CD 1:
Instructions: Please read all of the following information carefully:
Create a new folder on your “My Documents on daisy” student folder, call it “lastname_final.” All of the work for this final 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_final folder. Open this file in Photoshop.
This final 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:
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Filters • Blending Options • Fills
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Layer Blends • Attach Text to Path • Cutting Objects from Backgrounds
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Shapes • Strokes • Image Adjustments
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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: | Alternative |
| Artist: | Spoon |
| Album Title: | "Transference" |
| Short Review: | Transference begins with "Before Destruction", a pensive slow-burner that's more of a muted prelude than a flashy entrance. We're knocked off-balance from the beginning, and the next few songs sustain a sense of confusion and disorientation. "Is Love Forever?", a jaunty cut that sounds as though Daniel were aiming to write a much dizzier version of Phoenix's "Listzomania", bumps right into "The Mystery Zone", an excellent late-night groover that hits the same sweet spot as older gems like "Don't You Evah" and "I Turn My Camera On". When that track ends suddenly, it's like walking right into a wall before "Who Makes Your Money" has you wobbling along with Daniel in a concussed haze. The album sobers up as it moves along, and the progression always makes a certain emotional sense, but it's ultimately a big pile-up of unorthodox creative decisions. On first pass, Transference seems a bit off, even somewhat sloppy for a band known for keeping things focused and snappy. However, upon closer listening it becomes obvious that these guys have made a meticulously crafted "mess" that conveys the feeling of flailing around and failing in search of meaningful connections. The name of the album refers to the Freudian concept of unconsciously projecting feelings for one person or thing to another. It's also the term used to describe when a patient develops a romantic attachment to their analyst, mistaking the intimacy of that relationship for actual love. Transference isn't a concept album, but it's not hard to figure out why they might have chosen the title. There's a nagging desperation for "real" love at the core of this record, tangled up in a genuine cluelessness about what it is or how it works. "The Mystery Zone" finds Daniel theorizing about relationships and unknowable fates like a rambling, semi-coherent drunk, stumbling up to big ideas but trailing off or nodding out before saying anything that makes complete sense. "Written in Reverse" seethes with the bitterness of unrequited love, and Daniel's larynx-shredding vocal hits the right note of resentment and resignation as he spits out lines like, "I wanna show you how I love you, but there's nothing there." |
| Sound clips from your album: | -Clip #1: Out Go The Lights -Clip #2: Written in Reverse |
| Song Listing: | 01. Before Destruction |
| Production Company: | ©2010, Merge Records, Inc. |
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_final” 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 final project when needed. Please save these two files as .JPGs into
your “lastname_final” 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_final” folder. Using “My Computer,” COPY
your “lastname_final” folder to the class drop box on the M: Drive.
(If necessary, see highlandtechnology.org FAQ page regarding this step)