Editing merchandise using Adobe Photoshop

This is a short clip of me using Adobe Photoshop to edit the merchandise which will be used on our website. We are making this available on our website to conform to the conventions of artists with the same genre such as Beyonce.  (shown below)

Colour choice

Since our music genre is romance, we need to choose colours that reflect that genre. To do this we used  a website called Colour Scheme Designer, which helps decide a complimentary colour for the main colour you want to choose. They have six different choices: Mono, Complement,

Triad, Tetrad, Analogic and Accented Analogic.
We initially chose a red colour scheme, then we decided that it was too bright and loud for a song that has soft lyrics. Also the combination of the red and green connotes more of Christmas than Love. For this colour scheme I used the 'Complement' choice.

So we settled for more delicate, candy colours like lilac or eggshell blue. For this colour scheme I used 'Triad' because it gives you three choices.

The Fuchsia in this colour scheme would be good for the main colour because it connotes maybe a pink lipstick, which is useful because a red is more seductive and pink is more playful. For the complimentary colours, we would chose 34CFBE, FFE273 and E165B9 because they're more colourful but not overpowering or solid.

 

This is the second colour scheme that we put together, we had an idea to for our Digipak to reflect different times of day when the clouds are stained with the sun. For example, sunset, sunrise etc and the use of colours like lilac and pink/orange would be a nice choice.

Casting requirements

Digipak rough template

This is a rough template of our digipak. It has been useful for us to sketch this out because it will guide us when we are making our proper digipak- we know how we want to take our images and at what angle. In addition to this, it helps us with organisation skills.

Digipak analysis of professional product

In this post, I am going to analyse this digipak cover of the band 'Goldfrapp's seventh tree'. My group and I decided that it has a very novel-like look which may be part of the theme and genre. The artist is presented on the front cover with a blurred background to divert the eye to the artist. Also, the artist is standing in a half-turned position which connotes mystery or deceit.

Within this digipak, there is a big poster included. This is designed to be put up on fans bedroom wall to increase the fandom as it can be seen regularly. The owl is shown in most photos and therefore seems to be significant. Also, the position in which the artist is standing connotes religion which may be an indication of the genre of the artist.

Choice of fonts

These are some of the fonts we have looked at for our Digipak font. We tried to chose fonts that represented and reflected our romance genre.

We chose this font because it was in Italics, which basically reflects the seductiveness of romance. The font looks as if it has been drawn in pen as well, which makes it seem like the type of font you would see in a diary. It is calligraphy which connotes romance/love.

We chose this font because it gets straight to the point, the one heart signifies the romance genre and the fact that it's is weathered shows that the relationship is going through some hard times. The use of capitals make it stand out and they also make it seem like the 'Dream' holds a lot of importance to the narrator.

We chose this font because because it reflected the Garden of Eden, with the vines coming off it, which is usually linked to love. Again, it looks a little like something you would see in a diary which makes it more romantic as well. Also, the connotations of Adam & Eve falling in love while in the Garden made  it an easy choice because it's a widely used connection.

In my opinion, I think we should use the second font because it looks like an abstract font, it's straight to the point and it's not too complicated in terms of design. It is Bold and Stands out to the audience attracting more fans.

What is a website?

A website is a collection of web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web servers, usually accessible via the Internet, mobile phone or a LAN. Nowadays, most people use websites as an initial source for information. In the music industry, many artists interact with their fans via websites. For example, Beyoncé has a website which she regularly updates with latest pictures, news and music videos. In addition to this, she has links which lead fans to pages where they are able to join her fan page or pages which lead to products such as perfumes and merchandise which can be ordered.

What is a Digipak?

A digipak is a type of packing made to store CD's. It is usually made of cardboard with a plastic  holder inside for one or more disks. It can come in a 4 panel box or a 6 panel box. The Rihanna digipak shown below is an example of a 6 panel one. Many fans started to buy digipak's in the early 2000's in order to feel more involved with the artist by owning something physical which they could hold rather than a downloaded song on their mp3 player/iPod. Many digipak's also have many features in them such as posters and lyric booklets which entice fans and encourage them to buy it.

First day of filming

Here are some images from our first day of filming. As shown in the pictures, all team members are focusing on the production and are taking equal part in ensuring everything is perfect and organised.

My practice CD cover

In order to refresh my memory of how to work Photoshop, I made a practice CD cover. I believe this will help me to complete my digipak with more ease as I now have better knowledge of the effects which can be used on Photoshop. This CD cover took me only 20 minutes to complete so I believe that I will be efficient and effective with my time management whilst producing the digipak for my production.

Analysis of professional artist website

Logo

This is the logo that we designed. We want it to be the logo for our video and brand of 'Alice Smith' and her song 'Dream'. It will be associated with her. The first letter is out into a large heart to show off the genre of the song. Also, it will stand out and attract target audience which is the sole purpose of a logo.