UPDATED: Evaluations of Initial Print Productions- BEN RODWELL

UPDATED: Initial CD Slides and Advert- BEN RODWELL

Logo Ideas- BEN RODWELL

I decided to create a logo for my CD cover. As well as adding the visual style of the CD cover, a logo is an important marketing strategy for an artist. A logo gives them an identity and improves their image as a standout and identifiable brand. it allows fans to quickly and easily show their membership to a specific fandom by showing this specific sign or symbol. A logo therefore has to be relatively simple, original and recognisable to one specific band or artist. I wanted a logo that represented the theme of duality portrayed in my music video. I also thought that a logo that created a reference the psychedelic elements of the band's music would work effectively and be popular with their fanbase. I created 3 ideas and then decided to evaluate them to decide on which is the strongest and therefore which one I should use for my CD cover

IDEA NO. 1

IDEA NO.1

Many reviewers of Bad Sound's song 'Avalanche' -for which we made a music video for- had commented on the clear 70s influence of the music. As vintage styles from decades such as the 70s and the 90s are popular at this point in time i wanted to try and incorporate some sense of this in to the band's logo. I knew that the combination of brown, yellows and oranges were typical of brands and artwork of the time and so decided to focus around this colour scheme. To combine this classic 70s aesthetic with something more mainstream and modern I looked to the trend of western companies using Chinese or Japanese symbols for logos. Companies such as 'Superdry' do this very successfully and I wanted to experiment with using asian writing to give the logo a very up to date look. The final idea used the simplified Chinese symbols for 'Bad Sounds' encapsulated by a circle. Everything in the logo was  brown with orange and yellow shadows, giving it the 70s aesthetic I wanted. This logo does not represent the theme of duality which is something I wanted it to do. It does however have links to the psychedelic art movement via the references to 70s culture. The logo is relatively simple and original and so would give the band a clear and recognisable image.

PROS: Bold, original, has links to 70s/psychedelia, modern style via use of Chinese writing, even shape resembling a physical stamp

CONS: No link to theme of duality, could be too complex to easily replicate

IDEA NO. 2

IDEA NO.2

I made this logo by editing the font 'Bebas Neue'. Firstly I made the font italic and then secondly I inverted it: making the bodies of the letters invisible and the spaces created by the letters highlighted. Instead of being an image or graphic, this logo would instead be the way in which the band's name is printed on the CD cover. Many famous bands and artists use a specific font as their motif and furthermore as their standout logo. For example Eminem, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Sex Pistols. I liked this idea as it meant my CD cover could have less on it allowing any artwork to standout more. Instead of having the band name, the logo, the album name and the artwork there could simply be the band name and the artwork. This logo is highly original and also engages with the audiences; they have to spend time working out what the text says. This logo also provides a sense of exclusiveness to the fanbase- they will know what it says but other people who aren't familiar with the band won't, making Bad Sound's target audience feel more involved with the band. This logo links to the theme of duality very efectviely. It portrays two sides to the font which links well to the portrayal in the music video of humans as having two distinct sides. The font is reversed creating a contrast to normality which again links well to the music video and the music itself's psychedelic influences. The only negative of this font is that some popes may find it too difficult to read however it could be argued that this intensifies the logos effectiveness as only fans of the band will know what it reads.

PROS: Original, strong links to duality, links to the reversal of normalcy (psychedelia), strong identity for the band, combines logo and band name resulting in a less cluttered CD cover.

CONS: Some may find it too difficult to read

IDEA NO. 3

IDEA NO.3

While my 2nd idea created links to duality, I wanted to see how clearly I could portray the intertwining relationship of the 'good' and the 'bad' which I had represented in the music video. In my third design I used the letters 'B' and 'S' from 'Bad Sounds' to portray this relationship. The letters are intertwined with the S curling in and out of the B. This represents how the good and bad in one person are not necessarily completely separate (a message also portrayed in the music video). In addition to this the use of black and white in the colours strengthens the portrayal of good and bad as they are two highly contrasting colours. This design is simplistic and could be easily replicated by fans. The box around it gives it and even, stamp like aesthetic as if all of the band's CDs had physically been branded. However this design may be too heavily reliant n the the theme of duality. For instance Im not sure how well it work on other CD covers that didn't need to have a link to duality. In addition to this I feel the design is the weakest in terms of how professional it looks. While I like the concept of this idea I feel this design lacks the professional image of the other two ideas. This design also doesn't give as strong an identity to the band as the other two designs. After evolution I think this is m weakest design.

PROS: Conveys duality very strongly, fairly simplistic and bold, easily replicable, references physical branding which is attractive in logos

CONS: Not as professional looking as the other two designs, may not work in other instances/too reliant on the theme of duality, doesn't portray as strong an identity to the band.



Chosen Logo: IDEA NO.2

I felt this idea was the strongest. It was original and therefore provided the band with a recognisable identity and image. It linked to the theme of duality strongly but wasn't bound to it so it could be used on other albums or adverts. It was exclusive to fans; they would know what it read but outsiders wouldn't making theme feel a connection with the band. It combined the name of the band with the logo meaning the cover of the cd would be less cluttered allowing for a more minimalist style. Although it isn't necessarily the easiest to  read this isn't an issue as audiences will spend tie trying to figure out what it says and therefore will be spending more time looking at the CD cover itself.

Potential Images- BEN RODWELL

 After using images and photos from the internet to create preliminary designs, I had a solid idea in my head of what photos I needed to take to create my final design. I needed an extreme close up shot of a face. The main facial features I needed in the photo were the eyes and the nose. I would then take these photos and edit them to create an interesting effect that displays the duality theme that I wanted to run through the music video as well as the CD cover and advert.

PHOTO 1

This image is an extreme close up of my face that focuses entirely on the eyes. I composed this shot so that my eyes fell on the vertical lines of third so as to naturally draw the audience towards them. By cutting the shot just below the nose, it has an uncomfortable feel; the audience desire to see the entire face but never can. I felt this was an effective photo as it was bold, dominant, engaging and original. As well as this the bright side lighting would lend itself to the filter I wanted to apply to the photo. I wanted to make the photo black and white, increase the intensity so that the blacks ere darker and the whites lighter and then apply the 'Cutout' filter on Photoshop so that the photo was simplified in to colour levels. As there lighting was bright and relatively intense, I knew that photoshop would be able to pick up the different colours and facial. shapes in the photo.

PROS: Focus on eyes, uncomfortable, engaging, interesting photo, original, good lighting
CONS: Not as intense lighting as some of the other photos

PHOTO 2

This is another photo from he same shoot as Photo 1. In this photo I was slightly further away from the camera resulting in a less extreme, less uncomfortable close up. I decided to change my facial expression in this photo to see what effect it had after the editing of the photo. As this photo is more dynamic and portrays more movement, there will be a greater amount of shadows and wrinkles. After editing this will result in more contrast as there will be more dark areas to contrast with the lighter areas. However this photo lacks some of the discomfort photo1 achieved. As the audience can see more of the face, the photo feels more resolved. In addition to this because the shot isn't as extreme of a close up, the photo is more aesthetically comfortable. This photo again places emphasis on the eyes via the use of the compositional technique, rule of thirds. The lighting in this shot is more effective than the first. I think this because one side of my face is well lighted with few shadows where as the other half is cast in shadow. I think even before editing, this photo shows signs of duality. I think that photo 1 and photo 2 could work well in combination to further portray the theme of duality through the contrasting facial expressions.

PROS: Very good lighting, interesting facial expression, works well with the editing filter
CONS: Doesn't have the uncomfortable feel to it like the first photo, eyes aren't as dominant

PHOTO 3

While I had not outlined the need for this shot in my preliminary ideas, I felt like i needed a 'filler' image that I could use if needed. For example for the middle two pages of the CD artwork, an image such as this could work effectively. I wouldn't be using this image as a main focal point for my artwork instead it'd be used as a back up or filler image. I wanted an image that maintained the theme of duality but wasn't too dominant or intrusive. This is the idea and shot that I created. It is a closeup of some black food colouring willing in water. I felt that this shot was un-intrusive and interesting but also reflected the duality of the main character in my music video as well as the intertwined and fluid relationship between the internal 'good' in someone and the internal 'bad'. The photo itself was successful in some ways but did have faults. I lacked the proper equipment to create a lighting rig powerful enough to produced a truly white background. As a result the photo looks under lighted and slightly amateur. This could be resolved in editing but still would not produce as good a quality shot as a properly lighted image. I felt that the actual swirling effect worked well and captured the themes of duality and fluidity that I wanted it to.

PROS: Highlights theme of duality, interesting effect, would work well as a filler shot
CONS: Bad lighting, looks like an amateur shot

PHOTO 4

This final image is a screenshot from our music video. It is an extreme close up of the main characters face. I included this image as, unlike the photos from my face, this shot creates a direct and very obvious link to the music video and, furthermore, to the theme of duality. When edited using the same filter as the first two photos, the black and white would contrast excellently and would also allow the eyes to standout and be the focal point of the shot. The issue with this photo is that it is a difficult shape. Because it is a screenshot from a video, if I wanted the face to fit on to a square CD cover I would have to squash and slightly distort it. As well as this, while I like the fact that the image creates a clear link tot he music video, I feel like the link is perhaps to obvious and overpowering. It also reduces the creative power I have as all I have to work with is the single screenshot from the video. With the first two photos I can recreate or retake them to try and fix or improve them.

PROS: Portrays theme of duality well, links to music video very well, interesting close up for audiences
CONS: Difficult shape as a result of it being a screenshot, lower quality, style is simply copied from the music video.



Chosen Images: Photo 1 and Photo 2

I decided to use both Photo 1 and photo 2 as the images for my CD cover. I felt like between both of them they portrayed the theme of duality well, they were interesting and original, they would capture audiences attention and would work effectively with the editing filter I had planned. As well as this, using two photos would allow me to use different images on the front and back of the CD cover resulting in a more interesting and varied final piece.

Preliminary Ideas- BEN RODWELL

Idea 1

To start with I used stock images from google to sketch out preliminary ideas. My approach was to use stock images and Photoshop to create preliminary ideas and chose the basis of my album cover and then recreate any photos or stock images I had used for the final piece. I decided to mock up the front cover of the CD and then once I had designed this I would work on the other panels of the CD and the advert based on the chosen style.

Idea 2

IDEA NO 1. I wanted my album to reflect the duality theme of my music video. I started by taking a screenshot of a close up of the main character's face from my music video, altering the colour hue and adding a title. Although I liked the idea of using the main characters face with an increased saturation and hue intensity to represent the duality of my music video, the title is not very clear and the font doesn't contribute to the aesthetic. The pros of the this design are the eye catching colour and clear link to duality but the cons are that the title is not very clear and takes away from the overall style

Pros: Eye Catching, links to duality and modern looking.

Cons: Title is not clear, pink colour does not reflect style of the music video

Idea 2

Idea 2

IDEA NO.2 I wanted to experiment with radical fonts and see how well they could be used to create a logo and style for the band as well as to represent the duality theme. In this idea I tried filling in the negatives of  the bold sans serif font 'Bebas'. This resulted in a modernistic and original looking font that represented the duality of my music video. Although not extremely easy to read I think that it engages with audiences and forces them to spend time working out what the font says and therefore works effectively at enticing audiences. I then experimented by placing the font on different backgrounds including a black and white photo of an avalanche, a psychedelic combination of colour swirls and a black and white profile of a man's head. I found that keeping the background as simple as possible worked well and that the font looked strongest behind the black and white photos. However I liked the idea of referencing psychedelia on my cover as the music itself has psychedelic influences. The face of the super villain in our music video is a key aspect of the mise en scene throughout and so using a closeup of his face could work well at linking the CD cover and the music video. Using black and white photos highlights the theme of duality through the use of classic, contrasting colours. The black represents the bad and the white the good and together portray the theme of duality. I wanted the overall style of the cover to minimalist and so decided to make the name of the album the same as the band name so the front cover can have as little on as possible. Many famous bands such as The Beatles, Weezer and King Crimson did not include the title of the album on the album to create a minimalist album cover. I have taken inspiration from this and through my preliminary idea brainstorm found that keeping as little on the cover as possible created an aesthetically pleasing and strong design

Pros: Original, creates logo for the band, engaging, links to duality, strong minimalist style

Cons: Font could be difficult to read, background
 needs to be relatively simple

Add caption

Idea 3

IDEA 3. I wanted to experiment with using the image of the super villains face from the music video as the basis for the CD cover. I used a close up of the main characters face and increased the intensity and reduced the image to two colour layers: black and white. This resulted in a stark contrasting black and white image that outlined a human face. It had the right balance of ambiguity and clarity; people could decipher the facial features such as the eyes and nose but also could see it was an abnormal, skull like face. Using this image as the basis of the third set of ideas, I wanted to see if I could integrate some sense of psychedelia to the design.  To begin with I used the psychedelic ink swirls as the font fill. While I liked the effect I didn't think tit worked coherently to create an effective style. I felt like it subtracted from the portrayal of duality created

Instead of integrating the psychedelic reference via the text I decided to try and merge it with the facial image. I experimented by replacing either the black or white in the face with the psychedelic colours.Out of the two I felt that keeping the black and replacing the white worked the most effectively.This design portrayed the duality theme well; the black presenting the dull/bad side of a personality and the colour representing the creative/good side. Unlike the other design where the white was kept, this design was clearer and showed the image of a face more effectively to the audience. The issue with this design was that it did not lend itself to having text on. Because of the layout and intensity of the photo I could not find a way of placing font on which did not take away from the overall style. While I could create a super minimalist album with no writing on at all, I felt like my cover needed at least the band name. Another weakness of this design is that it would be difficult for me to recreate the colour swirls I had found on the internet.

Pros: Links to duality, effective and engaging style, right balance of ambiguity and clarity

Cons: Psychedelic colours would be difficult to create, does not allow for aesthetically pleasing placement of text

Idea 4

IDEA 4. For my final Idea I wanted to experiment with just having a font as the cover of my CD. I used a bold sans serif font and then used the psychedelic colours as the fill for the font. I placed this on a plain white background to create a very minimalist design. While I thought this design was eye catching and visually very pleasing, it had no real link to the theme of duality. While the others had used colours and photos to create the portrayal of the theme of duality and thus linking it to the music video, this idea only created links to psychedelia. In addition to this I decided it would be difficult to create 3 other panels and an advert in this design style. Furthermore because it was so simplistic I felt it did not reflect my ability on Photoshop.

Pros: Very strong, minimalist style, simple to create, represents psychedelic influence.

Cons: Overly simplistic, doesn't link to duality, doesn't reflect my Photoshop abilities.


Chosen Idea: Idea 2

I chose this idea as I felt the use of font was interesting and original and gave the CD cover and band as a whole an identity and logo. Additionally it linked effectively to the theme of duality and gave me room for development and creative change. The style is eye catching, engaging and modern and so reflects the musical style of the band.