H.C. Progress and mock ups lesson 26/11/2014

I spent today's lesson collecting the typefaces we plan to use in future on our print products, and then created four mock up ideas, mainly focusing on the text layout and the type of image that we will use for our background:

 

 

This is the initial idea I came up with, aiming for an illustrative style of cover - in this case a man breaking his fall into icy water. Tom and I came up with this first idea to break away from our colour theme in the narrative, to make sure there was also an extra visual link with our track. We are not likely to pursue this idea however, as the man in this photo is not young, so does not fit with the visuals conveyed in our track and with the genre and the positioning of the lettering looks clunky and too dominant on the page.

 

 

2.

For this second design, I have reverted to keeping with the idea of paint and bright colour, whilst maintaining a simple typeface. By positioning the type in the centre of the page and the name of the artists at the bottom of the image, I have created good spacing which breaks up the page into thirds well. The contrast between the colour and simple white typeface is effective in placing this ad in the dance genre.


3.

 
This design is an example of what we could produce for a two page spread. I have placed the type in the top and bottom thirds of the frame between the main colour source of the image, with the track title 'Break my fall' placed in generally black background. This adheres to the reading path around the page, with the eyes landing on the solitary title first and then being attracted to the colour below. By placing the title of the track on its own, this also singles it out as the most important part of the image and offers the information consumers will want.


4.



In this final design I inverted the text to make each word read down the page. This gives an alternative visual style and elongates the image, making it stand out more on the page. I think the simplicity of the font against the colourful background also conforms to the style of our genre. If I were to develop this design going forward, I would crop the image to fit an A4 page and stack each new word one line down, to create a trickling effect down the page, enhancing the final visual.


Manipulating image:

I created each of these designs using photos from google search and then placing text over the top in photoshop by using basic text tools. I enhanced the text to subtly lift it off the page and stand out against the colours in the background by using a 'stroke'. The images below show the process I used in premiere, selecting 'stroke' from the 'fx' menu, giving a light shadow underneath the text.