UNIT 9 -EVALUATION

By Abbie Walker21/11/2011

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.

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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 :

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.

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.

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.