Secret 7 2018: Initial Ideas

Initial ideas:

Based on my initial ideas I've narrowed done those which I thought would be most visually effective and appropriate. 

‘Go with it’:

During research I discovered 'go with it' was a term Jeff Buckely lived by as he was a very relaxed and unpredictable person. Interestingly when looking into how Buckley performs he's very relaxed, getting lost in the music which further speaks to this phrase. Although this phrase doesn't necessarily represent the song I feel it accuratly represents the musician and his approach to music.

In relation to the design of the sleeve I initially experimented with a traditional forms of layout such as having the phrase centred on the sleeve (see figure 1) looking very structures. However due to the unpredictable side of Buckely's personality I wanted to experiment with less traditional formats (see figure 2-3). This lead to the idea to repeat the phrase having one upside down (see figure 3), which I thought was interesting leading to the combination of both phrases, connected via the h. Furthermore based on the idea of repeating the phrase I decided to overlay both using both filled and outlines text to show the overlay as using filled text was too confusing as some letterforms disappeared (see figure 4). Throughout these experiments the main colours (see figures 3-5) have been taken from colours used within Buckley's vinyl sleeves (see figure 6) as this hints to the identity of the artist without being too obvious. This experiment has been implemented across all experiments.  In relation to this experimentation I think the black and orange and blue with orange type are most successfully as they allow the phrase to contrast against the background allowing the phrase to be read clearly (see figure 7). In relation to the typeface used I experimented with different typeface, trying to identify one that would resemble that used by Buckely on his own sleeves as I couldn't identify the exact typeface. This lead to the use of Poppins as the sans serif typeface was a close match to the one featured on Buckley's sleeve seen in figure 8.

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Figure 8

Chords:

Based on observations of Buckley's performance I discovered that the main focus when performing was Buckley and his guitar despite having a support band. Consequently this lead me to look at the chords used within the song, visualising the chords based on how they are written when learning the song (see figure 9). This allows an interesting pattern to be created using dots and line to replicate the position of fingers on frets (see figure 10). However I felt the solid shapes used looked too bold (see figure 11), creating an overpowering busy pattern, leading to the use of outlines to create a quieter pattern which reflects Buckley's personality more effectively due to his chilled nature. Although I liked this design I wanted to experiment with creating a more abstract representation, leading to the removal of the bars (representing full finger placement) as I felt there use made the origin of the pattern too clear (see figure 12). Furthermore the removal of the full bars allows the pattern to fit within the square more effectively as the full bars created a longer design which looked a little awkward within the square (see figures 10-11). In relation to the colours used I personally prefer the blue and orange (see figure 12) as I fell the orange outlines compliment the blue well, however I plan to gain feedback as to which others find most successful. 

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Rebecca Moore: 
During research I discovered that Lover You Should've Come Over was inspired by Rebecca Moore, and Buckley's regrets about mistakes made during the relationship. For this experiment I decided to incorporate hand written type as this something often used within many of Buckely's sleeves. This meant writing the phrase used by hand, scanning in and the making a digital render to be used within the design (see figure 13). Furthermore as this sleeve is based on a tribute and apology to Moore about the mistakes made, the handwritten type adds a more sincere note to the design (see figure 14. Personally I think the designs featuring the phrase 'for Rebecca Moore' is most successful (see figure 15) as the placement of the type on the side creates a more visually interesting design compared with other experiments which are too simplistic (see figure 14). Furthermore I used similar colours as to those used on previous experiments (see figure 16), however I felt the use of black and white (see figure 14) was most appropriate due to the emotional and quite serious notes within the song. In addition I experimented with colours used within a previous sleeve however felt they where too dull and lacked impact (see figure 17-18).

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