Album Cover Collaboration

This project was inspired by a shared interest in Indie music. Genna and I are fascinated by the aesthetics of Indie album covers and titles. Realism was one of the modalities that we both really liked, which was contrasted to absurdism of the name. We want to incorporate realism with aspects of expressionism and abstract, which are recurring themes in our previous pieces. Genna’s previous oeuvres reflect facets of Kenyan culture, and my ongoing project highlights the significance of maintaining the values and idiosyncrasies of culture and not conforming to a collective mindset.

 

We hope to establish our own style by experimenting with digital design using softwares such as Photoshop, Photos, Word, and Pages. These designs will mirror the artist monikers, which will be based on the mood and expression we'll draw from the picture. After this, we decided to design geometric logos that conveyed a message of their own. These logos attributed for the abstract component of our art.

The photographer we want to emulate is Dan Mountford. His use of layers and the double exposure effect captures our theme really well; it highlights aspects of duality but at the same time obscures societal distinctions, which are prevalent themes in our previous pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Process:

The process for this piece was fairly unusual, although it did follow some sort of pattern. Genna and I started by taking photos of our subjects, which were our classmates, Lorraine and Leila. In order to develop her theme (and somewhat mine), we incorporated aspects of Kenyan culture like the kanga material. While our camera wasn't the best quality, we took some poignant shots that accurately represented our intentions. After taking the photos, we uploaded them onto a computer and began editing. We attempted to compensate for the moderate quality by adjusting the effects using Photos, the photo editing software provided by Apple. We did, however, transfer to Photoshop as there were limited effects on Photos. After tinkling with the photo, we came up with a design that was both aesthetic and representative of album covers.

 

After we had our base/primary image, we transferred it onto pages, which was at the time the only software we truly knew how to use for further modification. By experimenting with incorporated artistic effects, we chose a design we liked. Then we toyed around with cropping and filters in order to make our piece more complex. Our first piece was the one with Leila in a green kanga and a grey filter. This piece was somewhat experimental in that we were playing around with a lot of filters. Using opacity screens and cropping, we managed to distort Leila's face, which has significance in our theme. We then decided to create a logo. We did this using shapes after learning how to manipulate lines. By toggling between hard corners and rounded corners, we were able to create shapes that reflected the name of the indie band.

 

For the next piece, we placed Leila's face within a shape. It was more abstract because of the shapes and lines. We used the shape drawing technique and enlargened it in this piece. Moreover, we used filters as well as opacity settings to highlight certain aspects of her expression. In this piece, we also employed the use of colors, which mirrored her joyful expression.

 

After we had used opacity settings on set shapes, we were interested to see the effect of layering two images and changing the opacity of one. This is seen in the cover photo with the stars and the infinity sign. We really liked the effect this had on the piece as we combined two dissimilar subjects and unified them into one piece. We tampered with the color settings of both photographs. Because my theme was generally submersed in black and white tinges, we decided to make Leila monochrome while making the picture of the nightsky subtly blue. This elicited a somewhat contemplative and experiential atmosphere. Also, while adjusting the colors, we discerned a face in the stars at certain hues. We liked this a lot and decided to keep it. The face is directly to the right of Leila.

 

Our next piece, Victorian Smiles, pulled on all the different tools we learned earlier. This cover directly drew inspiration from Dan Mountford's artwork. There is a degree of symbiosis between direct environment and the subject's expression. As a result, we decided to remove the background from the picture of Lorraine using Microsoft Word (we didn't have Photoshop yet). Then, we searched up a picture of the forest, a place symbolic of the subconscious and nature. We diametrically opposed using a relatively less opaque textual background, which is a motif in several of my pieces. Then we included our shapes and outlined her expression, which has relavence when it comes down to our meaning. We designed the font using individual shapes and manipulating them to form letters. We found that the fonts offered by the software were not fitting in our piece so we designed our own.

 

Our final piece, Whining Streetlights, was an aberration. While trying to commingle the image with a face, Genna and I realised we liked the effect the picture had on it's own. This picture was taken by one of my closest friends, Salem Belay. What we did was layer the photo on top of itself and slightly rotated the top later and made it transparent. It gave the illusion of movement. Moreover, we turned the photo on its side so as to comment on certain aspects of society. Then, using the fonts on Pages, we developed the title Whining Streetlights, which has a hint of synesthesia, one of the most intruiging constructs. We also used a filter that was readily developed on Word because we liked the hazy and out-of-focus effect it had. It has a very circular feel to it and hints at some motion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Context:

In 1938, Columbia Records hired Alex Steinweiss as its first art director. He is credited with inventing the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing the plain covers used before. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. By the late 1940s, record albums for all the major companies featured their own colorful paper covers in both 10- and 12-inch sizes. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilized original designs. The talents of many photographers and illustrators from both inside and outside of the music industry have been used to produce a vast array of memorable LP/CD covers. Album cover art provides a rich history -- Salvador Dali, H.R. Giger, Andy Warhol, Joey Krebs aka The Phantom Street Artist, Julian Schnabel, Damien Hirst. All of these artists created album cover art for bands. There is a rich connection between art and music

 

The importance of cover design was such that some artists specialised or gained fame through their work, notably the design team Hipgnosis and Roger Dean famous for his Yes and Greenslade covers. At times, cover art becomes part of that emotional connection we have with music. Album covers have somewhat become a constituent of the music itself. Moreover, as the artists try to mirror the musicians, the album covers truly embody their theme and tone. The subversive nature of the Sex Pistols transpired through their album artwork, which was eventually banned because of how controversial it was. Musicians use cover art to bolster their message and views. 

 

Reflection:

The reason Genna and I started this collab was because of our shared interest in Indie music and a fascination with the unique and somewhat eccentric names of bands and albums. We realized that we liked these monikers because they could not be boxed by a single idea or culture. Rather, it was a coalescence of randomness and chaos that framed these names. We felt that there was a dichotomy that existed between confining things to certain groups and cherishing idiosyncracy.  The main example of this was culture. While Genna's previous theme was the preservation of culture and eluding the disillusionment that compels far too many individuals to embrace modernity and globalization. This had several undercurrents which we sought to evaluate through this piece. In some sense, doesn't culture constrict us to certain limitations and mindsets? Do we not want to be idiosyncratic and evade a group mindset, which is created by culture. The indie genre subverts this paradigm as it embodies the tropes of nonconformism and uniqueness. As Nietzsche says, “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”

 

While associating with a group is beneficial in many ways, there is a degree of group delusion that transpires. People are willing to adopt beliefs and ideals that are not in line with what they personally believe. What society needs is mass disullusionment, which will compel people to think individually. As I've stated in my previous reflections, there is a lot of sincerity lost because of the confinement to established constructs, such as emotion and language. I'm  now extending this critique to culture.

 

I guess there is solace in knowing that even if I'm not "better" than others (whatever that means), I am different. I guess this is why the indie culture is becoming so popular. We all acknowledge that we're not the best, but, rather, are the best versions of ourselves.

 

Other than this, I included aspects of my previous works, including text and expressionism. In this body of work, however, they take on a slightly more positive overtone because of the association of these two concepts with indie culture. I tend to agree with the ambiguous and random nature of this sub-culture. The lyrics are always incoherent and the titles are unconventional. But I love it because then it forces me to be the interpreter. This culture is unique in that it compels individuals to think individually rather than simply embrace established conventions. Genna and I even account for this "grey area" by incorporating abstract art, which is seen by our logos. In many ways, indie culture is simply an extension of abstractionism.

 

Indie itself a term coined to convey the idea of revolution. It should be noted that the most distiguished artists in history have been revolutionaries - both in the realm of art and society. Picasso, Caravaggio, and Pollock are examples of this.