At the beginning of the task I created three flat plans and decided to follow, which one I believed would be the most successful in maximising sale volumes. However, once I started to create the product on Photoshop I discovered that I had to make various changes to what I had originally decided on. Initially, the photos I had taken for the original flat plans all had black backgrounds and when I constructed them on Photoshop it was difficult to identify which one was the front cover. I thought that the black backgrounds would create continuity, but it made the images almost identical. I decided to remove the backgrounds for the middle of the Digipak by using a tool on Photoshop. I feel that this change benefitted the final outcome of my Digipak as the changes made the inside much more interesting as a result of the contrasting background colours.
The back cover of my flat plans shows that the guitar strings act as guidelines for the titles of the Digipak contents. However, when I started to create this feature on Photoshop it made the text difficult to read because I had to reduce the font size significantly. Instead I moved the song titles to the top left hand corner, solely because the western culture reads from left to right. I also placed a red strip with the band’s name to ensure that the reader focused on the left hand side.
Initially, I didn’t intend to insert any effects on the front cover because I didn’t want to make it difficult for the target audience to identify the band member’s facial features. However, once I started to experiment with a variety of effects I found that they actually made the images much more interesting, whilst still allowing the model to be easily identified.
The research and design stages within the project have taught me various skills. Initially, I researched the target audience of the Arctic Monkeys and analysed existing professional examples of current Digipak’s from within the Indie genre. I feel that these two tasks enabled me to create a completed Digipak that solely focuses and appeals to the appropriate market, which are predominantly young, aspiring males. However, the Digipak doesn’t exclude the other audiences within the market as the simplicity appeals to the older audiences and the male model could potentially appeal to females.
The actual production work required a firm understanding of the programme Photoshop CS4. In AS I also used this programme, but I feel this year I have fully utilised the programmes capabilities to maximise the professionalism of my Digipak. The quick selection tool enabled me to remove the dark backgrounds so that the artist now appeared in front of a blank canvas. This tool enhanced the variety of my Digipak and allowed me to display text easier, so using this tool really benefitted my completed production work. I also learnt how to maximise the use of layers in Photoshop. I was taught that you could decide whether or not the chosen layer was actually visible on the main canvas. I had various ideas so it enabled me to discover which elements worked well together and vice versa. Finally, locking the layers is also important as the programme doesn’t allow me to accidentally lock a particular layer that I have finished manipulating.
Finally, the evaluation has been much more detailed as I received both positive and negative feedback on my completed Digipak. The comments I received on Facebook enabled me to gain a response from people that fell into the target audience category. This was vitally important as the feedback provided me with comments that justified my decisions, and also questioned others. Overall, the feedback allowed me to make a change that I believe has benefitted my final product.
Although I am very happy with the final product, there were some difficulties I had to overcome to create the Digipak. Firstly, once I uploaded the photo shoot onto the computer I realised that the majority of them were portrait. When I stretched the image to fill the template it become the pixels become distorted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t use the images so I had to rearrange another photo shoot. This mistake was very time consuming and I should have perhaps allowed more time in original plan for the photo shoot. However, I overcome this problem by arranging another photo shoot with the model and staying behind after lessons enabled me to complete the Digipak task on time.
Secondly, I did not have the software at home, which meant that I had to do all production work within college. Once again extensive hours on the task enabled me to complete a Digipak, that overall I was very pleased with.
The final production is very professional and I am pleased with the Digipak that has progressed from my original detailed flat plans. The photos I have included within the CD Cover are very specific to my chosen genre, which I feel will guarantee sales as it appeals to my target audience. The layout and colours of the product are very similar to my original ideas so I am pleased that continuity has been established through a well managed project. However, as with any Digipak there will be certain areas that could be improved. My front cover is relatively limited in terms of text for the audience. I have relied on the inclusion of the bands title and an image of the band member to sell the CD, whereas perhaps a promotional incentive such as free music downloads or discount on Aortic Monkeys merchandise would be the deciding factor on whether or not the individual would be purchase the product. However, my limited resources and time prevented this from being a realistic improvement, although if I was to redo the Digipak I would certainly look into the possibility of including financial incentives as it may be the difference between the consumer buying a similar genre Digipak.
The back cover of my flat plans shows that the guitar strings act as guidelines for the titles of the Digipak contents. However, when I started to create this feature on Photoshop it made the text difficult to read because I had to reduce the font size significantly. Instead I moved the song titles to the top left hand corner, solely because the western culture reads from left to right. I also placed a red strip with the band’s name to ensure that the reader focused on the left hand side.
Initially, I didn’t intend to insert any effects on the front cover because I didn’t want to make it difficult for the target audience to identify the band member’s facial features. However, once I started to experiment with a variety of effects I found that they actually made the images much more interesting, whilst still allowing the model to be easily identified.
The research and design stages within the project have taught me various skills. Initially, I researched the target audience of the Arctic Monkeys and analysed existing professional examples of current Digipak’s from within the Indie genre. I feel that these two tasks enabled me to create a completed Digipak that solely focuses and appeals to the appropriate market, which are predominantly young, aspiring males. However, the Digipak doesn’t exclude the other audiences within the market as the simplicity appeals to the older audiences and the male model could potentially appeal to females.
The actual production work required a firm understanding of the programme Photoshop CS4. In AS I also used this programme, but I feel this year I have fully utilised the programmes capabilities to maximise the professionalism of my Digipak. The quick selection tool enabled me to remove the dark backgrounds so that the artist now appeared in front of a blank canvas. This tool enhanced the variety of my Digipak and allowed me to display text easier, so using this tool really benefitted my completed production work. I also learnt how to maximise the use of layers in Photoshop. I was taught that you could decide whether or not the chosen layer was actually visible on the main canvas. I had various ideas so it enabled me to discover which elements worked well together and vice versa. Finally, locking the layers is also important as the programme doesn’t allow me to accidentally lock a particular layer that I have finished manipulating.
Finally, the evaluation has been much more detailed as I received both positive and negative feedback on my completed Digipak. The comments I received on Facebook enabled me to gain a response from people that fell into the target audience category. This was vitally important as the feedback provided me with comments that justified my decisions, and also questioned others. Overall, the feedback allowed me to make a change that I believe has benefitted my final product.
Although I am very happy with the final product, there were some difficulties I had to overcome to create the Digipak. Firstly, once I uploaded the photo shoot onto the computer I realised that the majority of them were portrait. When I stretched the image to fill the template it become the pixels become distorted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t use the images so I had to rearrange another photo shoot. This mistake was very time consuming and I should have perhaps allowed more time in original plan for the photo shoot. However, I overcome this problem by arranging another photo shoot with the model and staying behind after lessons enabled me to complete the Digipak task on time.
Secondly, I did not have the software at home, which meant that I had to do all production work within college. Once again extensive hours on the task enabled me to complete a Digipak, that overall I was very pleased with.
The final production is very professional and I am pleased with the Digipak that has progressed from my original detailed flat plans. The photos I have included within the CD Cover are very specific to my chosen genre, which I feel will guarantee sales as it appeals to my target audience. The layout and colours of the product are very similar to my original ideas so I am pleased that continuity has been established through a well managed project. However, as with any Digipak there will be certain areas that could be improved. My front cover is relatively limited in terms of text for the audience. I have relied on the inclusion of the bands title and an image of the band member to sell the CD, whereas perhaps a promotional incentive such as free music downloads or discount on Aortic Monkeys merchandise would be the deciding factor on whether or not the individual would be purchase the product. However, my limited resources and time prevented this from being a realistic improvement, although if I was to redo the Digipak I would certainly look into the possibility of including financial incentives as it may be the difference between the consumer buying a similar genre Digipak.
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