Over the past few Blog Posts I have been introducing the new piece of software that I will be using that is Adobe Illustrator, as well as a few different tools that I will more than likely be using within the program itself. The next stage, however, is to start to carry out some research into this next stage of the assignment. In a similar vain to that of Blog Post 6 - DVD Cover Research, I feel that at this early stage of the design for this second stage of the assignment it is important to get an idea of what has been already been done. As well as getting some inspiration for what I could possibly use on my own On Disc Cover it is also a chance to see and evaluate what different elements have been included on the disc covers too.
 |
| Collage of Disc Cover Research |
With this in mind, I decided to look at the Disc Covers for that of the previous Ashes to Ashes Series to see what sort of elements the original designers decided to include. Looking online at both Google Images (www.images.google.com) and Bing Images (www.bing.com/images) meant that I was able to then download some copies of the existing disc covers and place these into the collage here.
Having now gathered a nice array of Disc Covers this means that I am now in a position so that I can comment upon and review the different elements which will hopefully help me with the design stage of the this assignment. Certainly looking back at the research that I carried out for that of the Stage One: DVD Amaray Cover this definitely helped me and therefore hopefully this research carried out here will help too in a similar fashion.
Looking at the array of disc covers here, it is firstly apparently that the all of them apart from the last disc cover are actually mainly bitmap photograph based, as opposed to that of a vectorised graphic. However, the sixth disc cover that is a vectorised base design is a very good example of how vectorised images can be used. In this case a base photograph of Gene Hunt's head has been used and then using software, perhaps Illustrator or a similar Vector based graphics editing program, this image was either converted or designed in such a way that different shades of red to white where used to portray that of the face of Gene. Certainly combined with the red background of the rest of the disc cover this effect works well. The downside to this design is that personally I think that it is quite a basic design, however I suppose that this is part of the attraction of the simplicity of the design. Regards title and information of the disc this is nicely placed on the right hand side of the disc and in a contrasting white colour font so that it is easy to read.
Working backwards, in regards to the fifth disc cover in the collage to the left of the first one discussed, this mainly based are two photographic elements. Firstly, a background looks to have been placed on the disc cover in the form of flames which gives quite a dramatic look once portraits of Gene and Alex have been placed over the top. Personally, though, I am not a huge fan of this design as I do not think that the flames work very well at all and this would not be something that I would be looking to add into my design.
The first four designs that are in the collage are all rather similar, so I have decided to comment on these together as a group. I actually believe that these were originally part of a DVD Box set, firstly due to the Disc 1, Disc 2, Disc 3 and Disc 4 etc markings on the disc however also in regards to there being the different portraits of the different characters on each of the discs. Unfortunately there is not much to comment on these disc covers as they are all in regards to just a basic portrait photograph being added. However, these disks do feature more in the way of logos such as the age certification, company logos and also Region settings.
Having now completed some research into the existing disc covers that are out there, I feel that hopefully this will be something that help me in the future. In regards to the next stage of the assignment, I feel that I am now in a position to start thinking and documenting the design stage of the On Disc Label.
Looking at the array of disc covers here, it is firstly apparently that the all of them apart from the last disc cover are actually mainly bitmap photograph based, as opposed to that of a vectorised graphic. However, the sixth disc cover that is a vectorised base design is a very good example of how vectorised images can be used. In this case a base photograph of Gene Hunt's head has been used and then using software, perhaps Illustrator or a similar Vector based graphics editing program, this image was either converted or designed in such a way that different shades of red to white where used to portray that of the face of Gene. Certainly combined with the red background of the rest of the disc cover this effect works well. The downside to this design is that personally I think that it is quite a basic design, however I suppose that this is part of the attraction of the simplicity of the design. Regards title and information of the disc this is nicely placed on the right hand side of the disc and in a contrasting white colour font so that it is easy to read.
Working backwards, in regards to the fifth disc cover in the collage to the left of the first one discussed, this mainly based are two photographic elements. Firstly, a background looks to have been placed on the disc cover in the form of flames which gives quite a dramatic look once portraits of Gene and Alex have been placed over the top. Personally, though, I am not a huge fan of this design as I do not think that the flames work very well at all and this would not be something that I would be looking to add into my design.
The first four designs that are in the collage are all rather similar, so I have decided to comment on these together as a group. I actually believe that these were originally part of a DVD Box set, firstly due to the Disc 1, Disc 2, Disc 3 and Disc 4 etc markings on the disc however also in regards to there being the different portraits of the different characters on each of the discs. Unfortunately there is not much to comment on these disc covers as they are all in regards to just a basic portrait photograph being added. However, these disks do feature more in the way of logos such as the age certification, company logos and also Region settings.
Having now completed some research into the existing disc covers that are out there, I feel that hopefully this will be something that help me in the future. In regards to the next stage of the assignment, I feel that I am now in a position to start thinking and documenting the design stage of the On Disc Label.
