Design Practice: Design Practice 1 Brief 1

BRIEF - To design a 7" record sleeve for the Secret Seven Live Brief. The song choices are:

- Black Sabbath: Age of Reason

- Elbow: Grounds for Divorce

- Jake Bugg: Strange Creatures

- Lorde: Team

- Massive Attack: Karmacoma

- Roxy Music: Virginia Plain

- T-Rex: Get it On

For the secret seven brief, I have chose the song 'Team by Lorde'. I feel within a word like 'team' there are a range of possible routes and concepts to experiment with and feel this would be the best song for me to use.

I have started some research by brainstorming the word 'team' and looking into the definition and the opposites of the word. I have also looked into Lorde and possible concepts I could use from quotes from herself or the lyrics from the song.

Within brainstorming I thought of a few concepts I found interesting. I thought about teamwork itself and what it means to be in a team. I then went further by looking into the lyrics of the song, picking out certain phrases I found the most interesting and that would allow me to expand on the words themselves. I also looked into quotes from Lorde herself, the most interesting was 'I'd rather be poor than beautiful than rich and hollow' I think this had quite a bit of room for expansion and experimentation.

I have now started my 30 thumbnail sketches. I have thought about the previous concepts I brainstormed and represented these through visual experimentation. I firstly thought about team work, I thought about how I could visually represent this in a way that wasn't too obvious. I experimented with ideas such as charts and graphs that could show the merging of a team and how people work together successfully or not. This was done also through thumbnails such as using equations, puzzles and games. These were to show how these items would not work if a element of them was missing, showing they are incomplete without a piece and they are not a successful 'team'.

I also thought about how I could visually show the word 'team', in the brief a requirement is the artists name or song is to allowed to be shown. Because of this I thought of other representations, I came up with showing each letter as a object i.e. the 'T' in team would be a cup of tea and the continue this with the other letters.

I then thought about the lyrics within the song, I made sketches that could represent these i.e. 'Send the call out' I created a phone idea, another line is 'competing for love they won't receive' and so I created a thumbnail of this. However I think using the lyrics makes my ideas far too literal. I do not think these would be unique or interesting and so do not think I will take ideas inspired by lyrics forward into one of my five final designs:

With other ideas, I thought about how things work within a team. I then thought of ideas such as 'strawberries and cream/chocolate' or how animals work in a team i.e. bees. I also thought of communication and how you need this within a team, from this I thought of other ways you communicate as well as thinking of other ways to represent a 'team'. I created ideas using ampersands, letters and @ symbols to show this:

Small Critique - Before the critique on Friday, me and a few peers had a small critique on our 30 thumbnails so far. This was to get other peoples opinions on which out of my 30 would be the most successful to narrow down to the final 5. I received feedback on my ideas explaining how I could incorporate 'jewel' like illustrations, as this is a main concept in the song. Also it was said to use these ideas below for my final five, which I agree with as I do think they are my strongest ideas with interesting concepts behind them:

T.E.A.M - This idea is trying to represent the initials of the word team. Once spelt out it would show the word of the song. I do think this is a interesting concept but not sure if it is too obvious. A suggestion was to think about colour within these once taken digitally and if I could create these to look like jewels (part of the song). I am not sure whether I will use photographs, illustrations or vector illustrations, as at this point am unsure which would be the most suitable. However I will experiment with the best media for this idea:

I have experimented with both vector and photography. If I where to use vector imagery, they would need further refining as these look very child like. I looked into more 3D like vector illustrations to see if I could represent them more effectively. When I was designing these vector illustrations, I had trouble with proportions. These are initial sketches and need further work, maybe me not getting the proportions right is the reason for them looking so childish? I would also need to further experiment with colour, as this may be a down fall within my work. If I take this idea forward I definitely want to experiment with the idea I was given in the informal critique of creating these vectors into looking like jewels.

I have also mocked up what this idea would be like with photography, if I was to take this further I would use my own imagery. I am unsure whether I like either of these outcomes. I think they may look slightly boring but at this point am unsure on how to develop them. If I was to use one of these I think the most effective is the photography as I think if I were to use vector it would look too childish:

Strawberries and Cream - For this idea I was trying to think about how I could show an actual team. I tried to think not so literally when thinking about pairings and so came up with strawberries and cream or chocolate. I would use photography for this as I think it would capture better colour as well as showing the cream or chocolate dripping. Again I am not sure whether this is unique enough but will ask this in the critique on Friday.

Again like the previous idea I would use my own photography when developing this idea. In doing this it will give me more room for thinking about composition and layout. I can experiment with placement of strawberry when on the page as well as experimenting with both cream and chocolate and how it would drip.

I also roughly mocked up some digital thumbnails of the idea in a illustrative manner. I would not use these below but they are to show how it could look if drawn. I think to get more of an interesting piece, the photography would have more room for development. I think it would capture the cream dripping as well as things like colour more effectively than if I drew them.

Moon - A lyric within the song is 'Their skin in craters like the moon'. From this I thought I could illustrate or represent the texture and surface of the moon. What was said in the critique was, this idea could either be really successful or not work at all. It was said that dependent on the media I use, would be dependent on whether the idea works. I will take this into consideration as I am unsure whether to use this idea if is such a risk.

Lion and Crown - A concept I am thinking of is using a lion with a crown. This is to represent the proudness Lorde has about where she has come from which is stated in the song itself. The crown would represent the 'jewels' that it is talked about within the song whilst also connoting Lorde's actual name i.e. Lord (King/Queen). I think this is a strong concept however a downside is how I would create this. I could not draw a lion but think this would be the best medium to use. I will need to think about this before I move this idea forward.

As I was unsure how to create this idea, I thought illustrating this digitally would be the best media as I knew I would not be able to create this by hand. I took a image and traced over this by using illustrator. As I was choosing a photo, I tried to think about which one would show the concept the best. I chose this one as the composition of the lion is very strong and proud which represent the theme of Lorde's 'proudness' extremely well. Not only that but the close up of the lion will allow me to achieve the best detail digitally. I used a variety of line weights to achieve the different textures. I used lighter lines to get the texture of mane as well as blocks of colour to achieve shadow on the lion. I quite like this idea as I think it has a strong enough concept as well as been visually interesting. However I am unsure whether it is too simple but not sure on how I could develop this, I will ask this in the critique.

I have experimented with inverting the colour on the lion but think the outline is much more clearer on the white background, not only this but I feel it is less intense.

As the black is far too intense I tried the lion on a grey background but I still think the white is the most clearer, I may try this out on coloured background when developing this further. I initially had the idea of including a crown on the lion to further show 'Lorde i.e. Lord' and the 'jewels' she talks about within the song. Below, I quickly mocked up a crown but am unsure whether this idea would be successful or not. I would not leave the crown as shown below but would illustrate it to match the lion to make sure the two link. I would also shape the crown to sit better on the head of the lion.

Bees - Like the strawberries and cream idea, I thought about how certain animals work in teams. I thought representing this with bees would be interesting as each bee colony has a queen bee i.e. Lord/Lorde which would have a interesting link to the idea further.

When mocking this idea up digitally I was unsure on how to produce this. Below I have tried out vectors but similar to my 'Team' idea it looks too childish. I could create these like the lion concept and focus on including more detail. I will experiment with this further.

Little Match Girl - One of Lorde's quotes I found was 'I'd rather be poor and beautiful than rich and hollow'. This I thought would be a interesting concept to use but struggled on ideas for it. I came up with using the words 'little match girl' as the story of that is about a poor but beautiful girl. Although this idea I really like, I think if people do not know the story they would not understand the concept. I think that will make it unsuccessful. I may perhaps mock this up digitally and get a further opinion on this but at this point in time will not be using this idea or concept.

I have also mocked up a further idea from my thumbnails. The idea of showing a team literally. I think this idea is far too obvious as well as looking bland and boring. I could further look into different shapes that could overlap as well as colour if I experiment. I could also looking into including a small caption that says 'No i' but would this make the cover too obvious for the song it is?

Work After Interim Critique:

The feedback in the interim critique was the strawberry and cream concept was one of the strongest. From this I knew to develop this idea with my own photography. I have started by using strawberries and cream and then developed this further by using chocolate, this was to experiment with other medias that would work well as a ‘team’. I have then moved on to using items such as metallic paint and glitter, this was to represent the ‘jewels’ talked about in the song. I rolled the strawberries in the glitter and paint, as well as adding glitter to the cream. This was to play around with different ideas that could make for interesting photographs. I then thought about composition of the strawberry and how it would look on an actual album cover. I started off by having someone hold the strawberry, however the close up of the hand was off-putting. Not only this, but I thought a hand would detract some of attention away from the strawberry, which needed to be the sole focus. From this I tried the strawberry on cutlery. I firstly tried the strawberry on a spoon, I experimented with dripping the cream from this which worked well. I also tried this on a fork but the strawberry looked restricted from where the fork had pierced it. This did not photograph as well as I would have hoped but luckily the spoon and strawberry created some interesting shots. I then moved on to thinking back to the strawberry being the sole focus, because of this I dangled the strawberry on string knowing I could easily take this out of the image digitally. I created some really effective shots, which I was pleased with.

These are my overall images, due to me not having a lighting induction I have had to work with the lighting and equipment I had at home. Because of this, the photographs are not as pleasing as they could have been. My aim is to have a lighting induction as soon as possible to ensure I have all necessary equipment at my disposable for future briefs:

As there where many images I could have chosen to work with, I had to narrow them down to ones I found the most pleasing and interesting. I thought about which images had the most potential for development and which would suite for an album cover. These are the select few:

As I had not had a lighting induction I knew my photos needed improvement digitally. I played around with adding tone, brightness and contrast to achieve a better image. As well as adjusting the shadows and highlights to improve the darkness of the photo:

I experimented with changing the image to black and white but had no reason for doing so. I much prefer the colour, as the red and green contrast well together and are visually striking.

I have tried using the magic wand tool to get rid of the background and just having the image on purely white. However using this does not get rid of the all the shadows. I will need to come back to this and experiment further on moving the photo on plain white backgrounds using the pen tool.

I have also experimented with mirroring the image to see if the shadows look any different or more pleasing, but there is no difference. I will stick to the original composition in future experiments:

I have further played around with the effects such as levels, colour balance etc to achieve the best possible image. I have done this for all my favourite imagery, to make sure I have a range to choose from which helps in not restricting myself. I have cropped into photos as well as experimenting with composition and scaling the imagery. Below are my main three images I have been developing as I feel these have the best composition. Not only that but I think these have the best relationship between both strawberry and cream, as how the cream drips away from the strawberry on each image works effectively but in different ways. These have very subtle uses of glitter which I think works well in representing the 'jewels':

This image I much prefer the right, as the brightness of it accentuates the colour more:

The images below in my opinion has the best use of glitter, as you can see the hint of shine it gives without been too 'tacky' which was a concern of mine when using glitter. I also prefer the left as it has better use of negative space which the right one does not. It makes the image more breathable as well as making the shadow included in the photo which I quite like:

As stated before, I think using hands to hold the strawberry would deter the sole focus away from the strawberry. Not only that but I would also need to improve small details that would be taken for granted, things such as dry skin that would be picked up from a macro shot:

I could clean the hands up digitally like below, but still I do not think this would be the best way to hold the strawberry. I think I will definitely use of the previous three that is either on the spoon or string as these have the most effective close up shots.

As I placed some of the strawberries on forks and string, I knew I wanted to develop these and remove parts to achieve better imagery. I have used the clone stamp tool to edit out parts of photos I do not want or like, to see the difference and whether it improves the overall photo:

I also need to develop the lion concept as I am not happy with what I have shown at the interim critique but still unsure on how to do so. I have experimented with scaling and composition to see if that improves the imagery but so far am not happy with any of the results. I also introduced colour in different ways to see if that would improve the look but so far have not achieved anything successful:

I have used purples and pinks as this was a suggestion in the critique:

I have now moved onto gradients. I thought this would introduce texture and light which could possibly create more depth to the image. I also tried a dark purple gradient which worked okay but am unsure whether any of these outcomes are pleasing or not. Perhaps this is something to ask in the final critique?:

I have recently had a two colour screen print induction. I used my lion design to practice with this method:

I wanted to further develop the illustrations for the 't.e.a.m' concept as my initial illustrations looked rather child-like. I have removed any unnecessary detail and tried to create more block shapes rather than the actual shape of the object. I have limited the colour more which I think works more effectively. I still cannot decide whether this is still childlike but think it is a vast improvement on my initial outcome:

I have also developed the initial circle idea of showing a 'team' literally and how the overlapping of shapes represent them working together. I have developed this by only using the middle sections instead of the whole circles. I much prefer this but still think it could do with further refining:

I came along the development for this by accident. I was creating the third piece of the initial shape, when I noticed when two pieces sit together, it still works as a team but creates a more interesting shape. I initially thought I could have three of these and use the three primary colours but these looked bland and boring. I then moved onto experimenting with complimentary colours and how they cancel one another out however in interior design they work well in conjunction with one another. This I thought was not only a much stronger concept but a more effective visual, as the colours where much more striking:

For my fifth concept I went back to my thumbnails and came up with a diamond to represent the 'jewels' talked about in the song. I used gradients to represent tone and light. Like the lion concept, I experimented with using purple, as this was a colour choice suggested to me by peers. They suggested this colour to create a more 'Lorde' feel that is slightly more feminine but still quite dark, which I agree with. I firstly have tried this on a white background but think it looks quite flat and boring. I have then tried this on coloured backgrounds which I think works better but still not as effective as I would have hoped. If I was to develop this further, I could look into creating the diamond into more of a 3D shape however I will not be developing this further, as I think the overall concept is quite obvious and for this reason will not be submitting it to secret 7:

In the final critique, it was suggested to me to remove the shadows on the strawberry and either keep the cream or create a white background. I then developed on this and created the changes suggested to me. I was slightly unsure which one to submit as I initially liked the shadows on the strawberry as I felt it created more depth to the image where as the plain backgrounds did not. I have tried this on a white background but still think this has a 'fake' feel to it, not only that but the cream is not as visible as it merges with the white in the background. If I where to move this onto a black or darker coloured background, I feel it would not give the feel I was trying to create but connote something much more dark and dingy:

Final Five

I am overall pleased with my final five outcomes as I feel they have a range of concepts which hopefully are not too obvious. Although I am happy with these, I think they all could do with further development. I feel for ideas such as the strawberry, the photography could be taken better and the gradients on the lion could be developed. I am still unsure whether my illustrations for 'team' are slightly childlike but the reason for keeping this idea is the concept behind it as it is quite unique. If I where to expand on this brief I would start to look into foiling as I think this would be a nice touch to represent the 'jewels' talked about in the song. I would experiment with this on concepts such as the lion or diamond. This would obviously not be submitted to secret 7 but something I could look into and develop on for the module hand in.

Final and Evaluation

I have decided to submit my strawberry and cream final as I feel it has the strongest, most interesting concept. Although there was debate on whether I should keep the shadow or not I decided to keep it, as I feel it gives more depth to the image for the album cover. This may have been the wrong decision but I was not happy with the 'fake' look on the plain backgrounds. If I had more time before the submission I could have developed something without shadows which I was pleased with but this was not the case. For future briefs I will need to give myself more time for mistakes which is something I have learnt from this brief. I will also know to make sure I have the inductions I need for the work I want to produce. In doing this it will allow me to have all the necessary knowledge and skills for any further briefs. Although I am pleased with the concept and overall outcome with this piece, it could do with refining which unfortunately with it being a live brief I do not have the time to do. I now know to make sure I give myself enough time in other briefs to do so.

Evidence For Submission - Friday 14th February 2014