Initial plans FMP

1. Initial Plans
Tommy Lister

2. Initial Reaction
• My initial reaction to the set brief regarding my FMP is I am going to do a print based project. Over the year so far I have
took part in multiple rotations which explored different areas in creative media such as film and video game, however I am
certain that my print skills were the most developed and also I feel like it is easier to improve on print. Also out of all the
programmes, I struggled the least while using Photoshop and had a much better understanding of it compared to premier
pro so I want to base it around where my strengths are. The concepts I have so far for the actual production is either going
to be a magazine about music and fashion, or maybe even football. As well as a front cover, if I am to do a music based one
which can work well with fashion, I will include double page spreads and potentially posters on things like new music that is
coming out, or new clothes that are coming out. I think I am going to create a made up brand for everything including a
made up music artist. I can also follow this up by creating merchandise etc. too. Another similar idea I am considering is an
album cover which would also work well with posters. When I did a magazine cover I thought it was fairly good compared to
the other productions I made for example in film, below is an image of a magazine front cover I created in my first print
rotation. Specifically I want to emulate the way I chose a font name as well as the font style that really reflected the artist
well in terms of their lyrics. I Also liked how I used only one image and it was just a large one of the main artist, If I do a
magazine I will try do this again as in my opinion it makes it stand out more rather than just having multiple small images. I
feel fairly confident going into this FMP as when I did my print rotation it was the rotation I did the best in and found the
easiest. If I am to do a magazine I already have a bit of an idea as to what kind of existing product’s features I want to
emulate. Below are some images I may use as inspiration.

3. Mind Map album cover/ magazine cover
Music /
album cover
( maybe
magazine ) (
actual one)
Look at popular already existing albums, see
what the common patterns are and try use them
, e.g. colour schemes, amount of text, style of
fonts, size of font, amount of pictures.
Genre of music – Rap/ hip hop
Create a fictional rapper /
band
Create my own images, go to the
studio , try copy famous pictures of
rappers but with friends etc.
Edit the photos on Photoshop, add a
green screen to change the
background
Can extend in to lots of
different products
Start with an album
cover, likely to be just
simple, just a large
picture of a face , then
the name of the
artist/ album in large
letters in the center of
it
Can also create posters for it, could include
release date, when the artist is touring, prices for
concert, advertise merchandise Merchandise –
Create T shirts/ hoodies/hats/ accessories. As
well as merchandise creating a fashion brand that
can be talked about as popular among rappers
Also do a magazine, front cover- has
the same graphic as the album
cover on the front, front cover
shows release of album/ artist
name/ price Double Page Spread- Can
have different ones/ideas for
it such as interview with
rapper/ dps about the
fashion he is into
Font style will
be distorted,
represents the
lyrics
Use dark colours as a
background, seems to be
popular on other similar
style albums.
Dark background, maybe have a picturesque
background view like a city landscape.
Mainly a dark theme, but on
the album cover the main
text of the name of the
album will be a dark red like
colour
Album cover, track list, poster
Poster- less dark
colours, more red
– first colour on
the spectrum,
poster
advertising
upcoming tour
Track list for inside the album,
have a list of songs, the main
graphic and themes and fonts
from the album cover will be
the same, have a font that
represents the song styles
Also consider props and facial
expressions etc. for photoshoot. - In
terms of props I will make sure the
people in the shoot will have clothes that
represent the genre well, e.g. for rap -
chains/ ring. Serious facial expressions
looking angry

4. Mind Map album cover/ magazine cover
pros and cons
Pros Cons
When I did my first print rotation I did a
magazine on this genre of music already and it
was the rotation I enjoyed and did the best in.
Finding an appropriate location for
the album cover may be difficult
I will find the creative meaning behind choices of
images/ fonts/ colours easiest to create as it is an
area of music I am already interested in so I have
a fairly good current knowledge of it and I have
researched it before
I feel like this is the concept which I can
successfully develop the best in terms of adding
things like a track list a poster and merchandise.
The merchandise will be fairly difficult to create/
it won't be too good in terms of the difficulty it
may take to produce .
It is a concept that will fit in well
with the target audience
As music is very subjective it may
be hard to appeal to a general
audience of people and may have
to be tailored towards a very
specific audience
Lots of already existing products that are similar
to what I want to create, makes research more
easier and gives a stronger idea of what
themes/colours/images will be good to use

5. Mind Map album cover/ magazine cover
thoughts
This concept is the one I am most confident with and although I will still
look at alternate options, this is the one where I initially have the most
ideas with and I feel like I can get the best out of. Firstly the album cover
and magazine covers will both be following the same music genre (rap) as
this is something I have an actual interest in and follow closely, as well as
being suitable to my target audience age group, I feel like this benefits me
largely and makes me feel positive towards this concept as for example
when doing my existing product research, I will already be familiar with
some of them and this will make my analysis better as I will have extra
knowledge on some of it that I can add to it and that will help me find it
easier to understand the creative meaning behind certain choices. It will
also help me in creating my own product as I can try implement some of
the things I like about them into my own work. My other thoughts on this
concept are that it can be developed fairly well into other things from an
album cover, for example a track list as well as merchandise and even a
tour poster. Overall this is the concept I will be most likely to use although
I will still look into the idea of other concepts I could create. Lastly, in my
opinion the pros heavily outweighed the cons and the cons were not
major issues.

6. Mind Map 1- football magazine

7. Mind Map Football magazine pros and
cons
Pros Cons
I have already created a magazine and DPS this
year so to a small extent I am used to the
research needed.
When using InDesign in a previous
rotation, I struggled quite a lot
with using it.
I have an interest in the topic so I would be
creating something I actually like and would want
to look at myself
It will be difficult to expand into multiple
products other than a DPS and a magazine
There are not many existing
products which I could research
and try analyse that have a similar
target audience
It is difficult to tailor it towards an
older target audience as most
football magazines are for children.
A lot of my initial ideas are heavily
content based and it would needs
to be technically good in terms of
production as the content is really
just there to fill the pages so it
won't benefit my grade too much
I would be using photoshop and I
have gained slightly more
experience using it and could also
use tutorials to improve my
product to make it look more
professional.

8. Mind Map 1- football magazine
thoughts
My thoughts so far on this idea are that the concept itself is fairly basic and in
terms of developing it to a high standard I may struggle, especially compared to
the other potential ideas I have as I am fairly limited when it comes to the variety
of products/content I could produce. Also, from a production point of view it is
more difficult in terms of getting the kind of images I would need as well as the
number of people, location and props that would be necessary. As well as this, a
lot of it would end up as made up content which would be a waste of time as it’s
the actual production aspect where I will be graded. Another area of this idea
where I think I would struggle is appealing to the target audience that I am
supposed to as generally, especially with most existing products that are similar
they largely appeal to a much younger audience so I would struggle to have
existing product research that would actually be valid for me. Therefore my
feelings towards this concept are that it is unlikely that it will be one that I follow
through with, however it is useful to have as an extra backup. My feelings
towards this idea are also reinforced by my list of pros and cons. While creating
this list I struggled to even come up with pros however the cons were obvious to
me and also outweighed the pros I had.

9. Mind Map – video game
Video game
Merchandise, can
vary from T
shirts/hats/ other
clothing designs,
bags with the game
logo on. Could also
have accessory /
toy like designs
such as bobble
head characters
Teaser posters, release dates etc.

10. Mind Map Video Game pros and cons
Pros Cons
I have already created a video game this year so
to a small extent I am used to the research
needed.
In the previous rotation I was not
very good at the art aspect of
creating an animation.
I like how it can be developed across a few
different areas such as box art and posters but
also an animation.
I am struggling to think of a
concept for a video game.
I would be using photoshop and I
have gained slightly more
experience using it and could also
use tutorials to improve my
product to make it look more
professional.
A video game could be easier to
appeal to a teenager/ young adult
target audience.
Lots of existing products that could
be relevant and helpful in research
It would make sense to not do an
animation as next year I want to do
print so I should focus on
something I want to do next year.
I usually struggle for time when
making a video game animation
and in this one it would need to be
even more detailed so I would
likely struggle for time again

11. Mind Map – video game thoughts
For this mind map I mainly discussed the themes and more the creative choices
rather than a detailed concept of what the game would be, if I was to do this game
unlike the others, it would be mainly graphics, for example box art and a poster
rather than creating a video game itself however I would consider creating a small
animation as well but due to the ability I showed when doing the video game
rotation in the past it is unlikely I will chose to do this concept too, hence why I also
didn’t go into to much detail on the mind map about the game itself, in my opinion
I would rather do this video game compared to the football magazine idea as I feel
it could be more appropriate to the target audience and would also be far more
convenient in terms of the actual production and props and images that would be
required, however despite this I am still confident I will go ahead with my original
idea although this is a good alternative. Also, taking into consideration the pros and
cons, I feel the cons carry more weight and are more important issues that could
come into effect in a worse way compared to the pros so it is unlikely I will go
ahead and create a video game.

12. Mood Board

13. Mood Board

14. Mood Board

15. Mood Board

16. Mood Board Analysis
Is there any repetition in the images you have collected?
Repeated colours/images styles/fonts/tone/mood
• There are quite a lot patterns and similarities within my products. For example, a lot of the styles of the album
covers use a dark theme, for example the background will just be black and then the album name will be in a
central position quite in a fairly large font, usually above either the track list or the album graphic design. In terms
of the magazines they use a lot of san serif fonts and are very bold, which represents how they are quite serious
and are about bringing information. Also most of the albums have a background of a picturesque view of a
landscape / city with the artist looking towards it. A theme that is quite consistent across these mood boards are
the colours which are like the light blue and pink, I like these colours as they are similar to one of the album covers
on my mood board and I think the colours really work well together on this cover so I want to try use them on
mine, the colour white has came up a lot too and I will be looking to use that on my merchandise.
How will your mood board influence your final product?
I will try use the similar themes that others do and I will look at things for the album cover for example the style of the graphic on
the front and I will try use that as my main graphic design. As well as this I will probably use the distorted titles and similar colour
schemes. Although there are a lot of dark themed album covers, my favourite one and the one id most like to try emulate in a way
is "the world is yours" I like the bright themes on this and the nature type style it has where it is set outside, I also like the simple
styles of the merchandise where it is just text or an image on a plain t shirt as I think it makes it stand out. My mood board also
influences me to use a distorted font for the album cover, this is because when looking at the album covers they represent well
what the music is about and also stand out a lot more compared to normal serif and sans serif fonts.