Research into album covers of similar generic downtempo artists

Research into down tempo artists album covers from jake123666

Album cover initial idea's

- This is an optical illusion in which a front on photograph of someone is manipulated so as to seem they are looking side ways. I think this would be an effective technique to use for a panel of my digi-pack, having me and Chelsea head on but looking at each other so as to represent our music video's flashbacks, whilst adding aesthetic appeal which leads people to looking twice as the illusion confuses them.
( here is a tutorial showing how this effect can be achieved: http://www.howtogeek.com/103455/stupid-photoshop-tricks-create-an-optical-illusion-double-portrait/)

Photoshop practise manipulating images

Original image (I did not take this image and is for practice only:

Black and white unsaturated image: 
I like this effect i have achieved and think it resembles the photography of Bernard Pierre Wolff who I have written about earlier on my blog.

Manipulated to seem as if it was pencil drawn:
I like this effect i have achieved however feel that it would be more effective with less going on in the image as the detail makes it seem less like a actual drawn picture. I think this could be an effective technique to use to make my digi-pack stand out artistically as i cannot draw well, and this allows me to use photography to create a drawing. In order to achieve this effect i has to learn how to do it by using a tutorial which is below the image.

We were given a task to recreate an album cover 'Truth' by the band 'The Kabeedies' in order to practice and ensure we knew how to efficiently use the software

This is the original Cover:

This is my recreation of the cover:
I feel i have roughly recreated it accurately however with more time could have fine tuned it to be a lot more resemblance of the original, for example finding the right font was difficult, so as to not spend ages i decided to use something similar instead. I also think the images of the band are to bright in comparison to the original however had problems when trying to correct this as the changes effect all layers beneath it.

Research into print productions:

Researching print productions, and initial ideas

- Although the discussed, 'Bauhaus' and 'Joy Division's' genre is very different from mine, it played a major part in the development of post modernist design and my interest in the music inspired some of my initial ideas, so i decided to look into it further.


Currently i really like an poster for the post punk band 'Bauhaus' for their album 'Shadow Of Light'.
I think the image at the bottom captivates the spirit of the music as well as illustrating the artists take on zeitgeist, and promoting them as a band. Lighting and black and white used in order to represent the Gothic feel and illustrate, in their opinion the detached nature of English life at the time. The image of the Dog watching the TV creates a metaphor of, we are like animals, glued to the media, showing there aversion from consumerism and the dominant ideology of the time. The red creates a bold background to allow the black the white to successfully contrast to give the mirrored shadow effect.The Font for 'Bauhaus'  is different and slightly differently shaded ensuring the band's name is easily recognized.

 'Bauhaus's' album art for 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' makes use of similar lighting effects in order to create a visual representation of the spirit of the music.

'Bauhaus' formed in 1978 and were originally called 'Bauhaus 1919' a reference to the Bauhaus art and architecture movement of the 1920's, this was because of its "stylish implications and associations" (according to David J, bassist of Bauhaus). The band also in-textually reference the movement byb using the same typeface as they did at the originally art college in Germany when the movement began. (For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus)

 -Both designs employ juxtaposition between conventional human life and some form of distorted reality, and they both seem to take influence from Bernard Pierre Wolff photography who employs dark imaginary and using lighting breathes gentle life into them which feels very human. If existentialist photography was a field he would be the founder, finding beauty where most see darkness and making viewers begin to question the boundary's of life, and non-life.

-Existentialism: A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts. (dictionary definition copied from: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/existentialism )

'Joy Division's' second album 'Closer' released 1980, same year as the death of Ian Curtis on may the 18th, the band and graphic designer Peter Saville discussed whether or not to keep this photography which links so closely to mortality and did not want to be insensitive abut his death. However They decided to keep the cover as it is in order to commemorate his life and because he himself chose the image as it reflects Ian Curtis's existential ideology and how he wanted the band's image and sound to be perceived by their audience. It could also be argued this album was the bands way of trying to move on, and they did and later became 'New Order'.

This video shows Staglieno Cemetery, Genoa in Italy where Bernard Pierre took the photograph to be used on the album.

This is the image taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff along with few more used by Peter Saville in the making of the album artwork for 'Joy Division's' 1980 album 'Closer' (see image below)

This is another image taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff  used by Peter Saville in the making of the album artwork for 'Joy Division's' 1980 single 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' (see image below)

- Taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff: I like how the black paint silhouette on the wall creates what seems like a shadow of a man in a telephone box, it seems to me as if the shadow represents part of him, or even someone in it self; the image feels as if the man and the paint silhouette are linked in someway even though one is living and one is nothing more than paint on a wall, but using lighting and angles Bernard Pierre Wolff makes the link and poses existentialist themes.

- Taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff

- Taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff

I like this kind of photography as it is very thought provoking and bleakly filled with emotions. I think it may be effective to use this style of imaginary , despite it being typically contextualized for other genres,  as the artist i am promoting also employs thought provoking themes into the music, as well as the genre of the music, down-tempo emphasizing a relaxing hypnotic energy that  relies somewhat heavily on the contention that the music may inspire thought, as with most. I think my audience for my design would consist of a specific niche group who are well cultured and re-contextualizing this type of imaginary would only engage the  audience more, as the roots for atmospheric down-tempo music don't go much further than the atmospheric roots of post-punk and audiences who enjoy down-tempo, would probably also enjoy the atmospheric feel of music such as 'Joy Division', i think the within the audiences for each genre there is somewhat a cross over of interests.

'Drakefrancis's' tracks, other than 'Nostalgia'

- 'Nostalgia'

- 'Winter Nights'

- 'Daydream'

- 'Night At The Movie's'

- 'You'

- 'Outside World'

(https://soundcloud.com/drakefrancis)



-  among the track names, as well as my music video of 'Nostalgia' all fit a recurring theme of time passing, and a hypnotic sense of another reality beyond this one, and therefore i have decided for a ruff album title, 'Outside  Time' would be a good reference to the general ideological theme of the music.

- However i thought it may be a good idea to get some variation, so i used a thesaurus in order to come up with synonyms of the title, which may be more effective.

 - synonyms of time: pace, present, space, generation, era, interval, tempo, interval, instance.



- synonyms of outside: foreign, exterior, extraneous, extramural


Album titles I like: 'Outside Time'

Hiphop genre theory case study

"Black Sheep- The choice is yours"

Genre theory case study from jake123666



- Black Sheep is a hip hop duo from Queens, New York, composed of Andres "Dres" Titus and William "Mista Lawnge" McLean. The duo is from New York but met as teenagers in North Carolina, where both of their families relocated.^[1] The group was an affiliate of the Native Tongues, which included the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul. After getting together in 1989, Black Sheep debuted in 1991 with the hit song "Flavor of the Month" and later released its first album, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, which gained them praise and recognition in the hip-hop community for the album's unique rhythms and intelligent lyrics. After six years together, Black Sheep disbanded in 1995, but decided to reunite five years later. (Information copied from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sheep_%28group%29  )

- The Choice Is Yours (Revisited) is a single featured on the Native Tongues Posse affiliate Black Sheep's debut album, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
The song samples "Keep on Doin' It" by The New Birth, "Her Favorite Style" by Iron Butterfly, "Big Sur Suite" by Johnny Hammond Smith, "Impressions" by McCoy Tyner, and "I'd Say It Again" by Sweet Linda Divine. The song quotes the Roger Miller song, "Engine Engine Number 9".
In 2008, "The Choice is Yours" was ranked number #73 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs.

(Information copied from:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Choice_Is_Yours_%28Revisited%29  )