OUGD501 - Studio brief 02 - Prototype solutions

For development of the practical I need three proposed solutions derived from idea generation stage. At this stage visualisations are rough but are accompanied by an explanation/justification in reference to the original problem/brief.

Idea 1 / Fabric visual case study
In my essay I talk about the importance of Fabric visual identity and how potentially the clubs identity saved it from closure. The club which has been around since 1999 reinforces design just as much as music, and points in my essay such as the event posters designed by the club in house graphic designer Roberto Rosolin in which he reflects the space, the people and the music are explored. Other explorations in my essay are Fabrics nods to nostalgia with the use of the acid smiley face and the aesthetic that reflects the institute which had formed a design language over the years, it
provokes and intrigues an audience while nether taking advantage of the brand.

The visual identity of Fabric is just one part of a business that represented a distinct cultural moment in the history of nightlife, and it successfully stood on behalf of underground electronic music. So for my first idea I want to tell the story of Fabric but through only the use of symbols and icons. The save Fabric mascot was an icon itself and it successfully told not only the story of Fabric but also nightlife in general. It mixed the iconic smiley face with the Fabric logo to create an iconic symbol / icon that told a story. Having symbols and icons as the only form of communication means it will indicate and signify representations of ideas, objects, or relationships relating to Fabric. Symbols and icons allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different concepts and experiences.

So for the visual case study it would most likely be a publication which tells the story of Fabric page by page, it would include the recent court case and It could potentially include the Fabric points in my essay in the publication. Including Fabric points from the essay would contextualise the visual case study more.

Idea 2 / Nightclub promotion that uses contemporary design to reach out to a new audience
This idea is derived from the point in my essay about how branding and marketing of Dj’s, Labels and Events is more considered today as each aim to reach a target audience in new and exciting ways across a number of platforms such as social media and print. A graphic designers critical role in electronic music scene is to identify potential audience through the use of visual communication and for my practical research I looked at clubs such as Tresor and Futur Sound. And how the posters are effective because they don’t always look similar but they are recognisable as a cohesive series and have the clubs character at the heart of them.

A wave of contemporary progressive design promotion is now sweeping across electronic music as event promoters are turning to graphic designers to represent the clubs, the music, and the
personalities of employees the clubs. So for my second idea I want to visually represent a chosen nightclub event, and to actively communicate the unique qualities of the event through contemporary graphic design. The event will have to already exist so I can research into the unique qualities and already existing aesthetic of the event. The final outcome would most likely be a poster series advertising events that can be both print and media based.

Idea 3 / Rave influenced album artwork
One solution I highlighted in idea generation was rave influenced artwork which is informed by the point in the essay about the role of graphic design in rave culture and how rave culture is influencing trends in graphic design today.  During the 90s as the raves become increasingly more popular, the aesthetic of the micro media which advertised the raves improved. This is where a graphic designer played a role in rave culture, and most of the time the artwork was characterised by garish and utopian colour palettes which are now big trends in graphic design.

These trends are apparent in album artwork especially as I've researched into the likes of Frank Ocean and Laurent Garnier's album's both being influenced by rave culture aesthetic. The aesthetic of repetition, neon colours and stretched type are all aesthetics used by designers during the rave scene to reflect the culture, so my idea is to select an artist and design album artwork that reflects the music but through rave influenced trends.