OUGD406 Studio Brief 01 - Professional Practice - Secret 7 - Digital Experimentation

Because I really wanted to take forward the idea of the sea eroded rock. I began by sketching out the rock to see what effect that would produce. Unfortunately I had no patience with the drawing and it is very poorly sketched, I did not put in enough detail to show the texture of the rock and the sea correctly. 

However I really liked the image that I worked from, I wanted to see how this could be manipulated to produce my own design from it.

I took the image into illustrator and image traced over it to form a piece that I could edit easily.

I really like the different outcomes as it is interesting and striking. I think my favourite has to be the last one as the grainy effect gives it a static electronic feel which relates to the music genre. I also like the coloured effect that it has produced as it is quite unusual but will grab attention. My least favourite is the 3rd one because I think it has been too heavily edited that the image has lost its shape and detail too much.

OUGD406 Studio Brief 01 - Professional Practice - Secret 7 - Digital Experimentation

I wanted to look at first how I could digitally interpret some of my sketched out designs, this is because I am in the process of buying materials and finding the appropriate time to test some of my other ideas out. I began by taking my first sketch of a water droplet/tear and seeing how I could produce something simple and striking.

If I was to go down this route I prefer the droplet at a slightly smaller scale as it produces an intriguing visual and I quite like it with the black outline as it gives it a nice cartoon effect that stands out. However I don't know whether this design has enough behind it to stand out and get selected. There is also the issue that I am using a texture that is not my own, although it is in the public domain. (http://bgfons.com/download/4545) (http://bgfons.com/download/4633).

I then moved on to look at a sea eroded rock texture and how I could edit the photo. After googling for effects, I found something called the molar-tooth structure which is from sea erosion, this is the link to where I found the image (http://web.eps.utk.edu/faculty/kah.php). I took this into photoshop added a pixelated effect, inverted the colours and then added a water ripple effect.

I really like the ripple effect that has been created and maybe I could use this elsewhere within my designs such as when looking at the iris? I really like this pattern that has been created as is has a 3D feel to it and a sense of depth. I prefer it with the white border as it frames the texture well.

I then moved on to look at my puddle idea and how I could incorporate the water droplet into that.

Next I wanted to look at more expressive ideas, so I had a look at the different photoshop filters which i have never discovered before now! The filters allowed me to produce an array of different patterns/designs.

I really like the patterns as they progress as they produce an interesting trippy visual. I like the effects it has produced but it doesn't have much meaning or a story behind it. Maybe I could edit one of my own photos using this effect? I think I need further feedback on whether or not to go in this direction.

OUGD406 Studio Brief 01 - Professional Practice - Secret 7 - Design Ideas and Feedback

I began coming up with ideas for the first track I wanted to do, Chvrches - Clearest Blue. From my brainstorm I was able to create a few visual sketches of some possible ideas.

The first couple of ideas weren't my strongest but as the process went on I seemed to come up with more ambiguous ideas.

My favourite idea was using the sea eroded rock texture as it relates well to the meaning of the song and seemed to be an idea no one else had thought about. I noticed within my designs there seemed to be a lot of geographical connotations and texture usage.

Feedback:
Within small groups I was put with people that weren't doing the same tracks as me. I found the feedback useful as they helped me to develop an idea that I hadn't really considered taking any further. It also helped me to notice problems and become more material and process focussed. They liked the idea of the iris zoomed in and water droplets zoomed in so that you can't actually distinguish what they are but they give a nice effect/texture. I could also use this method on the rock formations and geological erosions, however the problem with this being is that it is extremely unlikely that I am taking my own photos. This is a bit of a problem because I need to make sure that the photos I do use are allowed to be used commercially but also it takes away from it being my own all original work. To get around this the pictures would have to be edited or used minimally maybe. 

Another good idea was within the water droplets the rock texture is refracted/reflected in that, which could produce a really interesting outcome. While having the crit I began to think about materials more and thought about scratching into a surface to create the right effect, possibly polystyrene. I also had the idea of using clear perspect to take an effective photo of water droplets. And the last idea I had from the crit was freezing some water while adding blue food dye to see what sort of effect that has and then taking a photo of it.

Considerations:

• Synonyms 
• Materials
• Music Pattern

OUGD406 Studio Brief 01 - Professional Practice - Secret 7 - Research

For this task I am designing a 7inch record sleeve for one of the following 7 artists:

Chvrches - Clearest Blue

Etta James - At Last

Jack Garrett - Worry

The Jam - Art School

John Lennon - Imagine

Max Richter - Dream 3

Tame Impala - The Less I Know the Better

I should aim to visually explore the artists and tracks, through the context of the secret 7 competition. I am competing against 1000's of submissions from all over the world, how can my design/designs stand out. What are the obvious responses? How can knowledge of these inform my own visual investigation. 100 designs for each track will be selected, pressed and printed to be exhibited at Sonos Studios in Shoreditch / London and sold for £50 to raise money for the Amnesty International. Creatives from around the world are invited to interpret the tracks in their own style for every 7inch.

I need to aim to explore the visual semiotics of the track from a personal perspective, how do I interpret the content, lyrics, genre, style etc. in a visual sense. 

The Rules:
1. Your design must not include the artist’s name or
the song title
2. Concentrate your design on what will be the front,
only this will be visible in the exhibition
3. Dimensions should be 184mm x 184mm, with a 3mm
bleed all the way around. That’s 190mm x 190mm
in total. The bleed won’t be visible, so bear that
in mind
4. Your file must be produced in CMYK so it’s set-up
to be printed. Any PMS specials will be converted.
Metallic or fluorescent inks cannot be reproduced
5. Your file must be 300dpi
6. Your file must be saved as either a Tiff,
JPEG or PDF
7. Do try and reduce the size of your file as much
as possible - 10 MB maximum
8. You can submit a sleeve design for as many of our
tracks as you like, and more than one for each track
9. You must have until 23:59 GMT on 2 March 2016 to
upload your designs. Late submission will not be
accepted. We advise that you don’t wait till the last
few minutes to upload, as the site will be busy
10. Last but certainly not least - if we email you
with the good news that you’ve made it into the show
please keep it a secret. It makes for a much better
project!

Research:
Music artwork designers
Peter Saville:

Peter Saville is an English art director and graphic designer. He came to fame for the many record sleeves he designed for Factory Records, of which he was a director. Savilles most notable work was done for Joy Division and New Order. I like how Saville utilises colour to produce interesting, eye-catching, contrasting images. His designs are generally simple and uncomplicated which helps create a strong, striking visual focus. Because of the simplicity of his designs, they have become so iconic that they have become a fashion statement, which has in some way lost touch with the relation to the records. Within my own designs I will try and keep it simple and striking as this creates an evoking design.

Leif Podhajsky:

Leif is an artist and Creative Director. His work explores themes of connectedness, the relevance of nature and the psychedelic experience. By utilising these subjects he attempts to inspire the viewer into a realignment with themselves and their surroundings. I love Podhajsky's designs they always intrigue and captivate me. They are visually engaging and have an immersive, energetic design. Editing pictures and creating expressive patterns is something I would like to experiment with.

Exploring track selection
After listening to each track I wrote down a few things that I related to it. I then decided to explore 3 of the tracks:
Chvrches - Clearest Blue
Max Richter - Dream 3
The Jam - Art School

Chvrches:

Chvrches (pronounced as "churches" and stylised as CHVRCHΞS) are a Scottish electronic band, formed in 2011. The group consists of Lauren Mayberry (lead vocals, additional synthesisers, samplers), Iain Cook (synthesisers, guitar, bass, vocals), and Martin Doherty (synthesisers, samplers, vocals).

Max Richter:

Max Richter is a German-born British composer who has been an influential voice in post-minimalist composition and in the meeting of contemporary classical and alternative popular musical styles since the early 2000s. Richter is classically trained, having graduated in composition from the Royal Academy of Music and is also strongly influenced by punk and electronic music.

The Jam:

The Jam were an English punk rock/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped clothes, and they incorporated a number of mainstream 1960s rock and R&B influences rather than rejecting them, placing The Jam at the forefront of the mod revival movement.

OUGD406 Studio Brief 01 - Professional Practice - Secret 7 - Practice using last years

Today we began work towards the new live brief that we've been set. We have to design a record sleeve for a 7inch vinyl for 7 different tracks, from 7 different artists. We looked at the tracks from last year and chose one to design a sleeve for. We had to design an obvious one for a track and an ambiguous one. This helped us to better understand the different idea generation we could go down.

I chose the track 'Go' by The Maccabees.
I sketched out 2 obvious designs and 2 less obvious ones. If I was to take this further I would have produced digital versions.
I found this task quite useful as I was able to see what direction others would go in and it has made me recognise that I need to push my designs further. I also found that a lot of people had put a lot of effort in to produce a digital representation which made there designs come to life more. Next time I will try and work faster to produce at least one digital representation.

OUGD404 Studio Brief 01 - How do you read? - Overview

For this task I will need to design and produce a small publication (booklet, leaflet, etc.) that collates material which, in turn, can communicate key design principles to a reader. From the study tasks we have looked into design principles of image, layout, composition and colour. Within my publication I am going to explore colour theory further and highlight key points and facts to readers. I have chosen to take colour theory further because understanding the basics will aid a designer greatly with colour mixing and the impact certain colours have.

Colour Theory Research:
Because this is only a small publication I only have a small space to put the information on, therefore I need to pick out the most important and useful to the reader, so that I appropriately utilise the space. I need to be aware however of not overcrowding or putting too much information on, as it will be uninteresting and reduce readability.

Information I aim to include in my leaflet:

• How we view colour - physical, physiological and psychological.
• The colour wheel - primary, secondary, tertiary and complementary.
• Chromatic value - hue, chroma, saturation, tints, tones and shades.
• Colour modes - RGB and CMYK
• Colour context

Type of fold:

After experimenting with folds and having a look at different types of folds for leaflet and brochure designs I have decided to do a square tri fold. I think the square shape will be easier to work with layout better than a rectangle as it has an even surface area producing a more ordered design. It will also allow me to experiment with the overall design of the leaflet more. This design has 6 sides for me to work with however, I don't think I will have any important information on the front cover other than the title.

Paper Choice:

Coated or uncoated?

Coated paper comes in a variety of smoothness, like matte, semi-matte or silk and gloss. With these types of papers the ink doesn't get absorbed by the paper fibres but stays at the top giving brighter colours and gives the paper a somewhat glossy finish (EXCEPT MATTE). This would work well with my design because I really want to show the vibrancy of colour as that is what my leaflet is talking about and I think coated would reflect that well. However I need to be careful not too have long bodies of text because with a coated paper it reflects light and could make it difficult to read.

Uncoated paper has a rough, natural feel to it, the printer ink gets inside the top layer of the paper and sinks into the fibres beneath. This type of paper would create a nice texture and feel but wouldn't have as much vibrancy with colours.

Thickness and weight

Generally I want a sturdy paper that isn't flimsy in your hands as this would be handled often as it is a leaflet. However I don't want the paper too thick because it would be expensive and harder to fold.

Imagery:

Primarily I will probably be using colour swatches, a diagram of the colour wheel and possibly a diagram of how we view colour. Depending whether I can find the appropriate images I might do my own illustrations of the diagrams. Another thing that I could consider is real life images of contrasting colours as I think that would be visually interesting to see them used in different contexts.

Type:

I am more inclined to use a sans serif typeface as I feel it reflects a more clean, simple, modern look. Serifs would draw attention away from the colours, I don't want the typeface to be boastful or distracting as it is about the use of colour.

Layout:
I really want to give the publication a clean look, so I aim to really utilise the white space so that the colours really pop out on the page. I will probably have a system of about two columns as I think it will help organise and present the information effectively and clearly.