background will also follow onto the actual advert. The advert cover will promote the CD, tour dates and Leon Cross as an artist.
Going into the actual production, I feel positive due to the vast amount of planning and preparation I have done. Over the Christmas Holiday I hope to have finished both ancillary products to a good standard, and then be able to work on teacher feedback straight after the holiday. Compared to the ancillary project I briefly worked on in AS, I feel way more confident this time, understanding the conventions with pop digipaks and adverts as well as having understanding of why I have come to the conclusions above, within my own planning.
Now that the plans are over, it is time to start getting to work!
