Year 2, Project 3 - Circus of Sound

For this project we have to create "typographic" pieces to brand 11 (or more songs) that are of the "Circus of Sound" record label (not real).

Here is my initial idea -

This pieces concept is rather simple and will be carried on to the other covers to complete a set.

- The giant "AP" in the middle are the artists initials, the font used is "Didot". I used the font because the serifs give it a classical feel to fit in with the theme of the music yet it's structure looks rather modern which will help it appeal to a younger audience

- The text on the bottom left hand corner gives all the information required, It states the record label name ( Circus of Sound ) and also gives the name of the artist and the song title which in this case are Astor Piazolla ( name of artist ) and Libertango ( name of the piece of music ). The font used was "Arial". The reason for choosing this font was Arial is found in most if not all computer font lists and is rather recognisable to those who commonly use computers. This of course is to appeal to a younger and more "hip" audience. Arial also fits in rather well with "Didot" ( the font used to the logo located in the middle ).

- The "Logo" located on the bottom right is the logo for the record company ( self made ) "Circus of Sound". The font used is "Baskerville" which fits into the contemporary yet classic look I'm trying to go for.

- The background colour was chosen based on the mood the particular piece of music set. In this case it was a feeling of both warmth and a sense of energetic bursts on energy.

I also made two other pieces relative to this piece -

This piece has all the same trates as the cover shown above, the only difference being instead of written information stating the artist and song name ( bottom lefthand corner ) there is a barcode that most up to date mobile phones can "decode". Once scanned the phone would display the relevant information such as artist and song name, and would also preview the music so the buyer gets an idea of what the album is about.

My only problem with this idea was the fact that the barcode seemed to slightly ruin the aesthetics of the cover and just does not look as good as the cover shown above.

I also made an album booklet that would come with the album -

The cover uses the main logo from the cover, the fist page gives basic information about the artist, the second page provides a photograph of the artists and finally the back cover im simply a continuation of the cover page with the record label logo in the corner.

I also made a pullout sheet that includes the barcode for information in the even that it is not placed on the cover. The colour of the page is bright to attract the young eyes.

Review of initial idea. SCRAP IT. It's typographically weak.

Here's the new idea -

I want to make covers that a younger audience will pick up. I want this music heard by people who generally would not listen to these kind of tracks.

The new idea is the covers will have a series of sentences telling to audience to pick up the cover. The tone of the language will depend on the mood the music sets. So an upbeat track will have a more polite   message on the cover.

The background colour will also reflect the mood the music sets.

For example -

(this is not the final look)

This is definitely the concept I will use to produce the final work!

Here's is an attempt to make a more interesting background to replace a solid block of one colour.

(proof)

I coloured in the sequence of triangles using a colour that reflected the theme of the music. Yes this did make for a pretty background however the design over powered any text placed on the cover so the idea had to be scraped. 

So instead I focused on making the type look a lot better and gave the overall design a tidy up to create the first final piece ( keeping in tune with the concept mentions before the video above )

Each cover for all 12 tracks will be different! The background colour will depend on the mood the music sets. The text above the album name ( In this case it's "please pick me up" ) will again change according to mood the music sets and the placing of the text will be decided by the tempo of the music. The Higher and faster the tempo the more higher and too the right it is placed.