I decided up the theme of Music as a sub-category to cultures as I felt the topic was incredibly interesting in the context of graphic design, understanding how to visually communicate an auditory art: a notion that was not only posed as a challenge but also one of creativity that isn't often found in other areas of design in the modern day. In light of this, each element of the project, whether being preparatory work or a presentation of outcomes is an attempt to encompass as broad a scope of the theme as possible while also drawing coherence between pieces, hence why I have looked at the culture beyond not only musicians and their music but also into areas such as merchandise, auditory technology and even museum advertisements. Crucially however, each piece is a development and result from each other, which I tried to emphasise in my outcomes, fusing skills and thematic aesthetics together to create new works of design that serve a new purpose for a new client, such as the shirt that was a development of my sewing and screen-printing briefs, that when merged together aligned to a new client, though one that still centred around the theme of music.
My project itself began, interrogating what as a client myself was familiar too; event poster advertisement. This was something I had already come across often as someone who attends music gigs and festivals often, intrigued by the portrayal of a musicians aesthetic and how it relates to the sound of their music itself, or in many cases doesn't. When looking back, I believe this was a strong start in my journey of the project as it was a clear signpost of what the theme was about, but also where it could go; especially in the context of manipulating first hand images and building visual environments in light of the client. What's more, the theme itself began with something I was already strongly passionate about, and to some extent knowledgable on, something that would continue to underlie the rest of my work and motivate me to not only put more care into my quality, but also think harder on how best to build bridges between client, consumer and designer.
Physical drawings was the first point in the project where I had to think harder about my theme, for I had not considered yet how fine art could assimilate into not only graphic design, but also music too. In learning from my previous breif however, I knew it was best to stick with what I was already passionate about, recalling an album cover made for the project , "Igor" by Tyler the Creator, designed by Louis Rossignol. It became apparant after looking at more of Rossignol's work, that he was achieving exactly what I had set out to do when starting the project, as he understood the visceral connection that could allow for audio to be communicated visually, with his moody, often childlike drawings resonating particularly with me, prompting me to take on much of his style for musician Loyle Carner. His wide range of media was also inspiring for me, refusing to fit into the category of painting, sketch or pen drawing and instead applying whatever technique possible to convey his art, not in a messy or ignorant sense, but in a nature that was experimentive and thoughtful. This blending of media would be a motif that would become of particular importance towards the end of the project in my outcomes as I was fuelled by an interest in fusing skills in a way that would compliment instead of clash.
The following vector and gifs breifs were necessary in building a strong foundation of "Adobe Illustrator" and "After Effects", two pieces of software I was completely unfamiliar to prior to entering the project. At first I was put off by the confusing aspects of the tools, yet through understanding the purpose and potential of vector art, I slowly familiarised myself to using the software, and in turn gained a better understanding of shape, line and space. Once again however, despite being focused on the technical aspects of these early briefs, my theme of music remained at the forefront of my work, at first captivated at vintage record label logos found often on the centre labels of vinyl, leading me to explore numerous archive books, serving as the perfect bridge between vectors and my theme. When presented with the gif brief therefore, I was able to approach the design with much more confidence in my use of illustrator, thus sparing me time to understand after effects, a software which was equally complex for a beginner. The very reason I turned to this application in the first place was my interest in having a dissolve effect that could transform my vectors into images, inspired by Loyle Carner's lyric "small man cast a big shadow", serving as thematic reasoning behind the technical and aesthetic side of the gif. The process was wholly experimentitive, unsure as to how well the gif would turn out due to my little knowledge in the software. Crucially however, when it was completed and resembled the plan I had in my mind, it taught me the importance in experimentation due to the reward often found in taking risks, a lesson that would inspire me throughout the rest of the project. Moreover it reinforced the importance of first hand photography and record, for the very possibility to create the piece arose out of consciously taking photos that could later be of possible use throughout my work.
Similar to the use of adobe illsutrator and after effects, the video brief pushed me outside of my typical comfort zone and forced my to consider new forms of graphic design. This brief reveals the early routes of my first final outcome as I wanted to emulate the bond between music and fashion through a video that cohered the two, inspired by Loyle Carners partnership with clothing brand "Always do what you should do". Upon reflection, the video overlooks some of the key sign posts necessary in advertising the client, however it was successful in providing me with several lessons to learn from that would influence numerous final outcomes. Most notably my last final outcome was a direct development of the video brief, built upon the lessons of DaVinci Resolve and after effects, as well as a better understanding of how to focus the video on the client, learning to take inspiration from bigger corporations like Apple, as opposed to more niche markets like skateboarding.
As I continued through the project, my essay on the purpose of graphic design greatly inspired me in the typography brief, as it subverted my original claim that graphic design was distinguished from fine art due to the financial insentive behind the work. Instead, the poster I created was advertising a free museum exhibition, and thus reflects not only a development in my skills throughout the project but also ideology surrounding my work. Once again, this brief was made possible through the confidence in adobe illustrator, using shape and silhouette as a means to create 2D work that if used commercially, would be able to be screen printed and thus sold as a piece of art in itself. Using shape also emphasised the importance of colour and colour theory. Typically I would have chose contrasting colours in order to create a stand out design, yet throughout the project, I was able to recognise colour choice is far more complicated, and has to take into account a lot of factors. Primarily, the choice of colour through all my work is based off the feeling I am trying to evoke, taking for example the early event poster brief where I opted for blue and white as my palette as one of my main inspirations was the sky, influenced by this notion of clarity that Denzel Curry promotes in his album, "Melt my eyes see your future". For the typography brief, I tried to lend the poster a sense of importance as it serves as a posthumous celebration of a musicians life, yet at the same time emphasising the vitality of his jazz music, resulting in the bright and attentive orange in the midst of a weighty pine green.
Arguably the final two briefs were my most experimentive, as screen printing provided a new medium for me that allowed me to consider the real world application of my design work. The printing itself emphasised the importance of shape over line as it was not possible to create finely intricate designs, making my design process a lot more considerate and forcing me to adopt a even more simplied 2D shape design than the vector brief. Through familarising myself to this process, I was committed in using it again in my first outcome, deciding the best use of it would be through an item of clothing. This idea was what led me to take up my final brief of sewing, deciding it would be best to create a bag recognising the importance of understanding how sewing can relate to music. Consequently, not only was the brief important in laying down the foundational skills for my later shirt, but it also forced me to deepen my understanding of finding clients suited for both my theme and format, a notion important in all my outcomes.
My first outcome was the finalisation of a long running interest through the project in bridging fashion with my theme of music, developing primarily from the sewing and screen printing brief but also building upon lessons from the video brief. I was greatly inspired by the Golf Le Fleur business model as it achieved exactly what I had planned through avoiding the cliches of merchandise and instead opting for a better quality and more thoughtful final outcome. What inspired me most however was the details found in their clothing items, serving as the inspiration of the embroidered Brooklyn Bridge, a central feature of the shirt that created a sense of story behind the work and thus care.
My second outcome recognised the presence of work in my project that involved illustrator, photoshop and physical drawings. At first I planned on creating a poster yet I recognised the importance of developing out of my comfort zone like I had done in my first outcome, thus directing me to create a vinyl sleeve cover. I was greatly inspired through the role of comic books that Pentel highlighted, especially in the context of Loyle Carner's music that samples old cartoon soundbites. The cartoon drawing was directly enabled by the physical drawing and illustrator work that I hadn't yet represented in my outcomes. The aesthetic of the outcome remained consistent throughout and the clarity of what I wanted to achieve made it easier for me to scrap drafts which I had spent time in creating. Moreover the outcome reflects clear development in the theme as it blends the work of graphic design and music seamlessly.
My final outcome was an attempt at creating a video that could successfully communicate my client, a major drawback in the video brief. Crucially, now confident in the skills developed in editing, filming and creating gifs, I could instead place greater focus on the story of the video, the pacing of it, and most importantly its purpose. I would argue in this sense, the outcome was greatly successful, as I placed far greater time in planning out the video, inspired by the commercials of golf le fleur, which not only advertised but primarily entertained, and in many ways served as a piece of art in itself. That isn't to deny the struggle and time I had to still put into the technical aspects of the video, especially the gif, however it was my confidence in approaching the outcome that I believe served as the crucial factor in its success. Thematically too, I am happy with how the clients tie in with both each other and my theme coherently and without confusion.
Overall I am pleased with the nature in which my project has developed through briefs, teaching me lessons in not only practical techniques but also the wider role of the client, audience, and how to build the bridge between them as my role of graphic designer. Through these teachings, I have been able to consolidate my skills and ideas through my three outcomes, all of which develop from my preparatory work in a way that intertwines them all and ultimately interrogates the possibilities graphic design poses in the context of the music industry. Whilst I have been met with several hurdles throughout the project ranging from losing sight of what I want to achieve, to purely having to redo work that isn't of desired standard as seen in the second outcome, it has been the overcoming of such difficulties that has strengthened my work and ultimately made the end results all the more satisfactory, as my confidence has grown in both my variety of techniques and also the validity of my ideas. In relation the the theme and sub-theme itself, I have been deeply committed in communicating the range of possibilities "music" as a culture poses in the sphere of graphic design, reflective of how widely enjoyed music itself is across cultures. Simultaneously however, I have also sought to showcase how music is deeply multifaceted and personal to specific audiences, reflected in my niche designs of posters that consider details from colour to typography all as a means of reaching and being understood by a specific group. In this sense, I am not only content with how my technical aspects of graphic design have developed throughout the project, but moreover how my understanding of the role music plays in cultures and as a culture itself has developed and been communicated in the context of my graphic design.