Secret 7: Day Brief - Grounds for Divorce by Elbow

The Brief:
Create a 7x7inch sleeve based on a given song (Grounds for Divorce by Elbow).

In order to start thinking of initial ideas (see figure 1) I started by listening to the song which I chose at random, listening to the lyrics allowed for a basic understanding of the song to be formed. However in order to gain a greater understanding of the song and the meaning behind the lyrics some research needed to be conducted. This lead to the discovery that the song was heavily influenced by Guy Garveys grief surrounding the sudden passing of his close friend Bryan Glancy who is referred to throughout the song 'seldom seen kid' a nickname given to Glancy by Garvey's farther. The song also talks about a time in Garvey's life where he was unhappy in a relationship and wanted to escape Manchester due to recent events in his life, particularly the passing of his friend. I found the strong tribute to Bryan Glancy within the song very interesting which lead to further research into his connection to the band. This lead to the discovery that the album Grounds for Divorce is featured on is named after Glancy. Furthermore when the album won the Mercery Music Prize in 2008 Elbow dedicated the award to Bryan, later giving the aware to his mother. During my research into Bryan Glancy I discovered a tweet from Guy Garvey (see figure 2) which I felt reflected the characteristics which I had discovered about Glancy. Therefore I started to experiment with the use of the quote within the artwork in order to pay tribute to Glancy in the same way the band has through their music  his death (see figure 3). Further more I also looked at how Elbow perform the song and perform in general, which is mostly quite low-key with Garvey mainly just moving around the stage moving his arms slightly. However looking at more recent photos I s discovered Gavreys worker bee tattoo showing his strong ties to Manchester as Elbow have always retained there northern routes despite there worldwide success.

Figure 1

Figure 2 

Upon reflection of the research I conducted and the initial ideas developed (see figure 1) I chose three to experiment with and develop, Garvey's tweet, bee tattoo and the characteristics used to describe Glancy from articles. Figure 3 show initial experimentations featuring the tweet in a simple quote format on the cover, this simple layout speaks to the profound loss Guarvey felt after Glancys death, with the use of black and white further referencing grief.  However the experimentation using red refers both the quote which is talking about valentines day but also the use of roses with the lyrics of the song. However although the simplicity of these experimentation is effective I decided to experimented with larger typography (see figure 4) to create a contrast against the subtle references to Glancy within the song. The typeface chosen is Big Calson which has been used by Elbow within there album covers and promotion material for a number of years.  Personally I think the use of larger typography creates a greater impact and more effectively shows the loss and impact Bryan Glancy had on the band and Guy Garvey personally. 

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5 is inspired by Guarvey's tattoo which is the worker bee, the symbol for manchester, as grounds for divorce is based on a time where Guarvey wanted to escape Manchester despite his love for his city. Initially I tried to incorporate his hand gestures identified in photos and the bee tattoo however this wasn't visually effective (see figure 6), leading to the development to focus solely on the tattoo. This focus reflects the love Guarvey's personal connection to manchester. The experimentation of placing the bee between two lines abstractly references the placement of the tattoo of Guarveys forearm, however this is a week concept. Allowing thee to be the sole focus creates a more visually pleasing cover with the addition of 'seldom seen kid' to pay reference to Bryan Glancy. In relation to the colours used, black and white have been used to show the grief and heartbreak within the song as the band treat the song as a mechanism to cope with the death of their friend.  The use of yellow was too bright and optimistic for the theme of the song.  However upon further research I discovered a more recent album cover featuring a bee in a similar style to my experimentations leading me to discard this idea.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Additionally I experimented (see figure 7) with using adjectives that had been used to describe Glancy in an article I had read, however I feel non of these experimentations are visually effective or really showcase anything about the song. Although they describe the man the band are paying tribute too I feel my earlier experimentations are more successful, as i found it difficult to find an appropriate layout for the type. As this is a day long brief I decided my most successful experimentations (see figure 8-9) where those featuring the tweet from Guy Garvey as this is a more interesting and abstract representation of the basis of the song and also speaks to the bans personal opinion of Glancy in order to reflect the personal approach they take to their music.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9