Album Cover Brief: Ideas for my final CD Cover design.

These are the photos I took in the studio for the band shots:

This is one of the shots I used in my final images. I cropped it slightly so that you can't see her face. I kinda wanted it so that she was full of mystery and so that you couldn't really see who she was.

I really like this photo but she is wearing her ID card so I can't use it.

I like these but they are portrait and it would be silly just to crop everything away so I might use one of these for a poster.

I wanted to use an instrument of some kind on the cover so that it was more then just pictures of the singer.

These are the notes I made to help me along:

Album names.

The dimensions of the CD cases.

Ideas for what to have on the CD and cover.

Check list for the brief.

This is the studio set up I used for the black and white images of Heather, for my band member shots:

I used a tripod, to help prevent camera shake so that I could use a slower shutter speed and a higher aperture.

I used the a soft box light to add just a touch of light to my model.

I used my remote shutter so that I didn't knock the camera as I pressed the shutter button.

Health and safety in the studio:

-Don't run around, there are wires and expensive equipment around.

-No food or drink aloud in the studio incase of damage to equipment.

-Do not leave the lighting plugged in when not in use incase they over heat.

-Do not leave bags lying around, people could trip over the straps.

-Keep the wires looped around the legs at least once to prevent them from being loose around the room.

-Warn people before setting off a flash, you could damage peoples eyes.

-Be careful of the backdrop hanging over the pole at the back, do not step to far up on it or it will fall over.

-Do not touch the hoods or bulbs of the lighting because they get very hot, do not put the caps back on the lighting after using because they will melt.

These are the test ideas that I tried, with different photos:

I cropped this to fit the CD case dimensions.

This is for the front of the case.

Then I added the side bit of the case, I did it grey.

Then I added a second photo for the back of the case.

Then I added the album name.

Then I added the track list and had a play around with where I thought it looked best.

I tried the middle.

The bottom.

The right side.

And the left.

I think that this looked best because you can see more of the guitar.

I then wanted to add the album name and the artist to the side of the case, so I typed it out and then went to edit, transform, rotate 90' CW.

And moved it to where I wanted it.

This is the finished picture.

This is the designing and creating of my final album cover ideas:

This is the front cover of the album. I chose this photograph because the album is called Leading Lines and I think that the one guy is walking down a lonely road that is a leading line because it draws you into the picture.

Then I added a second picture.

I cropped a picture of Heather so that it was just her hand and the mic with a black space on the left hand side for the track list to go.

Then I added the album name, Leading Lines which I thought was quite clever because it is also a photography term for when a picture draws you in with a line that disappears into the distance of the photo.

Then I added a second line of the same text, as a kind of shadow/fading out effect. I did it in a lighter colour so that it stood out more.

Then I added the track list.

This is the final front and back of the album cover, I love how it turned out. I think I will stick to the black and white theme but I might start adding a few bits of colour here and there.

Then I started to look at the inside on the case.

I carried on the black and white theme, but then decided to add a line of colour on the guitar.

Then I used another picture of Heather and put it behind the disc space icon so that it really looked like the inside of a case.

Then I turned it black and white and added colour to her bracelet.

I decided to try and add one of those stickers that you see on the front of new albums that have just come out and have won an award, it also tells you the latest songs that are out off it.