OUGD603 - Secret 7 - Final Critique, Final Outcome, Submission and Evaluation

I brought my developed ideas to a final small critique to help decide on my final outcome. After showing all my designs, the critique noted they liked the single illustrations as record sleeves however when placed next to the album covered in illustrations there was no comparison between the two and that the cover with all illustrations worked best.

When looking at the colour examples of the final chosen design, my group agreed that the red design stood out the best however, the black cover with white illustrations was easiest to see. Although it didn't stand out as much, it worked best to convey depressive themes. Because of this, it was chosen to be my final design. This can be seen below.

For my submission I was required to include a short bio to describe the inspiration behind my outcome. As my design includes so many different elements it was essential that I was concise but could explain my idea thoroughly.

I'm not down's underlying themes based on mental health and depression and coupled with the punk ideas expressed by the clash in the 1970s. The repetition of downward arrows links to the song title whilst the recurring London theme relates to the album from which it originates. Other iconography and illustrations are used to describe the lyricist, Joe Strummers mental health in 1978 and pushing through this into 1979.

Evaluation

Considerations such as experimenting with previously unused mediums, working within a short timeframe and produced ambiguous outcomes were set at the start of this brief so the visual response would stand out against the competition. Sticking to the original considerations also helps to improve the design practice and will be useful when producing work in a short timeframe in the future. These ideas at the start of the brief were stuck to consistently throughout the design process and influenced many of the decisions that were involved in producing the final outcome. This was especially useful when experimenting with initial ideas, understanding what would be possible in such a short space of time was crucial for this project so the final outcome would be submitted in time.

The illustrations created linked to the ambiguous ideas stated at the start of the brief however also helped to add a more personal touch to the project. This was also essential to relate better to the punk visuals found within research. The illustrations were well thought through and all related to the song and or band in some way or another. Including typography was an element that was essential to the overall design of the cover. This added to the overall look of the cover and brought it away from being a completely illustrated piece of work. The text used in the quotes were taken from lyrics of the song and research into what members of The Clash had said in regards to the song. This worked well alongside the drawings, especially as 

OUGD603 - Secret 7 - further research and developed idea

After choosing which idea I would develop and researching into punk iconography, zines, posters and record covers as well as the song itself, I must start developing the idea. I want my outcome to have various illustrations covering the whole sleeve. I found some artist research which a help influence my designs.

 I started experimenting with various illustrative styles that could be used to cover the album sleeve. For this I started just using faces and patterns, these could be used alongside my own illustrations.

I feel that collaged together like in the research I did of punk zines and posters, my illustrations would work well. I listed as many illustration ideas as I could down; I will draw all of these and selectively choose the best ones to include on the final outcome.

A Punk zine
guitar
group of rockers
fist
punks, hairsyles obvious?
cymbals (clash)
London skyline
downward arrows
punk symbols
Union Jack
Earth
Something relating to Sniffing Glue (the punk Zine)
Cigarettes and lighters
punk clothing
safety pins
sad faces
strange streets (lyrics)
end of the world/ judgement day
child growing up
the clash's previous names
thrown out a door
stairs (lyrics)

I sketched these ideas out in a rushed way. I felt the sketched style suited the handmade and rule breaking style seen within punk media. This is seen below:

I scanned in the illustrations I made and started placing them on an album cover. It was essential that I placed the different parts of the song effectively on the cover. I decided to start with positivity at the top of the cover and work down, following the depression of Joe Strummer. I included different ideas learnt from research such as Strummer's encounter with a gang of rockers, money trouble and relevance to London.

After placing the illustrations effectively on the cover I started experimenting with colour. My research into punk culture and their anarchist ideas helped decide to focus on red. This will also help me to stand out against competition. I will also experiment with black linking to the depression themed song. These experiments are seen below.

I also looked at taking individual illustrations I had produced and put them on a cover of their own. These were also experimented with using red and black.

 

 

OUGD603 - Secret 7 - Critique

After producing 9 distinctive ideas and narrowing these down to the three I thought best represented The Clash and stuck to the considerations noted within my brief, I brought these to a critique for feedback on which should be developed. 

As this critique was also used to show a number of other briefs, I kept my descriptions of each idea informative but concise. The first Idea I showed was the collaged arrow. Although ambiguous, my crit group felt it would be difficult to produce effectively in the short amount of time I had as it required me going down to London and using film photography to help relate to the era.

The second I idea I showed contained various illustrations portraying the songs meanings and lyrics. The group were also concerned how much time this would take however, after showing them a list I had made with what I would be illustrating, the were more positive and felt this idea would work well to show the clash's punk ideas. Despite this, they suggested producing a number of outcomes focussing on a number of single illustrations. This would give me a larger number of final outcomes to choose from at the end of the design process.

The last idea I showed them was the 'Don't Run' sign. The critique group felt this was the most ambiguous response and also would work with m brief where I noted I want to work within different mediums. This response would include photograph, design on the computer and researching printing techniques. Although the group agreed that this idea would work well, it is essential that I stick to  m time plan and unfortunately, I don't believe I would be able to do this within the time frame I have given myself. Because of this, I have decided to develop the second idea I showed the crit. After listening to my feedback, I will produce various responses using the illustration I produce for this idea.

OUGD603 - Secret 7 - Record sleeve research

As I have chosen which idea I am to progress with, I must start to research what my illustrations will show. I must also decide what text I use on the design.

I first looked at various album covers seen during the punk rock era to help develop my ideas as in my brief I decided the cover I produce must be appropriate for the era.

Punk posters had a similar look to punk zines using collage and hand written text even for bigger bands such as The Clash. Photographs and illustrations were also used within designs and will help to influence my design.

I also look into punk imagery such as music zines which were extremely popular at the time when the song was released. This will help me to produce different imagery based on the song. These zines were hand made and distributed cheaply using a photocopier. Man of the designs used collage and hand written text. These mediums would be appropriate for my own record cover outcome.

OUGD603 - Secret 7 - choosing song and Initial Ideas

The first point of call is to decide which song I am to produce album art for. After looking into each of the songs I noticed that they were all autobiographical and had deeper meanings associated with the songs lyrics. I felt This could be translated into my album artwork. The work could focus on the song's deeper meaning and be shown using a single image or illustration. Out of the 7 songs I felt the three that stood out most for me were songs by Jimi Hendrix, The Manic Street Preachers and The Clash. The song are each from a different era of rock and roll and focus on the subject of mental health and depression. These were also the songs I looked most into however, out of the three The Clash's I'm not down worked best as the culture behind the punk era would be more interesting to explore and could be easily translated into appropriate imagery. 

I came up with 9 initial sketched ideas and kept in mind my brief considerations. I tried to vary my responses in concept and medium so I can bring 3 completely different responses to the critique. These initial ideas can be seen below.

1. After looking into punk culture and symbols I got a better understanding of the relevance of anarchy and the political philosophy during the punk era. Using the die cut hole that is often seen in record sleeves, a hand drawn anarchy 'A' would overlap the circle and connect well to the band.

2. My second idea uses collage of photographs. These will be taken around London (as I will be visiting in the next few days) and show arrows around the city. I will position these so the all point down relating to the song's title.

3. This idea will be one of the only ideas that will produced using programs I am familiar using on my Macbook such as illustrator and photoshop. It portrays how Joe Strummer, the lyricist was depressed from late 1978 when he broke up with his partner to early 1979. This served as the inspiration for the song.

4. This record sleeve was inspired by the punk zines popular during the time of the clash. I will complement the experimental ideas with my own illustrative style. The illustrations I include will be based on the ideas behind the song, its lyrics and related imagery from the punk era.

5. Taking quotes from Punk icons such as the members of The Clash and lyrics from the song, handwritten text will be written all over the record sleeve leaving a white space in the centre of the cover, similar to idea 1. If I am to produce this cover, I must experiment with the colour of the text and the background.

6. Similar to idea 4, illustrations would be used to make this cover more interesting. These would be placed on the songs audio/visual imagery.

7. The fist will be the primary imagery in this idea linking back to the punk anarchist ideals however the cover will also show a punk rocker being punch. This should be shown in various imager such as illustration or collage. I should also include details on the rockers sleeve, referring back to Strummers description in the song when he was beaten by a gang.

9. This idea refers to various parts of the song and punk ideals. I would produce a caution sign that says Don't Run, as Strummer describes when he was beaten and stood up for himself instead of running away. Below this, I should look at changing the word anarchy to something more ambiguous et appropriate for the song. This sign should photographed in film, linking back to the era the band were most popular.

Out of the 9 ideas I have produced I must reduce these down to 3 which will help to develop my ideas further. These 3 developed ideas will then be brought to a critique to help me decide on a final outcome.

As decided in the initial brief blog, I will choose an idea that will make me experiment with mediums I am less familiar with. My response will also be ambiguous and appropriate for the punk rock era. Because of this, I have decided to develop the 2nd, 4th and 9th ideas. I will bring these to a critique tomorrow to help me decided which record sleeve to progress with for my final outcome.