Major Project - Final Album Artwork and Evaluation
After the final designs were completed, all that was left for me to do was begin animating, as well as printing out the illustrations to be displayed. For the animation portion of this I simply ensured that all the layers of my illustrations were separated so that they could be moved individually. I also had to take into account that I wanted my animations available to play on Spotify, and so the dimensions had to fit a smartphone.
With this, I took to After Effects and did some research on what dimensions were best for most smartphones. I found out that for a 1080p video in After Effects, the highest quality dimensions you can use are 720px horizontal by 1280px vertical, so this is how I decided to set up my canvas.
I then started a new composition for the clouds, where I then simply moved by dropping key frames and allocating the positions. This resulted in the clouds gently gliding from screen left to screen right. I made sure to do each cloud at a different speed to give a more natural looking effect. I also wanted the audience to be able to see the change in opacity and colours as the clouds overlapped one another.
As well as this I toggled the opacity of the neon signs up and down to give the impression of them flickering. This was really effective and when paired with the clouds, gave a really simple ambient animation. Below is the finished animation to play alongside Louie's album 'Foggy'. The screen dimensions have been set to play on a mobile device, so to get the full effect it may be best to view it on there. However, it does still work on PC.
I feel that this animation turned out really nicely, and the simple style gave an ambient feel to entire composition. I didn't want to do a complex music video as I wanted the animation to compliment the music and vice versa, which I think is successful.
The second animation I did was desired to be released alongside the single 'Spade'. For this I took the album artwork I had previously produced for Spade and decided to once again make a simple, looping, ambient animation to accompany the music. I wanted this animation to tie into the one I had done previously, as though they were a part of a series. I therefore took the same concept as I did with the clouds I had previously animated for Louie's album 'Foggy'. I also wanted to keep the same idea as I had with the original artwork I produced, with the man falling through the clouds. To do this I simply moved the clouds, keeping the object in the middle (in this case the bug) still, and once again had the clouds move at different speeds to give a more natural movement. I also had the clouds at different opacities and colours, so that once again when they overlapped it had a more eye catching affect and the composition didn't blur into one big colour. I used the same clouds that can be seen in the Foggy animation, but this time had them moving upwards, to give the illusion of the bug falling through them.
As well as the animation, I decided that due to my previous research regarding the revival of vinyl, I wanted to create mock ups of what the album and the singles would look like as 12" and 7" vinyls. To do this I photoshopped my design on to a net which I downloaded, so that I knew that when I printed it, it would fold perfectly and the dimensions would definitely be correct. I also had to design a further back cover and spine for the vinyl sleeve. Here are the finished nets for the main album, Foggy, and the two singles Louie plans on releasing, Secrets and Spade:
After these had been designed, I printed them out using the large format printer and decided to use a double weight matte paper, so that structurally it would be sturdy when folded and also it would have a clean finish to it. I needed to ensure that the sleeve would be strong enough when folded to carry the perspex 'vinyl' that I had previously laser cut. I did this because I wanted the vinyl mock ups to be presented nicely and for people to understand my vision of how they would possibly be made and sold if Louie decided to get his album pressed.
For this I decided to do a coloured 12" 'vinyl', as nowadays it is popular to collect limited edition coloured vinyls. I also did two 7" black 'vinyls' to go inside the single sleeves. Doing this really brought the whole thing together and I began to envision how it would help my work be displayed at our final show and also New Designers. Here are the finished products:
Overall I am really pleased with how the final product turned out and how my animations paired with the music. I feel like the mock up vinyls look quite professional and that they are of similar quality to real ones I own and have purchased in the past. I feel as though I have put a lot of time and effort into this project and have always kept in mind how it would be displayed, and I think that this has really paid off.
In the space between hand in and our final show, I would like to perhaps create another animation using the album cover for Secrets, so that this way I have a full set; as well as this I would perhaps like to put a Spotify layout over my animations so that it portrays my full intentions of having the animations available for Spotify streaming.
I do also think that the finished artwork would be accepted by the target audience, as it fits the stereotypical indie aesthetic and I have ensured to take into account the platforms that most young people like to listen to their music on nowadays. I have also made sure to export the static artwork in multiple ways so that Louie has plenty of options to choose from depending on what platform he releases his music on.
