I chose to design covers for 5 out of the 7 tracks.
Brief Breakdown
What is the problem?
Secret 7” takes 7 tracks from 7 of the best-known musicians around and presses each one 100 times to 7” vinyl. We then invite creatives from around the world to interpret the tracks in their own style for every 7”. 700 sleeves are exhibited and then sold for £50 apiece. You don’t know who created the sleeve, or even which song it’s for, until you have parted with your cash - the secret lies within.
Create however many vinyl sleeve covers for the following tracks:
- 'Clearest Blue'-Chvrches
- 'At Last!'-Etta James
- 'Worry'-Jack Garrett
- 'The Less I Know the Better'-Tame Impala
- 'Imagine'-John Lennon
- 'Art School'-The Jam
- 'Dream 3'-Max Ritcher
The artwork cannot contain the name of the song or the artist, and HAS to be a secret.
How will I aim to solve it?
I will listen to each of the tracks and create a visual response suitable for the theme, era, and genre of the track. This will be informed by a researching existing album artwork to gain inspiration and a sense of direction in which my work will take.
What will I be aiming to communicate?
'Don't judge a track by the cover'. I hope to use symbolic themes to set the tone, and maybe give the listener a clue about the theme of the track, as well as express my own personal interpretation.
Who is my audience?
Avid collectors of exclusive vinyl sleeves, music fans, the general public!
Themes and Processes
Colour Scheme
I have decided to challenge myself by setting a tight colour scheme consisting of four colours which include navy, light pink, powder blue and pastel yellow. Due to my struggle with using colour I thought that working to a restriction may further inform the way I use colour and force me to use my imagination in different ways.
Birds
Restricting myself further, I chose to base all of my designs around the symbolism of birds (which may sound really obscure) but different types of birds symbolise so many things. For example the symbol of a dove represents peace, an owl symbolises wisdom and so on.
Illustrator
Sometimes I feel that I choose to use digital processes as a bit of an 'easy way out' because the whole process is quicker and can have a more efficient finish a lot of the time. However at the same time I do want to keep learning new techniques and processes in photoshop and illustrator, as opposed to just doing the bare minimum and passing it as ok.
Chvrches-'Clearest Blue'
Concept
Swallows are the bird of travel, which relates to the lyrics 'meet me halfway'. When I listened to the song the first time, I thought of a beautiful mountain scene at sunset (I have no idea why) so I put two and two together and designed two swallows meeting at their halfway mountain.
Process
I have wanted to learn how to use textures in illustrator for such a long time, and I found a really handy tutorial to show me how: http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/adobe-illustrator/texture-techniques-for-vector-artwork/#4
It took me a while to master clipping masks but I eventually got it, and was able to create the snowy textures for the mountain which made it look more realistic. Other than that, it was just a case of tracing out the design I had drawn out in my sketchbook, and refining the extra details.
Reflection
I am really pleased with the outcome of this record sleeve considering it is the first one I have ever done! Although it slightly looks like my 504 work, I believe I have done a good job.
Etta James-'At Last!'
Concept
'At Last!' is such a powerful song so I really wanted my artwork to reflect that. Etta James was a beautiful and graceful lady, which instantly made me think of a swan. Also, the rhythm of the song is soft and smooth, similar to that of the water that they swim on. Similar to 'clearest blue', the song is about meeting a loved one, therefore the main focus of the image will be on a pair of swans all loved up swimming into the distance (how cringey).
Process
I had such a nightmare with the process of this record sleeve! I knew what I wanted to draw out, but it just wasn't getting across in the best way. I tried out about three different designs in the end, and was happiest with the birds-eye view of the swans swimming away and the ripples that they left in the water. But this was still a problem as I couldn't seem to make the ripples look like ripples?! I tried out loads of different textured brushes on illustrator, and somehow accidentally found a way of cutting out the top layer and revealing the array of brush strokes underneath, which I thought looked really effective! Yay for happy accidents!
Reflection
In hindsight I could have possibly interpreted more of a sixties theme into the imagery to make it more true to its roots, but after much trial and tribulation I was happy with the final composition, especially discovering new ways to create effective textures.
John Lennon-'Imagine'
Concept
This famous song by legendary Beatle John Lennon amplifies the beauty of peace, creating the vision of world peace. I wanted to create a powerful and simple image of someone releasing a dove, the symbol of peace.
Process
Again using textured brushes, and clipping masks and tracing over the drawings in my sketchbook.
Reflection
I think the fact that I am forcing myself to use ALL of the colours within my chosen colour palette is good in some ways, but looking at my finished image in hindsight, I am not so sure about the yellow of the hands? Maybe even the dove on its own would have worked more effectively? Never mind, I believe the concept answers the brief very accurately.
Jack Garrett-'Worry'
Concept
Lone magpies are the leading cause of superstition following the 'one for sorrow' rhyme, and we are all guilty of worrying that something bad will happen if we see a magpie flying alone. The lyrics speak 'pick apart the pieces you left', which I took and created a magpie from broken pieces of glass.
Process
The process was a little more delicate this time, as I had to make the shards of glass look three dimensional which was a really intricate task. (I also whipped out the old chestnut that is the trusty gradient)
Reflection
I think that this is my strongest concept from all of the record sleeves I have designed. Although I am beginning to think, 'would someone buy this?' I think I am getting a little carried away with the bird theme, and branching off from the principle of the brief. Nevertheless I am happy with the design!
Lone magpies are the leading cause of superstition following the 'one for sorrow' rhyme, and we are all guilty of worrying that something bad will happen if we see a magpie flying alone. The lyrics speak 'pick apart the pieces you left', which I took and created a magpie from broken pieces of glass.
Process
The process was a little more delicate this time, as I had to make the shards of glass look three dimensional which was a really intricate task. (I also whipped out the old chestnut that is the trusty gradient)
Reflection
I think that this is my strongest concept from all of the record sleeves I have designed. Although I am beginning to think, 'would someone buy this?' I think I am getting a little carried away with the bird theme, and branching off from the principle of the brief. Nevertheless I am happy with the design!
The Jam-'Art School'
Concept
The rooster is one of the most confident and boisterous birds, symbolic to the theme of teenage schoolboys in this song. In relation to the pop art movement in the seventies at the time 'Art School' was released, I drew out the rooster in a colourful Andy Warhol style format.
Process
This ~accidentally~ only took me about five minutes to complete, as I was testing out continuous line drawings on the wacom tablet when I discovered that I actually liked the little scribble of a rooster I had just drawn, and decided to repeat it four times in the different tiles.
Reflection
This design is effective in accordance to its theme and time period, and represents the vibrant and upbeat rhythm really accurately.
Evaluation
I'm glad I decided to enter secret7, as it has introduced me to the skill of interpreting music visually which I haven't had much experience in before. I think it was a good exercise for me to challenge myself in terms of using restricted themes and colour palettes, but in some ways this restricted me a little too much in the fact that if I would have had more freedom, I could have created some more powerful images. Nevertheless I rose to my personal challenge well and have taken the skills I have developed on board to use in future briefs.
Imagining from an external perspective, personally I would only buy the first record sleeve I designed (clearest blue) as this is the most in keeping of the contemporary market today. However, everyone has different tastes in music, and different tastes in art too so I guess I would need to carry out a wider depth of research in future briefs similar to these to gain a more accurate concept of what the audience wants. I will definitely enter this competition next year, and hopefully go down to the exhibition in the upcoming months!
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