CD COVER - layout

In keeping with my vintage theme, I really wanted to somehow give a 'ripped' effect to my CD, making it look old and worn. I made a few test pieces where I drew around a CD to get the correct dimensions, and then played around with brown parcel paper, ripping it and leaving a white strip where I could place my album artist and title. Having the text placed in white space would ensure that nothing takes away from the image itself, but also ensures that the text could be clearly seen against a plain background rather than being obstructed by a busy background image.

The first shows a rip down the right hand side of the CD cover (which could be flipped horizontally to move the white space to the left). I feel that this would not make a successful CD cover layout as any text e.g. the title and artist name would have to be aligned on its side, which would force the audience to tilt their head to be able to read it.

The second shows a rip along the bottom of the CD cover (which could be flipped vertically to move the white space to the top of the cover). Unlike the first example, which would prove frustrating to the reader, this layout allows the reader to see the name of the artist and album clearly at either the top or the bottom of the cover, however it would probably appear isolated against the image.

In order to overcome this isolation problem I decided to create a third test piece which involved a strip of brown paper being ripped from the lower half of the CD cover, leaving a small amount of brown paper at the bottom. I much preferred this layout, as it made the ripped effect much more obvious, with a full strip having been ripped off rather than just from the bottom. Furthermore, this would work quite well with my wallpaper idea as I could create the appearance that a strip has been ripped away from an actual wall, with some of the pattern missing.

The image above is a brief flat plan that I made to show the intended layout of my CD cover with the ripped effect towards the bottom of the page, with the pattern in the main image continuing for a short space after the ripped strip where my title and album artist text will be located.

DAMASK WALLPAPER INSPIRATION

After finding the image of the wallpaper online and having a go at a rough design, I decided that a Damask pattern (as shown below) was definitely what I was looking for to incorporate into my CD cover and/or magazine advertisement. These patterns are very popular in homes, where they are used as wallpaper on feature walls such as a chimney breast. They are typically found in bedrooms, where monochrome colours are very common. 

When I think of "floral wallpaper" patterns, this is what I picture, although they can't actually be considered 'floral'. I even have cushions on my bed that feature this damask pattern, which I contrast against a more floral pattern as shown to the right. The fact that I own one of these cushions surely proves that it is a popular pattern that many teenage girls are fond of and will aim to incorporate into their bedroom. Teenage girls are more likely to relate to my story line, as they have probably experienced a break up and have typically been more affected than the boy involved. Appealing to their fashion taste as well as pulling on their heartstrings with a good old break up story is sure to make my video and advertisement campaign a hit.

 

Knowing that this was the pattern I wanted to use in my work, I went to my local Homebase and got some wallpaper samples that I thought would meet my needs. The images above show the first sample I obtained, which is a traditional pattern that is a popular choice for living rooms as it has a subtle colour pallet that doesn't dominate the room and allows for other colours to be incorporated. There is a noticeable contrast between the two colours, making the pattern stand out clearly from its background, unlike the second wallpaper sample I chose:

Using my smartphone camera, I tried to take a photo where the pattern on this wallpaper would be visible, however this was quite hard as the pattern is only a slight shade lighter than the background and is sheer, making it hard to capture. If this paper was on a wall, the natural light would reveal its pattern, which is something that I couldn't really create in an image. Using my camera flash was the only way I could make it visible, which consequently altered the colour and made the image purple/blue rather than the off white colour that it appears to the human eye.

The second paper is actually my favourite, however because of the problems I faced when trying to get an image of it, I have decided to not use it as part of my advertising campaign, and use the first sample instead. It provides a clear pattern and contrast, and its colour pallet makes it easily editable, allowing me to make it green or blue or even brown in order to match my proposed colour scheme.