Blackpool, Rhyl, Coney Island and OHIO

Its been a long time since i have decided to write and update my blog, thing is ive had quite alot on and finding time to do the tasks has been tough let alone reflecting on them. any how winge over so whats new.

 

online music mag.

i had been commissioned by above website to update their online music publication.This involved meetings with my client to disuss his needs and his vison. he wanted a mag in PDF format which he could upload to his website, Th emag had to have a fanzine feel. he was inspired the type of thing which you could from the merch stand at gigs or be sold at record fairs.

easy task, yes, pain in the arse yes, with the deadline always getting narrower i found it increasingly frustrating to compete a job which i originally had alot of joy for. There was a lot of copy to typeset as well as hundreds of iages to choose and select and of course i had to use all of them against my better judgement. when i promted my client for his own imput i would be met with “your the designer” so i decided to be a producer and not essentially the designer, i would land a theme that they were happy with and then just set up a producion line.

a few times i had head out liverpool to chat things over but this could have been don on the phone.

The client i shappy with product altough the have decided add their own additional pages and designs which i think detracts from what i have done.

i await payment!!?!!

 

Blackpool, Rhyl, Coney Island and OHIO

What will follow are slideshows form y time in CONEY, BLACKPOOL, AND RHYL. the photos will beused as par of a digi pak which will be created for the rock band OHIO – demos can be found here, http://soundcloud.com/gaz-williams/sets/ohio-demos/

the pack will contain the following

WEBSITE

CD

COFFEE TABLE BOOK

TSHIRT

BUMPER STICKER

BUTTON BADGE

MYSTERY GIFT

LYRICS

POSTER

DVD INTERVIEWS WITH EACH BAND MEMBER

The cover art is being buetifully hand crfted by my good buddy Artist, Illustrator and devoted follower of the mad sciences. Arfon Jones - http://arfonjones.blogspot.com/ as you iwll agree his work is exceptional and by him doing the cover art will allow me to work on the technical stuff.

 

i have been hauled up the studio for the past 5 weeks recording the 6 tracks which will feature on the CD.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

more to follow.

Professional Practice Continued

Since my last post, the external work is coming in nice and steady, this has ranged from editing images for website, Gigposter, Competition entry and winning, Logo, CD cover, Poster, Logo Magazine,Meetings, Bookmark editing, Meetings and sleepless night, al this based around a fulltime Uni course and full-time job, rehearsals /gigs with my band.

I’m now starting to feel the burn and the effects of asking too much on but im fully aware that opportunities should be embraced as each time is different.

with the web editing images, this involved converting images which had been done in a Microsoft publication and sharpening them up to help the client to achieve a more professional edge ( i cant disclose the name , but it has something to do with a  medical related  support website) with most interactions with the client it has been through email with one visit on site to offer help and support on best practice to upload and display images,including composition of website.

NORTH RISING

I have embarked on working for the new record label NORTH RISING to create a logo, CD cover and poster.

This involved meeting the clients and liasing with an additional correspondent. I was explained that the labels were compared to North Wales being a the Seattle on the music scene, with new and up and coming acts taking responsiblity for their own destiny.

I was picked for my approach to design in the music world and how I “ANALOGUE the DIGITAL”  the logo should work well across all platforms and be easily screen printed, it works as a LOGO/POSTER/CD SLEEVE, be low-cost to reproduce and can be used for each new publication.

I was told to add a Welsh element, i opted for a splash of red/green .

the client gave me free rein which can be tricky as it’s always hard to second guess what someone you don’t know is thinking,  the client is great to work with and is quick to respond and quickly clears any uncertainty up.

This will be an ongoing and expanding project which has potential to lead me to other music industry clients,

the idea is the label has showcase gigs each month and release a cd of the performing bands hence the simplicity  of the cover so it can be used over and over.

the image below is the last proof sent.

LOGO cd cover color – I’m really enjoying working with them and look forward to developing concepts and ideas - a pleasure to work with.

Glyndwr Rocks

Poster Competition for Glyndwr University rock night to be held at the students guild ( a student led project )

The brief  - to design a gigposter for the event, the criteria to include a rock theme, the prize, free tickets to event. Submission was via Facebook.

Not the best thing i have ever done but had some relation to my interest. the poster is below.

I ended up winning the competition once it was picked i was asked to add the band list and make all the relevant changes that include the bands for the event. I then presented them with a print ready file, which was later ignored in view of printing from a home printer on A4 and so far i’ve only seen one around campus. (im not surprised).

Book at bedtime

Local charity i work with in my day job.

have designed a bookmark and have asked me to help them create a print ready file for their design. A real easy and straightforward client and task – more please:) a pleasure to work with

Beaks of eagles

Poster brief for generic tour merchandise.

The idea was to design a poster which can be updated with tour information, related to the band and kept the tradition of a gig poster, the poster is to be sold as merchandise in lithograph form on tour.

I love working for beaks as they are clear on what they want and enjoy my work,  quick to respond to any queries or problems i’m having .

Logo design for web-based import company.

Not alot i can say regarding this because of client based confidentiality, but so far so good, i have a meeting today at 12/01/11 to show them my roughs. i will fill you in.

Big Country / Shakenstir.

Online music magazine did review of 80′s rockers Big Country and used my artwork to highlight the 30th anniversary tour this month, this i great as it has opened doors with them and i hope to be working with them in the future.

I’m very much looking forward to developing my work with Shake.

As with all Clients there are many levels to each brief, each being different in their needs and approach to how quickly we work together. each experience so far has been a positive one, its had its frustrations, the main being , being creative to demand, I find as soon someone wants something all my ideas are out of the window. the other has been software incapacity, so to eradicate that i’ve spent time in a professional design studio asking questions and generally getting on the professionals nerves, but it has paid off and now i feel more confident to move forward, also making that contact has ensured i now have a personal consultant to help me through any hurdle and i can farm some work out and even offer paid work too, also i’ve signed up to extra software classes too.

WEBSITE

Over the holidays i managed to set my website for my business GCD. www.goodcaptaindesigns.com

I had help form a web coder but now means i have a more professional edge when pitching for work.

Professional practice now is an ongoing thing for me, as i am developing my business plan, to work in the music industry as a designer and doing my best to pick up the clients and networking as hard as i can,

TTFN

Prof Practise

Professional Practice is something I have not ever found difficult to obtain, Writing about it reflectively and critically is something I have!

However this time around I feel I can give a more of “Reflective” commentary( on some elements at least).

Since returning to Uni I have had a number of project in the short few months which have kept me busy.

the 1st being

1 – AVI Buffalo – Gig Poster , the brief was set by a musician friend from Cardiff who also is acting as an agent for work.

The brief couldn’t have been simpler and is one to die for. The Client wanted a gig poster in digital format, to be used and printed over in the Kirby Court Venue in Salt lake city.

The client allowed me full creative control, and before anything really started to develop conversed with my agent and as for artistic direction.

The final piece was used and accepted and appreciated, with a message from the band and venue and all involved.

A job worth doing, learning outcome, improved relationship between client and agent and how to work as a distance designer secondly i took the poster through the screen printing process a method which i had never done before. it made me look at how i should design posters in the future. consider colors, type and weight , inks , papers, size of stock, how it will be displayed , how it will be posted.

2- Recipe Book Cover – AVOW, Wrexham council

The Brief to design and layout a cover for a Recipe book.

This is simple enough i worked with an illustrator who mailed me a bunch of sketches.

My job was to incorporate them onto a book cover which would be presented in Welsh And English.

the initial design process was set about by meetings and discussion with the client. very little sketch work was done to draft the ideas as much of this was discussed and quickly brainstormed n the meeting. the concept was decided unanimously there and then.

the next stage was to edit the illustrations in Photoshop and then transfer them to illustrator to neaten them up.

i sent the first mocked up layout to be approved , once approved i added the translated copy to the cover along with logos.

often these case there becomes a logo war , which can hold a process up . usually yu will inevitably get told that a logo should be bigger than it should or moved even at the expense of the art work or layout. this can go with text too. however the log war was the only on i have experienced in this instance.

in addition to the cover i was asked to edit and resize all of the images which would be included in the book. a lot of time the images were poor quality and different cameras were used. with little or resources or time to change that fact i made the best of the solution by doing exactly what was needed.

so the client ended up happy, i needed up relieved as one more PP was completed, the client received print ready files which they have taken responsibility for printing and distribution.

3 – XMAS ELVES – AVOW

The task to illustrate xmas elves to be used in a community road safety publication.

I was presented the description of the publication and asked to illustrate highlighted points, again alot of the decisions were made in the meeting as to the look and feel of the characters, with a very tight deadline it was the best way to work on a quick decision-making process.. firstly i drew one character in situ for approval and once approved produced a whole series for desired publication.

the characters were hand drawn scanned neatend in Photoshop  then passed though illustrator to tighten up.

communication was somewhat sketchy with the client as once the project was handed in not even a thank-you or a follow-up on any feedback from the publications readers. it feels as though it has just been given over to thin air.

on  positive the brief was fun and got me hand drawing agin and that is a good thing. also in addition one of the illustrations was picked up by our very Dave Kelly and used online to promote his app for Print Proof.

Used to help promote Print Proof

4 – SHAKE N STIR Online Music magazine.

On recently doing gig poster for Big Country

i was approached by radio DJ and critic from the online magazine Shakenstir to start work on 3 briefs.

1- redesign his on-line magazine

2- design a monthly printed magazine for a local record company

3 – produce promotional literature to used for a world-renowned touring artist

2 and 3 and further down line but firstly i have been to asked change the aesethic of the online magazine.

the client in his own words has asked me to analogue his digital presence, a fan of music fanzines this was the angle we talked about and have decided to develop.

in the first instance i set about mocking up some ideas. not to be perfect but to give the feel and see how it fits and then we can move forward.

i specifically don’t want to work 100% digitally for this project, the computer will be utilised in order to convert the analogue to digital but with each agreed issue i want to physically produce an edition.

the theme of fanzine is the one we are most pursuing and below is a bunch of mock ups and a screenshot of the test page.

the first 3 were quick Photoshop mockups, below is the cover tightened up.

try to image the final cover being physically made out of paper , tape and glue etc.

Above is the Cover which is so far favorite:)

My Client has set this onto his website to get used to how it work, interestingly my client preferred my first idea.

i look forward to developing this work and seeing where it takes me as this something i wish to pursue in my own career development.

more to follow

Berlin

AVI – Kilby Court

all the way from Salt Lake city is my poster which designed for AVI Buffalo for there October show at Kilby Court.

Lance the promoter at Kilby kindly sent this photo of the poster on the walls at the venue.

Just received this morning were compliments by the support the group Young Yet Brilliant Sleuths.

Screen Printing

So i achieved what i wanted to from my final year, i was determined to move away from digital print and approach my poster work as a screen print.

I must say it was like the first day back at school. i had no idea how to screen ,where everything was kept, what and how to do things. so i met with John Archer who helped me with the process taking an image from digital through to the screen print method.

This is certainly a method i wish to develop and was really enjoyable doing something a bit more tactile than designing on-screen.

the main thing was understanding a new discipline , and thinking of how i creat my image from scratch, taking into consideration what to add and what to leave out, text size and weight, amount of colours and details.

it helped me make more sense of what i was doing in my poster design and how i will approach it in the future.

each step feels like an achievement from the original on-screen design, to reworking it to be more user-friendly when creating the screen/mesh, printing on acetate, using the large HP printer in the hub, mixing the ink, paper stock right the way through to experiment with technique to the clean up of the studio.Even thinking how to get the thing home as a client requested a screen to send him, not easy when you gotta walk home in the wind and rain. all important steps to achieving the final print.

I recommend this way of printing, most enjoyable.

more info to follow.

Darn Dissertation

So i forced and i mean forced myself to do a little work on writing my dissertation tonite, i say write more like stare at the page whilst drinking a couple glasses of red.

any how ive sent questionnaire around a select few people i know, some in the music industry and some i know to be be music fans.

the list

STEVE SWINDON – CEO – Hidden Hive records
SIMON DOBBS – SONGWRITER – This day all Gods Die – Canada
KEV MOONEY- BASSIST – Screaming Citizens
FRANZ NICOLAY – SONGRWRITER/MUSICIAN – Major General/The Hold Steady/Guigol – NYC
DANNY HALE – SONGWRITER/PRODUCER – Under Alien Skies – WALES
ROSS PEACEY – SONGWRITER/MUSICIAN – Beaks of Eagles – WALES
CHLESI MARIE – SONGWRITER/SINGER – Chasing Jane – SEATTLE
RUSS HAYES – MUSICIAN/PRODUCER -Orange studios -WALES
JONATHAN MEIBURG – SONGWRITER/SINGER – Shearwater – TEXAS
JOHNNY MARR – MUSICIAN – The Smiths/The Cribs/Modest Mouse – UK/USA

CARYN GOUGH – ARTIST – The Smiths – UK (i hope its her)

TOM STANFORD – MUSIC FAN – WALES
RICH NASH – MUSIC FAN -WALES
ALAN WHITFIELD – MUSIC FAN – WALES
DAVE BOOTEN – MUSICIAN/FAN – El Buen Captan – WALES.

questionaire

Is it important that the concept of an album sleeve reflects its recorded content?

Is it something that influences your purchase?

Is it even a consideration?

Do you think that album art is dead or surviving the current shift into the digital realm?

has it ever been relevant or do you see it as separate entity in that the cover is a medium in which can be a stand alone art work which doesn’t need to mirror the recorded content?

Is it something you are aware of before or even during the recording process?(musicians only)

So as i hit a bit of brick wall and spent at least 1000 words saying how good i think Black sheep Boy by OKKERVIL RIVER/WILLIAM SCAHFF is i thought i would get some varied opinions.

in retort to that William Schaff has offered me his story behind Black Sheep Boy and also in comparison has offered up opinion on my other study Meat Is Murder( more of a review on the latter) honored that he took time to critique my design work and pick a favorite:)

failing that back to the drawing board..

im confident i can tie it all together and start to make sense of the whole thing.

Recipe book sleeve, Prof Prac

3 weeks in and proffesional practice brief is completed and handed in.

 

The brief was to work for AVOW Association Voluntary Organsiation Wrexham for a collaborative bilingual welsh/english cover to reflect the different cultures of wrexham and different recipes.

My role was to co design and layout the front cover along with editing photos.

The illustrations were drawn by AVOWs Lynsey Edward’s and edited by myself.

The background was designed by me with the logo being put together by avow.

most correspondence was done via email with an opening consultancy meeting and a closing meeting which has led to more work.

Problems as ever occur, my creative suite played up but i managed to get the job done and in before the deadline of this week.

in total i spent a week working on the project and given more time i would have like to complete the layout of the pages and taken more of a lead on the editing the content.

as i was employed just to lay things out there was not much room for movement as the all but the background was already completed.

I look forward to seeing the final printed edition.Recipe book

Busy Times and then some!

 

So i havent Blogged for over a week and its been a busy 1. in reverse order i have had my first Professional Practise brief come through for LA Band AVi Buffalo, for their gig at Kilby Court in salt lake city for 26/10/10 so a short deadline. they now have the final piece which is at the top of this page.

Working to such a tight deadline with all the other stuff im working has been challenging but good to re apply myself working under pressure.

disciplining myself to go back to sketch work( i will add once images are scanned) has been a rude awaking and a good lesson for the future to get back into working this way.

i am working backwards on concepts in my sketch book for this project as there are some ideas which i need to develop for alternatives and also i want to develop a piece of work for screen print. The fact that the deadline is upon me meant i had to put that work on hold and develop my ideas on-screen liaising with my contact, it meant pushing the aeroplane concept forward. the idea came to me when i was researching the word Buffalo and found some old drawing of a ww1 buffalo fighter plane, so i thought of developing the blueprint idea.This hasn’t been without it problems, ive had software issues with Photoshop deciding last-minute to spit its dummy. however ive pushed myself and got the work in on time.

Im looking forward to spending this back time developing the sketch book work and forcing myself to draw once more and really explore creating a type face of my own.

 

2 – dissertation. or shall i say a baptism of fire. being knowledgeable on atopic and being able to talk lucidly about your subject is one thing, but writing about is another. anyhow some late nights, beers, coffees, conversations cigarettes i have now narrowed my topic to a question and even-handed in a proposal ahead of time.

Thats not to say you should rest on your laurels, for example you may think , great its written, its handed in but you still need to know your on the right path , so another sleepless night ensued worrying about if i would have to redo the whole thing and relive the stressful week all over. Luckily i managed to get on point and have my topic cleared, so know by next friday i will submit 500 word introduction, so im guessing another busy week ahead. i think having teh deadline with the poster brief only crammed my brain.

 

here is my proposal:

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between art and music especially the relationship between album art and recorded content.

 

Firstly this research will explore the relationship between art and music.

Has it always existed? How has it been important in the past?

How does album art add something to the music?

 

As a musician and artist, I still feel the relationship is still an important one. However, today as music exists ever more digitally (MP3s), and with the rise of X Factor and similar generic pop orientated programmes, I feel the relationship is growing ever more fragile. Despite this, the fact that iTunes and similar digital music media still rely on album art, albeit in a different way, suggests that the link is not yet broken.

We still see there is a need to relate an image with a recording.

 

In the past there has been strong links between art and music. For example, The Smiths’, Meat is Murder. Meat is Murder features a cover still by filmmaker Emile de Antonio’s “In the Year of the Pig” (1969) and features a Vietnam soldier. The word Meat is Murder was added as slogan to side of the soldier helmet in the place of the original wording “MAKE LOVE NOT WAR” which features on the cover of the original film.

Similarity was drawn between the Vietnam campaign and Morrissey’s stout vegetarianism drawing on the Vietnam reference. The package was layed out by Caryn Gough who appears historically throughout The Smith’s back catalogue as art director / collaborator. The album is described as Morrissey’s most politically influenced and the striking image of the GI on the cover draws strong reference to Morrissey’s takes on society at the time.

 

 

 

More recently, William Schaff’s visual interpretation of Okkervil River’s Black Sheep Boy is a good example of the strong link between art and music. Okkervil River’s Black Sheep Boy is a conceptual musical piece, which reflects on the late singer songwriter Tim Hardin, most well known for his appearance at The Woodstock festival. The albums honesty is almost biographical in telling of Hardin’s life and highlights his struggle with love, music and addiction. The album opens with the title track Black sheep boy , a cover of Hardin’s song by the same name whereby Hardin recognises within himself the issues which are explored by Will Sheff of Okkervil River.

Rhode Island artist William Schaff who appears throughout Okkervil River’s back catalogue produces the album’s cover and packaging.

Schaff traditionally implies his work to represent his reaction to the Holocaust. Schaff’s known work has included album covers for God Speed You Black Emperor and Death Vessel. Schaff interprets Will Sheff’s (Okkervil River’s front man) lyrics almost pictorially laying emphasis to the dark times of Hardin’s past which is almost blatantly portrayed through Sheff’s lyrics, given that you know a little of the history behind the album. With that said even with little understanding you can certainly make a relationship between art and recorded content.

 

We also can’t forget The Beatles’, Sgt Pepper, Pink Floyd’s, The Wall and Bruce Springsteen’s, Greeting from Asbury Park.

 

 

 

To answer my question, I am going to ask an unsigned or up and coming band who are about to embark on producing a record with sleeve and liner notes to find out if the relationship between their music and the album artwork is something they have considered.

Research Objectives:

• To explore the relationship between music and album art
• Does album artwork add anything to the musical message?
• To see if it is still important and has its place
• Will we still recognize album art as an important communication tool within the music industry in the future?

Research Methodology.

• Interview a band that is creating an album to discover their relationship between the music and the artwork.
• Contact 3 bands that have released an album and interview them about the process behind the creation of their album sleeve and the relationship to their music.
• Read existing articles and books that explore the relationship between art and music.

 

 

Resources, e.g. galleries, museums to be visited, journals, articles etc.

• Listen to and understand the recording artist’s work, analyse musical content, structure, production, supporting stories and history to expose the reasons and concepts behind the recorded work.

 

• Research the artist commissioned to design sleeve cover and their relationship with the band.

 

• Research corporate artist to see if the same sensibilities are employed or are the artists detached from the musician and work with just a title or standardised record company brief in order to complete the product.

 

• Revisit known articles on chosen album sleeve.

 

• Research the Internet to see if any articles have been published on the subject.

First Bibliography (sources, articles, books, journals looked at so far for the proposal)

Daniel Johnston [Web page].

<http://www.hihowareyou.com/>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

DiFonzo, N. (2006). Seriously Bad Album Covers. XXXX: New Holland Publishers Ltd

 

Draper, J. (2008). A Brief History of Album Covers. XXXX: Flame Tree Publishing

 

Evans, E. (2010). The Art of the Album Cover. XXXX: Chartwell Books, Inc.

 

Goddard, S. (2006). The Smiths Songs That Saved Your Life. Surrey: Reynolds and Hearn Limited.

 

Gregory, J. (2008, August 17). Designer Peter Saville: ‘The Album Cover Is Dead’. Gigwise.

<http://www.gigwise.com/news/45430/designer-peter-saville-the-album-cover-is-dead>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

IMDB, In the Year of the Pig [Web page].

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064482/>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

Mark Pedini [Web page].

<http://www.artsplosion.blogspot.com/>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

Okkervil River [Web page].

<http://www.okkervilriver.com/band.php>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

Rock Explosion [Web page].

<http://www.rock-explosion.com/catpage5.html>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

Wikipedia, In the Year of the Pig [Web page].

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064482/>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

William Schaff [Web page].

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/samsa1973/>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

Second Bibliography (sources, articles, books, journals identified but yet to be read)

Album Art is NOT dead. You Remember That.com.

<http://www.yourememberthat.com/media/9626/Album_Art_Is_NOT_Dead-_An_Interview_With_Artist_Ioannis/>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

Album Cover [Web page].

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Album_cover>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

Album Cover Art [Web page].

<http://www.album-cover-art.org/>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

AskMe AskMe AskMe.com [Web page].

<http://www.askmeaskmeaskme.com/meat.htm>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

Kerley, P. (2010, April 7). Audio slideshow: Storm’s sleeves. BBC Entertainment.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8605975.stm>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

Northern Planner, Thoughts on Planning and Life from the North of England.

[Blog].

<http://joymachine.typepad.com/northern_planner/2007/09/the-smiths-albu.html>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

Sleevage [Web page].

<http://sleevage.com/>. Accessed 12^th October 2010.

 

 

so the next step is to get this thing underway.

 

Other news.

 

My books for my dissertation have arrived along with the Sketch book for my 1st Negotiated study ( The Sketch Book Tour) arrived today so im looking forward to getting al this under way.

professional Practise seems to be coming in nicely with another one today.

so far i have .

Band Merchandise

Rework of a business identity

 

Layouts for a recipe Book

Corporate , flyers, posters , etc for my day job.

Promotional material for a DJ.

Next on the agenda is a conference in Bristol for The Bristol Natural Consortium where by im facilitating group work for the BioBlitz event, here i get to meet Sir David Attenborough so exciting times.

Then its off to Berlin on teh study trip where i will get the sketch book project underway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salt Lake city, AVI BUFFALO

WOOAHH looks like they need a poster by the 20th. it can be done. luck has it, its distance work so it needs to be submitted digitally