Millington Associates Analysis

Millington Associates have been design window displays since 1988, they've worked with some of the worlds leading brands to transform imaginative design ideas into inspiring 3D installations. The 2 window displays above were created for Selfridges at christmas time. The traditional christmas theme I think is the main focus of these window displays as well as for advertising the shoes. The windows are surrounded by bushes covered in fairy lights this looks very elegant and sophisticated which is what would be expected of Selfridges. 

The actual set up of the window makes it look like a kind of story and stage set up. The snow and little christmas trees show the christmas theme along with the fairy lights around the windows. I think the idea of the windows is quite abstract with the big shows in the set-up but I think it makes it quite fun but still sophisticated. I think the windows themselves are quite dark especially some of the colours but i think the fact they are lit with fairy lights and also with lights inside makes the window seem more realistic in the dark. I also like the fact that the background is all stars and is in the night because I think this works in both the night and the day as you can just have dull lighting during the day. 

The top quater of the window seems to be kept empty in both windows i think this is because of the layout of the window and the fact I think if there was any more props inside the window it would look to busy. I think the windows as they are are simple but they dont need anything added to them, I'm quite suprised that there is no text in the windows not even to tell customers where to find certain items so maybe there might have been some text somewhere else. 

I like the top window better because I think it looks more fun and exciting and like there could be more story behind it, theres also quite a bit more colour in the top window than in the bottom one, so I think this would be the one that would catch my eye if i was walking down the road.

I think the window displays focus entirely on one main thing whereas a stage set-up would have have to focus on a series of things as they both have different audiences, a stage set-up would have to cater for more than purpose. 

Cameron Mackintosh Analysis

Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. He is the producer of shows such as Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Oliver!, Miss Saigon and Cats. 

The 2 pieces of work up above are from his production of Mary Poppins. The sets are both quite colourful especially the bottom one, the flowers also dont look like they have been painted on they look 3D. The sets look as though they have been hand made, more than likely being painted as it would be the easiest way to decorate such a big area. I like the way that the different layers are different sizes it shows the space on the stage and doesnt make it look boring, there is lots too look at. I think the fact theres loads of bright colours makes the set feel more fun and energetic which seems to be portrayed in the actual musical. 

The way the set has been lighted in the top set helps make quite a lot of shadows appear, it makes the set quite dark but theres enough light to see the detail on the set. The background is only slighty lit but the spotlights used on the actors help light the front of the set. The way the set is lit can determin the mood you want to portray to the audience. I think the way that the the stage has been set-up is an important part of how the audience understand whats going on, the whole stage needs to work well together in order for the set to be effective. 

The different tones in the colours show the sets to look more realistic but the abnormal sizes of the flowers make it look more like a fantasy.
Overall I like the work that Cameron Mackintosh has done on the Mary Poppins set its really eye catching and would have been great to be seen on the real stage. I find how the stage has been lit really effective, without the right lights in the right places the set wouldnt have the right shadows or be able to set the right mood.

personal project word cloud

cd cover analysis

Lily Allen- Alright, Still

This album cover looks as though it has been created using photoshop there is a lot of different little pictures included in it that wouldn't have been necessarily in a picture set up, so might have been art worked in. There still looks to be some handmade or doodle pieces involved that are in black and white that are arrows and clouds. 

The images around the main picture of Lily Allen don't seem to be relevant to the album title, they are a bit random but they might have a relevance to song titles included on the album which would make them make sense. The actual album cover as a whole looks to be quite fun and imaginative its not taken very seriously and it looks retro as there is bold colours and the chequered print. 

Lily Allen is featured on the front of the album cover she looks quite relaxed she's wearing trainers and a dressed so its not too over the top, she's sitting on a bike which shows she didn't want it to be taken too seriously. 

The main focus of the cover is clearly Lily Allen because everything else all the other pictures and doodles seem to be layered behind her. There is quite a lot of black and white but i think this just makes the album cover stand out a bit more and makes the colour that has been used more noticeable. 

The typography of the artists name is in a kind of speech bubble that looks like a cartoon lightening strike, it is in black and white which stand out against the grey colour checkered pattern. I think the positioning of the title works quite well as it is not interfering with any of the images underneath the whole top 1/4 of the album cover is kept reasonably clear of any other images.

The title of the album has been worked in with all the other images it has been written in bright red and has been created in a bold 3D looking font, this is quite hidden but can still be seen due to the colour it has been designed in. 

Jay-z- The Blueprint 3 

I think the album cover is based on a large collection of white instruments stacked on top of each other in a corner of a white room or set up. The 3 red lines look like they have been photoshopped into the picture but were infact also painted onto the instruments. The whole thing was the photographed and placed on the front cover. 

I think the 3 red lines represent the 3 in 'Blueprint 3' but the actual use of red isn't obvious, although i do think the red does look very effective and eye catching against all of the white. I think the white instruments and white background are quite calming and then the red from the 3 lines give the impression of danger or anger. 

The use of instruments certainly gives the impression that jay-z is very musical but there may be an undying message of their use that may be explained again by some of the songs on the album itself. 

You can tell that the album is a photograph because it looks very realistic and 3D i don't think you would have got the same effect if you recreated the same thing on photoshop, you can see all the shadows from the positioning of the instruments and you can tell that the room itself was lit from the top because the bottom is quite dark compared to the top. 

The typography on this album cover is quite simple the artists name and album title does not interfere with the design they are placed on both top hand corners of the album and are written in black. The black was a good colour to use as it stands out against the white background, but the font itself isn't very bold so it doesn't stand out too much. Also the font is quite small, but Jay-Z has been written in a different font to the album title and also is bolder and bigger which may show that his name is more important. 

Mika- Life in cartoon motion

This album artwork is totally different to the first 2, it looks as though it has been created using more handmade techniques, the images look hand drawn, there could even be different textures that have been scanned into it. It looks very doodly and the pictures look very random although the title is 'life in cartoon motion' and the drawings do look very animated to a certain extent, they look like illustrations but maybe not as cartoony. 

I think the way the album cover has been designed to look fun and childlike, its clearly not been designed to be taken too seriously so maybe has been aimed at a younger audience. 

The colours that have been used are very bright and stand out a lot, there seems to be different layers to the composition of this piece and has been tried to be made to look a bit 3D. In some parts of the artwork it loos like the colour has been added using watercolours, but then other parts look very bold like they have been coloured using marker pens. There is still some laments of shading even if this was made by hand and there is a mixture of tonal contrasts. 

The typography of the artists name has been worked into the actual design and looks 3D as it looks as if it is coming off of the page, the font that has been used makes it look like a stencil has been used to create the main letters. The writing has not been written straight and has been titled slightly up at the right, but the fact the main letters are white makes it stand out against the rest of the artwork as it is just full of colour. The name of the album has also been worked into the artwork in quite a swirly writing, it looks as though it could have been hand written in black ink, but stands out against the browny colour strips, but the title is again quite small compared to the size of the artist name.

sketchnoting

We placed items on large pieces of paper we then had to draw things around it that it reminded us of or that we could link it too. We also had to think about if we could link it to anything else on the page and how we would do it. I think this technique was quite hard to do as you could write words although it would have been much easier to explain what you were talking about if you could. The pages did look really effective after we had finished as it was nearly filled with loads of little doodles explaining the objects, the pictures from birdseye view show best the effect it had.