As you can see, this is the main CD cover that we have used as a template, however, instead of leaving it like this, I have advanced and developed around this in order to create an effective CD cover. The reason that I have chosen this CD template in particular is because of the fact that it is the sound of ‘universal’, which understates good quality, an effective lure that would guarantee and reassure the target audience as they would feel that the CD is worth buying. As you can see above from the print screen, I have started to edit the template in order to ensure that it will be a firm foundation for the images that will be placed on top. As we were going to have an image of a rose on the front of the CD cover, I erased all of the plain front using the magic eraser tool. Despite this, certain areas of the overall template were erased, resulting in a very unprofessional outlook. This then lead to me using the manual eraser tool that I had made very large to ensure that I delete any little pixels that aren’t necessary. Although, when it came to doing the area close to the spine of the CD in the middle, I had to use a smaller brush and had a steady hand, eventually, I gained the result above.

As you can see from the print screen on the right, this is a layer that will remain separate as I will then add the centre image upon the cover that will need to be under the template. This is due to the border on the front that needs to be seen to allow the target audience of goths, rockers and emos to understand which music institution the CD has come from, in this case, ‘Universal’.

As you can see, this is the rose that we have taken from the music video (Cmd, shift, 3) that we were going to use as our CD front cover. However, when asking our peers for advice regarding this rose, they felt that this didn't look as though it were a rose, even if it were dying. After considering this, we knew that we had to take the picture

ourselves of a dying rose, so I had bought a rose and left it to wilt aside. Finally, when I was able to take a picture of it, the lighting wasn’t good, so I gently moved the flower else where, however, all of the petals were too brittle and began to fall until I could not work with anything. Due to this, we resorted to the internet which we were

upset by as we wanted everything to be original. After scouring the internet, eventually, we found the image on the bottom right that we could definitely work with

and create something new out of.

As I have written on the previous slide, I have decided to alter certain aspects regarding the template of the CD cover. As you will see from the screen shots, I have double clicked the layer and decided to create a pattern overlay that will contrast with the house colours of red, black and white because these are the colours of the writing on the back. We decided to keep the grey aspect as it looks as though the centre image of the rose with the dull surroundings has influenced the rest of the CD cover. This symbolises the dying rose and how love can easily be destroyed over time. Above are three different pattern overlays but they are very subtle as I have changed the opacity to 39% as I do not want the pattern to be so strong as to distract the target audience from the written aspect to the CD cover. In the end, we decided to go for the one on the left as it has a sheen marble effect that is noticeable but not to the extent where it is overpowering.

As you can see, I have added the image of the rose which will be on the front of the CD cover, however to give it a certain depth, we have created an inner glow around the template of the CD cover. Instead the image will not blend into the template but contrast with it, making it stand out.

As the rose petals are red, they symbolise the intense love between the couple that is consumed by death, reasons for which the rest of the image is grey. Yet still, we wanted this passionate red to be noticed immediately by the Target audience of rockers, goths and emos. In order to do this, I started experimenting with the image, thinking of ways in which I can ensure that the rose will stand out. Eventually, I edited the Bevel and Emboss, making the image darker then it was. Many may feel that this is challenging the codes and conventions as lighting is usually kept to its best in order to create a good effect. Despite this, I continued experimenting and created a black shadow within the image, that made the lighting quite limited with an opacity of 69%.

However, to compensate for this, I created another shadow, but made it white with an opacity of 61% yet I limited the size to 122 pixels, that highlighted the rose very well. This resulted in the very effect above on the print screen.

As you can see on the left, this is the Layer, where we are able to edit the style of the image or text. As you can see we have chosen global light other wise the light will be scattered over the image instead of being concentrated in one area. This is the same image and effect but without global light.

Here I have started to add the main mastheads upon the CD front. As you can see it is essential to have both the name of the single/album as well as the name of the artist, this I had realise when analysing different CD covers in my research and analysis. The name of the artist is crucial, sometimes more significant than the actual song/songs, this is understood when looking at CD covers in the music industry today. For this reason, I have made the name ‘Evanescence’ larger in comparison to the song title, ‘my immortal’. To enhance the significance of the artist, I have placed their name on the top of the cover as internet research indicates that the target audience look at the top of the image first. The fact that the light around the rose is present above, draws the readers eyes straight to the artist’s name.

As you can see from the two images above, the My immortal in red has a black spiral effect that we have gained due to the Smooth Bevel and Emboss on the image, this will carry the house style from the magazine, as the swirls will continue through to the promotional poster. We have decided to use red as it is a house colour, nevertheless, when making the title red, it didn’t seem to look right due to the overpowering shade of the rose. Due to this, we made the, ‘Evanescence’, black, yet another house colour that looks effective as it contrasts with the strong lighting provided by the rose. We decided to keep with this effect as it looked more professional and stood out upon the cover. As many CD covers today have minimal writing, we have decided to keep this text on the cover whilst the rest will occupy the back of the CD cover.

As we wanted to incorporate scenes from our music video into the CD cover, we decided to use a film strip as you can see above. We had clicked on File, then Place and edited the film strip on another layer upon Photoshop, resulting in the image above. We mainly used the magic eraser tool as it took less time to edit the image, but we had to use the manual eraser as well, in order to remove small white pixels as you can see on the left print screen.

Eventually, we managed to erase all of the white pixels, resulting in the print screen below. In order to add images and put them into the film strip, I will have to click on File, and then Place, similar to the way in which we retrieved the film strip.

To display the dominance of the film strip, we will have the writing revolve around the shape of it, this will display the significance of the music video itself (My Immortal – Evanescence).

As you can see above, I have started to edit in some of the essential scenes from the music video, My Immortal including the moon that provides an eerie effect as well as the dying rose. As I placed these images onto the photo shop document, I needed to alter the angle at which each image was in as I can then erase the edges to make it look as though it fits in with the rest of the film strip. By clicking Ctrl shift drag, I was able to make the image bigger without changing the proportions of the image, making it easier for me to edit. However, to ensure that the image fit well within the film strip, I had clicked on Cmd and then dragged the image, where the image looked as though it was at a different angle. As you can see above, I have done this successfully, making it look as though the image was already placed in the film strip. A very useful tool that I had used continuously was the cloning tool where, I would click Alt and select the area I wanted to copy and click on the place that needed the pixels. This was very useful when I would delete some of the image by accident when clearing up the edges, yet this allowed me to cover up my mistakes.

As you can see, this palette consists of all the tools that are necessary for editing.

This is the cloning tool.

This is the eraser tool, and when you click on the little arrow in the corner, you can then access the magic eraser tool that deletes much more in one go.

As you can see from the print screen above, I have added some more images but this consists of the artist. As you can see from the previous plan, we were going to have the image of the artist on the back, but as our ideas evolved, we decided to take segments from the music video. As we considered what scenes to use, we were well aware, that the artist must be visible as she is the one that provides the music and influences the widow. Due to her extreme amount of dominance, the writing will revolve around the film strip.

You may ask how we have managed to print screen the images from the Apple Mac Laptops, due to the fact that there is no print screen option/button available on the keyboard. Well, the way in which we have managed to do this was by clicking Cmd, Shift and 3 at the same time, where you will hear the sound of a photo being taken. These print screens were then available on the Desktop of the laptop. I had then opened each print screen individually on photo shop, giving me the option to crop the image that I had done. After this I was able to save the image and place it into the document with the CD cover, where I had edited the images into the film strip.

Here, I am editing in the last few images, as you can see, I need to zoom in (Ctrl, +) in order to see if the image fits in well as this will guarantee a professional CD cover. I have used the manual eraser tool through out and have used a very small brush to ensure that every pixel fits in the box. If there is a gap however, it is clear in saying that the image does not belong there. As you can see from the print screen below, this is what the finished film strip looks like. Now, I am able to add the written aspect to the back of the CD cover.

Before

After

From these print screens, you can see that the image I have cropped and placed into the shot does not fit into the film strip box. I had then used the cloning tool, by pressing Alt and selecting the top of the image, I then copied and filled in the gaps, resulting in the image below (after). In addition to this, I had also used the brush tool to fill in a bit of black to make the outline of the film strip more noticeable.

This is the brush tool.

Here, I have added reviews of the song, that have been commented on by respected organisations, in particular NME and Kerrang who promote the genre of rock, indie and gothic music. As a result, any form of positive feedback from these music organisations will definitely ensure that the target audience of goths, rockers and emos will be engaged. As you can see, the text is written in Sharp Capitals that contrasts with Edwardian script to show a form of variety, this will also stand out in comparison to the rest of the text. You will notice that the three quotes are highlighted in red, black and white to signify the house colours that will run throughout the ancillary texts. To enhance this form of formatting, we then have this text revolving and resurfacing around the film strip, creating a border like effect to enhance it’s dominance as it refers back to the music video, My Immortal by Evanescence.

Here, I have started to add the swirls that will carry the house style through to the promotional poster. What I have done is go to the custom shape tool and clicked on shape, then arrow and all, giving me a range of images to work with. As I wanted everything to stay in touch with the house style, the swirls and flowery patterns were black that contrasted well with the dull background. As you can see, I have added a range of these patterns surrounding the film strip to look as though it is central due to it being one of the main aspects of the CD cover, along with the front image of the rose.

This is the custom shape tool.

Finally, we have added the song selection that is traditionally put on the back of the CD cover. The font for this was going to be Edwardian Script but as we asked the essential target audience, there felt that the writing couldn’t be read easily, so we decided to go for a similar font, ‘Brush Script’, which is easier to read but still creates that posh ambience that is a connotation of love. Once again, we have manipulated the house colours as the text consists of black and white that contrast well against each other.

This is the end product of the CD cover, which happens to be very simple but portrays the message of the music video whilst promoting the song via the use of lures. Nevertheless, many artists enhance this simplicity as it clearly engages the

target audience instead of boring them with continuous text. I have then saved this as a JPEG that results in one layer that allows this to be seen by many in one

easily accessible format.