Cover image for CD

[jamagica]

I'm into rapping (if some of you didn't know) and I've decied to use AM to make the cover image...here it is so far...how could I blend the microphone in so it has the same detail as the rest of the model? Make it more realistic?

[bentothemax]

make it a nail, that is stuck right into the center of the cross

[jamagica]

Well, the microphone is very crucial in this design..should I just add more detail to the microphone?

[oakchas]

The mic seems out of context.... It cannot look more like a real mic. I don't think that will "fix" it... You have a goth (for lack of a better term coming to mind) cross. you have a modern "icon" for a mic. At the "time" of the cross (This one appears to have a somewhat Christian refererence) there were no mics..

 

This one is a poser... all I can think of to say is to make them from the same "era" modernize the cross (You can still have the blood and nails...) or antiquify the mic ( I dunno how to do that...)

 

That's how I "feel" about it and it's hard to put into words.

[bentothemax]

perhaps a metallic cross, shiny chrome and reflective, on a black backround with glowing, almost on fire edges, like it just came out of the metal shaping thing (kiln?)

[jamagica]

I don't think the cross gives the gothic impression with the nails if you know why they're there...the microphone I already am fixing...

 

EDIT: let me explain some more...the point of the picture is to say "See, the awesome power of God can be incorporated in hip hop." in a "hardcore" way..

[jamagica]

ok..I made the stone texture part of the neck of the mic too

[oakchas]

okay, and I agree with the point you are trying to make... but I am having a hard time reconciling the age of both the "artifacts" if you modernize the cross leaving the blood and the nails... you are "Iconizing" the cross and can have an Iconized mic... or flashy chrome mic or whatever (as modernistic)...

 

You are bringing "Christianity" into the "now" of Hip hop... it's hard... incongrous... to bring the now into the past... Christianity is relelvant today... Hip hop was not relevant at the time of Christ.... see my feeling?

 

make both items modern... reflecting the "shed blood" in a modern way...

 

just trying to explain the feeling I have...

[jamagica]

hmmm...you must've typed that post when I posted up my latest picture. You can see I kinda blended in the microphone with that time...

the point of this image is Surrealism. That's a topic that has been talked about for awhile...you wouldn't have a microphone around an ancient cross..that's the whole point of it...it grabs the eye...if you have a basic picture of a cross with nails...it's like "what a weak rapper that guy is..."...but with this surrealism incorporated into the image, they people will think "whoa..this guy is crazy! I gotta check his stuff out!"

[oakchas]

hmmm...you must've typed that post when I posted up my latest picture. You can see I kinda blended in the microphone with that time...

 

yep...

 

and I like the stone mic... better than the original.... but maybe I can draw what I think I mean better... but you gotta wait... til tomorrow...

 

Charlie

 

Not to imply that you aren't doing a good job... you really are... I'm just seing it different... (mainly cause I'm old and set in my ways... )

[jamagica]

Hmmm.....the reason I posted up this image was to ask about the actual graphic..not about what I'm doing it for...if you had no idea what this was for...tell me what you would say.

[themike38]

Have you thought about changing the black wire into corroded barbed wire, and instead of a black foam for the mic top how about a rusted mesh??? Also if it was me i think i would try some chrome on those nails , like in the little robot you made a while back, and to top it off i do believe a nice drop shadow will kick it off nicely!!! what do ya think

 

Mike

[Datameister]

I also agree with the point you're trying to make with this image. God cares about what's in your heart as you sing the lyrics, not the style in which you sing them.

 

Back on topic--I like the image itself. It's looking good. My suggestion would be not to make major adjustments to the current set-up. Instead, try taking the render into Photoshop or Painter and applying some texturing or grunge, or something. Something to give it a slightly less pristine feel to it. Anyway, great job. Keep up the good work!

[seven]

What do the Religious Right say about your image...

They have not told you yet!

Why not put the microphone a bit downward - and - they will turn up at once... telling you what is Right and Wrong!

I do myself not really understand what you will tell us with this image....

Have you got some texts... so we can understand... what your opinions are... and why this image?

[oakchas]

Hmmm.....the reason I posted up this image was to ask about the actual graphic..not about what I'm doing it for...if you had no idea what this was for...tell me what you would say.

 

Jamgica,

 

I don't understand what you are saying here... I am trying to tell you about what the graphic makes me feel.

 

With CD's (and books) sometimes we judge by the cover... I'm trying to convey my feeling of incongruity between the symbols. Knowing what you are trying to convey with the art helps me to understand it better. Art (of any kind... graphic.. oral... musical...etc.) is supposed to evoke feeling. I have been trying to tell you how the proposed cover art makes me feel.

 

Now, you indicated that you want it to convey (paraphrasing) the power of the cross can come through in music that is radically different than you might expect.

 

I can understand that in your graphic only after you explain it to me. Because I cannot get past the incongruity of the symbols you are using... "the old rugged cross" and the mic... So not being able to recognize the message because the "static" of the incongruity interferes with the message... does that make more sense?

 

Understand also that I am not your target audience... I'm a geezer...

 

I really like Mike's suggestion of the barbed wire... but what if it were the crown of thorns... unravelling into the mike cord... (easily done in sweeper I think) and it could convey the "spirit" coming thru the music... and the pain and the shed blood... all coming through the mic...

 

And a quickie concept... of modernization of the whole theme... But not as good as yours in comparison... But I said I'd do it and here it is.

[SHADOWMASTER]

The nails and the top of the mic don't have any texture to them. I would find a texture that is similar to, but not the same, as the texture you have, so that it fits. I think it could also look better if you found a texture that was slightly different, or altered the one you have, for the bottom of the mic. As it is, while it does link the picture together, it seems kind of redundant.

[gsellis]

I think the mismatch is in blur. The mic does not have the same blur quality as the cross. It is better with the stone, but the mic cover needs to lose more sharpness to match. As an alternate, you could also change the mic cable to ivy or some other vine like grape vine?

[cfree68f]

Jamagica,

 

I'd make the Microphone metallic and very realistic. perhaps give it a metal head with holes in it. What about making the chord coming out of the mic a bunch of thorny vines that wrap around the cross. Make the Chross metal or ancient wood and make the spikes be some metaphor for HipHop or perceptions. Use perspective. Lots of it.. it will add allot to the visual.

 

Perhaps the spikes could be like the gold "bling" that is common in HipHop today, but still bloody? Just throwing out ideas. I'm not in the demographic for sure, but you are playing with some powerfull icons, make sure the presentation holds up to the message and you won't go wrong.

 

C

[jamagica]

I'll go with the thorns idea...the only problem is that I don't have sweeper...I only have the demo..but I have like 10 groups. So I can't use it..maybe I'll do it by hand....

[cfree68f]

Extrude a tube a bunch of times to create a pipe.. lots of cross sections. duplicate it a few times.. Line them us next to each other like a bundle.. Then Select them all and select the distort cage tool.. twirla and you have the beginning of a vine. Twist that around your cross and add thorns.

 

C

[jamagica]

whoa...easy peasy! Thanks a lot, Colin!

 

Should i put a natural wood texture on it (it'd match the cross much more

[cfree68f]

yeah, but maybe with a hint of green to set it off more. Just a thought.

 

C

[jon]

i'm late to the party, but for me the two elements are unconnected, even with the traling wire.

 

even though this will be a cd cover, i would take a more iconic approach to the layout, even if the detail remains high. by this i mean, both elements should be equally recognizable at a distance.

 

would it be distasteful to integrate the microphone into the cross, combining both into a single item? that is, give the microphone a more retangular outline, and add the crossbar element to it.. thereby creating a cross?

 

if that's too much, how about arranging the microphone directly in front of the vertical element of the cross, so that the cross completely encompasses the mic?

 

just ideas...

 

-jon

[jamagica]

I apologize if I sound headstrong, but the main message I want to get across is that my hip hop revolves around God. That's why I created the twist around the cross...