Making Stickers

 Okay, so for the stickers I have a few ideas (and have gotten feedback). First, I want to make a logo sticker. That feels like the most obvious idea. Second, I want to make little radios to represent everyone, and Seth had the great idea of making a different color to line up with each member, so I will definitely be utilizing that. Another one that I thought would be cute is the cassette tape but in Bellarmine colors since we all go to Bellarmine and that's where we met!

Now I just have to figure out how to make stickers...except no I don't because I actually found the best creation ever. Michael's is a lifesaver. I was worried I would have to spend a ton of money to have a company print my stickers for me, but I am wrong actually. I found out Michael's sells sticker paper that I can use to print my stickers, allowing me to simply cut it out when they're finished. 

This video was also a lifesaver. I was googling options, and this is when this video showed up, showing me that I can simply do this at home. This is going to make things so much easier for sure as I do not have to worry about my stickers arriving on time!

Music Inspo :)

I need my friends to answer me so badly. The one downfall of including my friends throughout this entire process is that many of them are busy people as well and have things that they must accomplish outside of this. Now, I'm not complaining about that, but I literally just need a picture and a blurb about unity from them. That's all. Not even a paragraph, just a few sentences. Just one picture. And they are all M.I.A.

The other issue with this is the fact that I am supposed to make a song with them...

Our most musically inclined friends are also EXTRA busy because they are preparing for their recitals, so again, that's understandable. Unfortunately, the close this deadline approaches, the more nervous I am for making this song as I fear I am on my own for the most part. I will say, at the very least, we have been looking into music influences to inspire us.

Our dorm is such a chaotic place, that the grunge-y vibe we chose fits perfectly. However, we decided the best music to describe us would be some sort of club/ electronic beats. The heavy layering and complicated beats also add to our theme of unity where we all come from such different background yet make things work as a big group. 

 

Charli XCX is a big inspiration as a lot of our friends enjoy this artist. I am not that big on her personally, but I enjoy her style of music, nonetheless. Other influences include artists like horsegiirL, Dorian Electra, and Zedd. Their complicated beats feel just right for the vibe of our dorm, so we hope to incorporate some of their sound into our song as well. 

Adobe, What is This??

So, I kind of hate Adobe. I prefer Canva 100%. Adobe is so confusing and hard to work with...I will say it's getting easier, however. Since I have never worked in these programs this in depth before, I am finding myself turning to random YouTube tutorials to help me out. I will also say, some of my knowledge from past classes have definitely come in handy right about now. For example, in my Multimedia Communication class (shoutout Dr. Shawn Apostle), we used illustrator to create assets for other bigger projects. Luckily, that is exactly what I am currently using Illustrator for right now!

Photoshop is a different beast. I honestly have not fooled around with Photoshop much and I am finding it hard to manipulate right now. I'm using this program to do the graphics of the CD booklet, so I am trying to manipulate pictures of my friends in this program I know nothing about and...it is interesting to say the least. Since I know what vibe I desire for this project, I have looked up different tutorials on how to accomplish this.

Some creators that have been super helpful in this are SpoonGraphics, Doran Studio, and Poster Grind.

Each of these creators go in-depth and give a step-by-step tutorial on how to accomplish the grunge look they are going for. This has been helpful in not only creating my own graphics, but in slowly learning how to manipulate Photoshop to do what I need it to! I'm not only getting direct advice for this project but slowly gathering knowledge on the different tools and functions of Photoshop. 

Finding the Measurements

 Ah measurements. My good rival. This is probably one of my least favorite parts on creating any design ever honestly. Printing and sometimes actually assembly of the product is always the hardest part for me. This is why it is absolutely imperative that I get these measurements right the first time so that I don't have to print over and over...but where do we start? First things first, I looked into the measurements of a CD case. Unfortunately, this led me to multiple answers. How? I'm not sure; I thought there was only one standard measurement for CD cases. After doing much research, I found that the booklet itself is only about 4.75in X 4.75in because the case itself is usually a 5in X 5in. (A Comprehensive Guide To Measure To CD Packaging Sizes).

This is interesting and something I must keep in mind when printing the booklet. This is very important for printing the front and back cover as well.  I also must use this size information when printing the inclusions. This is also something to keep in mind when designing. I do not want my text too small or else nobody will be able to read it properly. I should also keep this in mind for when I print my pictures for the booklet as well. I would hate for them to lose a ton of quality simply because they have shrunk to size. 

DAT Capstone Inspiration

 For my DAT Capstone, I have decided to create my own album. I am looking forward to this as I love doing graphic design and have never taken on a project of this magnitude before. The inspiration from this is taken heavily from modern day K-Pop albums. I've listened to K-Pop since middle school and this genre of music as well as the aesthetics of their album designs have greatly influenced my works. I figured this would be a great way to tie this all together in my final capstone project. I kept calling to a K-Pop album because of these heavy influences, but I find that this would not be the proper term as I am not Korean, nor do I plan on making any Korean music as I do not speak Korean...?? Therefore, this is simply an album heavily influenced by the stylings of K-Pop design. I plan to make a theme revolving around unity or community and the importance of such. My roommates and I all come from different backgrounds and walks of life so I figured our unity would be a great way to tie this together. Plus, my dorm is very eager to participate and excited to see what I come up with, so this will definitely be fun! :)

For this project, I have been looking into some of my favorite albums and their inclusions to get an idea of what sort of vibes or aesthetics I would like to utilize. One of my all-time favorite albums is BTS' Young Forever. This album, which came out around 2016, was a compilation album of their works from the album series The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, combining both part one and two. This album includes gorgeous, almost dreamy imagery of the members, including a polaroid picture inclusion and a poster. These effects are used to portray their greater theme of overcoming a harsher reality and living in this "beautiful moment". I feel the polaroid is a great touch to this as it sort of represents this "live in the moment" message since polaroid pictures take time to appear and therefore cannot be retaken if messed up. They kind of represent this fragility of those moments and I love that. 

Another album that really inspired me was Twice's Feel Special which came out around the same time. It includes photocards, a lyrics book, and a photobook. It is very simple, yet the music itself goes over the themes of youth, hardships and finding yourself/ self-appreciation. Listening to the songs, they keep it very upbeat, helping to find the positives in these experiences. Their designs utilize gold to help They dress up in the pictures as well to celebrate these themes, letting each member show their individual styles in a way while also showing how they all complement each other in a group as well. Overall, I am very excited for this project and cannot wait to gather more inspirations and get started!