OUGD603 - 27 Club - Research

For the artwork celebrating Jacob Millers work I want to produce an album style artwork which has the feel of an aged album or single cover, through this creating a nostalgic throw back to this unsung musical talent. To begin with I have looked through an array of album and single cover art to get a grasp of how this could be achieved.

Looking at a range of album covers of artists from the 1970's, similarities in the design of covers around this time became apparent. The styles around this time of using bold bright coloured type over black backdrops create bold and bright visuals, through time the aging of these covers creates a circular ware, where the record inside has been, this gives the covers a rough aged feel, but also adds to the nostalgia of the work. 

Fig.1 - Otis Redding - 'Lonely and Blue' 

Fig.2 - Stevie Wonder - 'Master Blaster' Single cover

Fig.3 - Stevie Wonder - 'Master Blaster' - Remastered Cover

Fig.4 - Marvin Gaye - 'Got To Give It Up' - Single Cover 

Fig.5 - Marvin Gaye - 'I Want You' - Single Cover 

Fig.6 - Stevie Wonder - 'I Wish' Single Cover 

Fig.7 - Stevie Wonder - 'Superstitious' - Single Cover

Examples such as Fig.1, Fig.2, and Fig.4 shows this use of bold coloured type upon black, using colours such as Yellows, reds, greens, and blues, similar to colours used in reggae album covers looked at within previous research. 

Through time the covers aging gives the covers natural grains and imperfections, using this style I can age the artwork which will be produced to have imperfections and scratches giving a nostalgic style.

Yellows - Bold brash - mixed with red (Gradients - Yellows to oranges to red - vibrant - warm - colours linked to the Jacob Miller Styles) -  Play with greens (Fig.2 - green used as an outline for yellow type). 

Reds - Bold and striking, adding a stark contrast with the darker colours on the artwork, these bold reds could also be used as backgrounds with black type over it, see fig.3, red also compliments well the yellow, create good gradient images which gives a tropical vibe.

Greens - bolder colour can get lost with black background -  though paired with the other colours can have a great effect, contrasting with the reds and yellows the break up the boldness of the others.

Black and white - both used to break up colours or act as 'white space'

AIM - Using the influence of the album research it is my aim to use the design features, like the colours used and techniques such as gradients to give the feel of an old album cover. Making the album feel aged by using grain and software tools to create texture and imperfections on the designed artwork.

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