2. We carried out our ancillary photo-shoot on the same day we filmed the first segment of footage for
out final production. This was because we wanted our duo to be in the same costumes, and in the
same location. Another thing that we wished to emphasise within our promotion package was
synergy. Therefore, we used a blue and purple smoke-bomb in our ancillaries photo-shoot, as a blue
smoke-bomb was also present in the music video. Because smoke-bombs are relatively dangerous
props, we needed to carry out extensive research before purchasing them. We learnt, from various
Google searches, that smoke grenades are only available to persons aged 18 and over, therefore as I
am the only member of the group of this age, I needed to order them. I ordered these smoke bombs
from Amazon, an American “electronic commerce and cloud computing company”. After using
Google to thoroughly search which brand of smoke bombs are the safest and effective, we ordered
the Enola Gaye smoke grenades. We next learnt that these smoke grenades need to be used away
from the general public, therefore we needed to make sure this was done when we released them.
Because of this, we aimed to carry out our ancillaries photo-shoot in a reclusive area of the wood in
which we were filming in, in order to abide by these rules.
4. First Draft
◦ We used Adobe Photoshop to edit our magazine advert. Although we were familiar with how to utilise Photoshop from past experience,
there was still a range of tools and skills that we needed to learn to create a successful magazine advert. Firstly, we imported the photos we
took when filming from the SD card onto the Apple Mac. When this had finished, we transferred these images onto a USB stick, so they we
could access them in Photoshop.
◦ Once we had chosen which photo to denote on our magazine advert, we opened an A4 sized canvas in Photoshop, by selecting the ‘New’
option, and choosing ‘International Paper’. As we had a rough idea of what we wanted our magazine advert to look like, we used the fill
button to block fill the background black. We then uploaded the image onto the canvas, and edited it in a way that accentuated the smoke-
bomb, adhering to indie pop conventions. We did so by altering the exposure, brightness and vibrance of the image, in the image settings.
◦ Once this was completed, we used the website Dafont.com to search for appropriate typographies that we could use on our magazine
advert. We aimed to find a typography that is bold and eye-catching, therefore we looked under the sans serif tab. Once we had found a
fitting typography, we typed each textual element we needed into the preview bar, and screenshotted it. Once we had done this, we pasted
this screen grab into a new clipboard in Photoshop, cropped the image, and used the magic wand tool to erase the background. We then
filled in each letter with white, using the fill tool, as we were aware we would use a black background. By using white on a black background,
we are drawing attention to significant aspects of the promotion package as it creates an effective contrast. We did the same with social
media logos that we positioned in the bottom left corner of the poster.
5. First Draft
◦ We placed the most important textual elements of ‘Ivy & Gold presents Awake’ at the top of the
poster, making it the largest piece of typography on the advert. We then placed the element
‘Includes hit single ‘The Town’ below the image. We used the shortcut of Ctrl T to alter the sizing of
these.
◦ Moreover, we aimed to incorporate a graphic that would separate Ivy & Gold from other artists,
creating a unique selling point for the duo. We used the shape tool to create a diamond, and two
pointed lines. We believed this made our magazine advert that little bit more sophisticated,
creating a sense of professionalism. Finally, we created a gradient rectangle, of 50% opacity to
create an ombré effect between the image and the block background. This was effective because it
merges the layers together more effectively.
6. Final Draft
◦ After receiving feedback from our first draft of our magazine advert, we realised that we needed to make drastic changes to our magazine
advert in order to make it as successful as it could be. Because of this, we decided to start a completely new advert, starting from scratch. We
decided as a group that there seemed as if there was too much going on, therefore we needed to focus on the composition of the image
and reposition it. We also found that there was no emphasis placed on the duo name, so we aimed to create a unique logo that we would
display across the whole promotion package. We used Dafont.com to find suitable typographies for our logo.
◦ We wished to find a serif font for the ‘Ivy, Gold’ part, and a sans serif one for the & symbol. Once we had found these, we followed the same
steps as before. However, this time we filled the ‘&’ with a gold gradient, to add a little bit of colour to the logo. We then came to realise that
the typography we had used for the logo would be an effective typography to use throughout the promotion package, as it’s both elegant
and bold at the same time, which effectively reflects the indie pop genre. Once we had established which typography we would use for our
final edit, we repeated the steps we carried out for our first draft, and opened a new A4 portrait document, ready to create the magazine
advert.
◦ Because we comprehended that we needed to change the magazine advert image, we changed the composition about multiple times to
establish what looks best. We found that by cropping out the excess woodland area and the duos feet, it emphasised the importance of the
duo. However, to highlight their significance even further, we used the quick selection tool to select the areas around the duo, the wolf and
the smoke bomb. Once this step was complete, we reduced the colour and saturation of the selected layer, making it black and white. We
then placed the Ivy & Gold textual element in the top left corner, because the gold effectively contrasted with the purple smoke bomb. We
placed the other textual elements below this, but above the duo. This reiterates that this is a significant element. We placed the diamond and
lines below it, creating synergy because the same graphic would be denoted on the digipak. We used the shape tool and the type tool to
place the contrasting ratings over the bodies of the duo.
◦ Finally, we created the band of social media links at the bottom of the advert through, again, creating a gradient rectangle, with 50% opacity.
We copied and pasted the social media links that were denoted on the first draft and created two lines with the shape tool to place above, to
separate this section from the rest of the advert. Finally, we used the type tool to type the band website and ‘Follow Ivy & Gold on:”.
9. First Draft
◦ Due to the fact that we had learnt various Photoshop skills in the production of our magazine advert, the
digipak editing process ran relatively smoothly. We started by using Google to find a 6-panel digipak
template. Once we had found an appropriate template, we copied the image and pasted it into our
Photoshop clipboard. We believed that by editing each panel individually, and then pasting them onto
the template would be the most simplistic way of creating the digipak.
◦ We started with the front cover, choosing the image of the duo back-to-back with the smoke bomb
behind them. We believed this was the most suitable image as it creates synergy with the magazine
advert. We then applied the same filter that we used on the image in the magazine advert, again to
create synergy. We used the same sans serif typography to denote the word ‘Awake’ largely above the
duo, as this is the name of the EP and the most significant textual element of a digipak. We placed the
diamond line graphic above below the title, making the cover more appealing and unique. We then used
this typography to place ‘Ivy & Gold’ below the duo, in a smaller size. We created these layers by
screenshotting their previews on Dafont.com, copying them into our Photoshop clipboard, cropping
them to size, using the magic wand tool to delete the background, and then using the fill tool to colour
the wording white.
◦ We then moved onto the back cover, where the song titles would be denoted. We selected an image of a
purple smoke to reinforce the colour scheme, and composed the wolfs eyes in the corner, creating
synergy with the other two elements of the promotion package. We applied the same filter we had used
throughout, and used the Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify logos from the magazine advert. To emphasise
these, we applied a drop shadow by double clicking on the layer and selecting the drop shadow option.
We used the same sans serif typography we had used throughout to display the song titles and website,
using the same techniques.
◦ We then moved onto the left and right cover, using individual images of the duo. Once the filter was
applied to emphasise the blue smoke, we used the diamond line graphic and denoted it at the bottom of
the panel.
10. First Draft
◦ The next panel we needed to complete was the one in which the hit single ‘The Town’ lyrics would be
denoted. We screenshotted an appropriate still from our music promo of the blue smoke grenade,
creating a synergetic link. Due to the fact that using Dafont.com to denote each lyric was too much of a
long process, we thoroughly searched through each Photoshop typography to find one most similar to
the one we had used on every other panel. Once we have found one, we copy and pasted the lyrics to
the song from a Word document, into our Photoshop file. We then created a drop shadow, to highlight
the lyrics and create a contrast with the blue smoke bomb. The final step was to create a title, and we
did so through using Dafont.com.
◦ The final panel that we needed to create was the CD panel. We were unaware how to create a circle of
an image, therefore we used Google to find this out. After choosing a screengrab from our music
promo, we opened the image in Photoshop. We then double clicked the Background layer and made it
a Normal layer, by simply clicking OK. We selected the Elliptical Marquee Tool, created a circle and then
inversed the layer. Once the layer was inversed, we deleted the outer layers, and the process was
complete. We then used the same skills to delete a smaller circle from the middle of the image, creating
a CD effect. We then copied the Ivy & Gold and Awake title from the cover and pasted it onto the CD
layer. We also transferred the diamond and line graphic onto the CD. Once the CD was complete, we
chose an appropriate image of a purple smoke bomb, applied the filter, and then transferred the CD
layers onto it once all the layers were grouped.
11. Final Draft
◦ Similarly to our magazine advert, due to feedback we had received, we came to the realisation that significant changes needed to
be made to our digipak in order to improve it. We were made aware of the fact that the composition of our cover needed to be
changed, to emphasise the importance of the duo. To do so, we used the same technique we used for the magazine advert, using
the quick selection tool to highlight all areas around the duo and the smoke bomb. We then reduced the colour and saturation of
this layer, to create a black and white surrounding layer. We also decided to use the same serif typography, and Ivy & Gold logo we
had used on the magazine advert, throughout the digipak. Therefore, we placed the logo in the top left corner, to create contrast
between the purple smoke bomb and gold gradient. We then placed the diamond line underneath, to reinforce this unique
attribute, and the title of the EP largely below it.
◦ We then used the same quick selection tool to highlight the purple smoke bomb on the back cover, using the same barcode and
logos. We then used Dafont.com to create the song titles. Below each title, we used the diamond line graphic.
◦ To further improve the left and right covers, again, we used the quick selection tools to select the excess woodland and made it
black and white, meaning the duo and the smoke bomb were the only things of colour. We then copied a google image of the
twitter logo, pasted it into the clipboard, used the magic wand tool to delete the background and created a drop shadow. We then
used Dafont.com to denote some twitter usernames and placed these layers at the bottom of the panel.
◦ Moreover, we improved the lyrics panel by using the same quick selection technique, then using the same serif typography to title
the lyrics.
◦ We created a whole new CD by using another picture that we believed was more effective. We used the quick selection technique
on the background layer, emphasising the purple smoke. We then made the whole CD layer black and white, and then copied and
pasted the Awake title, and the Ivy & Gold logo onto it. The final step we made was to incorporate a compact disc logo, to create a
sense of professionalism. Finally, we created a spine to complete the digipak, by using a black and white image of some woodland,
and using the serif typography to display ‘Awake’ on one side, and the Ivy & Gold layer on the other.
