Evaluation: Question 4 - Lily Jones

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 

drawn using bamboo graphics tablet on photoshop

Evaluation: Question 3 - Lily Jones

what have you learned from feedback?

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part 1

part 2

Before





After

Evaluation: Question 2 - Lily Jones

how effective is the combination of your

main product and ancillary task?

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Evaluation: Question 1- Lily Jones

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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part1

Part 2

I decided to do this answer as an article, as if Hewitson River has been accused of Copyright infringement, i think this is an interesting way of putting across the information, and at the same time gives the question a purpose relating to real issues within the music industry.

Ancillary Task Final Drafts - Lily Jones

Opacity

It is between these two drafts for the final! i like the opacity on the top one as it doesnt draw too much attention away from the cover, and makes it look less busy. tomorrow i will get some opinions on which would be best to submit as my final draft.

I have made the itunes & hmv logo's opaque as i felt they were too bold on the page, which was making it look cluttered.

here i have also made the polaroid slightly opaque so that the colours are more subtle as this looks more vintage.

taking the opacity down to 49% on the text and logo's. I think an opaque typography looks better as it does not compete with the boldness of the black and white on the cd cover. I want the cd cover to be the main focal point of the poster as this way people can relate to seeing it in shops and it also creates a brand. If they were to go into a store (e.g.HMV) to specifically buy the CD they would know what to look for as the Poster features it so well.

final touches..

I added an opaque stroke border to the white lettering as i felt it needed to stand out more. I then experimented with using the cover photo instead of the cover as the polaroid, I felt that with the artist and album name being at the time, would it be too repetitive keeping it? I am undecided on which i prefer so will make my final decision on tomorrow's deadline. 

Here i have made the "featuring" text smaller, this is so it does not dominate over the single title. I think i prefer this however I am going to ask for a second opinion, as i like all of these posters and they are all very similar! hopefully this will help me decide on a final draft!

here i have used the rough typewriter font for the reviews, i think this works better as it breaks up the bolder text and is more subtle against the polaroid. 

I have changed the font of the featuring, website and availability. I think this looks more subtle so that the single, artist and album stand out more. although i do not think that the "featuring" looks as effective as it is white. I therefore prefer it in the 'lane' font.

These  posters use the outline however they features the "lane" fonts as i feel they work better on the "featuring" text. I have made very similar posters, tweeking them only slightly so i can pick out the one i am going to take further.

experimenting with illustration & font

Here i changed the text to create a more sleek and simple look for the cover. I think i prefer the text on the first draft as it fits in more with the other ancillaries creating continuity. I made the text for the album opaque which i think works well, although it looks more effective on a larger scale so i may do further experiments.

here i have made an illustrated version of my cover using my graphics tablet, i like these although they do not go with the rest of the digipak as it uses photography. I changed the font to tie in more and standout against the illustration, i prefer the text on my first draft as it looks more vintage over the opaque scruffy background. The line drawing could make connotations to Hewitson's emptiness, relating to his selfish and heartless attitude.

 

Here i have experimented with larger opaque text and made the photo darker, this is so that the text in the foreground had more of a contrast. I like the opaque text although it is not striking enough for a CD cover as it does not capture enough attention. I prefer the cover i submitted for my first draft and think it works well as it is simplistic yet striking. It also makes the relevant connotations to Jordan having attitude, the brushes make connotations to the vintage styling we have tried to create in the video, and the text is bold yet classic. The darker background makes connotations to Hewitson's cruel side, which is portrayed in the video at the tea party. paired with the attitude in his expression, this creates a sly and mischievous persona.

improvements

I have centered the trellis on the inner panels, as suggested by Miss Somell. This creates a cleaner finish which makes the digipack look more professional. She also suggested that I add more to the track list as a customer may be disappointed with six tracks, so I have taken this into consideration with a further four tracks. As a group we decided to call the song in the video "big mouth strikes again" and to not change it to "no time". We wanted to create a whole new band and were unsure as to whether keeping the name would take away from this. We decided it made sense to keep the name so I have added it on to the track list.

Here i have moved the itunes and hmv logos to the bottom left hand corner, as i was advised to make this less of a feature. I also replaced the song name to the chosen original. I think this poster works well as it is informative and continues the theme from the digipack.

Here i have edited the reviews and included two more, as i have noticed on other band advertisements they usually have multiple reputable reviews, i chose NME, Q and vinly (the magazine I created at AS). I also changed the "now available" font from Lane B to Lane D as it has a greater width, this still compliments the other typography on the page, however it makes it look more interesting. I also used Lane D for the reviews as it is quite striking despite the font being smaller.

I wasn't told to improve anything on the tour insert so I have left it how it is. It is a simple extra giving information of tour dates and venues, so this adds to the realism of the brand I am trying to create.

FIRST DRAFT - Lily Jones

DIGIPAK

INSERT

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Does it have brand identity?

I feel my Ancillary does have brand identity as i have used the same font's through out and similar photographs e.g. cover, location, landscape. I feel this creates a brand for Hewitson River through the ancillaries and in the video. I think i could experiment with the background colour on the insert as this would make it tie in more with the advertisement i have created.

Does it reflect the genre?

I think it reflects the genre well as the photography shows off Jordan's vintage style and reflects to the video. It is fairly quirky with the use of photography and using seemingly empty locations, however i think this makes it more interesting and quirkiness is one of the attractive qualities of the indie genre.

Have you produced an advert?

I have used all of the appropriate conventions of an advert (artist, album, dates, review, photos), so i think i have created an informative ad, as it is visually interesting but displays the appropriate information.

Have you produced a digipak?

I have created all the outer and inner panels including the spine in a way that would be seen in the industry. The digipak also displays the relevant information such as track listing, artist and album names. The style is consistent throughout however there is more colour on the inside, however i think this works as the photograph compliments the video and ties in with the photographs on the front of the cover.

Colour & typography

Here i have experimented with the lightness of the background, I think this looks a lot better as it does not take attention away from the information and cover. I then added a review/rating from the very reputable NME. I think the review makes it look more professional and will entice the audience as they will (hopefully) know and trust them. I then changed "including the hit single" to "featuring" this is more minimal and lines up with the single name which i think looks more polished.

here i have adjusted the hue to a red/purple colour and made the background lighter, i like this as it is more subtle than the one above however it is not as visually interesting. I prefer the green saturated background, as this makes connotations to nature. As the video is set outside i think this is relevant and ties in with the grave yard and field scenes.

adjusting colour

Here i used white to fill the parchment which leave the texture of the paper like image, however takes away the sepia tone. I then edited the photo in the background adjusting the hue to create red tones. I like this as it contrasts slightly with the album cover but is still in keeping with the theme. It also relates to the subtle colour used on the inner panels of the digipak taken from a still i got, from the tea party.

Here i used white to fill the parchment which leave the texture of the paper like image, however takes away the sepia tone. I then edited the photo in the background adjusting saturation making it higher. My initial plan was to desaturate the image, but this would have made it look as if it had used a greyscale. I did not want a greyscale look as this blended in with the cover, and i wanted it to stand out. I like the unusual use of colour in the background as it looks mysterious yet magical which relates to christmas but also creates irony with the grave yard scene. Because of the bright colours i don't think it would be appropriate, as duller colours make more relevant connotations.

Here i have combined the two techniques however i adjusted the lightness which i think works well! my favourite technique is the second one, however it may look better slightly lighter but not as light as this print as the typography does not show up as well. I think the pink colour connotations are too feminine, whereas we want to portray something with less emotion. As girls tend to be stereotypically loving this will portray the wrong image, as it is one of the connotations of the colour.

I could see my ad being used somewhere like this. there are lots of other music related flyers so people, most likely students, would know to come and look there to check out event. the only problem would be other advertisements being put over the top.

Adverts

I like the simplicity of this ad, the polaroid and sepia style background of the graveyard make connotations to the vintage style of the band. I created the background by adjusting the opacity on the photo of the grave yard and laying it over the parchment style paper. I then made the parchment darker by filling it with an opaque black. The fonts keep the ad continuous with the cover and the speech marks relate to the style of on of the inner panels. I think the grave yard in the background makes really good references back to the video, so that the audience can relate to it having seen it on mtv etc. I am not sure whether i like the sepia effect the parchment has given it, so I may experiment further with de-saturation. 

Here i have used a similar style only drawn another figure of jordan using the graphics tablet, I prefer the more simple one, but think the colours used on the illustrations make this one more visually interesting, although i think too much is going on in the ad by using a photo and the cover. The illustrations also refer back to the rotoscoping in the video, especially as it is over the grave yard background. The low opacity on the illustration could also allow the reader to question the video, is Hewitson a ghost? which could give them an answer to the questions they asked in the video. I like the contrasting colours of the flowers as this lightens the advertisement, which creates irony with the dull grave yard.

Photos for Ancillary

Today jack and I used the lesson to take photo's for the background of the advertisement. We decided to split off as we both had free's after the lesson, Jack went to take photos of fields and rural landscape, so I went and took photo's of the graveyard.

Here are the photo's which we can hopefully experiment with to create an effective print that ties in with the digipak. It has been snowing so that will create contrast, however miss somell thought it would look picturesque and I don't feel it would hurt to try it out.

before going our seperate ways we bumped into Jordan, he had a scooter and a cigerette which we felt was very ironic and quite rebellious whilst at the same time creating humour, we decided to take a photo, although it is entirely spontaneous and he isnt in any costume etc. I think it works quite well (as a test shot) although if we were to use it we would have to dress it up more. 

I took a variety of photos which i feel will work well on the advertisement. some of them are purely to be used as a background giving it texture and others are to compliment the scenery used in the video.