Evaluation - Live Music Project

Research
I feel that this time I have been very specific with my research as I only researched on the existing designs for inspiration, inspirational illustrators, and some tutorials to help me along my way. Because of this I was able to have more time for experimentation and design and still had plenty of time before the deadline to go back and conclude all of my research.
So my time management was very efficient because I made sure that from the first day that I was doing something. Whether it was just a little bit of research and mood-board gathering it still helped me along my way.

Album Label - Screenshots & Design

I still need a CD label to go with my album - as I don't really want to leave the CD plain - so I downloaded an CD Label template off http://www.presentationsonpaper.co.uk/home/, as suggested by the label that I had purchased. I also downloaded a template off one of my colleagues - Alex Greenhead -  so that I could have two ways of going about this; either by using his template and doing it in Illustrator, or go and do it in Photoshop.

I chose to try out Illustrator first because it seems that he had placed the CD Labels exactly where they have been placed on the label paper.

Business Card Design - Sketches and Design

When I phoned up my client to ask them about the business card, they really knew exactly what they wanted on it; they wanted the logo to be centred on the back on a black background, with the shattered glass type on the other side with their contact number and Facebook page directly underneath.
This made it much easier for me to go through the designing process although I did some sketches previously so that I was "prepared" for when I called them.

The Final Design

Business Card Research

I've left researching the business card until last because I wanted it to be based on the design of my album cover. However I am unsure of how to lay out all of the elements - logo, band name, details etc - so I thought I'd create a mood board just to get a general idea.

Stationary Set

Okay so this isn't really related to my live music project, but today I've been creating loads of "mock-ups" as I can hardly find any free for use on the internet. I did find one for my business card though from deviantART.

Check out my stuff on Behance! :D 

Screenshots - Album Sleeve

So, like I did with the first album cover design, I open up InDesign and wrote the following values for the dimensions. I used the largest dimensions.

Logo Design

The Result

And now onto the process...

Making Prototypes - Album Sleeve

After my crit meeting with my lecturers I have decided that it would be easier and more aesthetically pleasing to come up with an album sleeve rather a CD cover that would go into a Jewel case. Because of my decision I went ahead and did a few sketches to figure out the dimensions.

This was going to be my first prototype; my dimensions were 12.7cm x 13cm x 13cm (the width for the three parts) and the height would be 13cm, with an additional 1cm for each flap on the insert section.

The paper I had used is from my sketchpad, as I want to use paper of a similar thickness for my final design. I have also taken into account that the thickness of the paper would mean that the dimensions might seem slightly smaller than usual.

Screenshots - Album Cover Design

These are my screenshots that I had taken during the designing process of my album cover, which I want to be inserted into a jewel case. I have worked on both Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign for this.

Editing the Illustration
I scanned it in and brought the illustration up on Photoshop so that I could edit the areas where the biro had thickened and smudged.
By creating a new layer - "Fixes" - I took the brush tool in a round, hard brush, and selected a white colour. I then covered up the troubled areas.

Sketches - Album Cover (Back)

Now that I have picked out which illustration to do I can now design how I want everything to be laid out for the back. Here are my sketches:

Shattered Glass Type

Shattered Glass Type
So this is how I did the "shattered glass" effect.
I first open up Illustrator and type out the words "Unbroken" (the album title) in the typeface Bebas Neue. I then selected it and Expanded it so that the type has turned into an object.

My Sketches - Live Music Project

For some strange reason I find it easier to do some sketches based off from my moodboard rather than doing all of my mood boards, picking out my favourite designs, and then do the sketching. I just find it so much easier to generate ideas straight from the images I've been flicking through on Google... If I see something I find inspirational I tend to draw my idea straight away without thinking.

Here are my sketches for my album cover and the logo. I've taken photos of them on my phone as I don't have a scanner here, so please excuse for the low quality (and please click on the image to make them larger to view the annotations and my though processes!)

Album Cover

I first start on sketching in my A5 notepad just to get some initial ideas down

Inspirational Illustrators

To help me with my sketching and designing stage for my album cover - as I have decided to do an illustration - I thought I'd do some research on some inspirational illustrators to discover their techniques. 

Deep Roots (2)

To see the original version alongside my annotations, please click here.

So I have made some adjustments to the design... The reason being was that I had shown Angela Rizza, who was my inspiration to for this piece, and she actually replied to my message! This is what she said:

"Hey, looking really good! The texture you created is great and there’s a beautiful uniqueness about each branch, so they don’t look repetitive. If you want to help make things stand out a bit, I’d add some thicker lines, made with a brush. Just a few, such as one going down the side of the tree, two or three on the lower side of branches, and a few outlining the roots. This will help create a simple illusion of light and add a bit of contrast to the piece. If you want I can show you an example in photoshop of what I’m talking about. Looking good!"

She then pointed out the areas where I could add thickness, and with a thin brush I thickened the lines in watercolour! I usually do this with biro so it was a bit of an experiment to me. 
I'm glad I did thicken these lines because it really does bring depth to the piece, and it doesn't look so flat anymore. I think that I might continue to use this method in future :D

New To-Do List

I've decided to create a new one now that I'm further into the project so that I can make sure that I stick strongly to the learning outcomes as well as a brief. Don't want to miss anything and realise it at the last minute!

• Type - need to find one to relate to the word "Unbroken"
• Create a mindmap and see what ideas I can come up for Unbroken
• Business Card - need to create a mood board, analyse designs, do sketches, come up with design, do screenshots
• CD Label - quick research, sketches, design, screenshots
• Logo - sketches, design, screenshots
• Album cover - sketches, design, screenshots
• Inspirational Artists
• Inspirational Covers (need to do one more!)

Deep Roots

This took me three days to do, I tell ya'. THREE DAYS.

Okay that was mainly because I was ill so I didn't have much time, but when I did boy did I feel like I was pouring my soul into it. Detail was the key here, and I wanted to create texture by doing lots of intricate lines and circles to give it a bit of oomph.

Not too sure if I'm actually going to use this but it was nice to experiment anyway! Trying out different methods and compositions for the album cover. 

I was inspired by this illustrator called Angela Rizza who has some amazing, jaw-dropping work. You can find her on tumblr here.

The reason why I'm going back to sketching ideas is because I realised that I needed to come up with a design that would somehow relate to the album title. I chose a tree because Jonny Pain had mentioned wanting to have a forest illustration.
I also chose it because a tree is known to be strong, tall, and they could last many lifetimes. Their roots sink deep into the ground so it's hard to cut them down, and they are the symbol of nature. I'm going to continue with going with their forest idea until they have given me their lyrics... I would also need to re-evaluate what typeface I use as I would like that to link in with the title name as well. 

Tools Used | Biro

"Where Oceans Bleed Into The Sky"

"...Far from the world of you and I,

Where oceans bleed into the sky..." - Linkin Park, Catalyst

While I was doing some uni work I played my Linkin Park CD as it had been ages since I had listened to them. In the middle of doing some research I heard the song "Catalyst" and immediately thought up of waves reaching up and leaking into the sun. So I moved everything out of the way and got painting!

The painting was a bit messy as I used a lot of water to get the paint to drip down the page. Didn't really expect some of it to actually go around the sun but it looks pretty cool.

Although this painting doesn't necessarily link in with the album cover's name, I wanted to experiment with watercolour on how to achieve abstract imagery. I could possibly use this technique in my final design if I choose to, because now I know how it "works". The watercolour bleed reminds me of the cracks in shattered glass or veins for some reason.
If I go down the "tree" route, then I could possibly use this technique to paint thin tendrils for the branches. 

Typeface Choice - Live Music Brief

For Jonny Pain I had the image of using distressed, sans-serif type. I want it to look like it could relate to their post-hardcore music so it has to have the perfect balance with modern and also gothic... I saw something I really liked in the email that they had sent me with some ideas for the album cover.

Forest Inspiration

Connor - one of the members of the band "Jonny Pain" - mentioned having a spooky edge to the CD cover, with perhaps a misty forest of some sort. So I've gone along and did some sketches of forests as one of my ideas - as shown in one of my previous posts - but I want to know what is it that makes a forest spooky/eerie. I also want to look at composition and see what would work best for the cover.

Logo Design Research - Mood Boards & Inspirational Designs

The Logo is the most important thing when it comes to identity design; it brings it's own connotation to the brand it's representing, so I'm going to take special care when it comes to designing one for Jonny Pain.

CD Cover Research - Moodboards, Inspirational Designs & Templates

Mood Boards

I'm not sure which way I'm headed with the CD design so I  start again by creating a mood board of "grungey" CD designs. This is to gather some sort of idea of what rock music - most specifically post-hardcore bands - would have on their designs and if there is a specific style similarity. I have also looked at the bands that Jonny Pain had mentioned that inspired them.