Adjusting Colour

This is the image I decided to use for my inside panel, before I used the image I needed to adjust the colour by making it brighter and increasing the contrast, this was because you can see the background curtains aren't fully black. Also because it just enhances the image making it look much better. I also like the way Farha's hair is now shining.

Before:

After:

Adding The Effect Of Lights

I wanted the front panel and back panel to match, to show that they relevant to one another, so I added the same set of blurred dots to represent lights in different size.

This screenshot shows how I changed the size of the dots by changing the size of the brush. By making the brush size large I was able to make a purple spot light at the bottom of my back panel as you can see, I then made the brush size smaller to make the dots seem as if they are spilling out of the spotlight. By using the brush in the corner I was then able to blur each dot.

Adding Colour

After picking the image of the artist I was going to use for the front panel, I needed  to add the artist name and album name, selecting a font type was pretty easy because I knew I was going for something simple and readable, so I tested out the fonts and selected the above. Originally I planned to go with a gold colour scheme however when I tested these colours out they didn't look as nicely suited as the pink and white. I decided to go with this baby pink/purple colour scheme because they match with the colour of the artist's lipstick. 

 

I added small blurred dots going across the artist's face, this is representing our synergy which is lights. This screenshot shows the brush in which I used to draw and blur the dots.

Do's and Don'ts of ancillary products

When making products in order to promote or advertise, having too much on the product can make the audience turn a blind eye. Simplicity is the main key whilst creating such products, limiting the text, colours and images. Too much of these elements can make a product unsatisfactory.

Elements explained

Images:
An image for a product must be clear. being pixalated in any way will disrupt the image and make it unlikeable aswell as urecognisable. Therefore, stretching images is something that must not be done as it will pixelate and disrupt the image. However, resizing the image is a better way of dealing with this issue, as pressing alt and resizing the image on the Apple macs is a way of resolving the problem of unclear and pixelated photos. Also, using a snap shot photo from the music video is not a good idea as the artist is more likey to be moving rather than still, making it uneasy to capture a clear picture.

An example of a strecthed pixelated image.

Furthermore, as the whole idea of the ancillary products are to promote the artist, a close up image where the artist is looking directly at the audience is the best type of picture for promotion, as it helps the audience identify the artist. Images that do not clearly identify the artist, such as a photo where the artists face cannot be seen or an image that does not relate to the music video itself is what should be avoided.


Colours:
Use a maximum of 3-4 colours that compliment eachother and match the genre of the music and the target audience. Having too much colours can make a product seem "too busy". Also, matching colours does not only mean colours that compliment eachother, it also refers to colours that compliment the: Genre, Audience and artist. For instance, a R&B advertisement and digipack would tend to have more brighter colours whereas grime would have a much darker theme. Also, a female target audience would identify stereotyped feminine colours, such as pink, purple and softer colours, whereas a male audience would prefer stronger darker colours. The gender difference in colours relate not only to the audience, but mainly the artist itself.

Text
Do not use too much font as they may not work well together. Considering that digipacks and advertisement products do not consist of much writing, it is ideal to stick to roughly two types of fonts that are clear and identifiable. However, they must match in some way and also must match the genre. For example, comparing grime and R&B once again, a R&B digipack would tend to have a soft touch to the font, making it seem less flashy but more simplistic, whereas grime would use something more flashy and creative such as graffiti.

First of all, the text has stuck to two simple fonts, on the front and back.
Secondly, the positiong of the text does not cover the artist face,
as it is a suitable position to be placed.

Positioning
The rules of thirds must be followed when creating ancillary products. This means that texts should not be placed over the artist as it can block out their image. also, when using text, finding a suitable position is a must, as having it at an unusual angle will make the product look unusual.

Adjusting Colour

Digipak Photography

The group and I went out to take photos for our ancillary work. We first decided on a location which was in a Media room that had a black background, the reason for the plain background is so the artist would be the central focus and there would be no other distractions. We took over 200 photos and below is just a few of them that I thought were suitable for our ancillary work.

Digipak Photography - slideshow

The idea I was going for was the artist in bright clothing (which were causal smart) during our test shots we found too casual wasn't very interesting. The artist is wearing simple make up such as pink lipstick and curly hair, when I researched existing artists ancillary products I found most of the artists with a pop genre looked fairly simple and used pink lipstick, so I think this is a way in which our photos can link to our genre. The artist is standing in front of a pitch black background which would be plain. When I sketched my mock up Digipak I knew where our synergy of lights would come in, which would be in the space around the photo of the artist, I would add blurred dots which would seem like lights, and this is the reason why we decided to use a plain black background, so the lights would be seen clearly. As you can see in  the slideshow most of the photos we took are close up shots, we decided to do a lot of these because we all sketched different close up shots in our mock up and also because a close up shot would suggest the artist is the central focus and will keep the audiences attention here.

 

At first Farha seemed embarrassed about taking the photos but after the groups help she loosened up! 

Test Shots

Photography For Digipak - slideshow

The following pictures are test shots we thought would be helpful to do, because 1 we had some free time and 2 because we thought it would be wise to test out our chosen location before we did our actual photo-shoot. We decided to use one of the Media rooms because we were looking for a plain black background, and this room just happened to have a long black curtain (it wasn't completely pitch black, but we decided we could fix this when editing the photos in photo shop) While looking back at these photos we knew there were changes to be made, firstly Farha's outfit (our artist) she looks to casual in a plain jumper and coat, so when we do the actual photo shoot we have asked Farha to wear a white vest top with a matching white blazer (which would look casual smart). We also found a strategy for the black curtains to look just like a black wall, while one of us is taking the pictures the other two group members could stretch out the curtains so the rolls won't show (as you can see in the bellow photos).   

In these pictures you also can see we were testing out different shot angles, so we did close up shots, medium shots and long shots. We also asked Farha to pose in different ways, so we could find the most suitable picture. We found that the best shot type for us was the close up shots, so when we take our photos again, we will do a lot more different close up shots.