James Clayton

Proposal
Client meeting:
Had a meeting with the client where we went
over the requirements for the graphics. I have
saved this meeting so I can go back and
reference the requirements whilst creating the
graphics.

Concept:
I have several different ideas I could use for the logo, A3 poster and the DVD cover which
would fit well with each other. Despite the name of the band being The Pixels I wont be
using any form of pixels in the designs since that doesnt require any creativity and is the
first design idea that comes to peoples minds when they hear the band name. Instead I will
be creating designs that will be interesting and detailed, making them stand out from other
simplistic designs.
For the logo of the band it will be normal text but I will be
editing it heavily so the different letters are on different
orientations and look 3D. I will then be adding a blue glow effect
to the letters so the text will stand out on a black background.
To make the letters even more detailed I will be adding hints of
colour to them that looks like flowing lava in the letters
themselves. I can adjust the colour of this lava flow through the letters to match the glowing
colour of the logo. When I create the logo I will be making it on a canvas size of 1200x500,
this is so the logo is a good size that can be used in different projects but not too large that
the file size is ridiculous.
The CD cover will be the conventional size for a CD
cover, as seen in the diagram, and will contain the
logo for the band, the songs on the album and other
essential information like bare codes and age
restrictions. The design for the cover will be similar to
the logo in that it wont have any pixels or pixilation on, instead
Im going to create an exploding black hole in space that the logo
is coming out of. On the spine and back cover will be light
coming off of the logo along with little stars since its space. The
front cover will only contain this image and the band logo to
keep it very minimal, the back cover will have all of the
information on.

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For the A3 poster I will use the same design from the front of the
CD cover so they match, this includes the logo coming out of the
black hole. The other information on the poster such as tour dates,
locations and contact information will be at the bottom of the
poster so its out of the way and doesnt obstruct the logo and
background image. The size of this A3 poster will be 42.0 x 29.7cm as thats the size of a
portrait piece of A3 paper. When creating this poster on the computer I will set those
dimensions as the canvas size.

Nature of content:
For the logo of the band it will be normal text but I will be editing it heavily so the different
letters are on different orientations and look 3D. I will then be adding a blue glow effect to
the letters so the text will stand out on a black background. To make the letters even more
detailed I will be adding hints of colour to them that looks like flowing lava in the letters
themselves. I can adjust the colour of this lava flow through the letters to match the glowing
colour of the logo. When I create the logo I will be making it on a canvas size of 1200x500,
this is so the logo is a good size that can be used in different projects but not too large that
the file size is ridiculous.
The CD cover will be the conventional size for a CD cover, as seen in the diagram, and will
contain the logo for the band, the songs on the album and other essential information like
bare codes and age restrictions. The design for the cover will be similar to the logo in that it
wont have any pixels or pixilation on, instead Im going to create an exploding black hole in
space that the logo is coming out of. On the spine and back cover will be light coming off of
the logo along with little stars since its space. The front cover will only contain this image
and the band logo to keep it very minimal, the back cover will have all of the information on.
For the A3 poster I will use the same design from the front of the CD cover so they match,
this includes the logo coming out of the black hole. The other information on the poster
such as tour dates, locations and contact information will be at the bottom of the poster so
its out of the way and doesnt obstruct the logo and background image. The size of this A3
poster will be 42.0 x 29.7cm as thats the size of a portrait piece of A3 paper. When creating
this poster on the computer I will set those dimensions as the canvas size.

Audience usage:
The logo for the Pixels wont be used individually but on other items such as the poster and
CD cover. It could also be used on anything else related to the band if necessary. Because
the logo is going to be used in lots of different locations it needs to be suitable for a wide
audience of all ages, to make it suitable for this large audience it will contain no offensive
material. The logo doesnt provide the audience with any information its just there to put
the bands mark on something such as the poster or CD cover.

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The poster has the most important job of interesting people and getting them to go to a
concert or perhaps buy the CD, for this reason it needs to be exciting to look at and contain
as little information as possible so the person isnt bored from reading all the information.
The posters will be put around in different locations so once again just like the logo it
mustnt contain any offensive material as it could offend someone passing by, this isnt an
issue though as the poster will be child friendly. A person reading the poster may be
interesting in going to a concert, because of this the poster will contain contact information
so they can book or ask any questions that they may have. This contact information will be
made very clear on the poster since its vital information.
The CD cover also has an important role of getting a passer-bys attention although this is
only relevant if the person hasnt hear the bands music before and is looking for something
new to listen to. If a fan of the band is looking to buy the CD then it doesnt matter as much
what it looks like as they will buy it anyway. On the front of the CD it has the bands logo and
a background image, this is because if all the information was on the front it would distract
from the band logo. On the back is all the important information such as the song/s on the
CD, the barcode, any legal information and the age rating. To view this information the
person would have had to picked the CD up meaning the front cover has done its job.

Layout designs:
The logo is going to be created on a 1200 x 500 pixel canvas as this will allow me to make it
high definition but at the same time keep the file size relatively small. The layout of the logo
is very simplistic since its just text with fancy letters on different orientations.
As the poster is A3 the dimensions will be 42.0 x 29.7cm as thats the size of a portrait piece
of A3 paper. When creating this poster on the computer I will set those dimensions as the
canvas size. The layout is very simplistic as the poster doesnt contain that much
information. The background of the poster is the black hole in space with the logo being
sucked into it. The logo will be just above the centre of the poster. At the bottom is where
all of the information such as contain number, website link and band details will be. I
decided to put all the information at the bottom so its out of the way and doesnt block
from the main feature of the poster which is the logo and the black hole background.
The CD cover for the band will use the conventional measurements
as seen in this diagram. When creating the CD cover on Photoshop
I will have the back cover as its own image and then create the
front cover and spine together. The layout of the CD cover will be
similar to all other CD covers in that the front is just an image with the bands logo on and all
the information is on the back. The image on the front cover will be the same black hole In
space which Is on the poster, the logo then goes over the top of the background. The
background image will wrap around the whole CD cover covering the front, back and spine.
On the spine on top of the background I will have a smaller version of the logo which will be
centred. The back cover is where all of the information is located. At the top of the back
cover I will have all of the different song titles found on the CD, these will be in bullet points
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and well-spaced out. At the bottom of the cover is where things such as the barcode, age
rating, legal information and band information will be located. The reason Im going to keep
the front cover free of clutter is so you dont get distracted from the background image and
logo which are supposed to be the main feature on the cover.

Input & manipulation images:

When creating all three separate graphics I wont be using very many external images as I
will be able to create everything myself. The only image I wont create will be the space
background found on the poster and CD cover as it would be pointless creating my own. I
will be editing this image though by adding my own little details such as stars and light rays
coming out of the centre, I may also edit the hue/saturation. As I will be using the same
background image on the poster and CD cover I will first create the background image and
save it as its own file, that way I dont have to worry about the image being the wrong
resolution for either of the assets Ill be creating. It also means I can go back and edit the
background image separately if needed. To edit the background image I will be using
Photoshop since thats what the programme is designed to do. I wont be using any other
images in the production of my assets as I should be able to create everything else myself.

Style & tone:

The style of all the assets Im going to create will be si-fi
based. The logo will have a blue glow like this tron logo
in the text, I will be making the glow look like a lava
flow through the text. For other pieces of text such as the information found on the CD and
poster I will just have normal blue text with a subtle glow effect applied to it so it matches
the logo. The background on all the assets will be relatively dark so the glowing blue text
stands out nicely from it. Ive chosen to go with this style and colour choice because you
dont see it very often so my logo, poster and CD cover will stand out from all of the others.
Having a dark background with bright text over the top is also very easy to read and looks
excellent when done correctly.

Consideration of limitations:
The programme Im using to create all of my graphics is Adobe
Photoshop. This is a very advanced piece of image editing
software that allows you to do pretty much anything you want
as long as you know how to. One of the only limitations on
Photoshop is that you cant edit/create Vector graphics using
the programme, luckily I dont need that ability as I didnt plan on making any of the
graphics Vectors. The benefit of creating Vector images over Raster images is you can make

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them as big as you want and they dont lose any quality since the images arent made up of
pixels. I wont be resizing any of my graphics so the benefit of using a Vector wouldnt be
noticed.

Advantages of format:
The advantage of working with Raster images (also known as Bitmaps) is they are easy to
edit and can be opened in basically every piece of image editing software, they are also
widely supported on programmes such as Word. The benefit of using a widely supported file
format is you dont have to worry about not being able to open it or edit the
image. Raster images also allow you to use a huge range of colours mixed
together, this means its very easy to create a colour gradient as the
programme just has to progressively change the colour of pixels from one to
another. You cant do this with a Vector graphic as it isnt made up of pixels so the gradient
wouldnt look very smooth. Once Ive completed working on my graphics I will save them all
as PNGs. Ive chosen to use this file format as it supports transparent backgrounds which I
will need for my logo as its going to go over the top of my poster and CD cover. This file
format also has a good amount of optimisation which keeps the file sizes relatively small
compared to other formats with less compression. Even though it compresses the images
they barely lose any quality which is another advantage.

Deadlines/Schedule:
When I start to create my finished graphics I will be working to a set deadline given to me by
the client. To make sure I meet this deadline I will keep track of my schedule to see how
many sessions I have left to create the graphics. If I notice Im behind schedule then I will
either have to somehow speed up the production of the graphics or risk not meeting the
deadline. Thankfully I know how to use Photoshop relatively well so wont run into any
problems where I get stuck as this could lead to me falling behind schedule. Before I start
creating my graphics the client will give me my ILP (Individual learning plan), this is my
schedule that shows me what I should have completed by set times. I will use my ILP to see
if Im on track or not.

Conclusion:
Im going to be creating three separate graphics for a band called the Pixels. They have
requested I make a logo, A3 poster and a CD cover. All of these will be created with a Si-fi
theme to them as thats what I have chosen to go with. I will be using Photoshop to create
all of the graphics as this is the most suitable programme for the task.