Graphic Design - Level 6

We had group critique sessions to gain some feedback on our COP projects. In general the feedback on my work so far was good; it was said that my idea in general is good because it really relates to the outcome of my essay, it was also said that the design work I’ve done so far for the brand identity of New Music Market was effective, noting that my logotype was interesting and communicated the brand well.   Here are some points of consideration for my work after getting some feedback: Don’t lose the identity of the albums by using the brands visual identity   - I want the New Music Market visual identity to be strong and to cover all the bases to get a real feel for the brand, however in regards to the packaging, I can’t make the NMM visual identity to overbearing as the identity of the album needs to be prioritised. I think a solution for this could be to have a completely individual label, designed to represent the album, but maybe a bar or banner at the b...

Graphic design is undoubtedly of great importance in not only the consumption, but the enjoyment of music. It can serve as a visual interface and a point of instant contact for listeners; a means to visually decipher and accompany something entirely auditory - ‘I’ve never believed you can listen to music devoid of visual reference’ - (Shaughnessy. A, 2008). This essay aims to examine graphic design’s significance in music, and the variety of platforms it has performed this on.   The most fundamental association between design and music is the album cover - ‘An album cover is the initial moment of the record. It’s the doorway into the music’ - (Blake. P, 2008). Alex Steinweiss created the very first album cover in 1939, a photograph of the moveable type sign outside the Imperial Theatre in New York (fig.1). He had convinced the owner of the theatre to allow him to change the letters to the name and artist of the album - Smash Song Hits by Rodgers & Hart. Before Ste...

Master DOC - It’s useful to have a master Indesign document which almost acts as an archive of all your work. Whenever you complete a project you can add it on, and whenever you need to send your portfolio to someone, you can pick which projects are applicable from this master document and create a portfolio of 5-6 projects which are tailored to whoever you are sending it to.   It’s important that the photographs of our finished projects look professional - don’t take pictures with your phone. Every project in your portfolio needs to look professional. ‘Your portfolio is only as good as your weakest project’ Be clear and honest in your level of involvement in a project. ‘it doesn’t have to be complex but it must be considered’ Sort your master document into categories of work; editorial, branding, typography etc. Try to vary the projects that you show and display something new on each project.   Always export your portfolio to less then 4MB. Make a list on...

Having settled on a logo design and started experimenting with wireframes for a digital mockup of the NMM application, I need to start designing a consistent visual identity for elements like the posters and digital adds. I want to continue the theme of contrasting the mundane supermarket design aesthetic with something a bit more contemporary, evocative of music and visually intriguing, in order to appeal to the younger target audience. The Posters Need to:- Advertise the album by advertising the product ; I thought it would be interesting to push the boundaries of a normal poster promoting an album by making it look more like its advertising the product. This will probably entail showing the product fairly large within the composition. Priorotise the album aesthetic   but not forget about the brand - if its the album which is being promoted, I want the visuals of the poster to be consistent with that however the visual identity of NMM should still be present in orde...

Shame are an alternative, post - punk band from South London, their debut album ‘Songs of Praise’ was released on 12 January 2018, and was met with critical acclaim. I decided to base one of my products for New Music Market on Shame’s debut album because stylistically it is different from the other two albums that I’ve already picked being punk, and also because its punk, I can utilise some of the research that I’ve gathered when writing the subculture section of my book.   From reviews of the album, I’ve found a few succinct descriptions of it: - ‘Shame imbue their post-adolescent rage with wit and, crucially, an awareness that they may never succeed’ - ‘He gives a fuck, but only about not giving a fuck’ ‘If Shame belong to a generation of mobilizing British refuseniks teetering on an uprising,  Songs of Praise  is its soundtrack, whistling like a kettle coming to the boil. From beginning to end, its motorik riffs course through you the way a v...

When HAWARF design studio decided to part their ways, they made a public Google drive folder of   their internal and client-facing documents: 3 Documents That I Found Useful/Interesting: Ethics and Values - I had always considered ethics and morality within design as something that one would consider internally, however with a studio you’re working with other people and there’s a possibility that your values may differ. I liked how HAWRAF had written up rules for their values, what they will try to do and rules that they feel are important to be set in stone. Pricing - As someone who has completed very little paid work, it was definitely interesting to see the pricing that HAWRAF had come up with, some of which I found to be surprisingly high such as £25 - 50k for a brand visual identity. I also think the rationality of their pricing of outgoings and what they need to make every year was very organised. Brainstorming - I liked how HAWRAF had photo...

For the products I produce for New Music Market, I need to research more albums which will be represented by these products. I have already decided upon my product for Connan Mockasin’s Caramel, based on my research. The next album I will research for this will be ‘on his own’ by Puma Blue - a live recorded set, performed in ‘Eddie’s Attic’ in Atlanta. Puma Blue aka Jacob Allen is a singer and songwriter from south London. His style of music is described as contemporary ‘lo-fi jazz’. Since 2017 he has released a number of singles and Ep’s, however ‘on his own’ is his first full album. I initially wanted to pick studio albums which had a strong theme and concept in order to be able to have more to research and play around with in the design and concept process, however Puma Blue’s music is so distinct and evocative that I feel I could definitely produce an adequate product in response to it.   The songs on this album are performed live solely by Puma Blue; they are...

‘How important is Graphic Design in the consumption of music?’ When considering the consumption of music, one can think of music acts as brands, and the music they produce as a product or service. In doing so, music’s consumption can be better understood, and some of the ways in which graphic design can effect this can be established. Similarly to commercial brands, often musical acts have logo marks or icons as a visual identifier. (Neumer. M, 2005) puts forth the idea that when a brand logo is successful, it is distinctly individual to a brand and functions as part of their visual identity - ‘a good brand icon is like a tailored suit - it should only look good on you’. This suggests that successful logos are definitely an example of a way in which graphic design aids the consumption of music; by acting as a visual mark that consumers of that particular music can use to identify the musical ‘brand’ that they enjoy. This statement can be supported when considering probabl...

Since this project is in response to the digital consumption of music, I decided it was definitely necessary to design screen components for it. Since a lot of people listen to music on their phones, I want to do some designs for a mobile application for the New Music Market. I want the design and layout of this application to fit with the design aesthetic that I have identified for the branding of New Music Market - contrasting the mundane visual identities of supermarkets with something bolder and more contemporary, reflecting the younger target audience of the service.   I started by researching some screen based design for supermarkets, looking at Tesco’s mobile app; The UI and UX are centred around rationality and being intuitive, product images and prices are very clear, with the ‘add to bag’ button being very large, potentially as a way to visually persuade users to purchase the item. Offers and sales are shown in yellow to contrast the blue of the visual identity i...

I attended a talk in Manchester that was part of the Louder Than Words Festival. This particular talk was a conversation between 2 designers who have designed notable record sleeves and album artwork - Malcom Garrett and Jonathan Barnbrook. Garrett has produced a range of album covers for Buzzcocks in the 70’s, along with work for bands such as Simple Minds and Culture Club. Barnbrook has most notably designed some of the latter David Bowie albums, including his final album ‘Blackstar’.   The talk was really useful research and food for thought regarding my COP dissertation and practical project. It was intriguing to hear the process and design techniques of both respective designers. Malcom Garrett talked a lot about how in his process for designing album covers, he often considers the format heavily, and the idea that as a physical record sleeve that you pick up in your hand, the design can work any way you rotate it, as evident in his design for ‘Orgasm Addict’ by ...