The document provides an evaluation of the planning and production stages of a major project creating album artwork. Key points: - Research into existing album covers helped inform design choices and understand differences in styles. - Planning was thorough and provided clear direction for production, though some technical aspects were missed. - Production progressed smoothly at first but some artwork showed improving skills. Taking breaks helped prevent burnout. - Extra albums were produced thanks to effective planning for contingencies and experimentation to develop new techniques. - The strongest covers came from both planned and unplanned works, showing the benefits of flexibility during production.

1. Evaluation
Final Major Project

2. The quality of my research became clear once planning commenced. I looked at album covers and compared them against titles by
the same artist and different artists. This gave me an understanding of the differences between each of the albums I compiled. Also
having an understanding of the music from a few of the albums I could see how the album artwork related or in some cases didn’t
relate. I also understood that some album covers were utilised from a marketing side to catch the eye.
I also looked at the debut albums of three bands and analysed the design choices made. They all bore at least the name of the band
which is something that I incorporated into my own production.
By researching box sets I was also able to head into planning with a strong view of what I was going to produce. I looked at the way
the albums were presented and what they were presented alongside, posters, artwork and some with more bespoke items. Also by
comparing special edition box sets with one another I was able to analyse the individual features of each and see what correlated
and what was unique to each set. This later helped me during production when I came to my photography stage.
I believe that my research was in-depth enough for me to produce the artwork however I could have done for the technical side of
the albums. I initially created the albums as though for a CD not a vinyl, so the song lists were set out much differently; I had to
research how songs were split between playlists on vinyl records instead. This was done later in the project and was helped by the
records purchased for the experiments. I also had to create some copyright lorem ipsum for the reverse cover which could have
been researched prior to save time.
I would also research into fonts further. I did look at how they were presented, their positioning and use but looking at my
production I feel that some of my font choice are on the weaker side. This only applied to the front covers as I am happy with the
rear covers.
RESEARCH
EVALUATION

3. My research can be seen throughout my production, in the design choices I have made and the styles I have adopted. The most
noticeable are in the original two albums, Archipelago and Lunar Sea. Coldplay and Tappin Gofton’s Mylo Xyloto and Viva La Vida Or
Death And All His Friends can be seen in this album, what with its colour scheme leaning towards psychedelia. The revolutionary
theme was inspired by Gofton using Liberty Leading the People for the cover and even John Squire’s Bye Bye Badman that was used
for The Stone Roses debut.
The surrealism from Pilar Zeta’s work can be seen in Lunar Sea and the collaged aspects of her work in Or Any Realism. The
photographed rear cover of Rhetorical was inspired by both the albums A Rush of Blood To The Head and Original Pirate Material
which transformed photographs into artwork either through framing or by coincidence.
The xx can be seen through the album Coincidence, what with its simple design that has been transformed into artwork. It also
bears a resemblance to one of the covers of Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay.
RESEARCH
EVALUATION

4. I believe that my planning was very successful and that without it I would not have the same level of quality that I have with my
product now. It provided me with a clear outline of what I was going to produce and how I was going to achieve the end result.
Production began smoothly because of the level of planning involved. I knew exactly what I had to aimed towards and how long I
had to complete each piece. The production schedule was not stuck entirely as certain aspects of production took longer to
complete than others.
The mood boards and concepts gave me a strong idea of what I was going to create once production had commenced. I did not
know entirely as that is the nature of artwork, however I had a clear plan. Lunar Sea was given mock designs that I would loosely
follow as to keep on the correct path I had decided for it. For Archipelago I let my ideas form during production, referring back to
the original plans and the mood board. This was constructed from visuals I imagined the subject of the concept album to look like.
In addition to this I created several extra ideas in the event that I time during production to produce more work. It was essential that
I did this, as it turned out, because this was the case. The last weeks of production were used to create the three extra album
covers. Had I not planned these I don't believe that these would have been created.
My production experiments were also successful. These were all used during production at different stages. The printing techniques
unfortunately not used as printing never occurred: the cost would have been too high in order to produce the box set as a physical,
tangible object. The other experiments were used to great success and can be seen in my production. The graffiti experiment can be
seen on the both the front and rear cover of Archipelago, in the underlying psychedelic colours. This was practised and refined
during production but was going to be used for a slightly different reason. I didn't go through with that design choice nevertheless
the production experiment was not wasted. I also utilised the skills in photographing artwork; another experiment. This was used in
my last album as this was created using canvas and paint. I used natural lighting, something that I concluded would work better. The
effect was precisely what I wanted: a framed piece of art with no visible borders and glares from light. The work looks as though it
has been created on a digital platform. Without this planning this option could not have been explored and I believe my work would
not be to the same standard.
PLANNING
EVALUATION

5. Production started smoothly and though the first album cover went over schedule the results justified it. One thing to note the
quality of the artwork differs over the piece as my skill level improves with more experience. The first few parts of the artwork,
most notably the left arm of the astronaut can be seen at a different level to the backpack or his other arm. The difference is not
major and this problem went unforeseen, however, to counteract this I could have redrawn these parts or undergone some practice
during the planning stage. I left it more several reasons, the first that it shows the progression of detail in the artwork through the
piece. It would also go on forever, once I had fixed that I would then notice another part in need of attention and the cycle would
continue.
The development diary that I began alongside the project helped me to process my thoughts in regard to the production stage. By
logging my thoughts I could keep a record of what I did that particular week but also express my concerns about certain aspects
which I could then later review. Returning to my reflections shaped my production in the direction that I wanted.
The second album started the following week, in which I made the front cover, however I did not have many ideas for the rest of
the album. A two week holiday followed which allowed for some idea generation, along with the aid of the development diary. With
most of the album complete I began to create other albums which helped me enormously not to become focused on one project
which would ultimately have a negative effect. By switching between artworks it kept production fast-paced and efficient.
In addition to this I produced artworks outside of college time, both in Photoshop and on canvas. The digital art I kept and
eventually used. Unfortunately the canvas work was not up to the standard of the rest of the art. Originally intended for Archipelago
it was unused as it did not match in quality with the artwork I already had. This was because I found it easier to produce work using
the graphics tablet, easier to shade and blend colours, therefore the work was of a much higher quality. With acrylic paints this was
less so as the details was harder to include. The piece was supposed to relate the gatefold piece of the islands burning in the
distance. This piece depicted a ship arriving at the island to invade it. I believe that more preparation with the canvas work would
have given me a better result, practice during the planning stage and research on methods of painting. I am happy with the artwork
that I have currently and the final product is better off without a slightly lower piece of work dragging it down.
PRODUCTION
EVALUATION
START OF PRODUCTION
TOWARDS END OF
PRODUCTION

6. Producing some of the work outside of college did help to lighten the load and gave me more time to focus on finalising pieces. I did
not feel rushed at all during production, I always felt I was going to finish in time, so much so that I felt comfortable producing more
than two albums. With fewer pieces of additional artwork and more albums I felt it would make a much more compelling product,
one worth making a special edition release for.
Emotionally, I felt that the two week break in the middle of production was essential. It gave me time to process the work already
done and allowed new ideas to form. It stopped me from burning out but also allowed the pressure of work to decrease. With such
a long time for production it was necessary for this break and I believe that it helped massively to regroup my thoughts and ideas at
the half way mark.
I believe the three strongest album covers are Lunar Sea, Rhetorical and Coincidence. Interestingly only Lunar Sea was originally
planned out of these three. Equally I believe that Archipelago and Or Any Realism are weaker albums despite that Archipelago was
planned.
The reason for this is that Lunar Sea was planned thoroughly and I had a clear idea of what I wanted. Coincidence surprised me
which is why I believe I liked it so much. Archipelago looks good but I don’t think it fits with the whole collection of albums. Similarly
with Or Any Realism the style is a little different which throws it in the light for the wrong reason.
Although I did not have a post-production phase I count the final stages of production in which I arrange the box set as this. This
time was spent transferring my own artwork onto existing albums in order to create the desired box set appearance. The process
went smoothly and I was able to use techniques refined during the previous year’s final project to gain a realistic finish. However to
get to this stage I had to come to the conclusion that printing was not an option which did slow production and force to look for
other options, an unneeded level of stress.
In conclusion I believe that my planning was sufficient and that production went very well. My ideas developed throughout
production and my product evolved into something greater than my planning suggested. I also managed to fulfil the extra artwork
ideas which I did not believe I would do and also did their designs and inspiration justice.
PRODUCTION
EVALUATION

7. My planning was sufficient and I had a clear idea of what I was going to create when production started so management was not a
massive issue. However, individual pieces of work did take much longer and at one stage I was in fear in running out of time. This
was because I did not think thoroughly enough. What would have greatly helped would have been to go through the evaluation and
production process of my first project of the year, the fanzine work. During this time I made multiple artworks for the pages and I
actually overran because of it. Had I learned from this I may have made a more realistic production schedule and could have been
prepared for a longer time spent on at least one of the album artworks.
I did do the most time consuming piece first, the Lunar Sea album cover of the astronaut. This was to be completed in two weeks so
that enough time was left afterwards for the other album and printing. It went over schedule by another week which I did not
foresee, however the results were exactly as I wanted them so it was worth it in the end.
Production on the second started a week later because of the delay, however the following week was the Easter holiday. During this
time I researched local and national printing services in order to gain an idea of the cost of printing my album covers in preparation
for photography. The results was that printing was going to be too high of a cost. Despite this setback, it meant that I had more time
to perfect the second album and because of this extra time I produced three extra albums. The printing issue was then solved by
photographing existing albums which I could use a template. However, preparation like that should have been done in the planning
phase to avoid obstacles such as that. It means my planning could have had a lot of improvements to it.
Towards the end of production I encountered a slowed pace as my albums near completion but the songs had not been created yet.
This meant I had several almost finished pieces of work which could not be quite finished. To avoid this next time I would write the
songs far sooner than the last weeks production, possibly even in the planning stage. It did not affect the quality of my work and I
did finish comfortably inside the allotted time.
MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS
EVALUATION

8. A technical problem I faced early on related to the management of time during the first album. To try to keep the production time
to a minimum I borrowed equipment, the graphics tablet, in order to work from home. I found out that there were compatibility
issues and the tablet would not work on my computer, therefore I was forced to only work from college. This did not slow
production but meant it could not be accelerated. This did put on pressure slightly as I knew that all the work had to be done in
college; work could not be done outside in extra time.
One of the biggest technical problems was aroused when I discovered the price of the printing out the two original album covers. As
this was going to be very costly I decided not to go through with my plan. I did not want to present my work solely digitally as
images; I wanted it presented as tangible items for that was the whole reason behind the project.
I produced two solutions. The first was to utilise the albums I had bought for my problem solving phase: to photograph these and
overlay my own album artwork digitally. They would provide me with the correct perspective so that it would appear realistic.
The second option was to print the albums on smaller paper to a smaller scale. This would then appear to be at the correct scale
provided that I did not include anything in frame that would break the illusion.
I chose the first option as it would be more efficient if it did not work as it took the least amount of time between the two options.
By positioning the albums in various ways I had enough photographs to construct the setup I wanted. As I only had two albums to
work with I had to take multiple photographs in order to get five covers in frame. The finish was to a high quality but it did not
achieve the same effect had it been printed and photographed.
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
EVALUATION

9. I believe that my products exceeds the intention I had when writing the proposal. My idea was to create a box set edition of a
band’s entire works including some additional pieces presented as collectible items. My project was inspired by artists such as
Coldplay which I can see reflected in my work. I was also fascinated with the connection between the artwork and the music and
how one will compliment the other. For me, this was important to factor into my own work. Having no music to work with I just
created images which I believed to have the matched the tone which the music would have followed. The whole project was based
around the artists which I have listened to extensively. It was essential that I show my inspiration in my album covers which I believe
I have done throughout.
The first two albums, Lunar Sea and Archipelago were very successful and exactly what I intended to make, throughout my proposal
to my planning. The three other albums were made after these as I had spare time. Despite having little planning and no intention
to make them at all they turned out exactly how I would have wanted them. I think that all the pieces compliment each other and
the final result is something that I am extremely pleased with.
The artwork is both varied yet because it is part of a boxset relates it to one another. I also feel that there is a progression
throughout the band’s ‘history’. Like most bands and artists a visible evolution can be seen across their work which I think I have
included in my own work. The different tones of each album is represented in each and so development can be seen as the band
grows older and more experienced.
The main idea of the project was to print out and present the work as tangible items. Due to high printing costs which I did not
foresee I could not complete this part of the task. However, I believe I came up with a suitable alternative. This was to present the
albums as a box set as I always intended. To achieve this I still used physical albums as a reference for the digital covers to be
overlaid, so I consider this project true to its original idea.
MEETING MY INTENTIONS
EVALUATION