Vinyl background and contextural Research

Prior to the 1950's, the 12 inch Vinyl was a format that allowed artistic expression and visual experimentation. The size of it gave designers a lot of room to work on. For instance, there is an incredible amount of detail in Sergeant Peppers Club artwork.

After 1985, compact discs as we all know took over and Vinyl started appearing in junk sales or charity shops. The smaller canvas was more limiting to work for designers to make album artwork on. The cover sleeve became more commercialised as it was managed by publicity departments in record companies who concentrated on revenue from album sales. Often large obtrusive stickers covered up the cover art. The cover sleeve became a marketing surface rather than a medium used to as artistic expression. 

This is why I am interested in cover work and making work based on music. It's about bringing back the emotion to visual communication of music. 

"Most people buy records because they are emotionally or artiscally engaged by them and the sleeve plays an important part in formulating this response"

 - Sampler: Contemporary Music Graphics.

What is your work about

In this project I want to explore printmaking processes such as Relief printing, letterpress, Lithography and Screen printing. (not all, those are the possibilities) And experiment with different visual elements such as: pattern, texture, process color printing, black and white printing, monochrome printing etc.

An Exploration of Graphic Art and the visual language associated with music culture

Developing Practice Revised brief.

I've rewritten my proposal for this module to make it more clear and focused. My last proposal was a bit too broad / open ended.


What is your work about?
I want to find out how I can re-invent old retrospective processes and use it to make a new comment that is contextually relevant about the present.

What is your area of graphic arts, what is it about this area that most interests you?
I want to develop a greater understanding of the visual processes, language and aesthetic associated with print making, to underpin and compliment my digital skills. I see this as being essential to my ability to work and design in the future.

Who are the practitioners that influence you? How and why?
I am interested in print making and book making: I will need to identify what the classic album covers are and who designed them.

How does the study you are proposing relate to your ambitions beyond graduation?
The study I propose to do will help me by giving me a strong portfolio of work and the ability to use different media.

Define what the theme/question of your study/project will be

Can you capture the essence of album covers using color, pattern and texture? Is it possible to “distil” the visual language of a genre? 

For example, an abstract depiction of the Hippie genre could be a sun. Or Black Sabbath's music can be represented by pointy triangles and a little circle can suggest an impending sense of doom. 

Schedule