Sticker Sheet Research

When starting my research into existing sticker sheets I firstly looked at several of my old sticker books which had a range of designs. Secondly I used the Google search engine to look for existing stickers form a verity of female music artists. I found that the type of audience the singer wished to attract influenced the designs of the stickers. For example below you can see that the stickers for Taylor Swift use feature pinks, purples and whites and also have written stickers which are all different shapes.  When you compare this to the stickers for Avril Lavigne you can see a clear contrast. Avril Lavigne's stickers include backstage shots and a variety of poses but use grown up colours and simple poses and her outfits are casual.

From looking at the sticker sheets I can see that the majority of the stickers are of the artist themselves sometimes with their name incorporated into the image on the sticker. Comparing the sticker sheets and researching the product in detail is a key part in my research and planning as I need to ensure that I keep to the codes and conventions of existing products and the target audience of the artists. These notes will also influence my designs.

I used my research to put together initial ideas, sketches and detailed designs.

I decided to put together an initial ideas brainstorm as I could refer to this throughout the project. As well as a way of ensuring that all commonly used factors are included in my designs as this brainstorm is a basis for the designs I will create.

I have decided that I will create a verity of different sized stickers mainly sticking to a square shape as i feel this is suitable for my target audience and the photography I wish to create and capture. I have designed to circle sticker in case my target audience feel that there needs to be a change and this can easily be made. I have decided that I will have three different designs. The first design only featuring an image, the secondly an image and 'Vanessa Carlton' and thirdly an image with 'VC incorporated within the sticker. I will now use Photoshop to edit my images and Illustrator to put the different aspects of the designs together.

key Ring Research

I began my research by looking firstly at the keyring I own and then using the Google search engine to look at Google images and the merchandise pages of existing female artists of a similar genre. I found that there where three commonly used designs. The first design I found was that the keyring image was a smaller version of the artists poster. The second design was using a shape related to the artist for example Avril Lavigne having the shape of a guitar pick with am image and the artists name or signature on the back. The third design being a close up image of the artists face. 

I decided to put together an initial ideas brainstorm as I could refer to this throughout the project. As well as a way of ensuring that all commonly used factors are included in my designs as this brainstorm is a basis for the designs I will create.

Initial Ideas

Plans

I have decided that I will create one of each keyring design I have found during my research. I have decided that the shape that I feel represents my artist best is a heart. I have decided to use this shape because her new album and video have the theme of love running through them. As well as the heart matching and tying in with the lyrics I have decided to position on the front of the keyring.  I have planned the photography that I will need for the two tickets and once it had been captured, I will use Photoshop to edit my images and Illustrator to put the different aspects of the designs together.

Poster Research

When starting my research into existing female artist posters. I began by looking through music magazine before using the Google search engine to look at Google Images and then different female artists websites merchandise pages. Below are some examples which I have collected together and will refer to whilst creating the product.

Next I compared each T-shirt making note of their similarities. This is a key point in my research and planning as I need to ensure that I keep with the codes and conventions of existing products, as these notes will influence my designs. I found that there where many similarities to the examples I have selected to review,these include:

•  Upper body shot
• Plain background 
• Staged shot
• Accessories
• Limited text
• Naturalistic make-up which is not too heavy

Now I have completed my research I will use what I have found to create initial ideas and detailed designs.

Initial Ideas

I decided to put together an initial ideas brainstorm as I could refer to this throughout the project. As well as a way of ensuring that all commonly used factors are included in my designs as this brainstorm is a basis for the designs I will create.

Plans

I have decided that I will create two different posters. I have decided that the first poster will have Melissa (Vanessa) sitting in an arm chair with a bright coloured dress and make up. I will also position the words 'Vanessa Carlton' written in the top right hand corner. The second poster will have an image which has been taken on a plain background with Melissa (Vanessa) in casual cloths and naturalistic make up. I will then position the words 'Vanessa Carlton' with a X following which will bee rotated by 45 degrees an spaced on to different lines.

Website - Merchandise Page Discussion

Whilst me and Melissa where researching and creating plans for the Merchandise page we made note of the types of merchandise different artists of the same genre and with the same target audience as Vanessa Carlton sold.

Due to this me and Melissa have decided that we will create a range of merchandise similar to what we have found to be displayed on the merchandise page. The items we have agreed to create are:

• Bag (Mel)
• Key Rings (Jenny)
• Mug (Mel)
• Poster (Jenny)
• Stickers (Jenny)
• Nail Vanish bottles (Mel)

We have also decided that we will look further into specific rages which artist bring out and how they are advertised. We will do this by looking a a range of advertising material including both print and web based products. As well as looking at and analysing existing ranges of female artists of the same genre as Vanessa Carlton.

Website Creation Begins!

Today me and Meilissa began creating Vanessa Carltons Website using the Dreamweaver software. We started off by setting up different folders within one main folder which we named Vanessa Carltons Website, these folders were named Images, pages and buttons. Secondly we created the pages we wanted to incorporate in our website which were Home, My Life, Gallery, News and Tour and saved them in the appropriate area before the designing process began. We added two more pages to the website which we will now draw up detailed plans for. These pages were Videos and Merchandise.

The next thing we did was decide on a background colour or pattern. We selected the following pattern as it fits and is consistent with the theme and house style we have created through our groups ancillary tasks. The house style is Red, Black and White. Below is the background pattern we selected.

We decided that this was a suitable pattern as it tied in and complimented the color scheme selected by the group. furthermore the rose petals tie in with the theme of the music video we are creating at from looking at other artists websites you can clearly see that the elements of the latest video and CD are incorporated within the website design. After selecting and inserting the background pattern we referred to our original plans and using AP Divs marked out the layout of each page.

Once this was completed we tested several fonts before selecting an appropriate font for the navigation bar. The font that we selected was called

We then drew a table at the head of the page and wrote the name of each page inside a different column in the table. Then we created a text link to link each appropriate page to the homepage. By creating a table we where able to ensure that each link was equally spaced and aligned. Below are the first print screens of each page within the Vanessa Carlton Website with further information on each page.

Homepage

This is the first print screen of the Homepage of the website. As you can see me and Melissa have added the background pattern, created a black box for the information, interactive features and images to be positioned inside, created the navigation bar and set out where the features are going to be positioned using  AP DIV'S. Where the white banner is will be a photograph of Vanessa Carlton and where the grey boxes are interactive features and links. 

My Life

This is the first print screen of the My Life page. As you can see me and Melissa have used the same basic template as the homepage to keep the website consistent.  The white boxes on the page are where the picture slide shows will be positioned and the text in the black space.

Gallery

This is the first print screen of the Gallery page. As you can see me and Melissa have used the same basic template as the homepage to keep the website consistent.  The light grey box will be where the images will be shown in a scroll bar and the dark grey areas will be where the back and forward arrows to look through the images are. The white box is where the image will be displayed after it has been selected. 

             

                                           Merchandise

This is the first print screen of the Merchandise page. As you can see me and Melissa have used the same basic template as the homepage to keep the website consistent.  The grey boxes are where all of the different products will be shown along with the price and item description. The white box will show a larger version of the product when they smaller version is selected. 

Videos

This is the first print screen of the Video page. As you can see me and Melissa have used the same basic template as the homepage to keep the website consistent.  The light grey box will be where the different music videos will be shown in a scroll bar and the dark grey areas will be where the back and forward arrows to look through the videos. The white box is where the video will be played after it has been selected.

We have decided to  keep the gallery and video page with the same layout as this was a common theme in other artists websites for example Cheryl Cole. 

                                            News

This is the first print screen of the News page. As you can see me and Melissa have used the same basic template as the homepage to keep the website consistent. The grey box at the bottom of the page will be where an interactive form is positioned. This form will allow a visitor to the site to apply to receive fan mail.  The form will consist of questions such as Name and Email. The white spaces will be hot spots that are miniature newspaper articles. When you hover over the article or information becomes bigger and when you select it opens a pop up box.  

Tour

This is the first print screen of the Tour page.  As you can see me and Melissa have used the same basic template as the homepage to keep the website consistent. The white box is where different pictures of Vanessa practising and different venues and tour advertising material. The grey box will be a black and white close up image of Vanessa and the black space is where the tour dates will be listed. 

Now that me and Melissa have agreed on the basic designs, layout of each page, color scheme, information and interactivity of each page we have decided to split the website's pages in half. I am going to focus on the Homepage, Merchandise page and Tour page as well as half if the news page Me and Melissa will ensure that our designs are consistent and follow the same house style through regular meetings to analyse and discuss our work. The layouts that we have created together are not final they can be altered if me and Melissa believe a different layout would benefit the website as long as we discuss it first and give reasons for the design change. 

I will now focus on the pages I have been designated showing the development of these pages through my blog. I will now create mock up designs of the pages in Illustrator (with no interactive features) so I can clearly see what I am creating and have a basis to work with in Dreamweaver.

Filming...

Today me, Rebecca and Melissa attended the filming session which we had re-scheduled, and went to two locations which where Danson Park and Erith Pier.  At this shoot we created and filmed a range of shots such as high angel shots, tracking shots, mid shots and close ups.  We thought carefully about mise-en-scene and how the shots we recorded would fit in with our story and give the right effect as this part of the story was the ending which we wanted to be powerful and moving.  The footage will now go through the uploading process and below are the responsibilities that each member of the group had for this filming session.


Responsibilities 
Melissa was responsible for her costume and make up

I was responsible for picking up the equipment

The group was responsible for directing and using the equipment during the shoot

I am responsible for returning the equipment

Here are two of the clips we filmed:


Erith Pier

Danson Park

Filming Canceled...

Our group was meant to film on the 27th and 28th of December but had to cancel due to Melissa, who is playing (Vanessa Carlton) having the flu. We have had a group discussion and have re -scheduled to the 3rd of January where we will go to two locations. These locations are Erith Pier and Danson park. Erith pier is one of the locations which we took photography at so this location ties in with our ancillary tasks.