Now that I have setup my work area, I can now make a start on designing my DVD cover. Following on from my sketches, I started by inserting a scratched metal image I found from the internet (http://tinyurl.com/c9tfxjs) I would've found it hard to replicate a scratched metal effect in photoshop, so instead I opted for this image which looks a lot more realistic. This image will form the background for my entire DVD cover.
I then started on the "protective" cover of the DVD case. I want this to look like the metal case is covered in some sort of aged paper, to give the effect that this is an old cover. I started off by creating a plain white rectangle on a new layer, I wanted to create a new layer for each piece of the ripped area so that I could apply different effects to each layer if needed. I then dragged it so that it covered most of the front of my case, I wanted to leave a gap at the bottom of the cover so that i can put the title of my film there. To make it look like the edges have been ripped/destroyed I decided to use the Rubber tool to gradually rub away the edge of the rectangle. To give the effect of ripping I choose a different brush type from the usually circle rubber, I went for a jagged edged rubber.
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Once I chose my brush type I proceeded to start to delete the bottom edge of the rectangle to produce the effect shown below.
I created another plain white rectangle on a new layer for the spine of the DVD case. But i decided not to rub away the edges like the front cover as this is where i want to put the title of the film.
I created another plain white rectangle on a new layer, and then started to rub away the edges like with the front cover. This time instead of rubbing away the bottom. I also rubbed away some of the middle of the back cover, This is so I can put the films plot summary, age ratings and other information into this cleared area.
To give the protective cover the look of old paper, I chose to colour each section using the fill tool. I chose a yellow/whitey colour to give the effect of aged paper.
At this stage it was looking a bit too flat, So i decided to add some filter effects to see if this would help. I went into the filter gallery and then started to go through all of the effects to see which one would look most like aged paper. I found an effect that looked the best which was a sponge effect, I then changed the brush size, definition and smoothness to make it look like my desired effect.
Looking at the cover once i had finished using the filter effects, It still did not look how I wanted as it didn't look like old paper. So to save me time and to get a better effect, I chose to search the internet for an image of old worn paper. I came across this image. (http://tinyurl.com/5sueztj) This is exactly what I am looking for so I saved the image and then pasted it into photoshop, I then had to resize the image as it was far to big to fit onto my cover so i used the transform tool.
Once i had resized the image to fit onto my cover i then went about replicating what i did with my first cover attempt. I done this by using the same rubber tool as I did before, and then carefully rubbing away the edges to give a torn and distressed look.
Once I had finished rubbing away the edges, I then decided to start naming my layers. Giving my layers meaningful and simple names such as "Metal background" means that when I come to the end of my project and I have multiple layers and groups, I can easily find the layer I want just by looking at the name.
Once I had renamed all my layers, I started to rub away the rest of my cover using the same tool as before.
To make the cover look more realistic and like it was on top of the metal background, I chose to add some drop shadow. I went onto layer styles and then started to experiment with different angles, distance, spread and size of the shadows until I found out what I liked.
Once I had completed the front cover, I then added more shadows to the back cover.
Now that my background and old paper cover layers have been completed I can now put them into a group. This means that all of my layers will be in one group which will make it easier for me to navigate and find layers later on in the project. I decided to name the group "Background"
Once I had finished the main background image for my DVD cover I wanted to start on the main title text. I wanted the font to say a lot about the type of film, so being a zombie film I wanted the font to look menacing and automatically remind the viewer of a horror film. Looking back through the look and feel of the film and the mood board I created, I decided to go with bright red font as this will make it stand out and look like the writing is made out of blood. Now I have chosen the colour of font I needed to choose a style. I started to look through photoshops library of fonts but couldn't find anything that would look right on the DVD cover. So instead i decided to look for fonts on the internet, I came across this website. (http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=110) And I found a font which looked like dripping blood, which I thought fit in very well with the theme of my DVD. I used the font and put the name of the film onto the DVD cover, I wanted the font size to be quite large so that it could be easily seen with everything else that is on the front cover, So I used 125pt font size.
DVD symbol - http://tinyurl.com/bujnt5r
Barcode - http://tinyurl.com/cyyogh9
Age Rating - http://tinyurl.com/d2pu2fp
I then wanted to create a classified file stamp to go onto the front of the cover, So that it looks like the DVD is a top secret military file. I felt as though the best way to create the stamp was to use Adobe Illustrator as I needed to combine lots of different shapes. Illustrator allows me to create vector images, these images can be resized and not lose any quality so this will be perfect for creating my stamp. I started making the stamp by creating a circle using the elliptical tool, I then added a rounded edge rectangle. I wanted the circle to look like it was overlapping the rectangle, so to do this I used the razor tool and cut out the bits from the rounded edged rectangle.
I then added some stars using the star shape tool and some lines to give the impression of military hand writing. I did this using the pen tool and then adjusted the vector points so that it all lined up and fit into the circle. Finally I added the classified text using the text tool.
I then had to go about adding the vector image into photoshop. To do this I selected all of the layers in Illustrator and clicked copy. Then I opened the DVD cover in Photoshop and clicked Edit and Paste. I then selected the paste as smart object option. This option means that all of the layers from Illustrator are copied into Photoshop and none of the quality is lost in the process.
At this stage the classified logo didn't look aged or anything like a real stamp. So to change this, I first used the blur tool to blur some of the edges and to get rid of the sharpness that the stamps edges had. I then used the delete tool and changed the brush type to a similar one that I used to delete the edges of the old paper background. Using the delete tool made the stamp look more aged and realistic. Finally I adjusted the transparency of the layer so that it looked faded and old. This makes the stamp look like it has been on the cover for years.
Next up I wanted to add the film synopsis onto the back of my DVD cover. I wanted this to look like an old military report which had been typed up on a type writer. To do this I found some typewriter font and then started to write onto the back cover using the text tool.
Once I had added the text, I realised that it wasn't very clear to read and didn't stand out as much as I wanted. This was due to the dark background and black font colour. To fix this I decided to add a background image behind the text. I found an image of some old paper on the internet and then adjusted the angle using the free transform tool so that the dark edges were not visible. If the dark edges were interfering with the black font then you would not be able to see the text clearly. Once I had positioned the image I then placed it into the right layer. So that it was in front of the metal background layer, but behind the old paper foreground
I then re-entered the text using the text tool. I was much happier with the look this time as the whole text was a lot clearer to read and the black font stands out much clearer on a lighter background.
I wanted to add some warning tape to the DVD cover, as was shown in my design sketch earlier on. Warning tape is associated with danger and it is a very recognisable image. I wanted the tape to look old and covered in dirt so that it looks like the tape has been on there for sometime. I wanted some realistic warning tape, So I went onto the internet and found this image. (http://tinyurl.com/cg37uko)
Once I had the warning tape image I then copied the image three times and placed them on my dvd cover and adjusted the angle using the free transform tool. I didn't want to cover the whole DVD in warning tape, so I used two images on the back and one on the front. This means that the synopsis, classified stamp, logos and title can still be clearly seen. To make the tape look older and more destroyed, I decided to use the delete tool to make the edges more rugged and destroyed. I chose a staggered brush type and then started to slowly rub away some of the edges of the warning tape to make it look like it had been torn away. Once I had done this to all of the images I then wanted to add some drop shadow to make it look more three dimensional. Adding a drop shadow to the warning tape made it look a lot more realistic and made it look like it is actually wrapped around the case.
There was still a gap on the front of the DVD cover, looking back at my design sketches I had a biohazard symbol in this empty space. The biohazard symbol is recognised around the world which means a wide audience will understand what the symbol means. The symbol primarily gives you a warning of a infectious hazard that is harmful to humans. I went onto the internet and found a suitable biohazard logo with a white background (http://tinyurl.com/cnc8sp). Finding one with a white background meant that I could easily make the white transparent and place it straight into my DVD cover.
Once I had added the image I was concerned that the image didn't look old or faded like the rest of the cover. So I decided to add some filter effects, I used the rough pastels filter which gave the image a nice grainy effect with some blurred and burned edges. This made the symbol look old and worn away. I then adjusted the transparency of the layer so that the symbol wasn't overpowering any other images on the DVD cover.
At this stage I noticed I had a lot of layers and it wasn't very organised. So I decided to put the layers into simple groups. Putting all my layers into these simple groups means I can easily switch and choose layers quickly and efficiently. This way anyone else who wants to view or edit my photoshop image can easily navigate through all of the layers.
For the spine of my DVD cover I wanted something simple. Going with what I did for my design sketches, I wanted to add some text that included the title of the film. First I flipped the whole image horizontally so that it was easier to work with. I then added some text using the text tool.
I then added the same biohazard image from the front cover and put one either side of the text to make the text stand out more. I used the free transform tool to adjust the size so that it fit into the guideline area.
At this point I thought that there was too much empty space between the biohazard symbol and the spine of the cover. So I decided to add some more text in the empty space. I wanted to go for the words top secret like you would get on military files, to achieve this I went onto www.dafont.com and found a font style that I thought would fit. The font I chose looks like it has been stamped on which gives nice symmetry with the classified stamp, combined with the paper background it makes the whole DVD cover look like a military document. I then added it to my front cover using the text tool.
Below is a JPEG of my complete DVD cover. Overall I think i have accomplished what i set out to do, which was to create a cover that looks like it a top secret military project. With the use of the classified stamp, top secret writing and biohazard symbols this makes the case look like it is from the government or military. The warning tape and caution text around the cover makes the case look menacing and dangerous. The ripped paper makes the case look like it has been torn into by something and the blood font gives a clear indication that this is a horror film. If i were to change anything about this design, I would probably make more of a realistic torn edge on the old paper. As it is, it doest look like it has been torn in real life. But due to my time constraints I will not be able to amend this, but i will take note of my mistakes and learn for future projects.
