Print productions (drafts)

Front cover Back cover

Inner panel left Inner panel right

Magazine advert

What are the pros of my print productions?

Overall, I love how simplistic but effective my print productions are. I am happy with the illustrations and I feel as though any additional detail would not relate less to my genre, but would make the drawings look less vivid and more complicated to distinguish. Choosing fonts was the task within the planning stage of my print productions that I struggled with the most – my indecisive persona was demonstrated through the numerous attempts of selecting a font then changing my mind. It was difficult to find a font for the smaller texts on my advert but I think the ones I chose to use suits the aesthetic of the production. There is an equal balance between the clarity of the illustrations and the text – I feel as though I chose my fonts well and the ‘handwriting’ font of the headings merges in with the manual aspect of the appearance. Therefore, my print productions corresponds well to the ‘do it yourself’/low budget attitude of indie artists/bands because they want to strive out to be unique. By following this attitude, my print productions stand out from others because most of them include photographs in them. My print productions look impressive because they reflect my artistic side, combining advertising/media with art and demonstrating how well they work together.

There are close links between my print productions and the narrative and other dimensions of my music video. The most obvious one is the mask. It has constructed an image/identity for my band because those who have seen my music video will see the mask as being distinctive if they see it elsewhere, immediately registering in their minds. Indie bands cast a different scenario on everyday situations, and I think my designs accomplish this with the meanings they have behind them. I really like the chosen colours within the inside panels of my digipak because they are bold and vibrant, representing the narcotic effects in my music video, which represents the complex dimensions and impacting strength of love. Additionally, the transition between the black and white appeal to the striking tones of colour in the left inside panel suggests the transition between the male character’s vision before and after he drinks the liquid (b&w portraying normality, nothing out of the ordinary). However, each type of colour beholds a variety of representations (e.g. emotions, personalities, business etc) so the design and the colours in the inside panels can be interpreted differently by the audience, making it more interesting and unique.

It is important to remember that there are no set of instructions on what makes a good album cover, but some see that emotion is the key and I believe mine indulges this. It may not receive negative emotions towards it, but instead gathering the interest of my audience and their curiosity on what the mask and leading lines symbolize.

What are the cons of my print productions?

A notable con of my print productions, is that they include no colour on the front. Although it is not a necessity to do so, colours really help to catch someone’s eye, so my decision not to include any would possibly effect the sales of my

band’s album. Even one type of colour can be enough to trigger a certain feeling or emotion, however with the designs I produced I am not sure where I would put colour. Despite that the cover says something about the band, this does not mean my band will be unsuccessful. There are lots of indie albums that have no colour on their designs, but sold lots of copies (e.g. 250,000 copies of ‘the Balcony’ by Catfish and the Bottlemen was sold). My digipak & advert appeals to my target audience in the same way theirs do, as they include a distinguishing design. The importance of digipak designs

used to be far more relevant before online streaming was introduced, but my magazine advert will still hold a significant role in the success of the album.

Because my print productions have no colour, I feel as though they do not look as modern as they are supposed to be. 21st century technology is so diverse, any design idea/colour/pattern can be created, so I feel like I haven't gone all out

on my productions in a technological way because I drew the designs on paper, but perhaps I did not need to? This is my own interpretation so the surveys I will produce in my evaluation will help me know if my target audience feel the same

vibe.

My print productions do not include the identity of the band members, which may not work in the band’s favour. Including an image of the band’s members on the CD cover/advert can be effective in gaining popularity because their

appearance can register in the viewer’s mind so they remember. However, people like music because it transports them to a place different to reality, making them feel a certain way, and a band/artist’s print production can help to achieve

this. Mine are very conceptual so I believe my designs certainly help to achieve this.

Feedback from teacher

Overall, my teacher was pleased with the outcomes I produced for my print production, and that they were all to a good standard. However, there are a few tweaks he mentions which I can quickly put in place.

First of all, he was unsure about the colour being inside the inner panels and not the front – I can understand this, as I want too certain about this also. He mentioned that if I was going to include colour in my print production, it

should be on the front cover – if not, it is more effective to keep the CD black and white. This can easily be altered in Photoshop by converting these two panels to black and white.

Secondly, I made a grammar mistake on the back panel which he picked up on but I did not notice. The word ‘isnt’ has an apostrophe missing.

My teacher also reckons that I include some text inside the CD cover, I agree with this as I think it would make my digipak more professional and realistic.

However, he is not sure how the faceless image on the advert links to the album, and thinks I should write ‘featuring the hit singles ‘Tidal Wave’ and Faceless’ as it would give more meaning. As described in the pitch blogpost, I wrote

about the representation of the mask and how it’s the basis of the female character’s identity. The CD cover is an image of just the mask, and the advert is an response to the girl without it. Despite this, I think I will include the

song name ‘Faceless’ on the advert to save my target audience feeling confused/misinterpreting it.