CD-14

Instructions: Please read all of the following information carefully:

Create a new folder on your “My Documents on daisy” student folder, call it “lastname_CD.” All of the work for this CD will be saved into this folder and the folder will be submitted for grading. Download the file called "CD_Cover_Template.PSD" and save it into your Lastname_CD folder. Open this file in Photoshop.

This CD is a “mini project” which will allow you to demonstrate all of the skills that you have learned over the year. It is primarily a “Graphic Design Process” exercise, but please make sure to incorporate as much of your learning as you can into the project:

• Filters • Blending Options • Fills
• Layer Blends • Attach Text to Path • Cutting Objects from Backgrounds
• Shapes • Strokes • Image Adjustments
• Patterns • Gradients • Transformations

In addition, I would like to see evidence of the various Visual Communications exercises which we did this year, as well as some of the “History of Graphic Design” problems completed this semester.

THE PROJECT:

You are a graphic designer and you have been given the opportunity to create the CD graphics for a new album. Before you get started, you should review the following information regarding your album:

Genre: New Age
Artist: David Arkenstone
Album Title: "In the Wake of the Wind"
Short Review:

Composer and multi-instrumentalist David Arkenstone has two distinct musical realms he loves to explore: world-influenced contemporary instrumental, such as last year's Grammy-nominated Citizen of the World, and symphonic pop and rock, such as this 1991 Grammy-nominated masterwork.

An hourlong instrumental journey, "In the Wake of the Wind" is the dazzling soundtrack to the journeys of an adventurous young man named Andolin who wishes to roam the stormy seas that swept his grandfather away. The album is accompanied by a foldout map and text in the vein of master fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien, although, in the liner notes, Arkenstone also urges listeners to conjure up a personal narrative. The composer's spirited sense of adventure imbues these 16 tracks with a life of their own. Certainly the album's best moments are its orchestrally driven pieces, most notably the gracefully elegant "Southern Cross," which features pristine acoustic guitar sounds, and the triumphant "Overture." However, slower pieces such as the sensual, Middle Eastern-flavored "Rug Merchant" and the soothing children's choir in "Sailing" provide a delicate balance to the more playful, boisterous compositions. Arkenstone also dedicated the tender "Morning Sun on the Sails" to one of his principal musical influences, the late Aaron Copland, a composer who also crossed genre boundaries. --Bryan Reesman
Sound clips from your album:

-Clip #1: Emerald Dream

-Clip #2: Morning Sun on the Sails
Song Listing:

1. Papillon (On The Wings Of The Butterfly)
2. Dark Dunes
3. Not Too Far To Walk
4. Borderlands
5. The Rug Merchant
6. Firedance
7. The Southern Cross
8. Overture
9. The Stardancer
10. Morning Sun On The Sails
11. The Lion's Breath
12. Dances Of Jankayla
13. Discovery
14. Emerald Dream
15. Through The Gates
16. Sailing
Production Company: ©1991 Narada Records

NOTE: I HIGHLY recommend that you do not look up the actual graphics of this album, or if you are familiar with the album, put the graphics out of your mind, as preconceived notions will make this assignment MORE difficult, not easier.

To start, download this template file for your CD graphics and save it in to your “lastname_CD” folder. You will be creating your CD cover on this Photoshop file.

You will be creating the following for your CD graphics:
1. A nice typographic representation of the Group or Artist’s name, as well as a typographic representation of the title of the Album (these SHOULD NOT look the same!) Create these two graphics on separate files and copy them into your CD project when needed. Please save these two files as .JPGs into your “lastname_CD” folder.
2. Graphics for the front cover of the CD (and possibly continuing onto the back cover, as well) which fit the mood and theme of the Album. This is where much of your Graphic talent with Photoshop will come in. Use your blending, cutout and filter skills here! Feel free to get images from the Internet, as needed, to bring about your graphic. Remember, the Template is the outside border of your CD, do not go over it!
3. Text for the spine of the CD which includes the Group or Artist’s Name and the title of the CD.
4. Graphics for the back of the CD which follow a similar theme to the CD. On the back of the album, you will include the Song Listing.
5. Include the production company information on the back of the CD as well.
6. Place your Artist and CD Title graphics onto the cover of your CD as you see fit to enhance the look of the work.

When you have completed your design, please save the work as a .JPG file and place it into your “lastname_CD” folder. Using “My Computer,” COPY your “lastname_CD” folder to the class drop box on the M: Drive. (If necessary, see highlandtechnology.org FAQ page regarding this step)