I followed the same process as creating the Munich logo when stylising the text for song title How Many Times, drawing out several different versions that I felt would compliment the style of text used for the logo. The client I'm in contact with, Gareth, wanted the song title to be in the same style as the logo, though I suggested differentiating it slightly to separate the two elements and keep only the logo in that style.
Working with the logo in mind, I drew out several variations using an italicised slant, uppercase and lowercase, trying to create an opposing style to the logo but maintaining the handwritten characteristics.
A photo one of the band members friends had already taken for them to use as an EP cover was sent to me so I could place the logo and song title somewhere within the frame. I opted for the top left corner over the darkest area of the photo as the large amount of dark space seemed like a suitable place for the titles to fit.
They sent a higher resolution file which I edited slightly on request to desaturate the colours. I did this before placing the text, making sure the image and adjustment layers were below them.
I traced over one of the versions on Photoshop as an example to insert onto the image to get a better idea of what it would look like. I was then able to test out different colours and sizes, which I determined based on the colours already in the photograph and the size in relation to the composition of the photo. I sent this along with the preliminary sketches to the client for them to make a decision on which they preferred.
They came back having chosen the all lowercase version, second to last on the sheet below.
From this I was able to draw over the scanned drawing in a colour that I'd already colour picked and added to my swatch palette in Photoshop.
I decided the best composition for the text in relation to the light and subjects in the image was the top left corner, to balance out the weight of the person in bottom right.
At this point I consulted with the client again and sent the above image to see whether the composition and colour scheme was to their liking. It was suggested that the text should be brighter to stand off the page more, possibly using a more vibrant green.
____________________
To increase the visibility of the logo, I experimented with various colour changes and techniques including adding a lighter backdrop behind the logo, which I don't think works well at all. Some of the brighter colours I picked from the background of the photo stood off the page too much, and other colour combinations didn't work.
After a lot of changing about, I decided that picking up on the red in the shirt worked pretty well paired with a neutral colour from the pavement behind, however I felt that this lost a bit of colour that the green and yellow brought in. I sent the client three images (below) to choose from - the green title brightened since the last version. They seemed to like the red logo best, and I think the middle image works best as the lighter song title doesn't sink into the dark photo as much.
Once happy with the titles, I asked if the photo should be cropped to a square so it would work as a CD cover and would be more suitable for social networks and online media which is one of the first things they said they wanted to use it for. (E.g. Soundcloud, Youtube). This meant changing the format to square, requiring moving the position of the titles to fit this specification instead.
I also changed the dimensions and dpi of the image so it was suitable for print. I plan to create a duplicated but smaller file that can be used for web purposes.
Using Illustrator, I made and filled each letterform so the shapes and forms looked more balanced as a piece, the same way I changed the Munich logo, which made the title a higher quality vector image.
For the photo to be cropped to a square requires the main dark area of the image to be removed in order for the whole body to stay in the image which I thought was important. This meant that where I had been positioning the text already was no longer available for the text to have an (almost) plain background, so I played with different compositions and ended up rotating it to fit with the shapes in the cover.
I also added a drop shadow to the Munich logo in the top right to help increase the apparent distance between the text and the image, making it stand off the page. This wasn't necessary for the song title, as the lighter hue stands out enough from the contrasting back drop. The rotated text works because along with the other elements in the photo, such as the direction of the body, it reinforces the square shape, as well as working on the same plane as the figure when turned at a 90 degree angle.
No comments:
Post a Comment