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| Original Image |
To begin with, I used a brightening tool on the editing software to lighten the bones of the skeleton, I also airbrushed the artists face to remove any shadows and blemishes.
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| Whitened Skeleton |
I then began to experiment with the design of the album cover by layering different filters over the top to give them an indie/alternative design to match the genre of the music. A few examples of the designs I experimented with can be seen below.
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| Experiment With Filters |
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| Applying Text and PAEC Logo |
Next, I began to add the artists name and the album name to the front of the CD cover in order to brand the artist. I kept the same font that I used in the magazine advert in order to introduce a level of consistency which helps to brand the artist in the target audiences minds and make their 'logo' recognisable and more memorable. We also added a Parental Advisory Explicit Content logo in order to warn those planning on buying the CD that some of the songs contain explicit language that might not be suitable for young children or others who may not enjoy hearing expletives whilst listening to music.
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| Experimenting with different colours |
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| Experimenting with different colours |
I experimented with different coloured text and different filters on the central image in order to produce a few different front cover images which I could then show to my target audience and ask for their opinions. The majority of those asked said that they liked the first image, with the triangular design and turquoise font, as it looked bright and interesting and matched the genre of the music well, so we decided to proceed with that as our front cover of the album.
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| Adding Barcode |
Next, I chose an image of the skeleton from our music video for the back of the album cover and edited it with the same design as the front cover. I then added a barcode and began to add text to it to make it look more professional by adding a barcode number and category number like you would see on real album covers produced by real record labels.
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| Track-list and copyright information |
I looked for the album cover of the real 'Made of Bricks' album by Kate Nash on the internet and after I located it, I was able to include the real copyright information above my barcode. In addition to this, I added the tracklist to the back of the album cover as this is a typical convention.
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| Adding a QR Code and PAEC Logo |
I decided to add a QR code to the album cover to make it more modern, as many companies do this now in order to make their product easily accessible. By doing this, people would be able to see my CD in stores and simply scan the QR code on their smart phone or any other smart device in order to be directed to a website that would allow them to purchase it online or download it straight to their device. I also added another Parental Advisory Explicit Content logo in order to clarify the explicit language once more.
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| Research into record labels |
I then went onto google and decided to find out what record label has signed Kate Nash in order to be accurate whilst applying the company logos to my album cover. I found that both Fiction Records and Island Records had signed Kate Nash and therefore found their logos on the internet, edited them slightly to remove their backgrounds and then applied them to the bottom left corner of the album cover as seen below.
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| Applying record label logo |
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| Editing the CD cover together |
Finally, I created a spine for the CD cover and included the album name, artists name, category number and main record label on there as this is the information that was located on the original spine of the original Kate Nash album. I then edited the front and back cover together in order to create the full, completed album cover.
