Alterations to Digi Pack

After reading my thank you note on the inside sleeve I think it lacks character and does not portray the persona of my artist at all. In order to gain inspiration before creating a new one I will watch interviews and read blog/website posts from the artists Lana Del Rey and Marina and the Diamonds, to discover how there personality comes across through their writing.






I watched this interview from Lana Del Rey. As she speaks about her music and fans it is apparent just how much passion and love she has for both. She speaks of her inspiration, and how she wanted to be a singer at a young age. Comparing my original thank you letter I definitely feel that it lacks character, and needs to have more personal views.

Original thank you note: 

I would like to express my gratitude for everyone that made this album become more than just a dream. The support from relatives and friends definitely gave me the confidence to both write and produce this album. I would also like to thank my fans from the bottom of my heart. I will never be able to express in words just how much you all mean to me.

New thank you note: 

I would like to express my gratitude for everyone who has made this dream a
reality. Writing was always my ultimate passion from an early age and I still find it unbeiliveable just how heartwarming the responses I get are. I will never be able to express in words just how grateful I am to each and every one of you, but I would just like to say thank you.

Digi pack so far

After thinking I was pleased with the outcome of my digi pack I decided to alter the font style and rearrange the text on my poster. Rather than using a cursive font which I had downloaded, 'Great Vibes' I have chosen to now use 'Hatteshweiler'. I believe that this font is more eye catching, which will attract the attention of potential buyers. My next step is to ask my lecturer for her feedback so slightly alterations can be made.

Front Cover 

Back Cover 

Inside CD 

Poster advertisement 

Inspirational video

Lana Del Rey - Carmen
This video is one of my main inspirations. I love how there is an array of diverse clips collaborated together to tell a story, an idea I am definitely adopting in my own video. I also love the different styles of editing used, thus I have decided that I will also use different effects as I believe that it will make my video more captivating.

Introductions used at the beginning of videos: 

I have decided to also include an introductory slide of my artists name. However, I am yet to decided on a certain font but I do know that I will contiue to use a feminim, cursive style to continue with my artists image.Rather than putting this slide when 'Teen Idle' is playing I am going to use a diverse sound. I am currently debating whether or not to use the sound of traffic, the woods(birds tweeting, leaves rustling', or to find a melody

Ideas for music video

Presentation of ideas

Final shot list

Progress

I have now completed creating my digipack, however I wish to spend this lesson evaluating my work in order to see if slight alterations can be made. The next step I wish to take is to create a clear idea for what I want to shoot regarding my music video. I believe that the most effective step to take next will be to make a presentation of my ideas, so I can put the different clips into a organised storyboard.

Plan for December

The purple lines signify my two weeks holiday for Christmas. I will spend this time making sure everything on my blog is up to date and also filming/editing. I am going to London on the 30th where I will film two significant scenes for my video: being in the middle of the city and the fireworks.

Inside of CD: First Version

This is the inside of my CD cover before I have asked for feedback from my lecturer.

Creating back of CD cover

Process: 

Back of CD cover: First Version 

Progress

I have now completed my poster and the front of my CD cover, however I do wish to ask my lecturer and peers for their opinions incase any minor alterations can be made. I have also added to my pinterest in order to gain inspiration for the rest of my CD digi pack and will now begin to create the back cover.

Alterations to poster

left image: after edit 

I decided to edit the outline of my artists hair again as I believe that it ruined the final appearance of my poster.

I done this by using the 'Lasso tool'. After cutting out the photograph again I noticed that the outline of my artists hair appeared white. By using the 'clone stamp tool' I filled in those white areas with other parts of her hair. As I was essentially cloning hair onto a white background I had to use the 'Eraser tool' to tidy up the edges.

before 

after

This is my poster before I have asked for lecturer feedback. 

CD cover: First version

 

This is my CD cover before I have asked for lecturer feedback.

Aims for todays lesson

• I need to make a few alterations to my poster, experimenting with the fonts style and also rearranging it. I also wish to edit my main image, by making it sharper and cutting out the my artists outline again to make it neater. 
• I am struggling with my CD cover at the moment, I have made alterations yet still feel unsatisfied with the layout. Thus, I am going to research more CD covers in order to gain inspiration. 

The appearance of my CD cover at the moment: 

I decided to ditch my vintage, wallpaper like background as I wish to incorporate roses into my cd cover so it goes together with my poster.

















Layout experiment:

My initial idea was to fill my entire background with roses by duplicating a layer which contained a rose then rearranging it around my artist. However, it became apparent that the roses were too overpowering and detracted the attention away from my artist. 

Progress updated

At the moment I have rated the outcome of my poster as a 7. However, I do wish to improve this by preforming these particular steps: 

• I wish to edit the main photograph of my artist. I believe that using the spot healing tool and readjusting the levels slightly would make an apparent improvement.
• There is too much black space underneath 'Dakota Harper', therefore I am going to move the magazine quote to fill it in and maybe make the main image larger.
• I am going to experiment with different fonts for the text which is at the bottom. 

Acting on feedback:

One of the main pointers I received from peers was to sharpen my main image, I achieved this by using the editing software Photoshop.

Feedback

Peers:
I got an array of positive feedback on my CD, however there were a few recurring pointers given in order to improve my product, such as:

• Have you considered changing the main image/different pose 
• The image looks cutout so perhaps you could blend it? 

Despite me already changing the main photograph twice, I have decided to see if a photograph where my model is facing the camera is more succesful. As for the harshness of the cutout, I will redo the outline and also try to use the blending tool on Photoshop. 

The main two pointers which were made about my posters were that:

• I could experiment with different font at the bottom of the page. 
• Try blending the photograph so it looks less cut out, and also blend the roses so the edge looks less sharp. 

Lecturer:

Whilst discussing my ancillary tasks with my lecturer she advised me to reconsider the cd cover's design, as it does not seem to be as well put together as the poster. I have decided that I will incorporate roses and black panels in my CD cover, however I am still unsure on what layout I will finalise on.

Font change

Time management

I have completed both my ancillary tasks: CD cover and poster. However, I do wish to get feedback from my peers and teacher incase any improvements can be made; asking the females in my class will be beneficial as they fall into the category of my target audience.

CD cover 

Poster

Poster: Constructing

After using the 'Lasso tool' to cut around my model's figure it is apparent that it appears too sharp, thus i have decided to add a outline; using this video I found on youtube as a guide.

I took this photograph of flowers at my local florists. I edited the levels and curves of the image slightly in order to make the roses brighter, overall creating a better visual impact.

November schedule

CD cover: constructing

After dragging the photograph across to my background it was apparent that the outline appeared too sharp, thus I wanted to add a outline. In order to do achieve this I used this video from youtube as a guide.

CD cover so far:

I am rather pleased with the outcome of the outline, however I am unsure whether to use this background, thus I will reevaluate the overall appearance after adding text.















First final of the CD cover:

This is the first completed attempt of my cd cover. However I wish to experiment with the fonts colour as I don't think that it is very eye catching, when promoting the artists name is one of the most important aspects of an album cover. I am also going to try using a head shot so my cover is more conventional.












After changes: 

I definitely prefer the headshot for my cd as I believe that the photograph is more strong, the artist is direct as she is looking directly at the camera which will attract people's attention. Although I am now happy with the layout of my CD cover I have decided to use a different picture that was originally a headshot, as cropping a medium shot down has made the photograph blurred and appear unprofessional.










Final CD cover:

This is the final version of my CD cover.

CD cover: Choosing a screen name

Rather than using my models real name I decided to create a screen one. However, I was unsure whether to use 'Sophia London' or 'Dakota Harper', after asking my class for their feedback and opinions it became apparent that 'Dakota Harper' was preferred the most.

CD cover: contact print

I booked a studio at Shiny Row college in order to take photographs of my model, Sophie Tait, as I wish for my products to have good visual impact and appear professional.

Photographs I have decided to use for my poster and CD:

Outfit change

Original outfit: 

 I believe that this particular outfit did not suit the edgy, mature, appeal that I was going for and appeared rather childlike. The blue and lettering on the top would have also detracted too much attention if used on both the CD cover and poster, as when researching other products of the same genre the artist usually wore something plain or stuck to one block colour.














Outfit I decided to use: 

This outfit change definitely contributes to my artists persona. 'Dakota Harper' struggles to be an idealistic teenager from the suburbs and feels that her teenage years are being wasted in a town which are based on conventional appearances. This is why I have chosen to use the song 'Teen idle' for my music video.

Record labels

Interscope Records:
Interscope Records is an American record label owned and founded by Jimmy Lovine and Giorgio Saravia in 1989. It is based in Santa Monica, California and is home to over 146 artists. I believe that my artist would be signed up to this label as Lana Del Rey, my biggest inspiration whilst creating my products, belongs to them. They also house other popular artists such as Lady Gaga and Madonna, which proves that they are well established. 

some of the artists that belong to them

This is the record label's logo. 

















Polydor: 
Polydor Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the UK, where it operates as a frontline label. Additionally, it is affiliated with UMG's American based Interscope Geffen A&M label, which distributes it's releases in the UNited States. Artits such as I believe that my artists genre and style would fit in with the Polydor label, as Sky Ferriera who was my main inspiration for my artists outfits and makeup is signed to them. Artists such as The Cure, Snow Patrol and Robin Thicke belong to this label which makes it apparent that they are a well established company who possess successful musicians. 

Preliminary task: fonts

I used the website 'www.fontspace.com' in order to discover the font that I wish to use for my cd cover. I have decided that I will use a cursive font to convey femininity and maturity as I believe that the more bold fonts will not appeal to my primary audience of teenagers as it appears a little childish.

Possible font styles:  
I was initially going to use one of the fonts featured below, however I am going to revisit the website 'fontspace' to choose another.














Font change: 

Preliminary task: Planning

Mood board of inspiration:
Backgrounds for cd cover
Poses

Main inspiration for pose: 

I have decided that I will adopt a similar style when shooting for the main image for my own cd cover. Using a  cigarette as a prop will create an apparent contrast to the pastel pink background, a style I chose in order to represent the conventional, innocent teenager.

Mise en scene:
Hair band or bow
Cigarettes
Black dress
Makeup: eyeliner, eyes shadow, mascara and red lipstick

Chosen background: 

 The whole persona/story behind my artist is to highlight the idealistic appearances of suburban teenagers. The background is pastel, with a vintage hint to it which I chose in order to portray what the conventional teenager would like, if I was to dress my artist in an outfit to emphasise this representation I would have had her wearing an outfit which conveyed innocence, such as a summer dress with little makeup. I will have my artist wearing dark colours and dramatic makeup in order to emphasise that she is almost an outsider, and goes against the convention of the innocent teenager.