2. What are the technical qualities
of your work?
To create my various products and final pieces I have used Photoshop.
Through the use of Photoshop, I believe I have successfully created
strong final pieces. My products ran with a theme of Superman all the
way through. To create my IRN BRU version of superman I had to use the
polygonal lasso tool on Photoshop and rotoscope the various parts of
superman in order to change his colour scheme to orange and blue to
match IRN BRU’s colour scheme. In my opinion, I think has worked
successfully and looks strong as when you zoom in close to superman
there appear to me no major mistakes or errors where the colours either
don’t fill the frame properly or have overlapped and ran onto the page.
I have also had to manipulate the can around superman's hand using
rotoscoping to ensure it looks like he is holding the can in his fist. This is
successful because it does look like he is holding the can and from a
distance it looks professional and a high standard. However, if you look
at the detail up close, it is not as smooth as I would like it to be, and you
can visually notice minor errors where the cuts are not perfect or there is
a touch of the can missing as I have made slight errors when cutting
round superman’s hand and the can. When creating the can, I also used
the polygonal lasso tool. I used this to cut around the can and make it
look like my design is warped to the can and fits onto the can smoothly
with no extra edging pieces or missing part of the design, making it
smaller than the can. I think this worked well as my design fits onto the
can tightly and when zoomed in, you can see the edge of the can lined
up against my design and can label.
3. To create my poster and web banner, I also used
Photoshop. When I created these products I used various
tools in Photoshop such as polygonal lasso and the magic
wand. I think using these has helped me to create, strong
and successful final pieces. The layout of these designs is
strong and looks professional, which helps to make them
look well made and flawless. Every aspect of these designs
appears to work well and have its own place, ensuring it is
easy to read through the whole publication and clearly
understand it. Nothing overlaps or blends together which
also helps to make its readability clear and easy, whilst also
retaining as little information as possible to ensure you are
not having to read, understand and remember masses of
information. You only need to know the important parts.
4. What are the aesthetic qualities
of your work?
The colour scheme of my designs follows the IRN BRU colour scheme
which is already in use. The oranges and blues work together and
compliment each other, whilst also clashing to ensure there is clear
definition between the two and doesn’t hurt your eyes to look at. Using a
stroke outline for the 32 in the logo helps to make it stand out and draw it
away from the background and the drink name. On the ‘IRN BRU’ I have
featured an inner glow and inner shadow. This gives it some dimension
and makes it appear as though it is popping up from the page and has a
3-D like effect. The yellow explosion/pop clipart with the outer glow
added to it behind helps to draw away from the background and make
it pop out at the buyer or viewer so they can easily identify the brand
name and read it clearly. The superman on the logo is drawn away from
the background and stands out also due to the drop shadow I have
used which makes it seem as though he has pulled away from the can
and has dimension to him. The font used on this is eye catching and bold
which immediately grabs your attention and is one of the first things you
see. The edginess to it and the details of the flicks make it look fire-like. It
could also make it look active and energy-like as it is a busy and ‘fun’
font style, rather than being simplistic and professional that you would
find in a sans-serif styled font.
5. When creating my web banner and poster, I discovered that adding an
outer glow to the drinks can helped draw the can away from the
background and make it stand out more as the can was a similar shade
of blue to the background. I did a similar thing with the copy on the web
banner, adding a glow to make it stand out away from the
background. I think these two publications are aesthetically similar and
work well together due to them having similar colour schemes, layouts
and background colours. I started my web banner off with the same IRN
BRU effects and design as on the poster but noticed how when I made it
smaller, the overlay didn’t work as well so I removed it and stuck with a
stroke outline, which I feel has been really effective. I would also change
this on my poster if I could because the ‘IRN BRU 32’ seems dark and
dismal rather than being bright, vivid and eye catching. Using a stroke
around ’taste the energy’ has worked successfully in my opinion
because it helps to make the wording stand out, popping away from
the background and easier to read, catching your eye immediately.
6. Are there opportunities for further
development in your work?
One of the opportunities of development I have discovered when looking
back through my work is the back of the drinks can with the ingredients
and nutritional information on. Looking back on it after production, I have
realised that the orange does not stand out so well and the copy isn’t the
easiest thing to read. If I could re-do the task, I would either add a
stroke/glow to the text or I would change the font colour to something
easier to read against the blue and something that will stand out easier,
as not to strain the viewers eyes if they try reading it. Similarly, with the
other part of the can I would also change font colours or add some sort
of effect to the wording as it is not overly easy to read. The blue on blue
background does not work too well and the shades seem to blend
together and into each other, meaning that you have to squint and
strain your eyes to read it clearly. Something else which I noticed to
change and develop is the headline on the poster. I used a bevel and
emboss overlay to try and make it pop out away from the page but it has
seemed to have made the colour tones dark and dismal rather than
bright and eye catching. Along with this, I would also change the layout
of the headline slightly to try and make it match the can and web
banner more, working as a unit. The can and banner have the ‘IRN BRU’
on one line and then the ‘32’ slightly overlapping underneath, I think if I
was to change this to do the same on the poster they would all be more
similar and working together due to having similar layouts, and also similar
colour tones, tying them together as a set rather than being visually
different and having a different looking logo on each individual piece of
publication.
7. Are your final pieces fit for
purpose?
Overall I think that my final pieces successfully work together and that they are fit for
purpose as advertisement publications. I think that through having the same colour and
shade for the background on each piece, it helps tie them together and shows they all
work as part of the same advertising campaign. The use of a superman image on the
designs helps to target the niche audience of superman fans which will make them
interested in the drink and in turn, could make them purchase the drink as it is related to
their fan-base. This drink could also target younger audiences such as teens and young
adults as the designs are simple and basic with a young feel towards them rather than
being professional and formal; which you would typically use to target a higher aged and
more professional audience. They appear fit for purpose overall as they look the same and
run with the same theme, keeping consistency and professionalism. They are also fit for
purpose as they all look finished off and polished. None of them seem to have aspects that
have been left unfinished and there are no masses of empty space on any of them.
8. What areas of planning and
development worked well?
I think that developing my ideas and making progressions to the drafts
and basic ideas worked well because it allowed me to improve my first
designs and get better results. Testing out the various overlays I could
use on my fonts and the colour schemes worked well because it
allowed me to discover which colours would work well together and
which ones wouldn’t work and would be unsuccessful. Experiments
with the various overlays and strokes I could use on my text proved
effective because I was able to see which ones looked the best and
would be most suitable for my design. Through my planning stages, I
was able to place the different colours and fonts together with the
overlays and experiment with various combinations to find out which
ones would work and which ones would not be as good to use on my
products. It allowed me to look at orange copy on a blue background
and blue copy on an orange background and see which one worked
best. The various experimenting worked well as it allowed me to find
out that using a drop shadow or stroke on my text would work well to
help draw the words away from the background and make them
stand out to catch your eye. It also allowed me to identify colour
schemes which would not work on paper even though you thought
they might have done when you thought it through in your head. All of
the planning and development allowed me to make the various
alterations and adjustments I needed to my products to create strong
final pieces and meant I could change colours, fonts and overlays etc
if I needed to in order to gain the best final results possible.
9. What areas of planning and
development could be worked on?
One aspect of my planning and
development which I feel could be worked
on is the planning and development of my
posters. Due to being ill and missing
essential production time, I didn’t get to
develop on current designs to improve
them. Although I think my final poster is
suitable and a strong final piece, I do feel
that it would have benefit more from
developmental stages and changing
things to make the design stronger, rather
than having 2 separate poster designs
where I finished one and created a whole
new one to become my final piece.
Another aspect of my planning and
development which I would may be able
to worked on would be my rough can idea
drafts. I feel that working on these and
spending more time and thought on them
would make then stronger starting points
rather than just trying out anything and
hoping for the best as what I produced
was a bunch of random ideas that didn’t
really look professional or well made.
10. What effect did the development
stages have on your final products?
Although my final products do not look like how I originally planned them to and the can
is totally different to my first design, the development stages had positive effects on my
final products as they allowed me to experiment and change things around until I
discovered what worked best. The development stages allowed me to make progressions
and adjustments to come up with my final pieces. Through working on the can design I
came up with a final design and idea featuring superman. Although the development
meant that it had drastically changed from how it originally looked on the first design,
there was still some similar aspects that remained from the beginning until the end.
Although many aspects of the can design are different to what I had initially planned on
doing, certain areas are similar. For the ‘IRN BRU’ I used the same colour and shade, also
featuring the inner shadow to make it pop. I also kept the yellow explosion clipart behind
to make it stand out more. I think the development would have affected my posters if I
had had more time to work on them and progress them rather than just abandoning my
first idea and starting a whole new one to become my final product.