Rave and Its Influence on Art and Culture (Haq, 2016)
Haq, N. (ed.) (2016) Rave: Rave and its influence on art and culture. United Kingdom: Black Dog Publishing.
Relevant key points in summary:
This book considers the social, political and economic conditions that led to the advent of rave as a 'counterculture' across Europe, as well as its aesthetics, ideologies and influence on contemporary art and beyond. Combining specially commissioned texts, interviews and factual material, the book represents a broad range of artistic practices.
Nowhere left to dance (Finchett-Maddock, 2016)
Finchett-Maddock, L. (2016) Nowhere left to dance: ScumTek, the electronic underground and neoliberal Mainstreamism. Available at: http://criticallegalthinking.com/2016/02/03/nowhere-left-to-dance-scumtek/
Relevant key points in summary:
Article talks about the current rave scene in London and the Scumtek parties, but has a paragraph in which it analyses the marketing used by djs today.
Club Cultures : Music, media and subcultural capital (Thornton, 1995)
Thornton, S. (1995) Club cultures: Music, media and subcultural capital. Oxford, England: Polity Press.
Relevant key points in summary:
This book is a innovative contribution to the study of popular culture, focusing on the youth cultures that revolve around around dance clubs and raves. Using a mix of methods Thornton paints a picture of club as 'taste cultures' brought together by micro media (like flyers and listings) transformed into into self conscious subcultures by niche media (music and style press).
A generation of DJs is skilled in marketing and social media, but not in music production (Trevino, 2015)
Trevino, T. (2015) A generation of DJs is skilled in marketing and social media, but not music production. Available at: https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/a-generation-of-djs-is-skilled-in-marketing-and-social-media-but-not-music-production
Relevant key points in summary:
Key points from article is a list of techniques used today by djs to improve social media popularity.
500 word triangulation task
The underground electronic music scene, this genre of music can often feel empty and straight faced due to unrelenting kick drums or atmospheric synths that can be abstract. It can be strenuous to grasp what producers and Dj’s want to say, comparing this to genres like hip-hop or pop, which frequently use lyrics to convey meaning. Therefore its the graphic designers job to convey electronic music in a different light, ‘Well-conceived imagery like Emil Schult's record sleeves for Kraftwerk and Ninja Tune's logo of a cloaked figure hurling a vinyl 12" has become definitive reference points, proving that the way music looks can be just as considered as the way it sounds’ (Trevino, 2015). This quote states that music can be more understood now through how it looks, a graphic designers critical role in this is to signal out a potential audience through the use of visual communication. A new generation of Dj’s are more skilled in marketing and social media than they are in music production or being a professional Dj. Graphic designers can target audiences using ‘obscurantist techniques of branding and lifestyle-marketing that can make millions of people believe the likes of Paris Hilton are consummate audio artists’ (Finchett-Maddock, 2016).
In other cases an audience can come to the artist naturally due to graphic design, instead of using a graphic designer to signal out an audience. For example fashion designer, Walter Van Beirendonck used new beat influenced graphics in his clothing designs which attracted a new beat crowd, then afterwards the house generation and the techno generation. ‘They were really attracted by my variation on the smiley face, and also of course the bright colours and the messages which were on the clothes’ (Haq, 2016). A new audience was reached and his clothes appeared in underground clubs throughout Europe thanks to graphical elements. ‘I used to say that I understood early techno as an international, non-verbal language: without borders, and for which it doesn't matter where your from, if you're black or white, or gay or hetero’ (Haq, 2016). This quote is from Wolfgang Voigt who is an artist, music producer, label owner and one of the co founders of the Cologne based techno label Kompakt. He is known to be responsible for the graphic design, label layouts and logos for
Kompakt and here he is describing the audience of underground music as an open group
that operates worldwide. However Dj’s and club promoters of today have to single out clubbers, ‘Club crowds are not organic formations which respond mysteriously to some collective unconscious, but people grouped together by intricate networks of communication’ (Thornton, 1995). Flyers and posters are considered the most effective way of attracting a crowd as they can also be relatively inexpensive. Social media is another option in recent years but what exactly is drawing the crowds in? Promoters and Dj’s are using contemporary and well considered graphic design as a means of reaching an audience. Dynamic and ordered design is accomplished using grids and simple typographic approaches to create a clean feel that gives order within, to play with different colours, imagery and shapes. Many clubs are using a smart and structured design approach that provides an insight into what clubbers can expect once inside the club.
