CD COVER DESIGN

Here I have used photoshop to create a draft CD cover of our artist Nathan Bedford against a plain background holding a hooded gesture. We have decided to get Nathan to do this position as it's quite enclosed and private which relates to the title, 'London calls me a stranger'. The character looks very lonely and unhappy due to his facial expression looking down at the floor revealing a loss of confidence in comparison to if he was smiling and making eye contact with the viewer. I have edited the picture into a black and white colour scheme to contradict the stereotype of London being colourful and exciting, because this characters lyrics reveal his segregation and separation he feels. 

I think that this is my most interesting CD cover design as there is a lot going on and looks similar to an illusion. However, I think that this is definitely the most eye grabbing out of the three. My favourite aspect of this CD cover is the cropped out eyes, with the overlapping of the text. I think that that is what makes the photo as success as it is. It adds an interesting element, as it emphasizes that in the pop industry your image is always important and that artists are forever trying to do something new or completely wacky to gain attention and publicity. One thing that I think we could improve on is that none of our colours used necessarily the correct connotations of what a stereotypical pop cd cover would look like. Pop CD covers generally have vibrant colours to convey the happy, upbeat tempo that is portrayed through their lyrics. However, this CD cover uses dull and dreary colours and doesn't have much life to it. I would say that overall this CD cover looks more techno than pop, however I enjoyed experimenting with the different editing and techniques on photoshop, using these skills that I've gained to help develop my idea's for my actual CD cover.

I think that this CD is successful as I think that it is a really well framed picture and is really captivating. The contrast between her skin colour and her eyes I think is capture really well as her eyes are more bold and therefore is a direct address to her target audience, as it seems as though she is looking at them. This was also another development of our photoshop skills as it took a while to figure out how to contrast the tones and colours in our picture, however I think that it has resulted in making our CD cover more successful. The background image also contrasts with the foreground image, as the foreground image is very bright and has a sort of smooth/soft texture. Whereas the background is dominated with dark, negative imagery and conveys a rough texture. One thing that we could improve on when we come to actually creating our CD cover is that even though everything worked well like the framing and the quality of the picture etc. I still think that this CD cover isn't an obvious pop genre, and I need to ensure that this attracts my target audience as this is the genre of music that they'll listen too.

Our last CD cover is definitely the most successful out of the three. This is because it has all of the connotations of what a pop CD cover would look like. Myself and Charlotte spent a duration of time researching a font that we think would gel really well with our CD cover, as we wanted our third attempt to be our best. I really like this font because it's simple but yet will still capture our audiences attention. Also, the font is slightly girly but not in an obvious way, and so therefore it will still attract both genders. I also like how subtle our background is, as in the previous two I think that it slightly distracted us from our main image in the foreground. The use of mise en scene has worked really well as the high key lighting and facial expression/body language really convey the emotion of what might be incorporated in a pop song, without being to dramatic or over the top. By also using a simple but effective background, it has allowed our font to be more prominent. Overall there is nothing that I would like to improve on for this CD cover, and this is definitely our most successful.