Blog Post 47 - Stage 2 - Completed Design: Information

My finished design for Stage Two: On Disc Logo

As mentioned in Blog Post 39, the following posts will be in regards to the explanation of not only how, but more importantly why I went about designing the On Disc Label in the way that I did. For reference, my finished design is posted here. In a similar vein to that of the DVD Amaray Cover, these posts will be split into the following elements: Background; Border; Titles; Gene Hunt; Trio of Cars; Background Pattern; Logos; Information. The final element that will be discussed is that of the Information.

Information

The final element of the On Disc Logo that I was to complete was that of the Information on the Disc that is included and is in regards to a few different things. I must admit that I was not too sure about what should be included on the disc in regards to written information so I decided to consult the previously carried out research back in Blog Post 37 - Disc Cover Research. Looking back at this research I was able to conclude that there were generally two areas of the information that are linked to the copyright side of information and also that of the DVD playing information such as the regional information of the disc. With this in mind I reverted back to my design for the DVD Amaray Cover because I remembered that I had placed copyright information on that DVD Information panel at the bottom of the rear cover, and I wished to keep with the house theme of the design and wording too. 

Placement of DVD Information Text

Having now an idea as to the wording that I was going to use, it now came to the point in placing the text. Prior to starting any placement, I decided to have a good think as to best location of the text. My first thoughts were to follow suit and place the information (as it is small print font size) around the border of the disc cover which would keep it out of the way of the design. However, upon further reflection and investigation I decided that this was not going to be viable firstly due to the space limitations and also I felt that it did not fit in with the design. With this in mind, I decided to go along the route of utilising the previously made pattern, which was about to come in very handy indeed. One of the biggest reasons that I chose this route was that by using this pattern as a base, it meant that by using two lines of text for the information they would be both symmetrical and fit the rest of the symmetrical design well too. I will admit that this is probably not the usual case of placing the copyright and information text however personally I feel that now that it is in place it works well and I am happy with the design.

In regards to how I went about this, the first stage was to make use of the Line Segment Tool which meant that I was able to draw a line in keeping with that of the pattern as to keep the angle the same on both side when I was doing the other side. Once the line tool was used, I was able to use the Type on a Path tool which meant that I was literally able to type on the previously made path that I had created using the Line tool. Personally I opted to use this method of text placement, as opposed to the standard text tool and then rotating it, as I felt that it would be more precise especially when in regards to having to do it for two sides too. Talking of two sides, once the text was typed in I was able to do exactly the same to the right hand side, once again utilising the Line Segment Tool and the Type on a Path Tool as well. 

At this stage of the Information blog post, I think that it is worth mentioning that I did consider another option for the placement of the Information in regards to the Text Wrap Tool. I tried this first, however in the end decided to not use it. I will admit that in relation to the specification it says that I should demonstrate the use of the Text Wrap too and although I had already gone through this in Blog Post 34 with my introductory to this tool, I felt that my previously chosen method using the Type on a Path tool was best in this case. However, in the image here you can see that I have demonstrated, again, the use of the Text wrap whereby it was wrapped to the shapes around it. Just to reiterate, I decided to not use this method as I felt it was not beneficial to my design and therefore chose another route in the form of the Type on a Path tool. 

Having now added the copyright information and also the Regional Information for the DVD this meant that I had added all of the different elements to the On Disc Label which I had wanted to, and therefore with all of the different stages and elements having been brought together I am now at a point of evaluating the On Disc Label as a whole. However, prior to this I will be reviewing some feedback that I have received from an outside party as to if they had any constructive criticism or not in regards to my design. With this in mind, the next stage will be in regards to feedback received.