"Because in the end, for everything, the end justifies the means, and that’s fine with me – 100%."

My objective of my CD cover was to present a simple, artsy representation of the artist. I pretended that the model I chose was an actual singer and made the cover based around her personality and singing style. I chose the photo, also, because it created an interesting concept. The green was perfect for a background, whereas the orange of her hair helped make her stand out as the main focus. I chose the placing of the model to go with the Rule of Thirds (which is an art concept I used in my photography. The text is where it is because I didn’t want to make the right side or middle seem too busy.

My target audience would be independent music fans between the ages of 17-34. Independent music because the cover is rather artsy and the title of the CD is abstract. In my experience this type of cover would appeal to this fan base. The age demographic would be 19 to 34 because the singer is young and the cover looks more mature.

I used a photograph I took during the summer of a friend of mine and started out by duplicating the layer, then using an edge tool on the duplicate layer. This tool allowed me to “find all edges” which outlined only the edges of everything in the photograph. I erased a few hairs on the original layer that I didn’t like in the picture with the background eraser tool. Then I changed the transparency of the duplicate layer and merged the two into one when I finished. Next, I added the font. I created a tiny rectangle and made it thin enough to be a line, then positioned it just underneath where I wanted the font, copied the line and pasted it three times in other places and then added the font. I merged the layers once more to create my finished product.

It was challenging at first to figure out a concept. I knew what tools I could use, and what effects would work, but I didn’t know how to represent a singer. So I thought about her personality while I fooled around with the tools and I came across one tool (the find all edges tool) that made a neat effect I knew she (the model) would think was interesting. So I worked my way from there. It took me a while, though, to figure out what I wanted to do. That was my biggest issue.

I learned that it’s hard creating a concept from nothing. All I had was a photograph. In the end, though, I think that my piece did meet the objective I had when I first realized what I wanted to do. In my opinion, I think the cover meets the target audience because I myself am an Indie fan and as are my friends and I used my own perception in what I thought was attractive to make this CD cover.

Class Critique
The class critique was an interesting process. It made me look at my CD cover totally differently, but it also made me learn what I really liked about my own artwork. Everyone was saying that they didn't like the lines of the CD cover where I thought they were the coolest part. Their critique, however, made me realize I could probably use the lines, but instead change it so that they point to the model instead of the center of the CD cover. I also agree that I could have taken "debut album" out because it wasn't really needed. Although, I still think I did a good job for having no experience in photoshop or fireworks.

Shelly