Constructing Ancillary Task Questionnaire

After successfully constructing my digipak and advert I have decided to gain 'post production feedback' which will allow me to evaluate how effective the codes & conventions and idea generation was within the ancillary task. I have asked my audience questions in which will I believe i will gain the best feedback from and allow them to give an honest answer. I have also constructed a paper questionnaire which will be evidenced in the next post, this is to give the venires diversity in the way they answer the questions.As a result of this I will be able to hand out the paper questionnaire and gain direct feedback as well as send a email with the link to my questionnaire as by this I will make the questionnaire feedback more convenient and targeted more at Web 2.0 influenced audience. Both questionnaires will have the same questions however will hopefully provide different results. 

The questionnaire :

Final CD Cover

Development of Front Cover

CD Cover –

When looking at the other existing CD covers I am able to see that, the dimensions of the cover is similar to that of a square with the same length and width, this is easily acquired due to Photoshop allowing me too choose dimensions of the blank canvas in which I will choose the dimensions in which most represents the current codes and conventions of a CD Cover. I have chosen the dimensions 500 x 500 with a 20 resolution. I have decided to use these dimensions, as this will allow me too create an even image using symmetry to allow the CD cover to look professional.

I have then decided to find an image of clouds using the search engine called Google, the variety of images that I came across was vast. One image really stood out to me and that was a grey scale image of a cloud, the image I believe represents the album well as the album will be called “Exhibition” I believe the imagery of clouds and the unknown is a clear representation of an exhibition.  I have decided to make the image smaller and use it as the backdrop of the CD cover. I have used a Gaussian blur on the image to make the image less distinguishable and take the attention of the main image, which will be in front of the clouds. I have also changed the opacity of the edited image to once again make the image a more inconspicuous image and thus making it subtler.

I have then decided that the cloud image is too bland and boring, Due to the research in which I have conducted I realise that the existing CD cover art are mostly colourful especially in the genre of music in which my music video was created. The EDM/Dance genres rely on the use of a vast array of different colours. This is something that I will need to eventually emulate in my CD Cover. I have then searched goggle images again to find conceptual art in which is popular on the social media platforms Pintrest and Instagram. I have now chosen a image in which I believe can go over the top of the clouds to provide the clouds with a colourful tint which is not so boring and therefore it will attract the consumers. I then changed to opacity of the image to allow the colour fade into the clouds, I then changed the effects of the image to “soft light” this allows the image to become even more transparent however allow the colours still to be present and powerful when looking at the cover.

I then chose the object tool to create the shape of a rectangle; I then chose to choose the colour white. This colour will allow me use a black font colour in which is most commonly used in creating CD covers. I have made the size of the rectangle reasonably large with the sides of the shape being faded by the use of the eraser tool, the eraser tool allows me too erase part of the object, image or text. I erased the sides of the shape as this will go with the current theme of distortion.  I then have placed it at the bottom of the page, as this will allow me to use the main image in the middle of the cover.  This is also a current code and convention that is on many CD covers.

  

The main image on the cover of my CD cover will be a silhouette of the actor in our music video; I have chosen to use this image, as it will link both the CD cover and the music video well. I have used a combination of the quick selection tool and the magic wand tool to cut around the edges of the image and ensure that the silhouette was not patchy. The main image is the most important part of the CD Cover as this is what draws the attention of the consumer towards the product. The main image I believe should be from the music video as this will link the two pieces of media directly. I have also decided to distort this image by once again adding a blur, however this time a have preference using another blur called the motion blur, this blurs more out the outline in which I have also brushed to make the blur more distinctive, I have done this as it makes the image more intriguing and overall a better image for the consumers to view when comparing CD Covers. I believe that this image is very striking and allows for the consumer to relate both the CD cover and the music video very easily. The image also asks questions about the artists’ identity as the artist “glitz” face is not on the cover of the CD Cover, this gives the consumer a sense of mystery as the identity of the artists will still not be known.

I have chosen to now input the text on top of the white box as I am planning to make the text black, this is a key choice when making the CD cover, due to the research I have conducted I am able to see that the typography is very important in terms of the consumer being interested in the cover as you can see I have used and tested a number of different fonts. I have decided to use a smaller font, which I then decided to use effects such as a gradient overlay, the gradient overlay allows the text to be more visible and look more professional. I have also used the stroke tool to make the text more visible from further away,  I then decided to duplicate the text by using the duplication tool located on the right hand side of the screen. After doing this I then have once again used the blur tool however this time I decided to use it on the text itself, I have then lowered the opacity and enlarged the font to make it a behind the main text. The reason for this is because the conventional features of EDM music genre presents the liveliness and fast pace. I feel by having a blurred or faded out text will suit my music genre even more.

This is the stage where I have taken in an account of looking at the convention elements that are always included in a CD cover and I found that the “parental advisory explicit content” logo/icon is often included as it warns the potentially consumer that the album contains strong languages. Therefore I have decided to include this on my cd cover as from one of the songs a strong language will be used. The logo was found through an image search by Google, after finding a high quality I then applied that to my CD cover through importing tool. I choose to place this at the bottom which is a normal place which meets the conventional feature. Also in my opinion by having it at the bottom is less distractive however when looking at the icon it does not match the overall composition and therefore I have applied the same effect by making the logo slightly faded. This will then enhance the overall composition and makes the CD cover looks more appealing.

I also added a small icon which is a reputation to my music genre as you can see that the icon is a circle shape looking like a splash. This represents different level of beats which portrays EDM music. I did not add an effect to the icon as it will become repetitive and it is not the main view point.

When looking at my research I can see that majority of the time name of the artist is located on the top.  I will also apply this to my product to meet the conventional look. I decided to place it in the middle which is where the main attention is. To complete this stage I imported the picture from my file onto the product by using ‘import’ tool which allows me to browse the file I want.                      

One significant feature that should be added onto a CD cover is the main image that will be placed in the middle. I decided to include an image of a man wearing hoodie which was conducted from the research. I then imitate that by shooting my own photograph as it follows the codes and convention after selecting the best photograph I then imported the JPEG file onto the software. I began to edit to picture by using the magic wound tool to remove unnecessary background image. But looking at the photograph I still feel that the main image is standing out too much against the composition I came across the idea of blacking out the whole image and left with a shadow of a man. In order to edit this, again I used magic wand tool to select the picture then used the pain bucket tool to fill the image with colour black. This makes the composition more appealing as the colour of main image matches with title.

I feel that the main image is too solid therefore I decided add a small blurred effect to match the text even more. While experimenting with the effects in my opinion it was too much and could lead to distraction therefore overall I have used the blur tool to only blur out the outline of the image. This prevents the image from looking to stiff but have some minor effects around it. To produce the blurred effect I have used the quick selection tool to cover the wanted area and changed the feature radius to 60 which allow the outline to become softer. Also I have used the refine edge tool to adjust the smoothness of an image.

Ancillary inspiration

During the ancillary process I found it difficult to find creative ideas that I can use on photoshop, I then used the video search engine google for some help to find a creative piece in which I may be able to use in my own course work i believe the videos i have selected below are all going to help me create a professional ancillary task.

Post production survey analysis

Post Production Questionnaire Feedback by Jack Baxter on Scribd

Development - Typography

In this task I have been asked to complete a typography task in which will help develop my text on my blog, the typography allows me too develop the text and exp[res interest in different designs. 

Visualising ideas for Ancillary task

To begin I have chosen to use a image manipulation software called https://pixlr.com I have chosen this site as it will allow me to gain different results compared to Photoshop in hic I am already experienced with.  I firstly have chosen an original image of the location in which the iconic scene of the flare was presented in the music video. I believe that the image provides great composition and provides a great array of colours of which will be put to full use due to the manipulation I can provide. I also believe that the location of this particual scene best reprints the music genre EDM, this is due to the dark envirmoent however the bright colours on the wall provides a striking contrast between the typography in the location and the surroundings, I have also chosen this location as it applies with the codes and conventions of the music genre itself, with the use of graffiti i am able to see that the genre represents itself to be loud and fun however being also quite rebellious, this is shown through the use of graffiti which is illegal in the United Kingdom. 

Firstly i have chosen to Change the hue and saturation of the image, this provided me with some quite outstanding results with the visuals being very striking and colourful, the fist colour in which is tested was the colour purple, i have used this colour as i believe that it is very bright and eye catching, the colour is not usually seen on the covers of Album art however could be used to go against the codes and conventions to make my product look more unique, the lettering of the graffiti has also changed with the colours now being a green colour, this colour is completely opposite to the purple and allows both colours to be bright and attention grabbing, overall i like this colour scheme however do not

know if it meets the current codes and conventions.

The next colour in which i tried was a aqua blue colour, this colour looks very stimulating which is a key factor in why i like this colour way, The stimulating perception will go well with the music song we chose as the song "Faded" by Alan Walker is quite a tranquil song and allows the user to relax while listening to the music. The lettering has now become a red colour, this colour goes wells with the narrative of the song being about love. The colour red is notorious for insinuating love over all platforms of media, this could wok well if this design is chosen.

I then have chosen to lower the saturation to create a darker green and purple colour, these colours match well together and i believe that these colours could be a perfect combination. The dark atmosphere is intensified by the dark green colour produced by the hue and saturation tool. The purple is then emphasised through the graffiti colours with the apparent white outline being very visible and easy to see, overall when testing these different colours i was able to see a variety of different options in which i can use when creating my ancillary piece. I will take these attempts into consideration while moving on to the next part of the image manipulation process.

The image above is the main image in which i have chosen to initially base the ancillary task upon, I have chosen this  image as I believe that it best represents the characters demena and personality shown in the music video.The authoritative figure of the man standing on top of a high point shows dominance of the male and his strong stance represents the narrative due to his persistent journey throughout the music video.   

I have now taken the first image and placed it behind the main actor, I have done this to  once again show the actors dominance with him being at the forefront of the CD Cover, I have changed the opacity however and have attempted to make the graffiti image look similar to clouds. This is effective as it makes the sense of denture and nature more apparent, this however is not a current convention of the genre however i believe that this image manipulation could be effective in making the image more interesting to look at with more subtle details being appreciated in this case being the clouds.

I then have once agin changed the hue and saturation of the image however this time only on the image of the actor, I have done this to make the climate look more hot by turning the saturation of the picture up. I have also added a vignette to the image to make the edges darker. this is effective as it makes the while Image more compact in size and allows me to move the image more daily onto a bigger piece due to the edges being indicated.



I have now changed the vignette and have changed the brightness and contrast of the image, i have changed the brightness up once again trying to make the sky more blue to empathises the heat. I have also lowered the opacity of the graffiti image lower, this is so I am able to further intrigue consumer about what the image is