Studio/ Live Brief: 'Design Is About Doing'/ 'SECRET 7' Research

For the brief, the first thing that was necessary was find out more about the Live Brief itself and the organisation behind the live brief therefore I visited the website that the brief has been

Available from http://www.secret-7.com/ (Accessed 11th February 2013)

The aim of the competition is to raise money for charity by producing one off vinyl covers for some participating music artists and selling them to make as much money for charity as possible. This has only been happening annually for a short amount of time so it is a relatively new competition in its own right.

Song Choice: Laura Marling 'The Beast'

I needed to choose one of the 7 songs that is available to be selected. After listening to all the tracks, I decided to do the Laura Marling song 'The Beast' . I chose this one because I felt that the lyrics were the most mysterious in regards to interpretation meaning that I felt I would be able to do a lot with it.

"The Beast" (2011) by Laura Marling

joyenjoy30 (2011) "Laura Marling- The Beast (With Lyrics)" [Youtube] Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-_rI5rot10 (Accessed 11th February 2013)

As part of this song, and to compliment the album, Marling continued the theme of the The Beast by producing a poem of the same name and theme.

"The Beast" (2011) by Studio Juice

Studio Juice (2011) "The Beast" [Internet] Available from http://www.the-bea.st (Accessed 13th February 2013)

The illustrations produced for the poem are reflective of the style of the poem and the music that Laura Marling produces. After listening to the poem, the song and looking at other visual interpretations, I get the impression that the style of music would be best represented by an illustrative approach to image making, with a neutral or muted colour scheme due to the delicate and organic sound of the music.

Annotation of Song Lyrics

When going through and annotating the lyrics and the poem, themes that occur to me through the song is the ideas of Feminine Empowerment, Escapism, Confinement and the fight for Control. The style of her writing, both in regards to songs and poetry reminds me of the poet Sylvia Plath, particularly in the way that she references goddesses and symbols of power, like Sylvia, the Goddess of Wisdom and talks about the Beast and its different forms. In an interview with the New York Times, Marling stated;

"The character of the Beast changes roles in the album, she added. “At some point it’s me, at some points it’s someone else, and at some points it’s not even a thing — it’s like a force,” she said. “I guess I didn’t really figure out what it was, and that’s why I ended up writing an album about it. The album is all about tugging and churning with goodness and darkness."

                                                              - New York Times (2011) "Goddesses and Beasts In A Dusky Lilting Roar" [Weblog] 4th September The New York Times Available from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/arts/music/laura-marlings-british-folk-cd-creature-i-dont-know.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 (Accessed 13th February 2013)

This idea of having The Beast as these different possible entities is something I want to address within my ideas as well as maybe reference the lyrics and some of the themes that are within the song.

Vinyl Record Artwork

A vinyl record cover is a form of card packaging that is used to commercially advertise and brand a recorded product, such as a single or album. They are seen as a marketing tool which is used to be able to determine the artistic intent and feel of the overall artwork. The most successful and iconic artwork is usually something that is simple and plain so I wanted to be able to capture the essence of the song in a similar way.

"Unknown Pleasures" by Joy Division, "The Wall" by Pink Floyd, "The Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd and "The White Album" by the Beatles

Grischow. C (2011) "Top 50 Most Iconic Album Covers"[Weblog] 27th May IGN Available from http://uk.ign.com/articles/2011/05/27/top-50-most-iconic-album-covers?page=1 (Accessed 12th February 2013) 

I chose these particular covers because they either keep the imagery simple or they keep the information down to a minimum- some even having no artist or album information on them, relevant to my brief. As shown in the miscellaneous mixture of unique covers, they all have in common that they are monochromatic and completely understated in thier approach to describing the album. This adds to the longevity of the artwork as the imagery is not outdated or following a particular trend.

I felt it would be a good idea to have a look at some previous year entries to gain some greater understanding and design inspiration as to the needs of the brief.

"Secret 7" Entry" (2012) by Julene Harrison

Made by Julene (2012) "Secret 7" in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust"[Internet] Available from http://madebyjulene.com/secret-7-in-aid-of-teenage-cancer-trust (Accessed 11th February 2013)

This sleeve has been beautifully hand crafted, producing a simple image that draws you into the feel and aura of what the song will sound like. The crafting is clean and looks clearly professional with the midnight blue and silver colour choices working well together and adding to the mystical effect created by the subject choices of horses. This would be a technique to look at based on the style of the song I am doing as it has a feeling of being organic.

"Seven Inch Vinyl" (2012) by Anouska Hempel

Banks, T. (2013) "Universal Music's Secret 7" Competition Seeks 350 Designers" [Weblog] 4th February Design Week Available from http://www.designweek.co.uk/latest-opportunities/universal-musics-secret-7-competition-seeks-350-designers/3035962.article (Accessed 11th February 2013)

The geometric print for this vinyl design alongside the monochrome colour scheme is a classy and instantly eye-catching piece of design that keeps it quite impersonal and mysterious as to who the cover has been designed for. The layout is very precise and scientific thereby giving the impression that the choice behind the design is representing the structure behind the song.

"DJ Shadow" (2012) by Pete Fowler

Banks, T. (2013) "Universal Music's Secret 7" Competition Seeks 350 Designers" [Weblog] 4th February Design Week Available from http://www.designweek.co.uk/latest-opportunities/universal-musics-secret-7-competition-seeks-350-designers/3035962.article (Accessed 11th February 2013)

The illustration behind the image makes it an approachable image that instantly draws you in due to the sunglasses focal point which juxtaposes the greyscale colour scheme with muted pastel shades, adding to the quirky illustration.

"Secret 7" Submissions" (2012) by Sketchbeast

Sketchbeast (2012) "Sec ret 7" Submissions" [Weblog] Blogger Available from http://rebeccahendin.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/secret-7-submissions.html (Accessed 11th February 2013)

I don't normally like work that has a lot of detail on it, however, I like the consistent style that is used throughout the presentation of the front covers, especially the colour schemes that have been used as they are fluid and add to the atmosphere of the covers. The imagery is quite surreal and unexpected which is only accented by the colour and despite the fact that they are all for different artists, they look like they should be made as a compilation series rather than separate.