Graphic Design
Spring Semester 2008
Final Examination

FINAL FOR Damone Ricks

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:

• 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 MINI-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: Plain White T's
Album Title: "Every Second Counts"
Short Review:


After seeing that "Hey There Delilah" was #1 on Billboard's Hot 100, I listened to a 30-second clip from the song, and liked it - not only because it was a catchy song, but also because it was different (i.e., *not* "Party Like a Rock Star"). Then I came here, where I saw that the album had a decidedly average ranking, and very few reviews written for it. That last bit surprised me, given the length of time the single had been on the chart (16 weeks when it hit #1).

I read all of the reviews here, and after reading a particularly negative review, I decided that I wanted to buy the CD. There's a pet peeve I have with people who disregard pop songs simply because they're pop songs. (Like the Lennon - McCartney debate. Lennon wrote the more meaningful songs, but McCartney was far more successful on the charts because he wrote pop songs, and was fine with it. "Silly Love Songs" was his ode to that philosophy, and is one of my favorite songs from him because of it.) Not everything needs to be deep and meaningful. I look at it like this: regarding films, I love heart ripping dramas - Schindler's List - but I also love movies that make me laugh, like South Park. There's a place for almost everything.

That I purchased the CD and gave it a shot couldn't have made me happier. I'm delighted with it. Sure, as some reviews say, the lyrics on a few songs aren't clever and on a couple of occasions are hokey, but excepting those few instances, the lyrics stand strong. Also, this is an eminently listenable CD. Don't confuse that with "muzak". These guys really have a knack at writing hooks, and if "Hey There Delilah" appeals to people, I have a feeling several other songs may find their way onto Billboard's Hot 100 as well.

Some of my favorites are:
-Our Time Now
-Come Back to Me
-Write You a Song (great lyrics)
-Let Me Take You There
-Hey There Delilah

The rest of the CD is very solid. If you're on the edge and like songs with great hooks - NOT bubble gum pop at all - you'll probably like this. As I said: eminently listenable, and also supremely enjoyable.
Sound clips from your album:

-Clip #1: Come Back to Me

-Clip #2: Tearin' Us Apart
Song Listing:

1. Our Time Now
2. Come Back To Me
3. Hate (I Really Don't Like You)4. You and Me
5. Friends Don't Let Friends Dial Drunk
6. Making A Memory
7. So Damn Clever
8. Tearin' Us Apart
9. Write You A Song
10. Gimme A Chance
11. Figure It Out
12. Let Me Take You There
13. Hey There Delilah
Production Company: ©2006 Hollywood 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)