OUGD504 - Brief 4 - Filter Development

OUGD504: Brief 4: SONY music / ONLY studio Brief

Filter Development 

The bands distinct visual aesthetic makes them recognisable and distinguishable from other bands within the genre, there collateral is consistent across a range of collateral from album covers to posters and merchandise. It is an aesthetic that appeal to the target audience with the muted tones and pastel colours representing the ambience and easy listening of their music. I planned to create an instagram filter to simulate this to allow fans to engage with the band and create their images in this distinct aesthetic to create a buzz surrounding the album. If this was a live brief it would be programmed by a developer to work within the app however for the purpose of this brief I will simulate a filter that would allow a similar aesthetic to the bands collateral to represent how this would work on a live scale. 

I started with pure experimentation, testing different photo filters and adjustment settings in photoshop. Through the process of these developments I started to come close to the desired aesthetic however it was still inconsistent with the bands aesthetic for example the brightness was too high in experiment 1 and there was too much of a colour overlay produced when developing experiment 2. I felt I needed a clearer direction in order to progress. I showed a photography student the bands album cover and asked if she knew how the photograph would have been produced. She said it was most likely taken with 35 mm film which produced the gains texture and colours within the picture, This was really helpful as with a better understanding of the original I could then start to develop my filter with a better insight. 

I then searched online how to replicate a 35mm film in photoshop and found the basis for my final filter, this gave more specific adjustments to add such as motion blurs, curve adjustments and colour overlays. Although I needed to extensively tweak this to produce an aesthetic as similar as possible to the original I created a filter that fits in well with the existing aesthetic of the bands visual identity and would be recognisable as 'The Japanese House' I then applied this with the boarder used surrounding the bands images to create the final filter. Having identified limitations with developing the filter myself and using photoshop as the primary tool for this, I accepted that the resolution would never be perfect however I feel the final filter works within the context of simulating what a live procedure would look like. 

With a filter developed I then applied this across a range of original photography to be able to simulate how the filter will work across a range of images and will be of use when designing the digital website as this will showcase the uploaded images. The filter translated successfully across the breath of photography creating a range of images that are similar to the brands visual aesthetic. These images will be used within the design of the website and gives a better representation of how fans can apply the filter to their own photography to create the engaging aesthetic of the band.