Analysis of the final process and product

From the Photoshop workshops that we did I have gained a deeper understanding of how to use the image-editing software; Photoshop and this will enable me to apply my new knowledge and understanding of this software to my future Digi Pack. Overall, I was quite pleased with my final product of a piece of album artwork although of course there are definitely some improvements that I can make in the future.

I looked at many ideas and designs in order to get inspiration for my album artwork. I started off by doing a random word generated search to find a work to spark off lots of ideas and I chose the word spell which consequently led me to develop ideas about enchantment, magic, alchemy, spellbinding, fortune telling, potions and fantasy as well as many others. From this brainstorming of words I then got more ideas and inspiration from searching these words into google images and finding creative stimuli to help me get inspiration. I found images of purple and blue spells and orbs of light and colour as well as an image that I found particularly striking which was an image of hands on a purple ball of light. This image really inspired me and so I chose this image as a starting point for my design.

Additionally, I also went onto Adobe Colour wheel to get inspiration for colours to use and the colours that appeared for the magic theme were mainly blues and purples and so this further inspired the use of the purple orb.

Before I started experimenting with Photoshop I used paper to write up a mind map of ideas as well as sketching out a few creative and visual ideas. I discovered that drafting and sketching out my ideas on paper was really useful as you can very easily change and manipulate your ideas on paper and come up with a finalised idea and then move onto producing this on the computer software as this will ultimately save time as it allows you to only have to make 1 digitalised copy. Additionally, it is much easier to change your ideas on paper whereas in contrast there is only one undo button on Photoshop and therefore it is difficult to go back on your mistakes and change them.

My idea developed quite a bit from my initial idea to my finalised piece because my initial idea was to use the hand with the purple orb in it, however after receiving feedback from some of my classmates they said that it would be good to try and incorporate some blue into the purple orb. I agreed with this and in the end this formed part of the star image I created for the band as I created a mysterious and magical star image for the band and these colours really complimented each other and also worked harmoniously with the idea of mystery and magic. Following on from this, my inspiration from the adobe colour wheel experimentation worked with this also as the colours that were suggested for the word ‘spell’ were mainly blues and purples and so this aided me in developing my idea further which ultimately helped to make my final construction more successfully.

I created the album artwork for a band of the indie and alternative genre because I believe that the album artwork that I created provided a diverse, original and a creative expression feel to it. I think that the genre is very clear in my album artwork as I have used many conventions of the indie genre such as the use of the calm and funky colours of the blues and purples which fits in well with this genre in addition to the use of the ambiguous artwork that doesn’t display any of the band members which makes them appear mysterious which works effectively in portraying the genre of indie. Additionally, the use of the magic, fantasy and enchanted theme works well with the genre and therefore the album artwork supports the genre of the music in my opinion.

 

The album artwork that I designed is for a band, although I am not 100% sure whether this is clear to the audience. I decided to use quite an ambiguous and abstract image for the album artwork as I though that this would tie in nicely with the star image and their ideology which is that the music is more important than their appearance and I wanted to also create quite a mysterious look for the band to fit with the indie genre. However, it could be unclear to an audience as they could interpret the fact that there is only one hand as the fact that it is a solo artist. However, saying that I believe that through the use of the name of the band being The Horoscopes I think that this would provide the indication that it is a band and not a solo artist due to the use of the plural.

From my point of view, the target audience for the album artwork I have created would probably be teenagers and youths because I think that this style of album artwork and the ambiguous image and the bright colours used would attract a young audience. Additionally, because the symbolic conventions I used are typical of an indie band then I believe that because most indie bands target a younger audience then my precast would probably follow this trend.

Through applying Negus’ theory of organic or synthetic I would say that the band I have created are organic due to the fact that they are not featured on the album artwork and the image used is very ambiguous as well as the fact that the aim artwork suggests that they are chilled and down to earth which is connoted through the use of the blues and the purples as well as the fact that the image appears quite natural, original and their image appears truthful which makes me think that they would be organic according to Negus’ theory.

 

Overall, I really like the album artwork that I have designed as I believe that it looks original and unique and I believe that the star image and the ideology they represent it supported though the artwork and I like the ambiguity and abstract nature of the artwork. However, on the other hand I am not a massive fan of the font that I used for the album title and the band name as I believe that it is quite cliche and in addition I also believe that the font for the name of the band is too large and should be considerably smaller than the name of the album. But overall that I believe that my album artwork was successful as conveying the star image and ideology, the genre of their music as well as their organic image. Although I could have improved through thinking and planning the font and size of the text in more detail as well as possibly improving the quality of the image through more careful application for he techies and use of the various tools to create a more professional and more striking image.

In conclusion, I have definitely gained a deeper understanding of how the image-editing software; Photoshop works and how it can help you to create a professional and striking image as well as how the techniques and tips that I learned in my Photoshop workshop which will aid me hen creating my final Digi Pack. From exploring the skills and techniques of Photoshop I learned how to use the smudge, select, move and lasso tools a well as how to change the shape/size of an image and how to layer images and manipulate colours. All of these skills that I have acquired through this exploration will be very useful in the future and I will be able to apply them to my final Digi Pack as part of my A2 Coursework.