BRIEF: Redesigning Song Cover

Introduction to Brief:

One of my biggest personal passions is finding new music on Spotify. I love finding new artists and diving into all of the different songs that they have created, figuring out which ones I love and which ones aren’t for me. One of my biggest pet peeves within this hobby is finding a song which I absolutely adore the sound of, but the cover design turns out to be lack lustre and extremely boring. It doesn’t match the atmosphere of the song and makes the whole process of creating and releasing this song look rushed and unprofessional. Very disappointing!

This is aimed to be a quick brief. It should take averagely 2-4 days. Try to stick to this. Try not to spend too little/too much time on the task. I advise you create a timetable before you start section 1, particularly if you struggle with time management.

Below is an image of the song cover which I chose for this brief on the left, with my own redesign on the right. This is one of my favourite songs, however I think the original design looks way too rushed and looks like it was designed in very little time, with very little thought.

For this brief, you need to redesign a new cover image for a song of your choice which you believe needs to be redesigned. A song where you do not like the cover design and/or you do not think it matches the atmosphere of the song.

What you will learn:

• How to analyse other designer's work and being able to recognise their potential areas of improvement.

• A developed understanding towards the importance of appropriate, professional design.

• English - How to analyse text (song lyrics).

• How to link context (of the song) to your design content.
  

Section 1 - RESEARCH

A) Understanding the Importance of professional, relevant design.

Before you start designing, I want you to do some thinking into WHY I am setting this brief. Grab a notebook and answer these questions:

1. Why is it important to have appropriate, professional design?

2. How can a bad design impact a musical artist trying to make their song popular?

3. How can a well designed song cover attract a larger audience?

B) Researching your chosen song/album cover.

a) Once you have chosen the song/album cover you would like to design, first you need to listen to the song, even if you have listened to it hundreds of times in the past.

1. Is there any lyrics which stand out to you? Lyrics which emotionally impact you the most? Lyrics which create the clear visual imagery for you? For example, 'Adele - Rolling in the Deep' - "you had my heart inside of your hand". Could visually create a hand gripping a heart.

b) Print out the lyrics of your chosen song. Highlight and analyse these lyrics. Get an understanding behind the story/meaning of the song. Focus on different key words which stand out to you.

c) Watch the official music video for the song (make sure it is the official video by the legitimate artist, otherwise it is irrelevant research!). Watch the video, if there is one, and answer these questions: (Skip to section 1B)d. if there is no music video for your chosen song.)

1. What emotions do you feel when you watch this music video. Can this influence any creative decisions in your design?

2. What story is the music video telling?

3. What is the mood of the music video? Facial expressions? Weather? Colour/lighting?

d) You need to state WHAT you do not like about the original cover design and WHY it should be replaced. Use these questions to help guide your answer.

• Is it the colour palette? Are the colours involved incompatible? Do the colours not match the atmosphere of the song?

• Is it the style of typography style? Is the placement of the text off? Is it the text size? Is it the text style boring - could you warp the text to make the cover more unique? Is it the incorrect style of letterform (serif, sans serif, script, monospaced and display)?

e) Once you have a list of problems, you should be able to make a checklist of what the album cover SHOULD involve. Remember to use the atmosphere of the song which you discovered in Section 1B)c. to influence these choices. Use these questions to help guide your answer.

• If the original design looks too boring, how can you make it look more interesting?

• If the original design uses an unfitting colour palette, what choice of colours would be more appropriate?

• If the colour palette is inappropriate/boring, how can you make it more fitting/exciting?

• If the typography is inappropirate, what style of typeface would be more fitting? Is there any need for typography on the design? Is it not the typography itself, but where the type has been placed?

C) Researching revlevant designers to inspire you.

Now you have discovered what is wrong with the cover and what needs to be changed, you need to find AT LEAST THREE artists who use similar styles which you are aiming to use. Use the list of resolutions from Section 1B)e. to help you.

• If the song cover needs brighter colours, look for artists who use vibrant colours.

• If the song cover needs an improved type style, look for artists who experiment with typography.

• If the song cover is too boring, look for artists who use unique approaches/medias.

(If you are struggling to find any artists, scroll through this blog. I have done plenty of different blogs about different artists who inspire me.)

Section 2 - DESIGN

Now that all of the research is done, you should:

• Have a good understanding on the importance of great design.

• Have a good understanding on the story behind the chosen song.

• Have a list of reasons WHY the current cover design is not appropriate and WHAT needs to be redesigned.

• Have a minimum of three designers which you have found to help inspire your design.

You should create:

• A vast range of different potential designs/variations/experimentations of design which can potentially be used for a final product.

• 2/3 final outcomes (no more, no less) which have are your favourite. Designs which are the most fitting for the chosen song cover.

Section 3 - ANALYSE

Now you have chosen which design is the final outcome, it is time to analyse your work. Answer the following questions:

1. What were the main problems with the original design (brief description as you should have already covered this in section 1)? How did you overcome this? What did you change?

2. What are the most effective new design attributes of your new design?

3. How did you use the selected artists which you researched to influence your design?

4. Is there any adjustments you would make to your own design? If so, why were you not able to do this?

5. How long did you spend on this brief? You were advised to spend 2-4 days on this brief. Did you stick to this?

End of Brief.