Fair to Middlin'

I did a bunch of thumbnails for Crystal Castles, Fungi Girls and This Town Needs Guns...
(I attempted to scan and post some of these thumbnails but if you remember from class, I did them with a 2H pencil so they were basically invisible.)

With Crystal Castles I am really feeling the idea of fractal imagery, either the use of well placed triangular interactions or the use of fractals to illustrate an abstract castle of some sort.


After class yesterday Reuel sent me a link for some really inspiring fractal images by Artëm Gridin:

This is a nice example of what I meant by triangular interactions... the fractals creating some sort of mass

I would use this sort of technique to construct my castle form

Copy Vs. Imagery

I have always been one to think linearly.
I find that when I approach a project I tend to develop the copy first and then through the copy I come up with the visuals to match the concept that is in the words... if that makes sense.

This project is giving me hell because (as bad as this is since I am to be a graphic designer) I have issues imagining visuals in my head. I cannot draw from my imagination.

Trying to conjure up illustrations in my mind is like trying to remember a dream after you wake up or having a particular word on the tip of your tongue.

I can feel it, I am so close to realizing the perfect image and yet I just can't seem to quite make it there.

Vanity Thy Name Is Blogger

The bands I am focusing on are the following:

Crystal Castles

Fungi Girls

This Town Needs Guns

I have just been exploring them all equally.... illustration is not my strong suit so it has been rough.

Posters Galore

Below are just a few of the posters I have been looking at... 

I feel like this poster pretty much defines what my poster should be, a dominating graphic with secondary copy.

This is a good example of the issue I have; what is it about Modest Mouse has anything to do with the imagery depicted here? It is not for a specific album or show... it means nothing. Is that okay?

As beautiful as I think this is... Tokyo Police Club has what in common with poinsettia patterns?

Does this mean I can do whatever the eff I want?

Indie Cliches

I found this article when researching, it's about the Top 10 Indie Band-Name Cliches of the '00s.

If you are doing a poster for Indie bands (which I surmise to be the bulk of the class) it is worth looking at for several reasons. If you are not.... it is still interesting.

Band Prospects

Alan Lidji said that when choosing an Indie band for the poster, go by name. That the best band to do a poster for is one with a name that evokes interesting imagery.

This is a documentation of a 15 minute research session conducted over Spring Break where I searched for interesting Indie band names. The following candidates have been pulled from my own memory, my iPod, NPR, the internet, as well as just asking my musical brethren for any good names they have heard of lately.

Results:

• The Unicorns.....................(Imagery: lilac, rainbows, pearly white, light flares/stars)
• Freelance Whales
• Delta Spirit..........................(I like the possible visual juxtaposition)
• Fitz & the Tantrums..........(Good name does that mean good imagery?)
• Great Lake Swimmers
• Architecture in Helsinki.....(Too literal?)
• Bikini Kill
• Violent Femmes...................(My favorite band. Also happens to evoke brilliant visuals)
• This Town Needs Guns......(So many avenues here)
• Maps & Atlases 
• The The................................(super Indie - lacks imagery, allowing for infinite possibilities?)
• Stars......................................(Too easy?)
• Suburban Kids with Biblical Names
• Kitty on the Catwalk
• Dogs Die in Hot Cars
• The New Pornographers
• Manic Street Preachers
• Patrick Wolf
• Horse Feathers
• Stay Ahead of the Weather...(Not a fan but has visual potential)
• The Books...............................(Obvious imagery-perhaps too much-I feel repetition benefits )
• Good Old War
• The Sounds of Animals Fighting
• Animals as Leaders
• As Tall as Lions
• Fungi Girls........................(Inkblot style, like Lady Gags' Born This Way)
• Noah & the Whale
• Crystal Castles
• Mount Righteous 
• City & Colour

Commercial Use of Indie

(I am going to state the obvious here) The assignment is an Indie band poster. 


First question is, what is Indie?


Definitions of Indie music on the Web:

• In popular music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie", is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing.

Yet, the indie is often just considered a style of design and that style is more and more often applied to Top 40 mainstream/major label bands. I only assume it is to elicit a hip and trendy vibe playing along with the current tastes.


FOR EXAMPLE. . .

All of these bands are currently on iTunes Top 10 lists.... and are signed with major music labels. 

(By the definition above, they are not indie.) 

This commercial use of an independent style is a point of contention for me.  Am I designing a music poster in the Indie style (meaning it is not necessarily representing an indie band) or am I designing a poster (of any style) for an independently labeled band, and indie band. Which one could argue that if I am designing for an indie band, it is automatically within the indie style.

I realize I over-thought all of this, but I feel I could not continue this project without addressing this issue.

Indie music is often accompanied with a particular style of design ("Indie design") yet that style of design is not exclusive to Indie music.


So the question is, what exactly is the project?
I  have just made an extensive post about something which I feel is necessary to point out and research but in the end I feel it is best to interpret the project in the spirit with which it was meant. So I will do a poster for an Indie band in the indie style.