'Keep It Classy'

My images used a condom package which was blue, this was all I had to hand at the time. My flat plans had included the image of a red packaging, however, I decided that this would possibly add almost a 'seedy' element to the poster, along with the camera angle looking up at the model, perhaps insinuating a more sexual connotation.
Therefore, in my photoshoot, I decided to take my photographs merely in a more standard 'portrait' format, along with deciding to change the colour of my condom to one that was somehow represented either in the colours used within the poster, or merely an element of the model's appearance.

I decided that the condom's colour should be reminiscient of the model's eyes, which I left in colour along with the condom, whilst the rest of the image being black and white.

Colour Is The Spice Of Life

My initial photos were of a good quality, all in focus, with sharp detail, however, my poster requires a black and white image, showing a contrast between the shadows, with the light and darkness providing an ominousity with an almost inviting look.

Initially I converted the image into black and white using Photoshop:

After converting, I needed to enhance the contrast, to do  this I used the 'burn' tool very lightly and in specific places, to highlight certain elements of the image, which may not withold enough detail. For example, the contrast between the model's fingers and her left chest/ shoulder was not enough to easily tell where one or the other started. Therefore, I used the burn tool to create this contrast, by darkening the fingers slightly. Also, I slightly rotated the image so that the head was not at the slight angle which it is in the original photo.

As my posters would be printed at A0 size, I realised that they may become less detailed as they were stretched, to help combat this I used the 'Un Sharp Mask' to help enhance and sharpen the detail, especially in the eyes, fingers and hairline.

Logo No-Go

Whilst beginning to create my final poster for the female (poster) section of the campaign, I found that the logo which the target audience had selected from my initial designs was too contrastual to the theme of the poster itself, with the colours and the general 'business' contradicting the pithy and classy poster.

I have decided to create a new logo, using a more simple format, with less colours, confusion and an easier to read text. Also, I have decided to separate the 'QE' and 'College Nurse' logos instead of corporating them into a single logo. This will help define the college nurses whilst showing that 'QE' is a part of this initiative.

Taking this into consideration, I have designed various new logos which I am testing against my poster, along with the NHS logo to see which seems to suit the campaign best.

 From the above logos, I have selected three which I find to be the most suitable for the campaign. These are the following:

To attempt to discern which of the logos are more suited to my poster and the campaign, I have used each one on the poster to compare them side by side.

Having assigned each logo to my poster, I concluded that the 'Blue Circle' logo would be the best one for both my poster and my campaign's branding needs. However, I would need to make a slight alteration to the logo by filling the space around the lettering, yet within the circle with a simple white fill. This improves the look of the logo greatly when applied to the poster, as the colour onto which it is positioned is not visible.

Has Anyone Seen My Contacts?

I took the photos for my female poster today, using the studio set-up (shown below). The pictures were based around my newly changed flat plan idea, with a simple portrait of the model, holding a condom in an inconspicuous way. The pictures were against a black back ground, which allows for a high contrast when I convert the images to black and white. To light the image I used three softboxes, one aiming from the top left corner of the model, to lighten the left hand side of the face, whilst one from the lower right which was at a lower brightness to highlight the right of the face just enough so that the details can be made out, whilst leaving some shadowing to create the more artistic effect. There was a third soft-box which was simply lighting the background, merely to help contrast between the model and the background.

Spread 'em Wide

Continuing along the lines of high end fashion and perfume ads, I have looked at spreads from magazines such as 'Vogue', and I have decided to base my Female Double Page Spread around this:

This spread has one entire page dedicated to an image, which i feel is a good design for the dermograhpic who read such magazines. The text is in quite a small font, which remains sophisticated, whilst the first letter of the article is in an extremely large font. This draws the eye in to read the rest of the article.

Aim, Then Shoot.

This is the layout I shall be using in my shoot. The soft-box will provide a soft lighting to the right hand side of the model's face, creating enough light to show the model's face in an artistic light, yet allowing shadowing to occur to create a sense that you want to see more.

The light to the bottom right will be set to a low power, and its purpose is to simply highlihgt the left hand side of the face just enough so that you can make-out the outline of the face.

Can't Beat a Good Booking

Having booked my photo-shoot for Wednesday 9th Feb, I will have all my necessary photographs available to begin the creation of my female poster and leaflet.

The male side of things is far simpler, as there is no photography required, other than for the interior of the leaflet. The photographs needed for this are a location shoot and will be done on Saturday 12th February.

Until this point, I am creating the layouts for my double-page spread. Onto which I will simply add the text for the article and the images, meaning that other than editing and manipulation of photographs, there is very little else to do.

I'll Call You.

Having booked my Photo-Shoot, I created the call sheet for my model. This will assist me in making sure that the model arrives at the correct time, with the correct hair/ make-up etc.

Metaphorically Speaking, Of Course.

I changed my idea slightly after pitching my idea to the Client, who deemed my initial Female Poster to not have enough symbolism or metaphorical enough, in light of my idea being based around perfume adverts which are suitably artistic.

Therefore, I changed my idea, from the obvious to the more descrete.



I changed from showing and obvious image, with bright colours, to an image which has a greater sophistication and class.