Secret 7 - Design

Secret 7 - Design

After research i wrote a list of things i thought of when i listen to the song and what lyrics stood out to me.

- Space 

- Drums/Guitar

- Window Panes - Lens Flare

- Collage - Light - Panes

- Sunshine / Sunlight

- Album reflects - Humble / heartfelt

- Cardboard window - Crack in the relationship

- He left her there

- Its not enough and never was

- ' In light of what was to come it was not enough'

- Not enough - over , tiring

With the concept of window panes i decided to create lots of rectangles and lay them one on top of each either with the idea of removing some of the panes to create the cracks in the relationship I wanted to place them into a circular shape instead of a square so it wasn't as obvious as a window shape.

After laying the shapes over one and other i drew a circle shape around the outside and made a clipping mask so the shapes were inside of the circle.

To add colour i released the clipping mask and started adding colours.

I remade the same shape using the clipping mask again once all the colours had been applied.

I found a gradient and applied it to the circle although to try a different variation although i was pleased with how it looked i felt it was to dull for the song.

I removed the yellow colours and preferd the shape with more teal shades.

I thought there was to much negative space so i tried the shape in a square style so it would be full bleed for the vinyl size.

The design i was trying wasnt working so i decided to keep researching and looking at more examples. I came across a graphic novel illustrated by Rob Hunter.

Young Colossus is the new project from Maccabees frontman, Orlando Weeks. It's a concept album made up of six tracks, with each one relating to a different section of the accompanying graphic novel, illustrated by artist Rob Hunter. It also features the vocals of Alessi Laurent-Marke (Alessi's Ark). 

I felt the illustrated book and the colours really reflected the band and the album well. I decided i would try more of an abstract approach and used some of the colours off the image. 

I created an image using shapes and repeated them over and like the first variation using the colour palette from the illustration image.

Colour variations :

I still didn't feel the concept was working i decided to carry on with the circular minimal theme and started experimentation i first began making a semi circle with the shape.

With the existing shape which had been cut away i started to break it up i felt with the concept of a minimal sun and a broken ground would reflect the lyrics.

Colour experimentation:

Gradient:

Variations 3x3

Looking at them all together i decided to go with the bottom left i felt the colours reflected the song well as they were calming.

Final Chosen design:

Setting up the document for submission:

Secret 7

Taking inspiration from the lyrics ‘In light of what was come to come It was not enough’ I wanted to design a vector illustration which represented not only sun and light but the ground that was broken up and not a whole shape anymore, like their relationship. The colours chosen reflect not only song but also the Maccabees album, which has been described as humble and heartfelt.

Secret 7 Evaluation

I have entered secret 7 for the last two years and always find it a quick enjoyable turn around brief. I enjoy being able to focus on one thing and to design for a certain type of media. The briefs gives you the opportunity to choose which person you design for and that also gives you the freedom to then take your own interpretation of the song.

The design submitted this year reflects my creative practice and my minimal design aesthetic. Many variations have been produced in order to find the right final design.

The challenges I faced with this brief I found it hard to come up with a concept without it being to obvious I felt I was trying to make my design as different as possible left me struggling to come up with a strong concept. It’s hard to listen to the lyrics and not try to go with the most obvious route which obviously results in taking a little longer than usual. I did enjoy the brief and liked the creative challenge.