AOB 4 - Evaluation

With my work in unit 17, I took a different approach with my products by completely dropping colour and taking a purely black and white approach.

Again, I took inspiration from products by Post-Grunge bands like Breaking Benjamin and 30 Seconds To Mars.

As the products are primarily aimed at audiences from late teens up to early thirties, I needed a style that would appeal to that kind of audience.

The cover appeals to the target audience as the style used, such as silhouettes and the use of simple blacks and whites is similar to those of artists like Linkin Park, who’s later albums use a lot of the aforementioned features, whilst the use of simple bars to outline the text is reminiscent of 30 Seconds To Mars’ third album, This Is War.

The use of imagery and fonts of Asian origin/inspiration was my own idea, as I wanted to add a more exotic element to the products than I had in previous instances.

Although the client commented on the album cover, they also pointed out the fact that there was no spine or back cover, which both had to be worked on before my final deadline.

Apart from this, the client commented on the cleanness of the album cover.

The products are aimed at people who listen to post-grunge and Nu Metal, and are identified as such by the album’s unusual title and the titles of the songs.

The promotional poster was based off a tour poster by 30 Seconds To Mars, though this was mostly in the layout, with the font and imagery bearing the more exotic themes mentioned above.

The client mentioned the spacing, and how the product would be better balanced if the text and imagery of the album cover were moved to the bottom of the poster, instead of being spread in a haphazard manner.

The client also suggested moving the record company logos to a place where they would be out of the way, as well as decreasing the size.

Again, this had to be done before the final deadline.

As with the album cover, the promotional poster’s cleanliness was commented on, with the client stating that the stark contrast and empty space of the black & white created a feeling of something new and different, which hadn’t been apparent in the previous albums.

The final, and perhaps the most difficult product, was the Onesheet, which is by far the most detailed part of the production so far.

The client was pleased with the overall layout of the Onesheet, which included the details of the band’s past and success, the total length of the album, the cover art, the release date, the track listing and the band’s website address.

The client’s only worry was of how the text was displayed, as there was very little spacing and not much room for the text to ‘breathe’.

The client suggested reducing the leading so that the text was more spaced, as well as reducing the font size.

The main reason why this product was the hardest to design was because I could find no Onesheets used by the artists that I was taking inspiration from.

To this end I had to improvise, using Onesheets made by amateur artists, as well as one I designed in a previous unit, to create a product that looked both realistic and enticing.

As a general rule, I responded to the client by carrying out the suggested alterations, as for the most part the client knew what was wrong and how to fix it, however, I did make a few small alterations of my own to make the products a little more appealing, rather than just ordered.

For the most part, I used Photoshop as a common tool, as the necessary techniques I needed were easily accessible and I was familiar with the software.

Using Photoshop made the products easy to edit and experiment with, providing for simple alterations to achieve the best effects.

As far as improvements go, It is hard to think of any that have not already been brought up by the client.

One possible alteration for the Onesheet could be to make the overall product slightly larger. This would allow for more spacing in the text and for the font to the slightly larger, making it more readable.

Overall, the client was satisfied with the work and the production was deemed a success, both by the client and those involved.

AOB 3: Feedback from presentation

AOB 3: Production Schedule (altered)

AOB3: Onesheet

AOB 3: Promotional Poster

AOB 3: CD cover design, back cover and spine

AOB 2: Product Drafts

AOB 2: Second meeting with client

At our second meeting, I produced three drafts of the products to the client, along with a production schedule and an estimate of budgeting.
The client was impressed with the products and the budgeting/production plan, but suggested a few improvements that could be made.

The client suggested that the spacing of the text on the promotional poster ruined it's appeal, and that all text should be moved nearer the bottom of the poster, whilst logos ought to be made smaller and also put nearer to the bottom of the page.

For the Onesheet, the client suggested making the text smaller and reducing the leading, creating more room for the text to 'breathe'.
The client also requested design for the back of the CD and the spine, as well as notification of sources for the budgeting.

Once the necessary changes have been made, I will present the products again at the next meeting with the client.

AOB 2: Presentation feedback

Production Schedule

Budgeting

Digipak Printing

6 panel, 1 disk, plastic flexi-tray
120.5 mm x 119 mm
Black & white
Standard finish = 350 Gsm
10000 = £3235

Graphic design hire

The price of hiring a graphic artist will likely depend on how much each individual product takes to design, though an agreement could be easily settled on in a meeting.

The cost of branding the iconography on the CD's front cover would probably be around £500, as we are only looking to brand it within the U.K, and the image isn't a complicated one.

The basic costing of the Onesheet will most likely be around £50 a sheet, as the colours are simple and easy to reproduce.
The costing for the promotional poster will be of a similar price to the Onesheet, maybe a little cheaper, as the promotional poster features less text.

AOB 2: sample products

AOB 2: Initial meeting with client

Having just met with the client, we have discussed in detail how we will proceed with the promotion of the new Heretics album Transcend God.
The client wanted to feature clean, clear, black and white images in the promotional material, with a completely uncluttered feeling to it.

For the promotion, we decided upon a Onesheet, a promotional poster and the C.D cover itself.
The client was keen for me to sample some similar products, to get a feel for the products.

AO1: Analysis 4

Purpose: Entertain/Advertise

The product has the stereotypical layout of a magazine cover, with one central image to sell to the target audience, and text to relate the rest of the magazine's main features.
The masthead, located near the top of the cover, clearly shows the name of the magazine, although it is partially hidden by an image of Paramore's lead singer, an effect that outlines the magazine's focus on the band, maybe even outlining the band as more important than the magazine itself.
These features follow a certain hierarchy present in most magazines, with the magazine title, the featured image and it's accompanying caption all in order going down the page.

Another banner, a little further down the page, shows the band's name in a large, pink coloured font.
Again, this is to outline the band's importance in this particular edition of the magazine.

Fonts vary in the cover, the size depending on importance of the feature.
Headers are separated by the distinct red colour, which sets them apart from the other text.
Other features in the magazine are listed on the left-hand side of the cover, near the bottom, so they don't obstruct the image too much.
The background behind the band is rather bleak, a contradiction to the black clothing worn by the band.
The band are dressed in the clothing that they are expected to wear, and what the target audience expects them to wear.

The cover is set out in a grid format, where the text can be grouped into different segments, and the cover features very little white space (segments of the magazine where nothing is happening).
Nearly all of the text is in block capitals, save for a few captions near the top of the page, this is to outline the important text.
The cover features very little ornamentation, with just about the only thing adorning it being a fake sticker in the top right-hand corner.

The featured image is symmetrical, with the band's members organized so that pretty much the same thing is happening either side of the image's focus, which is the band's lead singer.

AO1: Analysis 3

The product has a generic website layout, with the band's name and their symbol (a gaelic knot) right at the top of the page, with iconography from the latest album at the top-right hand corner.

Below this is a bar with things such as Merchandise, Tour info and News about the band listed across the screen.

This is for the ease of navigating the website, clearly dividing it into segments.

Below this the page becomes divided into three segmented parts.

To the far right the band's various accounts on social networks are listed, beneath which news about upcoming shows and gigs are listed, as well as fan comments.

Across from this, towards the center of the screen, recent music videos and other media is posted by the band.

On the far left is a column that details the most recent updates to the website, allowing fans to quickly know what the most recent updates are.

The product's purpose is to inform, to entertain, and to promote.

The text is a simple, plain but broad font, commonly used by Breaking Benjamin.

Headings, navigation tools, and the band's name at the top of the screen are all in a bigger, broader font reminiscent of the font used on a typewriter.

This font seems to match the dark theme of the band, characterized in the website itself with it's dark background and imagery.

As the band's target audience are predominantly fans of the Grunge genre, the dark colours and the stark, contrasting bright blues and whites make for a good representation both of the band and it's fans.

The choice of format, although simple, suits the website, which, through the format, is made easy to navigate and easily accessible.

AO1: Analysis 2

Purpose: Advertise/ persuade

The product is a poster advertising the single From Yesterday by 30 Seconds to Mars.

The poster uses simple colours that keep with the band's iconography, featured in the bottom right hand of the poster.

The band's target audience are also clearly denoted by the colours, which are characteristic of the band's previous promotional work and albums.

The text appears to be a rather bland, simple font.

The band's name features in the center of the poster, towards the top, with the word "Mars" noticeably bigger than the others.

This again helps to draw in the target audience, using one word as a vice which draws the eye of those who already know the band.

More important text is either in bold or a different colour, this includes things such as information about the deluxe album and info about the release of the single.

The poster was originally intended for A4 print, but has also been resized to A3 size.

The image on the poster is from the music video for the single, with the band silhouetted against an image of rows of Chinese soldiers lined up outside the Imperial Palace in China.

Even the image uses the primary band colours of black, white and red.

Record labels and production companies are listed in the smallest text at the bottom, as they are with most products.

The Chinese symbols featured beneath the band's name depict the band's signature phrase, which is "Launch forth into the unknown".

The meaning of this is quite literal, as the music video was the first to be completely filmed in the People's Republic of China.

AO1: Analysis 1