Print product research

When initially building up ideas to put towards the final print product work, I decided to explore the work of other UK (mainly commercial) – who would appeal to the masses.
I primarily researched album covers and billboards/posters and noted the type of font/positioning and the colours used.

When comparing and contrasting them with UK artists, I found that many of them are able to convey a much cleaner cut vibe, with the cover usually consisting of a close-up or full body shot of the artist, bringing life to the expression – “less is more”.





The artists included; Professor Green – A new urban rap sensation, Katy B – The only female who has really broken through into the heavily male dominated dubstep genre , Example – A new breakthrough artist (rap and rave genre), and Chipmunk – Another young urban rap artist.

Analysis of print product sketches

As the more creatively inclined member of the group, I was able to gather my previous research on album covers and posters and include them in my idea explorations, I took 3 major points into account when brainstorming ideas –
1)the artist should be in full view at all times
2)the use of props is acceptable, but the use of too many may distract away from the artist themselves
3)Always use a simple/plain location which links to the artist/ the song you are promoting.

When dealing with the font, the editor and I looked at various types on the website dafont.com - http://www.dafont.com/
Again taking into consideration the mood of the song and the personality of the artist we were torn between s sleek and sophisticated font and a harsh, bold font.
In the end we opted for the bolder font, although my sketches show which sophisticated type font was still in the running.

My first sketch did not include the artist, but the performer; she was sitting at the bus top in a derelict area all alone with a cigarette and alcohol, we decided against using this for our final product as it just seemed like a still from the actual video and obviously did not feature the artist who is supposed to be the main feature.

My second sketch consisted of a BCU of the artist, only showing the lower part of her face, and she had a cigarette in her mouth, the reason we were unable to use this is because we cannot identify who the person on the poster is, and it glamorises smoking, something which is deeply frowned upon in the UK.

In my third sketch, we can again see the artist smoking, but this time we are fully able to see her face – using a mid-shot, we decided against using this as it again glamorises smoking and we didn’t feel it was fully able to capture the true essence of the music video.

My fourth and final sketch was the most popular amongst the group and our peers, it consists of both the performer and the artist – the performer is taking quite a menacing pose, using her finger to shush almost as though she is hiding from the performer, And the performer remains non the wiser on the other side of the page, alone with her narcotics for company.

We chose to use many ideas from my last sketch such as – the simple background, the a full length shot of the performer standing to one side of the picture, minimal props and large font to properly indicate who the artist is and what the song was called.

Sketches of Drafts for the Digipak and Magazine Cover