Unit 9 - Evaluation

1. Unit 9 -Evaluation By Abbie Walker 21/11/2011

2. What? • In unit 9 we had 3 tasks to do which were photography techniques, initial concept for designs for CD inlays and last final design for CD inlays. In the first task we had to do 2 tasks. The first one was photography techniques where we had to look at the history of photography, the changes in photo techniques and the development in photography. I found this task really good because I didn’t really know that much before we started it but after I knew a little more for example the fact that the first digital still camera didn’t come out till 1991 I also thought it was good because I found it interesting to research about the past photographers and what type of photographs they took. In the PowerPoint I found out that the first photograph was taken by Nicephore Niepce in 1826 and the first colour photograph was taken in 1914 by Paul G.Guillumette.

3. What? • In the next part of this task we did photography research in which we had to research a photographer of our choice and say why we picked her/him. I chose Stuart Macfarlane who is the photographer for Arsenal Football club. I chose to do him because I like the photographs he takes like when he is at games and training. The reason why I like his photographs is because his angle makes you feel like you’re at the game and part of the action. The other reason why I chose to do him was because I support Arsenal and I found what he does is really hard to do. Here are some pictures of his action shots and posed shots

4. What? • In the second task we had to do initial designs for our CD inlays. First thing we had to do was pick out a group or singer that we wanted to do. I chose to do it about Rizzle Kicks because they are a local band from Brighton, I like their music which is Hip hop, pop music and rap. I also picked them because they are fresh. The other reason why I like their music is because one of them went to my school. After I had come up with the band that I was doing, I researched on the internet for the CD cover and website to get some ideas. Then after I got some pictures that were related to them I started to come up with my own design for my CD inlay. I did the CD inlays in Photoshop because it lets you put images together and move pictures that you have collected. After I had looked at what kinds of things would go with their band I started designing my first CD inlay.

5. How? • In my first design I did a CD inlay which was lots of different pairs of trainers. The first thing I did was pick all the same trainers but in different colours then after that I had to crop so there wasn’t any white left, then I had to scale and rotate them so they fitted where I wanted them to. I had to use the rubber a lot to get rid of anything that I didn’t want. I found this task hard because I had to pick loads of trainers, then crop them to the right size which took a long time and longer that I thought it would. I had to use the rubber which took a long time because sometimes I made a mistake and had to go back and correct it. When I had finished doing the back I had to put the songs on. This was difficult because I had so many different colours in the trainers that it was hard to find one that went well over all of them, so I had to put a pink glow round the text so it stands out. The reason I chose that pink glow was because it goes well with the trainers as well as standing out. Despite this task being hard and time consuming I am happy with my overall design. But if I had to do it again I would choose something that was a bit more simple to do.

6. What? • After we did our first CD inlay, we then had to 3 more CD inlay for our choice of band or singer. As I was ill I had to do the other 3 at home. I downloaded Gimp which I thought was really hard to use and it took up lots of memory. As I was so used to using Photoshop I found it took a long time to get use to. When it came to designing these CD inlays I thought it would be good to do something about what they wear and like. So in one of my CD inlays I did the outline of the clothes they wear. I felt this task was quite hard because I have never used Gimp before and it took time getting use to the program and the using different tools. When I finished I liked the work that I did but I feel that the outcome would have been better if it was done in Photoshop.

7. What? • In the last task which was designing the final CD inlay. The first thing I did was take pictures of the things I needed to the CD inlay. I did this buy walking around Brighton taking the images that was needed. The first pictures that I took were of some graffiti in the college car park, I then walked around the lanes taking other things with graffiti on them and stuff that would make you think of Brighton. After I had collected the images that I wanted, I loaded them on the the computer and started designing my final CD inlay. My final design was going to be a back ground of graffiti then things around it which when you look at it, you would think that they come from Brighton. After I started doing it I found that these images and what I wanted to do was to hard and would take up to much of my time as we only had a week and a bit to do it. I came up with some new ideas for the CD inlay and went out and took some different images. I went down to the sea front and took some more pictures. When I got back I started to design my new final CD inlay which would be more simple and not take as much time. • Here are some of the pictures that I took with the camera :

8. How? I did this image by putting the picture into Photoshop then used the blend mode tool and the linear burn. After I did that I burn some of the colour out by using the blend tool at the bottom of the page. Then I had to put in the songs and the name of the band, this was kind of difficult because I couldn’t find a colour that would stand out in the background. After I did that I had to put in the bar code and the QR code. For this image I did the same as the back cover but I made sure that there wasn’t any colour in it but still so you could see what the image was, and so you could tell that the image that I took came from Brighton. I found doing this more difficult than the back cover because I couldn’t get the right colour for it. Once I did it, I had to start again because I saved it as a JEP, so that took more time to do. The reason it took so long to do is because once it’s a JEP you cant undo it. After I had done that I had to put in the name of the band I was doing which is Rizzle Kicks. Then I put on the Parental Advisory logo.

9. Project Review • I felt that the task overall went well. The first task that we did was photography techniques, I found this task good and it wasn’t that hard because I liked looking on the internet for information about photographers and then writing it down in a PowerPoint. In the second part of that task which was researching a photographer of our choice, I enjoyed doing this because I could look on the internet about a photographer of my choice and write why I like what they do and what photographs they take. I also liked this task because I found it interesting to look at photos they have taken. I found this task really good because I found it interesting to research more about a photographer. • I found doing the initial designs the hardest part of the whole unit because I wasted a lot of time thinking of what I could do. I also found it hard because as I was ill so I had to do the work at home, and download Gimp which I found really hard to use. I also found it hard because once I had started using Gimp and I got half way though my work, it lost it and I had to start again. I don’t think that my designs are that good because Gimp took me a long time to use and I didn’t really know what I was doing. When we took some photographs for our CD inlay, I found it kind of hard because I don’t really use cameras that much and I couldn’t take the right photographs so I had to go out the next day and take some more. The final design I thought well went although I had to start again which took some time getting the same colour as my first design I did. But overall im happy with all the tasks that I have done, but next time I would do things that are more simple and don’t take as much time.

10. Future work • If I had to do this whole project again I would plan it bit by bit so I knew what I was going to do in the PowerPoint's and designs. I would also research more into the band that I choose to do so I would know what design to put onto the CD inlay. I would do a more simple design that didn’t take as long and also I would make sure I had the necessary skills in Photoshop before I started to design something. • I Think that it would help if I spent more time developing my skills in Photoshop so I wouldn’t waste so much time. I would also take more pictures because then I would have more to chose from, also I would take pictures at home so then I wouldn’t waste time in class time when I could be getting on with my work.