Study Task 9: Final Outcome and Evaluation Design Boards

Today we had our last session for COP, talking about the final two design boards and the brief of the publication.

What is the problem?

The design problem that I'm trying to answer is - How does music genre affect a person's identity

How do you intend to answer it? 

I intend to answer this problem through possibly creating a brand identity for a band or artist which showcases elements of music genres through use of type, colour, composition etc. based on their visual connotations.

Target audience (include reasons)

My target audience are young adults 16 and above who have already 'formed' their musical tastes and likes. They are also the perfect target audience as they may have also formed a certain vision or bias about certain genre's which can help me understand and answer the question better. They may also have exposed themselves to a wide variety of genre's in order to 'know' which one fit their taste and their identity the most, therefore this may lead them to give opinions on why and how they do what they do. 

Examples of similar products pieces of design

*Goaty Tapes 
*Label Series Experiment
*

How does this engage with theoretical problem? (essay question)

This engages with the essay question as it tries to challenge/ prove the theories that are brought up within the question. For example, the use of the Internet may have been a reason as to why young people don't show their musical identity through outwardly as they may integrate it more with their virtual self. 

Format/ Production Considerations

*Brand Identity for a band

Study Task 8: Initial Idea and Design Development Design Boards

DESIGN BOARD 3 - INITIAL IDEAS

This stems from the idea that album covers can initially show the style and tone of a genre through its aesthetic design, as the design elements have become part of the genre’s subculture and lifestyle. Creating a hypothetical band can showcase this idea by creating a series of brand identity products in order to possibly project a certain image to the audience, purely through the use of design elements like type and colour. It may also explore the idea of subcultural mixture and how through the evolvement of subculture, various elements have become transferable across a variety of genres through creating various layers within the brand identity. 

DESIGN BOARD 3 - DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

Through further research and refinement the idea was nailed done to various outcomes which are very viable and can be produced in high quality and refined fashion. Referencing back to Hogstrom, various advertising materials for the brand identity were pinpointed" LOGO, PACKAGING, CD ARTWORK, POSTER. These three elements will be developed further in order to come up with a solid and justified final outcome that will answer the brief.

Firstly, I created a logo, which will be the basis for the identity of the band. Through the usage of simplistic type and illustrations along with a monochromatic look, it gives the logo a neutral appearance and ambiguous character which is reflective of the idea of subculture mix and how the subculture and identity within it  becomes ambiguous that people start to doubt which subculture they belong. As it's the loo, it will be one of the first designs the audience will see therefore, it should aim to evoke its intended use initially. 

The packaging on the other hand, may have a similar set of rules applied design wise e.g. restricted colour pallet but has now a different aesthetic and characteristic risen from it, which the audience may notice. The usage of sleek contemporary contrasting type connotes a very dark and grungy genre, as well as a slow tones, perhaps hiphop or r&b that audiences may pick up on as well. This already showcases the brief intentions as already the audiences are experience varied visual aesthetic, which somehow work well coherently together. 

There were problems encountered while testing the packaging as the tabs and measurements were a bit off. Also, because of printing restraints I could only manage to print it with yellow in which look a bit glossy. I did think it was nice, however, it wasn't really reflective of the style that I was intending on creating. I also thought of putting a tab insert inside for the CD, however it turned out too tight and I realised that it's kind of redundant so for the final piece I will not include the tab but just the packaging itself. 

This is the CD artwork I've created, which is a very contrasting design to the other two. However through the usage of similar typefaces, I've manage to hone in it's aesthetic and style with the rest of the product. I think this also reflect the fact that a genre like Seapunk that very wild, and unique and extravagant, has foundations and principles with stemmed from genres like Hip-hop which although aesthetically, and sound wise are very different, their roots and deeply rooted together. 

This is the additional promotional material I've created. It stemmed from the simplistic line drawing and monochromatic design of the packaging. The poster explores the various looks of genres and hints at stereotypes through the chopped up images of the static face against the feminine side, reflecting the idea of subculture crossing over and taking aspects from each other to create it's own identity. Overall, it is very simple and clean, not being too gaudy or over the top as it may become too harsh and outlying from the overall brand. It's printed on orange paper which look at bit too rough and harsh, therefore I may opt to use a more natural and raw colour to bring the tones together, 

Interim Crit with Helena

I had a crit with Helena regarding the progression of my brief and essay for 502. I showed her a draft of my essay with was so far the introduction to it. However, I did outline to her what my main points of the the rest of the essay is. I also asked her for clarification if what I'm doing is related to graphic design as I feel like I'm going to deep into identity and consumption, and I'm not really talking about Graphic design elements as much as I should be doing for the rest of them. However, she did assure me that as I go along I will talk about Graphic design in a way that I link designs in album covers or colours etc. to the identity and so on, so I was glad I had that out of the way so I can continue forward. She also suggested me a book, that she's going to let me borrow which has a section about Mark Owens talking about Vaporwave, which will be very helpful for my essay as the genre I'm focusing on is closely similar to it (Seapunk).

Furthermore, regarding of the genre that I picked, I also told her that I'm also going to briefly talk about Punk for a comparison, however she said to keep it to one of make it really really short and brief so I won't get to tangled into the Punk aspect, as I also said how I wanted to refer to a genre that's more modern and established in the modern era as it would relate more to today's age which I can go into more detail into the theories etc. So for this, I'm planning to swiftly talk about Punk but gradually move towards referring only on Seapunk for the rest of the essay.

For the practical, I haven't really thought of what I could do, although she did suggest I could 'analyse' the genre and create an identity for it, kind of like a guideline to the visuals for its identity. Or, challenge this idea, and experiment on outward visual identity of people to see how much they relate their style with the genre that they listen to.

Thoughts & Reflection:

Overall, I thought it was a really good crit, and I got some good reassuring feedback as well as book suggestion that I well be excited to read further into. I will be taken on the suggestions Helena has said and develop my essay and practical brief further.