Brief 1 - Design is About Doing: Evaluation

My initial research into different album artists such as Leif Podhajsky and Storm Thorgerson really helped me to get an understanding of what makes album art work and even sell. After this I printed off the song lyrics to Elbow - Grounds for divorce and began to analyse what the lyrics meant and also how they could be interpreted. I began to sketch out thumbnails from ideas that I had jotted down and I found that by drawing ideas out I suddenly found I got more ideas as I was drawing. 

At first I really liked the idea of showing time going by flowers dying which linked to part of the lyrics where he is giving his wife flowers but they are doing no good. However as I began to develop this idea I found it really didn't work and I was better off moving onto other thumbnails. 

First Idea

In the end I settled with two ideas that you can see below. The first one was the painting of the dying rose with the hand reaching for it. The song touches on many issues and so the concept behind this idea is aiming to touch on a few of them. The red rose dying symbolises how his marriage is failing even though he is buying his wife flowers they both know ‘it does them know good’, it isn’t working; the marriage is still dying  like the flower. The second thing it touches on is his friends’ death, the dying flower symbolises the passing away of his friend almost like putting a flower on a grave. Death is part of nature and the flower dying helps to illustrate this. In my painted version the hand is dropping the flower, like it has slipped out of the hand to suggest him having to let go of his dying marriage and deceased friend. 

I found with this idea it looked good with the type but the brief specified that I couldn't put any type on it which gives away the album name, I found that without the type the piece looked off balance and just slightly odd. As you can see below the type works well with this drawings and helps to balance out the piece.

Second Idea

The concept behind this idea was having the cigarettes slowing burning out to represent how his time is running out. The cigarettes are an iconic image of the pub he can’t seem to get away from and represent his addiction to alcohol and smoking as well as incorporating the idea of a habitual routine; smoking to help with the loss of his friend and with the failure of his marriage.  

I wanted to use a darker colour to reinforce the concept of the piece, since it is not a happy subject nor a happy song I felt a bright colour would be inappropriate and also remove some of the seriousness. Looking at one of the Elbow album variations I decided to work with a similar colour scheme because it felt appropriate to their old art work as well as the topic in which the song was based. The colours have worked well in relation to what they are meant to compliment as well as reinforcing the serious side of the song. 

I really enjoyed this project as I felt I learnt quite a lot from it. For instance the idea I initially wanted to run with looked great with the title, however as soon as it was removed it just didn't work anymore. This really showed me that although something may work it needs to fit in with the brief guidelines. 

I found that I did push myself on this project to go further and try out methods that I hadn't previously, for example one idea I had was of snooker balls moving around so that the camera would capture their lines of travel. For this I needed to rent a camera - something I hadn't previously done, as well as trying to get the settings to work. In the end I found this really didn't work; perhaps to my lack of experience or just the strength of the idea/concept. However even though it could be seen as a few days wasted I really benefited from that time trying to get it to work and figure out why it wasn't. As well as trying to resolve it as a problem.

Brief 1 - Design Is About Doing: Cigarette Idea

I had an idea today, I wanted to look at a cigarette burning down to a stub to show how his chances with his wife are getting slimmer but at the same time it is showing his habits and how little he is caring for his life. I drew up some rough sketches (see below) of how I wanted it to look. Before I began trying to create my piece I decided to look into some artwork which uses cigarettes.

This piece caught my eye with its simple two tone. The lack of colours make the contrast between the two chosen colours a lot stronger. The shape in the background could refer to coffee being poured and splashing up or rounded cigarette smoke. 

This was the main piece that I was attracted to, I like the simple illustration and use of colour. I think it is a clever piece of design which does show the harms of smoking. However the colours used are not ones I would immediately go to when I think of smoking as they are low saturation and 'friendly' colours, this is what makes me think it isn't an anti smoking poster, rather a piece of design. I may take this sort of design further and try to create something similar if I can get advice on how to create it. 

The illustrated cigarette forming smoke swirls in the shape of lungs makes you look twice, but like the other design it seems quite friendly. It does portray the message of the smoke filling your lungs, the different opacity swirls makes it feel more like smoke than just swirls; if it was a monotone colour it would be harder to distinguish.  

I really liked this piece of design, I thought it was very clever having a cigarette in the hand of a dead person. I don't think this is at all appropriate or possible for my final piece but I just loved the impact it created and the way it gets you thinking. It doesn't need to say it but you know he has died from cigarettes, which in my opinion makes this piece more powerful.

This was a phone case I found. Why anyone would want a stubbed out cigarette on a phone case is beyond me but I liked the use os stripping the colours down to 4 tones, this has caused it to create shapes and clear tonal areas. Perhaps this style is more appropriate for my artwork because it would take away from really cigarette images.

Brief 1 - Design is About Doing: Interim Crit

For the interim crit I asked:
1. How I should develop the images? 
2. With the painting how much hand should show and the sizing of the rose? Also should I keep the frame or go all white?
3. Which thumbnail should I develop further?

"I think the flower paintings work best, perhas make the petals brown, I feel this will work better with the image of the band and the theme of the song"

This is definietly something I will look into editing! It would fit in a lot better with the songs meanings and what the piece of art is trying to communicate.

"Flower and hand; have the hand looking more desperate as though he wants to revive the flower. Stretch 1/2 fingers out to be reaching out for it. Play with the angle of the hand. I like the frame: shows he feels confused and stuck."

I think this is another good piece of advice, the hand does look like it has given up caring, perhaps by adjusting the angle and position of the hand it will get rid of this and show the plea. The frame does contain the image more giving the idea of him being stuck.

"Could look at using block colour in the background possibly a slightly darker grey than the hand to reinforce the message of your design"

This seems like another sound piece of advice which I will hopefully look into.

"Not the male and female one, that suggests bringing male and female together, not being separated. The paintings don't give you much room for development, but I reckon you're going to use that one anyway. To be honest so would I, but I dont see how "developing" it will change it for the better, as I can only see it becoming less elegant."

This feels slightly like an ad hominem attack, attacking the painting style rather than what its trying to show.

"paintings - middle one with border is best (more hand showing) also think the record showing through the transparent man is good concept and works well having used greys- monotone, keep with little use of colour. Think I prefer the painted version."

"Do you need to? Do develop if an idea is pretty much there. Doing it for the sake of it will ruin the design. Middle image is perfect balance of hand and rose, layout is nice to. Side note - I love the cut out idea."

"I really like the rose one, think you should stick to hand being further down the page (middle one with boarder)"

I found the feedback I received useful, however I regret writing questions because people have just answered the questions and not looked at giving more general feedback. I will look at making improvements from things that have been suggested as well as developing new ideas.

Brief 1 - Secret Seven: Primary Research - Berwick Street

  On a recent trip to London I ventured down Berwick Street which had a great mix of record shops. The photos may be slightly blurry because I was trying my best not to look like a tourist.

The Music and video exchange had a great mix of old and new  and they were all labeled by hand into different categories.

This was sister records and we were in here for a good 45 minutes distracted by the artwork and the music. They're were quite a record designs in here which I liked the look of.

I loved the typography and simple design used on this record. The layout makes it pleasing to the eye because it is central and its simplicity but use of shapes makes you curious to what its trying to show.

I loved the doodled pattern of this album it really caught my attention and the sudden contrast of blue on black and white seems to be enough colour to make it interesting. The shape of the blue does almost look like something has been spilt. The intricate details mean your eyes are lost in it for ages trying to figure out what objects are hidden in the massive pile.

This was 'JOE - The punters step out' It was designed under the Hemlock design which tends to be a wallpapered background. When searching I found similar ones for artists like James Blake. They all look similar so it is more the record label people are buying into.

This was one that stood out to be as it was a simple image which told a whole story but left mystery to what had happened. The marble worktop holding a crumpled brown bag of money suggests it wasn't obtained through legal means and the smashed iphone suggests a fight or that its fallen on the ground whilst in a rush. I think this is a powerful image as it is not overloaded; it leaves the possibilities of what could have happened to your imagination.

What drew me towards this album was the space theme and use of colours. The way they are spread out makes them look like the wings of an angel but almost coming from a moon shaped object. The light behind the object really acts as a focal point and then the feathery wings of material lead your eye out around the circle.

This rope wrapped up seems like a a really simple clear image which could hold a lot of different meanings. The way there is not text or definition on the artwork really fascinated me.

I really liked block parties album because it didn't show the full image it only looked at 1/3rd which left the rest up to your imagination. You know its at night because of the street light reflection in the liquid, you also know its outside because of the rough pavement ground. It made me think of setting something on fire and leaving a trail of petrol or flammable liquid. The black contrasts well with the warm colours and makes the whole piece seem serious.

Brief 1 - Design is About Doing Something: Thumbnails and Initials

The first thing I did when I chose my song was to print off the lyrics and analyse them. I didn't want to create a piece which just focused on one literal line because I felt a lot of other people would do this. So I began to look the meaning behind the song and try to think of a conceptual idea which would incorporate some of the meanings and messages which are trying to be portrayed.

The next thing I did was to look at my anotations and begin to create them into workable ideas. From here on I sketched out the ideas. Below are my ideas with  description of what they are meant to represent.

Brief 1 - Design is About Doing: Elbow Artwork

I decided that since I was designing for elbow it would be good to see what their current album covers are like so that I can get an idea of what they work with.

This is their album cover. It appears to be painted but has no clear meaning. To me it looks like a rubix cube but it is all one colour which suggests colour has gone but the puzzle has remained. There are many meanings that could be extracted from the album.

I quite liked these two stone statues which suggests they are stuck, having no mouths could also imply they couldn't speak out. The fact that they are placed central with a simple coloured background means they are centre of attention. 

THese were two variations of the 'Grounds for Divorce" cover. It fits in with the same style as the "seldom seen kid" album.

Brief 1 - Design is About Doing: Storm Thorgerson

Storm Thorgerson is perhaps one of the most well known designers for records. His style incorporates different aspects which would not be seen together or are impossible to create surrealist art work but through the medium of photography rather than paint; like traditional surrealism art.

This piece shows the distress of part of him missing. An idea similar to this could work well for the Elbow piece.

I love the use of big sheets of cloth. If it were practical it would be cool to do this but then shape the cloth so that a the outline makes the outline of a face.

A classic and perhaps one of the most famous pieces. Using a simple idea this piece doesn't need any text for people to know what the album is.

The muse albums are probably the earliest albums I remember listening to and being fascinated by their artwork. I clearly rememeber thinking how different they were from other albums are their surreality meant I found myself staring at them for ages.

I love the use of combining two images together to create a new surreal one. Being able to see the sea level makes it more interesting like you are seeing two parts of a scene.

Brief 1 - Design is About Doing: Rose Photoshoot

I wanted to look into time lapses becuase it is a good way of showing movement and the change but stuck in the same setting. I decided that I would research further into one of my ideas - the dying rose. I wanted to look into how time lapses work to show the progression of alive to dead. Below are some photos which I liked the look of which I felt were useful to these ideas.

The city going from night to day slowly shows the transformation. Perhaps I could do this from left to right with my flower so that it the further right it goes it fades into dead.

This was a photo I got shown which shows the whole year but for one scene. The camera was left in one place and each small line represents a day so that explains the lineyness. The reason I  liked this piece was the idea behind it although I don't think the image is overly food and the   brown to green doesn't face in well. 

This was more focusing on adjusting the aputure and was an image that I may look into recreating. In the grounds for divorce song it talks about gambling with sticks, which could refer to pool. The idea that they are moving shows the times passing; how long they have been there playing it. 

This was a time lapse showing the moon movement. The thing I liked was how the image has stayed the same colour and not been over-layed messily. 

The movement of traffic seems like an obvious one but the idea of the movement stuck in one place seems to suggest staying in one place a lot. Maybe I could transfer this to a still bar shot with people walking and moving around.