My Thesis Proposal

DESIGNING FOR THE CURRENT STATE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

OVERVIEW

The goal of my thesis is to help musicians generate more success through intelligent and innovative design solutions. How can smart/creative business and design decisions create buzz and get people excited?

With consideration to the state of the music industry and the fact that music is largely consumed online, can a new approach to album, poster, logo and overall band design help generate more album sales and concert attendance for less mainstream artists? Can thoughtful design practices aid in revitalizing the music industry?

AUDIENCE
My audience will vary depending on each individual band. In general, my audience will be anyone who enjoys music.

DELIVERABLES

Album packaging, posters, business cards, logos, advertisements, accessories, stage design, and possibly fashion design.

HOW MY CORE PROJECT WILL HELP MY EDUCATION
This project will benefit my education in many ways. It will give me the opportunity to truly think and be innovative as the music industry lends itself to less conservative design approaches, although conservative may be appropriate in certain situations. I will be forced to work within realistic budgets and timelines as independent labels have less money to spend. The project requires a large amount of back end research; therefore my decisions will be well informed. This project also gives me the opportunity to work with a large number of mediums, producing several deliverables.

Iconic Band Logos

While doing some research on band logos I stumbled across Naomi Nile's blog where she posted her top ten most iconic band logos. I recognized all of them, but I only really listen to three of the bands. Nonetheless, the logos were still ingrained in my memory. Effective? I think so!

Keane Album/DVD Packaging

Before even attending school for graphic design I picked up a Keane(band) music DVD/CD booklet at a music store on vacation in Florida. On the cover and within its pages are some designs and illustrations that largely inspired much of my design work I have done and still doing. The illustrations are done by the dutch artist Sanna Annukka and Richard Andrews at Big Active was in charge of the art direction(typface, layout). The design captures the atmosphere present on Keane's "Under The Iron Sea," helping to form an appropriate visual identity that connects closely with the songs. I'll bring the actual copy in for everyone to see.

Yeasayer's New Typeface

This is the type that was designed for the new Yeasayer album called "Odd Blood". In my opinion, it's suits the music perfectly! Decide for yourself at myspace.com/yeasayer.

Fleet Foxes Music Video

This video is an example of how abstract forms can be used to express certain ideas, feelings, and emotions. This method of design often allows for personal interpretation, which I think is very important. Often times when something is ambiguous, it allows for more people to relate because they are able to draw feelings and ideas from their own experiences. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT-dxG4WWf4

gigposters.com

If you are a fan of band posters, you might enjoy this site as much as I do. http://gigposters.com. It contains a massive archive of different band posters and other printed objects. A lot of the work is pretty bad, but a lot of it is quite good. You be the judge!

Broken Bells CD Packaging.

I just got into a band called Broken Bells who have a limited edition album that is packaged with posters, stickers and more. Here is a link to watch a video showing the cool things that come with the purchase of their album. This is the kind of thing that will get music lovers buying cd's again! http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=102537489