The assignment is in! Mine just so happened to be on an Alberta-born Cadence Weapon, whom I got to see perform live at the UofT frosh (hence the close-up pictures). If you have not heard any of his music check the link out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL3Qeot5KvE (warning: explicit lyrics)
The submitted work is a concept design for a CD cover featuring an Alberta born rapper Cadence Weapon. The pictures for the design were taken at a live performance during the University of Toronto orientation week, where Cadence Weapon was one of the headlining artists. The artist performs and produces music with DJ Weasel, who also appears in the background of the design. “The Youth Crew’s Back” is the name of one of Mr. Weapon’s latest, most popular songs. The CD design was created in mind with the single “The Youth Crew’s Back” or as a possible idea for a future album with the same name. The objective of the idea is to convey to the listener the unique sound of Cadence Weapon that comes from a combination of rap singing and electronic music. Another point of the design is to promote the potential buyer of the CD to attend a live performance by Cadence Weapon. The target audience for this design, and the potential CD are persons between the age of sixteen and twenty five. Cadence Weapon’s music would appeal to that demographic, and that is the most prominent demographic at his shows.
The design was created in Adobe Fireworks. The polygon lasso tool with a feather edge was used to cut the images of Cadence Weapon and DJ Weasel from two separate pictures, followed by a scaling down of the images to an appropriate size. The amplifier in the background had also been outlined with a lasso tool and then inverted in order to select the whole background, which was then adjusted to less saturated tint. The colour of the amplifier also appears in the text. The text for “The Youth Crew’s Back” had been converted into a bitmap image, rotated and then blurred in order to look more realistic on the speaker in bottom left corner of the design. The letters of the “Cadence Weapon” title were also converted into bitmaps and moved to create more symmetry and alignment between the two words.
The biggest challenge in creating the design was selecting an appropriate colour scheme. The design was not intended to be colourful but it wasn’t supposed to look bland. Colour of the amplifier was used in the text to make the CD design more appealing to the eye. The text contrasts perfectly against the dark background.
The design was important not only in exercising Fireworks skills, but also using creative judgment about what would make it look most attractive. Selection and arrangement of the pictures that would eventually make the design is as important as being able to put the images together. The image meets the objective of attracting the potential listener and creating a first impression of a young energetic artist that Cadence Weapon is. Though the design uses subtle colours it successfully addresses the target audience with the detail and the action in the design.
