CD-18

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: Rock
Artist: Finger Eleven
Album Title: "Them vs. You vs. Me"
Short Review:


Finger Eleven's career shifted suddenly and significantly when their 2003 emo-hit "One Thing" turned the band's career on its axis. At that point, they went from being known as 'the boys from Burlington who used to call themselves the Rainbow Butt Monkeys' to a group whose anthemic slow rock song went Platinum in Canada and Gold in America. So how does a band respond after its widespread fame is the result of just one song? In the case of Them Vs. You Vs. Me, Finger Eleven have consciously stayed away from anything remotely resembling their past and put the focus on the straight-ahead alt-rock formula that they've consistently excelled at.

There are certain old-school rock influences that bleed clearly through their music, from Rush-isms in the form of frenetic time changes ("Sense of a Spark") to "Talking to the Walls" and "Lost My Way" which evoke Peter Gabriel-era Genesis. Frontman Scott Anderson's voice is impressive throughout, but when he sings ballads, especially "Window Song" and "Easy Life," something enables him to appeal to a whole different audience than traditional alt-rock fans. There is no 'one thing' on this disc that will allow them to reach the heights of their self-titled CD, just a consistency that will provide longtime fans reason to appreciate the band even more. --Denise Sheppard

 
Sound clips from your album:

-Clip #1: Falling On

-Clip #2: Lost My Way
Song Listing:

1. Paralyzer
2. Falling On
3. I'll Keep Your Memory Vague
4. Lost My Way
5 . So-So Suicide
6. Window Song
7. Sense Of A Spark
8. Talking To The Walls
9. Change The World
10. Gather & Give
11. Easy Life
Production Company: ©2007 Wind Up 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)