Final Poster- and audience feedback.

Here is my finished poster/magazine advertisment. The purpose of it is to advertise the band at a current or upcoming live venue (for example the Engine Shed at Lincoln), meaning the poster can be placed in local newspapers and magazines; with details about the ticket prices and times, and also can be placed as a wall poster around Lincoln and the Engine Shed to simply advertise their upcoming performance.

It is a simple poster, and follows old rock conventions (such as the ACDC, Led Zeppelin and John Lennon liver performance posters below) of a photo taken during the show and used as an advertisment for further live venues. I have kept with the same font style as my digipac, so fans can associate the two together and the band will eventually become identified with this font, and it nicely fits the progressive rock theme of a distopian future or fractured society where leaders manipulate the people below them (which is the theme of the song).

I have tried to use the rule of thirds for this poster, with the attention drawn to the far right 1/3 of the poster where Tony is. The rest of the space (empty Looking space) has the bright green light, which I believe works effectivly and links back to that Prog rock feel.

Audience feedback

John:
I like how you have kept to the same font so then you can recognise this with your digipac. The lighting in the background is very effective and gives you sense that this is a photo taken straight from a live show.

Faye:

I get the feeling you've looked at other rock artists for inspiration, and have thought about what this poster is going to be used for such as advertising in and around a concert hall.

Mark:

Since there isn't much details about the ticket prices, admission or timings for the show I assume this poster will be one used at the venue itself, so people see it and then inquire within. It could also be a commemorative poster which you can buy soon after the show, to remember your time there.

Poster design- in the making

For my poster I decided to make one which advertises the band at a live venue. This would involve using a screenshot/photo from my video and putting it on the poster, as a way of showing the band performing live (such as the ACDC poster I anaylsed).



Firstly, I created an A4 sheet on Photoshop and gave it a completly black background. I then added the text at the bottom 'Lime Shark- Live at the Engine Shed Lincoln'. This text acts as very simple information to the audience so that they can see that the band will be performing at their local venue soon, and so can find out more at the Engine Shed.





















Now for the main image, I got these screenshots from my video and have to decide which one I will use. It was the choice between a longshot of the entire band or a low-angle close-up of the lead singer and guitarist. Once again I have taken inspiration from the ACDC poster and used the bottom image, which shows Tony singing with the bright green light in the background, among the looking space after Tony's body. It was difficult to choose between this and the one showing Tony pointing, but I wanted the green light since I thought this would be most effective as it effectivly fills the empty space on the page. I also like how the brightness of the light makes it into a diamod shape, with light going to the top and bottom of the screen.

Once I had chosen the image, it was simply a matter of pasting it onto my A4 page and scaling it so it fitted properly.

Initial designs for Posters

Firstly, I have drawn three rough sketches for my poster designs. I have used influences such as other artist's posters, which have given me some ideas of what looks effective, eye-catching and what best advertises the band. I have also drawn three different designs: one which is logo/image which is affixed with the band, one which is a photo of one member, and advertises a live performance and the last which is a staged photo that shows the band on stage (like a screenshot from my music video).

This design is just of a shark with the band name curved across it. Since the band's name is Lime Shark I believe that a shark best represents them. A fully drawn and rendered grey and blue shark on a poster would catch someone's attention easily, and also could act as the band's chosen 'image' (a picture or font style that is associated only with that band, like ACDC's lightning bolt in their name or Meat Loaf's motorcycles riders in his album covers).

This design is a live performance advertisement, which shows a photo taken of one band member (for this I have used the lead singer/guitarist). I have yet to decide weather I should include his head, or just do a shot from the neck down so the center of the poster focuses on the guitar. Below the image is the band name and information such as date and location for the upcoming live performance. A poster like this would go around the concert/venue location, to advertise the fact that this band are coming soon.

This final design is like a fan poster of the band, but instead of having a photograph of just the members, I chose to have them on stage holding/playing their instruments. To create this poster I can simply use a screenshot from my music video and improve it on Photoshop.

Research into other artist's posters

As well as a digipac, we also have to create a poster which advertises the band. Firstly, I have researched into other band's posters and album tour posters, to obtain a feel and style of what they do. One website which was very useful for me was http://www.panicposters.com/, a site which sells hundreds of different genres of music posters which you can browse and view.

This is a 30 Seconds To Mars poster, a very simple poster of just the band. They are of a similar music genre and appearance to Lime Shark.

A poster advertising the release date of the Artic Monkeys Brainstorm single. I am inspired and like the use of two different styles of font, and the simplicity of the entire design, including the dates and information included at the bottom.

A poster advertising an ACDC live tour, it consists of just a screenshot of one member and the band's famous recognisable logo. I have included this in my research becuase I think this is a possible design for my poster, since I can take a screenshot from my music video and turn it into something similar to this, using the band's font and emblem which I have already created on Photoshop.

I like the design of this Audioslave poster, displaying each band member's instruments such as the guitar, voice, bass and the drumsticks. The black and white colour keeps it very simple and the little fire inside the O adds to the overall effect of a rock poster.

This Pink Floyd poster of their album Dark Side of the Moon is ver plain and basic, however if you didn't recognise it then there is no information or text to help you know what it is for. Pink Floyd is the same genre (Prog Rock) as Lime Shark but they use a lot imagery and pictures to convey their meaning, so that is something that I could also use to display my band's song.

Final Digipac and audience feedback

This is my final digipac design. I have shown it to friends and family to obtain their feedback, so that I know where I could improve it next time. Audience Feedback

John: The use of different colours on a gradient works quite well, and it appears you have thought about how to style it since only dark colours are included. I like logo and screenshots, but you could have worked longer on tweaking them so that they look more professional and like a real digipac.

Faye:

The design doesn't seem to link with the mood of the song; apart from the photos which you have included. However I like the simplicity of it because you haven't bombarded you audience with too much text and information.

Mark:

I like how the gradient gets redder further inwards, and it's bold enough to stand out and catch somebody's attention. Adding the lyrics is also a good feature because then it means that people can see what they are saying or even sing along with the song.

Digipac Construction

Here are some screen grabs of my digipac, in each stage of construction. I learnt to use Adobe Photoshop CS5 during the making, and have experimented a lot with all the functions such as colours, effects, gradients, filters and layers. I have downloaded a digipac template off the internet (link: http://www.duplication.ca/printspecs/digipak.htm ) and have chosen a simple fold-out template, with a front, back and inside perts which I can now put my design onto.

I started with the text; inserting the front cover text, back cover information and on the inside the song lyrics. I decided to use a font which is similar with the band's logo and text, so to keep with the same style and genre that they use.

I then drew the LS emblem, using photoshop to create a basic shape and then fill it with different colours to see what works well with my digipac. I want it to be as accurate as possible, so that it fits well with the band's other albums.

I then rendered the emblem and used a gradient of dark red and black to make it more stylish and effective. This shows how I have experimented with colours to see what will suit my final design.

I have now inserted the emblems into my digipac, and am trying to decide what colour to use and where to put it.

Now I have filled each box with a gradient colour of deep/dark red and black, with a noise filter on them which slightly blurs the colours where they meet and change. However, as you can see my text isn't visable anymore, since it is black on a black background.

I have decided to change the text colour to white; since it is the only text which really stands out on a balck background, and this information such as lyrics and track listings are vital features which people should'nt have difficulty reading. However, I have left the front title text black, since I believe it is more effective in this style.

I have now added some screenshots from my music video of the band performing. I have taken this idea from my analysis of other digpiacs, since they also have lots of images of the band; either performing live or photoshoot pictures. It features one picture of the entire band, and then three individual ones of each band member.

Media Diary Post

In this last week before half-term, I am going to finish off my final digipac design and poster design, which are nearing completion. I am also going to start my eveluation, which will involve me recording myself talking and analysing my music video; a video commentary describing how well it went, why I have added the shots and what purpose does it serve in the video. I also have to film someone else's reaction to the video, so they can give me positive and negative feedback so that there is less written and more visual and audio work.