CMNS325 – Final Project
Visual Press Kit – The Fury
Jonathan Wu – 30105777
Spring 2011
David Murphy and Jan Marontate
This project originally started with the idea of simply revamping an online webpage for my band, and providing supplementary materials for promotion such as possibly a poster with a logo redesign and other widgets possibly that could be useful in a promotional realm. Moving from this I combined a couple different lab assignment elements to really focus on the visualization component and what would make this an effective piece for visually representing data that would normally be summed up into a page or two write up that I could only hope some people might read.
In the reading “Electronic Tools,” it says that “tools are made to accomplish our purposes, and in this sense they represent desires and intentions. We make our tools and our tools make us: by taking up particular tools we accede to desire and we manifest intentions” (Sunil, Manghani, Arthur Piper, and Jon Simmons (2006,p. 227)). The medium I’m expecting most people to view this in will be on a computer screen; the average screen resolution for most people in this day and age is probably around 1024 x 640 and 1280 x 800. In the worst-case scenario of an 800 x 600 resolution screen I’ve made sure that the canvas size of my piece is going to be large enough that it can be explored thoroughly zoomed in or out with a 5100 x 3300 resolution with 300dpi quality so that the image will not become pixilated upon closer inspection. I’ve left the option open that this could also be printed out into a pamphlet format that could be easily folded into threes, of course if I were to pursue that road I would follow up with another page of relevant information that did not make the cut for the first page. What I’ve taken advantage of for it being a .pdf viewable file is that I’ve made it semi-interactive by converting my images into hyperlink buttons that upon being clicked will open an internet browser window, directing the reader to an appropriately related site whether it be the iTunes or Rockband catalogue to purchase music and downloadable content or to the visual map on Google maps that plots out all the tours and locations we’ve played while out on the road.
‘Semiotics or the study of signs is concerned with meaning-making and can be represented in many forms’ (Sunil Manghani, Arthur Piper and Jon Simons (2006, p 102), I’ve intended to utilize certain signs and images to attract attention and build meaning to represent the band, first off using Edward Tufte’s Principles of Analytical Design in mind, the information flow and packaging is laid out to make clear stepping stones for information dissemination. Starting with the logo and picture of the band front and center it jumps out with a picture and an understanding of “who” with a visual component and a branded logo to associate with the band. In combination with the background image that gives a bit of a rustic/vintage feel to it, the logo and the image tries to establish a genre for most readers to generalize what sort of style or type of music the band might be. The image itself is also set to show that the band is a 4-piece with a female fronted singer, below this image is the names of the individual members and as well a semi transparent Canadian flag with Vancouver written across it to explain that we’re a Canadian band from the west coast. From a top down visual guide; the information of who we are, what we look like, where we’re from, and what style of music is all implied with little to no explanation – a perfect replacement to an introduction paragraph of any biography.
Overall the layout I chose something that would be friendly to most wide screen format computers that is simply packed into a three column electronic brochure, the content is spaced and aligned accordingly to visually maintain strong lines and relations within their respected columns. If I were to critique this piece, if I had more knowledge of applications like Flash or other interactive media I would’ve liked to embed an actual music player docked into the kit or even possibly some videos we’ve made for promotional purposes as well as some live shots. All in all I find that what is needed to be articulated within this design piece has been expressed appropriately, if I were to make a second page I could probably incorporate more of the visual content that didn’t make the first page including videos, live shots, and extra information of who we’ve played with that sometimes is needed to be present in some press kits to show that a band has been opening for bigger acts, thus growing their fan base. I have to say the techniques learned in class have been very useful; especially when coupled with some of the In Design techniques learned in another publication course, I look forward to attempting more visual design pieces for not only myself but also possibly others.
Work Cited:
Manghani, Sunil, Arthur Piper and Jon Simons. Images: A Reader. London: Sage Publications Ltd., 2006.