Monday, 24 October 2011

Live Music Brief

University of Kent at West Kent College

HND Graphic Design

Year 2, Term 1

Project: Live Music Brief

Module: Graphic Design and Typography 2 – project 4

Context

Working with a client is one of the most important skills a designer can develop. In this project you will work with a music artist or band to create an identity and CD cover. You will work to your client’s requirements and will take responsibility for researching what the client wants and whether or not your designs meet their needs.

You should make sure that you have some contact details and are able to set up developmental meetings with your client.

Please note that you will be assessed on the typographic module so what ever else you do with your design, you must pay close attention to your type choices and applications. Remember that your client may have opinions about this too.

The Brief

You are to design a “brand” identity for your allocated music client, which must include a logo. This should be applied in the first instance to a business card. The rest of the information for this must come from your client,

You are also to design a CD cover ad CD label for your client (artist or band). There may be an insert as well. The styling and format of this must be created in negotiation with your client.

You will be assessed on these items only. However, if you wish to continue this project with your client you may build up further portfolio pieces.

Specific Learning Outcomes

Please refer to the Module Guide on Moodle for specific learning outcomes against which you will be assessed. You will receive feedback on the project but it will be graded when the entire Type Portfolio is submitted.

Research

There will be an initial meeting with your client on 18^th October and further meetings with them will be needed.

You should make sure that you have sufficient research material and that you understand the style, genre and ethos of your client’s music persona. You are advised to obtain audio research as well as visual and verbal.

Make sure you take notes and have some form of contact details – you may set this up through staff if you prefer.

Set Date: 18^th October 2010

Submission Date: Crit :Weds 16th November 14.00-16.00). Late work will be capped.

Meeting with music students

I was paired with a 7-part band called Loose-Knit Funk, and describe themselves as;
"Loose-Knit Funk are a 7-Piece band from Kent, UK... Performing the music of New Orleans, Louisiana! They also provide you with some classic 70s Motown, Blues/Soul hits... and even some experimental Jazz pieces!
This is an incredibly versatile outfit with many interesting tones and textures, including a tasty 2-piece horn section! "
I asked a few general questions to get the ball rolling and found cd art work they are inspired by is a band called 'The Meters' which I will look into and are influenced by artists such as Corrine Bailey Rae and James Brown. They gave me a broad idea of what they would like the branding to be like, they like the idea of showing the band in a live feel using bright colours quite outgoing and fun. The band told me their Facebook page which contains pictures of them and their existing logo which is what they want to me to almost follow/develop which gives me a clearer idea of what they want, However I will do another design to see if they like this or wish to combine to give them the option and an insight into something out of the comfort zone? But obviously will do what they want as well. Also looking on their Facebook page other influential artists are;
'James Brown!! The Meters, Jon Cleary, Neville Brothers, Jaco Pastorious, Sam & Dave, Miles Davis, Al Green, Little Feat, Otis Redding, Steve Gadd Band.' Which I will research into, to get an overall feel of music genre, style and colouring.
This is their current logo/artwork

The idea of it being night and dark helps emphasise the jazz feel, my connotation of jazz is a dingy? cozy american bar, very dark lighting and people relaxing and chilling? this maybe different to the bands representation of jazz so I will have to relate to theres rather than mine.

Understanding the genre.

Loose-Knit Funk! - The Chicken

Here is a sample of the work they do and to give me a better understanding of what modern jazz/soul/funk sounds like, if there is even a modern version of this genre? I will look further in to it as I'm not so 'in' with soul music. This video is also posted on their Facebook page so if this does not load, check their page out. I'v listened to this quite a few times now i overall i had quite a happy feeling from this music, without knowing i was bopping my head and feet along with the beat. So would class it as quite dance like and fun rather than the original connotation of jazz and soul music which was slow and which i closely related blues with this too (not sure why.) with literally just piano and saxophones.

Researching into Jazz-funk which is the genre the band describes themselves as, Jazz-funk is a sub-genre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat (groove), electrified sounds.(James Brown.) So to me Jazz funk would be the contemporary approach, the genre is fairly recent, well I say recent I mean around the 70's and 80's. The idea of jazz-funk was to add a danceable rhythm to the music and became popular in the UK nightclubs. I instantly thought of the film 'Dreamgirls' associating it with jazz funk, I will watch this to get a further understanding of the lifestyle and heritage.

Emailing

Hi Kayla,

Track listings:

I Feel Good by James Brown

Let's Stay Together by Al Green

The Chicken by Jaco Pastorius

People Say by Jon Cleary

Soul Man by Sam and Dave

Just Kissed My Baby by The Meters

All Blues by Miles Davis

Born Under A Bad Sam by Sam and Dave

Please can you name the album: Loose-Knit Funk

Thanks!

From: kala_7@hotmail.co.uk
To: beccahurrell@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Graphic student
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:20:02 +0000

Hey,

That sounds great, I have a few ideas so ill try and mock them up as soon as and email them over to see if I'm going in the right direction. Also another question do you have an album name? Or do you just want the band name placed on the cover?

Thanks Kala

also sorry forgot to mention this... can I have track listings or any other info you would like me to include.

From: beccahurrell@hotmail.com
To: kala_7@hotmail.co.uk
Subject: RE: Graphic student
Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 12:33:07 +0000

Hi Kayla,

Anything New Orleans inspired would be good, bright colours with a party and up-beat vibe. New Orleans culture comes from all round the world, drawing on culture from: France, Africa, Caribbean, Haati, Germany, Ireland, with the main influence being African.

'The Meters' artwork as discussed is probably the best kind of artwork that highlights what we would be looking for.

I am aware that I'm leaving it quite open to what you could do! (Apologies if this makes things difficult!)

Becca

From: kala_7@hotmail.co.uk
To: beccahurrell@hotmail.com
Subject: Graphic student
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:40:18 +0100

Hey :)

It's Kala the graphic student chosen to create a brand for your band Loose-Knit Funk. I was just wondering if you have any more tracks/recordings you could send me so I can get a better understanding of the style of music and you as a band etc. Also if you have any further ideas or thoughts you would like me to consider?

Thanks.

General CD Cover Research

www.smashingmagazine.com

From the given links on moodle, inspirationfeed.com, smashingmagazine.com and bestdesignoptions.com. Here our a few examples of the art work that inspired me and what I found interesting. I like the simplicity of most of the pieces which I like to think is my style of work. I like the idea of the imagery catching the viewers attention and quite elegant/subtle rather than the other way around. The top two examples from smashingmagazine the colouring drew me in, I have a fair idea of what the band want in their design. They want me to go along the lines of Old Orleans and mardi gras and big festival, so I am going to research into that but initially I have thought of warm colours yellows and reds to relate to this theme.
The colouring in these art works is quite subtle and mellow which I really like and thinkI have chosen to research them as I have intial idea of what the band want already. Below the 'make do and mend' cover I really like, the style is similar to the photos I had done for the magazine spread project. The effect is a high exposure making it quite raw and slightly retro which may work really well as the band is jazz-funk and are influenced by 60's and 70's musicians. I also like in the majority of these pieces there are no photographs used it's mainly illustration which I think I would like to play and experiment with.

www.bestdesignoptions.com

www.inspirationfeed.com

New Orleans

In recent emails from Loose-knit funk they have specifically asked me to look into new orleans which is the birthplace of jazz and famously known for their Mardi Gras events. Here are a few points i Picked up on new orleans and theMardi Gras festival.
- New Orleans is well know for distinct french creole architecture.
- Cross cultural heritage
- Birthplace of jazz
- Has a notorious nightlife
- Has a french quarter which links in with that cross cultural element.
- Mardi Gras is french for 'Fat Tuesday'
Mardi Gras
- Largest music festival people come to experience the food, music and the arts, featuring local and international artists and musicians.
- Latin American and African cultures
- Use european instruments with African rhythms
'New Orleans was the only Northern American city who allowed slaves to play native music in public.'
This quote gave me a wider understanding of New Orleans culture and how it differs from other countries around the time of slavery, it's more open and shows some signs for equality.
the festival contained rhythm and blues, were was such thing as voodoo drumming and dancing and it was multi cultural so had mixed races.
'It was the meeting and mixing, of the essences and emotions of many people, of many cultures.'

Here are a couple of pictures I have collated from google images of a Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans. I have been to a Mardi Gras before in America and remember lots of beads, feathers and masks usually in yellows greens and purples. The party vibe was unbelievable it was just loud, lively and fun, colours everywhere loads of things going on everywhere you don't know where to look! So much fun. Traditionally it's the last day for catholics to indulge before ash wednesday when they begin fasting for lent.
'French royals, feather-covered showgirls, Energizer bunnies, painted clowns, masked lions—you can find them all (and countless others) in the streets of New Orleans at Mardi Gras. By dawn on that most famous Tuesday, people have claimed the best spots on the streets to watch fabulous floats, outrageous performers, and visiting celebrities go by. Many travel hundreds of miles to be a part of the excitement.
Marching bands, some of them founded more than a century ago, also take to the streets with music and festive dress. They open the day by spreading jazz music through the city before the more than 350 floats and 15,000 costumed paraders take over the scene. Crazy costumes and wild make-up are the order of the day for paraders and parade-watchers alike. The most lavish get-ups can be seen at the cross-dressing beauty pageants in the French Quarter, where bawdy costuming may reach new heights (over seven feet, in heels)'
www.infoplease.com/spot/mardigras1.html

The Meters

The Meters were an american funk band formed in 1965 until around 1977 based in New Orleans, The Meters defined New Orleans funk and played an influential role as backing musicians and rarely made it into the mainstream, their sound is classed as earthy and a homey rhythm. New Orleans still hold large Jazz Events and still known for it's jazz heritage. Below are some album covers for The Meters, the top 3 are more recent ones than the ones below. The Meters are a band mentioned by Loose-Knit Funk who inspire them and are a fan of the art work and was advised to research them to understand the style of work. Overall The album covers are fun and quirky, for example The Meters Jam album cover is quite ironic and playful as jam is a word associated with musicians but it is also using the reference of a jam jar making it comical. also with the Kickback cover using a hand written text makes me believe that as a band they are quite relaxed and laid back about their music and style. Typography wise they are very experimental with their type, they don't tend to follow a specific trend through their covers. the band name in the jam jar cover uses a variety of sizes to fit in together again giving me the impression that it's quite fun and unconventional/raw. I think looking at over soul-funk album covers they all try to include an element of fun to emphasise their music style with the use of colours of experimental typographic designs.

To the left the album is quite simple compared to pervious covers and my connotation of this was it reminded me of The Beatles famous road crossing album cover, only because of the idea of the road and the band on it, a strange connotation I know, it's just what I instantly thought of when i saw this. This cover in particular differs a lot from the previous two using a high quality image and it's graphical if thats even a word, it's more dynamic and looks more controlled than say the album cover above, the type has dramatically changed looking more contemporary and well positioned.

Mardi Gras posters/flyer

Few examples of Mardi Gras posters and flyers to get a clearer understanding of the Mardi Gras style. As i said from my experiences of this festival they all follow the style of lively colours but usually focus on yellows purples and greens, below is a screen shot from colourlovers.com I searched Mardi Gras and these were the results, Although when designing I don't want to give that instant theme of Mardi Gras but I would like to take elements from this to subtly hint at this but not so that it is the main focus. I also noticed on the typography side tall uppercase fixed width lettering has been used to grab your attention and relate to the aura of the festival/parade. The main things you would associate with Mardi Gras is the masks and beads these are an essential item to relate to the event, but a I mentioned earlier I don't think I want to fully associate the cover with Mardi Gras I think it will be more subtleties like the colours, type choice and style of art work rather than masks, beads and party scene.
In the top two examples I have noticed the positioning of the text is on slight angle to represent that party informal feel and it being 'wild' rather than your average parade. I like the silhouette style in the first example (top left) I personally connote that it flows with the mask idea of hidden identity but also relates to the party theme, this is something I would like to consider in my final design.

Ideas

Brightly coloured splatters of paint? or lighting? an explosion of colour coming from instruments or from the top corner of the cover?
Instruments creating up with paint splatters or some form of colour pattern?
Simplistic, focus on typography as cover no imagery? neon effect maybe?
Avant Garde?
Live feel, use imagery from band, photo montage? as there is 7 of them? maybe leave blank or create some effect to seem more up beat? pop art style?
Jazz funk colour palette below (apparently)
Hand rendered illustrative typography? make it more jazz like than funk?

Soul-funk album art

Album art from James Brown and Herbie Hancock from around the seventies. I chose the one to the left because it's following the idea of using bright bold colours and to me it represents a good time and a dance, a rhythm to dance to. I have noticed similar to the Mardi Gras posters the use of uppercase strong structured lettering. The idea of overlapping the letters makes it look slightly playful which I think helps relate to the style of music, soul but with a funk sound, showing idea of not conventional? The one thing I want to stay away from is making the band look retro even though the style of music is old I don't want to album art to portray this. In the red example a different style of type has ben used to me looking more like iconic seventies style an more 'dicso' like. I feel the album to the right represents soul-funk much better than to the left, it even states on that album 'A brand new thang' obviously trying to brake into a new sound and the style of his cover has followed that. Herbie Hancock's album shows a different side to jazz it lead me to believe it's quite soothing soft jazz or as jazz fans say it 'dirty, stinky jazz' it's calming the colours are mellow.

Corinne Bailey Rae

Corrine Bailey Rae album covers.
Corrine Bailey Rae originated from a funk band called 'The New Mastersounds' then went solo to pursue a more 'soulful' path. Bailey Rae's music genre is soul jazz and is one of the artists Loose-knit funk aspire to and was also recommended for me to look into. Her earlier album covers used hand rendered type which gave me the impression that her music is quite chilled and relaxed, reminded me of acoustic album covers or in general a raw feel, real music. they use the combination of photography and illustration mixed together using earthy warm colours keeping it calm and 'free' the stye of the cover relates to her music style well. whereas her more recent album covers use Avant Garde as the typeface creating a different vibe on her covers. it's more contemporary and dynamic whereas before it was soft following and calming whereas now it's more of a statement but with the use of the photography still manages to portray her music genre. This style is very different from the ideas Loose-Knit Funk have given me but I can see the retro style in the Avant Garde and maybe this is what drew them in. I would like to reference some retro type styles however I don't want the overall design to look retro more re-vamped like Corinne Bailey Rae has managed to create in her covers. The designer has edited the Avant Garde typeface by adding a slight slab serif style on the 'N'and overlapping the 'COR' to adjust it slightly.

Pop Art?

This Obama Piece was shown in the design museum trip, In my initial ideas (in my head) I wanted to create some illustration maybe a pop art style but definitely had the idea of using bright colours to emphasise the up beat vibe they would like to have. This poster was a 2008 for his campaign design by Shepard Fairey who is know for his political street art. I like the stencil theme, it's managed to combine a political issue why a contemporary art style which is quite inspiring, not to stick to conventions. I think I need to research more into styles of work like this as I feel this is the style to follow. Below is a cd cover I came across which to be honest I cannot remember where I found it. But the style used is very similar to the Obama campaign poster using bright colours and the face detail being simplified down with a stencil like effect, I feel it's really effective and eye catching, it differs from your average photograph based cd cover. The use of hand rendered text and 'wavey' lines softens the style and brings the genre back to jazz. The colours used are much warmer than above which again I think is a key element to associate with jazz or even jazz-funk as it represents the style of music quite homey? If that even makes sense it's more raw and original rather than music that has been highly edited. I never initially thought that I would of used a hand rendered type but seeing it in this design I may consider as it works so well and emphasises that soul jazz feel.

Saul Bass

I somehow came across this website http://citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/modernists.html which was really quite interesting I was looking through the modernists section which had a nice collection of art throughout that era and I came across a graphic designer called Saul Bass. I saw a couple of examples of his work on this website, similar to the work I have just looked at (Obama campaign) using stencil like shapes and hand rendered type, although these examples were for movie posters between 1960's-70's.

I like the stencil like artwork and I really am growing fond of hand rendered type it adds a certain personality to the design that a screen based type couldn't provide. Seeing as the band want an upbeat party vibe I think this style of design could work and help to portray that it looks edgy and the use of hand rendered type creates movement and depth and could help portray this. also have this idea that it will make the band look more original which I believe is what they are aiming for like the style of music. I like how above (Saint Joan) a mosaic effect has been used for the background it really makes the piece look 3d.

Seventies

http://www.creativepro.com/article/scanning-around-gene-part-1-70s-type an article written on 1970's typography a slightly bias opinion stating that the 70's was the golden age of typography. I definitely agree that 70's typography was bold and exaggerated and just screams out 'Look at me!' everything is tightly kerned and in some cases overlapping and some even using exaggerated serifs creating wavy lines and floral like design.
'Figure 1. One way to get the feel of any period in graphic design is to look at the logos of the era. Here, from the book Trademarks of the '60s & '70s by Tyler Blik, are a few that capture much of the '70s atmosphere. Bold type, hard lines, outlines, and swashes were common ways to "beef up" otherwise simple designs. The PBS logo was designed in 1976, the Kiss logo in 1974, the two bottom logos in 1976, and the Avant Garde magazine logo in 1967. I've included it here because until 1970 Avant Garde (designed by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnese) was an exclusive design to the magazine. But in 1970 it was released as a commercial product and quickly became the defining typeface of the '70s decade.'
I have looked briefly and i mean very briefly into 70's typography as this was the era of jazz funk, I saw that Corinne Bailey Rae used Avant Garde and managed to make it look contemporary, I'm going to have to check with the band whether they want a truly design inspired by new orleans and birth of jazz and jazz funk or adapt it to create a new look for the jazz funk genre.

Hand rendered typography

Hand rendered typography, after looking into some album covers I noticed the use hand rendered type which came across quite effectively. it gives a personal touch not from me per say rather for the band gives them a distinct look and feel. As the theme is to be up beat and a party style I think this kind of type would work as it's loose and flowing like a party could be perceived as and could show the 'quirkyness' or their song choices and them as a band. Loose knit funk wanted a up beat party vibe this to me made me think they want to be seen as fun and contemporary jazz funk band that people will listen to. I was looking through smashingmagazine.com for general inspiration not necessarily just for this project and came across 'beautiful hand drawn typography' and showcased 20 different illustrations. Image 4 and 5 were what drew me into this article. the paint splatters used in image 5 and the use patterns in the eyes made it look almost party like but definitely up beat, the crowded messy look helps show this i feel, the striped pattern reminds me of streamers and the use of a variety of type to me shows different voices? a busy noisy atmosphere? Also on this example and number 1/2 use a 3d effect shading in the area keeping the lettering so simple it's just basic outline of the letter. I think for this instance I will create a design with hand rendered type if I feel it is working and create one with screen type as well to give the band a choice, as this hand rendered business may just be my personal opinion.

Here are a few sketches I did based on these images here t see how they would work with the band name I've also used an Avant Garde style to see how that would work as well. I like the idea of creating the text 3d especially in an up beat vibe I feel this could work.

Jazz Funk Understanding

Probably the wrong thing to do but I google imaged 'Jazz Funk' just so i get an overall visual of jazz funk to give me a better understanding of the genre and the style, I collated some images that gave me inspiration for typographic ideas and designs.

Image 1 - this wasn't necessarily based on jazz funk theme but the typography has a distinct 70's feel. I think is due to the over stylised lettering looking very Avant Garde which seems to be a favourite of mine at the moment. the cutting of the 's' reminded me of one of the scripts album covers, just shows that this style can be used within different genres of music. In the album cover they have used lines to almost frae the type I connoted that it looked like a music sheet, the thick black lines against the contrast of a white background, it gave a subtle hint to show classy music maybe?

Image 2 - I chose this to research as when I saw it it related to what I initially thought about jazz funk. Big afros, exaggerated funky typography, emphasised serifs or slab type. This is obviously a stereo type as not all jazz funk artists rock the afro look these days especially Loose-Knit Funk they are putting their own stamp on. I like the use silhouettes which is something I'm warming to a lot when considering the design for this band.

Image 3 is another example of the stereotype of jazz funk era, loving the use of high contrasting black and white photography mixed with bold stamps of colour, which something I definitely want to include into my design, to much colour can often look crowded and messy but when used subtly against black and white it's one of those ideas that work and look really effective and eye catching. I'm going to experiment with a couple of images that the band have already got to see if something along these lines would work.

Image 4 Now I really only picked this image out for the typography used in the top right corner for the artists name. A good example to showing what an iconic 70's type is, with over exaggerated serifs creating wavy feel, very tightly kerned with a nice bold black shading.

Now this image has annoyed me because this was basically a long the lines of what I wanted to create, I don't know whether to be annoyed because it basically has been done and I don't want to breach copyright or happy that this design has been used for a jazz cd? It's got all what I wanted! silhouetted/simplified photography with the use of warm colours and being able to capture an up beat vibe. Back to the drawing board...