Development and final design

1. Matthew Teagle – De Montfort
University – New Media Design
Portfolio
Record Cover Development and final product

2. With my first attempt at making a record
cover, I wanted to use my research to
inform my final product as much as
possible. The most important aspect of my
design therefore, would be a simple image
that had a certain aesthetic quality and
would convey the conventions of the Indie
genre. The image I used of a freight train
felt like something that an audience would
expect to see on the cover of an Indie
record due to its grainy texture, it is also a
pretty enigmatic image alike the images
used for the covers I have researched and
therefore I liked this concept.
I got my inspiration for the band name from the
train itself, I felt that Rio Grande was another
enigma in itself and based on my knowledge and
research of Indie/Alternative Rock bands, one that
I felt worked with the genre. I also tried to find a
font that I felt complimented both my image and
my research. At this point of development, my
record cover was at its most basic stage, but I had
used my research to inform me and been able to
put together the foundation layer of my cover.

3. In order to develop my record
cover, I first of all edited the
image that I’d used in a similar
way that the covers that I had
looked at for my research had
been edited. I firstly used the
levels tool in Photoshop in order
to adjust the brightness,
contrast and the tone of the
image as well as using the fill
tool to fill the inside of my text
and used the effects on
Photoshop to drop a shadow
behind the text. I also edited the
vibrancy of the image to reflect
the energy of the
Indie/Alternative Rock music
genre.
When looking back at my research, I felt that this image in particular,
due to its brighter colour palette, might look better with a border
design so that the image appeared circular. In order to do this, I had to
draw a rectangle over my image and use the ellipse tool to draw the
circular shape. I then assorted the shapes in the layers tab so that the
rectangle was below my image and that the ellipse tool was above it
with the image as the top layer. I then created a clipping mask between
the image and circle to create the circular shape and the border that
surrounds it.

4. For my final product of this particular attempt, I decided
to change my font because despite the fact that I felt it
was well suited to the genre, I wanted something bolder
that would stand out more like the examples I had
looked at for my research. I again used the photoshop
effects to drop a shadow behind the text as I felt that it
added more depth to the record cover. For the name of
the album I chose ‘Track To Freedom’ as I felt that it
should reference the imagery of the cover. Also, because
of the train reading ‘Rio Grande’, the name of the band
on the side, this suggests to the audience that the band
are the driving force on the track to freedom. Freedom
of expression through music is a key feature of
Indie/Alternative Rock music and therefore I thought
that this was a significant choice for my cover.
The font for the name of my album also resembles a train on a
track, and I used photoshop effects on this also to bevel the text
and add depth to it, making it look more three-dimensional.
I wanted to wrap the album title
around the circlular shape of the
image within the border. This
decision was informed by my
research and in order to achieve
this effect I had to create a
warped text effect. This allowed
me to bend my text around the
border by using an arc and
adjusting the bend of my text.

5. For my second attempt at a record cover, I wanted to use the research I
had done on some of the more iconic Indie/Alternative Rock record
covers to create something even more authentic than my initial design.
In order to do this I realised that I had to simplify the composition of my
design even more and adopt an eye-catching aesthetic. Rather than
searching for an image to use for my record cover, I used one of my own
photographs that I had taken of a hotel on holiday. I thought that this
image would be effective as the sky appears dark and gloomy but is
contrasted by the light from the street lights, similarly to a few of the
covers I researched and I also felt that the aesthetic of the hotel block
was something that I could work with for an Indie/Alternative Rock
record cover.
The original photograph had the qualities of the covers I had researched
in the sense that it was a simple image that was aesthetically enigmatic. I
also felt that the colour scheme of this shot was very similar to those
used in the covers I had researched with the dark and dismal tones
contrasted by the artificial lighting. However, I decided to highlight these
colours more by again using the levels tool to adjust the brightness,
contrast and tone of the image. Similarly to with my first record cover,
using the levels tool gave the image a more vibrant and energetic feel
which reflects the free-flowing and fast-paced style of Indie/Alternative
Rock genre, however I felt that having this vibrancy within a darker and
duller image represented the genre more and reinforced my research
more than the original design.

6. I felt that this design was simplistic yet that the potential to be
placed alongside the covers I had initially researched without
looking out of place. The image holds a similar aesthetic to those
records and in order to finish this product and ensure that it
reflected the Indie/Alternative Rock genre, I had to think of a
relevant name for the band and album. I referred back to my
research and noticed that the names of the Indie/Alternative Rock
bands were all extremely varied, in many cases making absolutely
no sense without knowing the context behind the name such as
’Arctic Monkeys’ or ‘The Kooks’.
I finally decided to reinforce the imagery of my record cover by
calling the band ‘Four Star Hotel Room’. The font that is used is
actually called ‘Rockout’ and one that I felt worked really well, not
only on the cover but based on my research, also worked well with
the genre of music that I was designing my cover for. I decided that
the album should be named ‘The Metronome’, a metronome being
a device that musicians use so that their music can maintain a
particular speed. The font used is called ‘Airstream’ and I also felt
that this worked really well with both the genre of music and the
cover itself.
Finally, I referred back to my research and noticed that although
my image shared a similar aesthetic to other record covers, it
lacked the grit and grain of the others, and therefore I decided to
add a film grain effect to my image. In order to do this, I found an
image of 35mm film grain and layered it above my original image. I
then simply lowered the opacity of the film grain to create the
grainy overlay that
my final product
shares with other
Indie/Alternative
Rock record covers
that I have
researched.

7. Final Design
I chose this as my final design as when
referring back to my research, I felt that this
was the stronger of my two designs. This
design closely follows the conventions of
the other Indie/Alternative Rock record
covers that I researched. Whereas I tried to
incorporate those conventions into my
initial design, I feel that the colour scheme
of the image was too bright and I also
prefer the simplicity of this final design. It
adopts the grainy effect that is evident on
the covers that I had researched and also a
darker colour scheme with the contrast of
artificial light from the street light. The
simplicity of the composition is something
that also resonated more with my research
than my first design and therefore, due to
the fact that this record cover appears
more informed by my research than the
original design, I have chosen this as my
final record cover design.