SB2 - Production

After designing the EP for amahla, I decided to contact her to see if she wanted any promo work. The promo work would be a countdown series that would be shared on social media for the EP Launch on February 19th. 

The first initial concept was to design a countdown affect through the use of gaussian blur - forming an intrigue but also allowing her to post something that is still visually appealing. The colours used in the EP design offers a nice hue and tone when blurred. I played around the the percentages of gaussian blur to see how far I can push the visibility of the design. 

The blue still created the warm tones of the original design. 

After showing to amahla, she decided she wanted an outcome that had the EP design building itself up element by element - so I decided to split the designs layer by layer - with the pieces forming an even composition. 

The design was formatted for an iPhone so that it could be compatible to be used and displayed by others on Instagram Story - which is the form of social media amahla uses most. 

To push the design of the EP further I decided to create a motion graphic design of the EP - something that would be visually appealing on both amahla's and my accounts. It would also incorporate her music in the background and set a tone - which is similar to what amahla normally posts on her Instagram account. 

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-motion-graphics-important

The design approach was discussed with amahla and we went through differed design approaches:

- Building up the image (similar to the promo) 
- Having a swipe motion over the layer 
- Burst motion effect - image growing outward - emphasising natural elements 

I believe that the third option would be more visually pleasing and something more interactive and aesthetically pleasing. The continuous movement would allow a clear link to the tone of the music and be something unique. Having the video have a building up effect would be rather static and stiff to show and wouldn't link well to the soulfulness of amahla tone of voice and music.

The commission involved designing promotional content to be used for social media that was coherent to the EP, building up to the release of the EP. The chosen promotional content was a visual countdown to the release, and a moving image post.

The purpose choosing moving image as the promotional content is to offer viewers a more refreshing approach to an EP release, referring to research on the importance of Motion Graphics, decorative animations offer to create a more original outcome that can engage the viewer through the interface design - generally making the image more interesting and stand out.

Through rough visual sketches the motion design was influenced by the imagery of nature and the burst composition of the ep design. The countdown imagery was inspired by the build up of all the elements of the logo - revealing the album bit by bit over the days until the final design is revealed - other approaches to this were explored, including the reveal of the design from decreasing the gaussian blur of the design.