Album Design Research

The Kpop industry is very detailed when it comes to designing albums and often given a lot of time and effort in order to really stand out from the rest. Here are some of the Kpop designs which I think is very interesting and works really well.


f(x)'s - Pink Tape (2013)

(f(x) is a four member girl group known for their experimental electro-pop based sound.)

• I think this album design works really well as it immediately gets people interested due to it's unique shape and concept. 
• It gives a very nostalgia feel due to it's videocassette design and typography which hints at old video games in the late 90's and early 2000's. 
• It also includes photo cards and a photo book of the (then) five members of the group which can be found within the album. 
• Overall, it also effectively illustrates the sound and genre of the album as well as the group's sounds which is artpop, synth pop and eletropop. 

Epik High - Shoebox (2014)

(Epik High is a three member alternative hip hop group, made up of two rappers and a DJ. They can be easily associated with beats and sounds which resonate back to the early 2000's.)

• This album design is effective as it gives the right tone and mood of the album right away. 
• The use of muted pastels and neutral colours give the album a very relaxed and chill tone; which is true to the genre of the songs in the album, which most of it being slow rap and mellow beats. 
• It's also clever how the utilised the name of the album 'Shoebox' and included 'ballerina shows' and an illustration of a ballerina as well as art supplies, making the album kind of interactive as there are things which the consumer can actually use. It's also interesting how traditional materials such as paintbrushes can contrast the digital cd and sound of the album. Perhaps this was done purposely for the 'old school' mood they were going for. 
• The size of the album is also unique, as it is a square which can be linked to the format we see album covers on screen and how they are presented on our phone or computer.

Recent trends

Since 2016 a noticeable trend has been going on in the album designs. Recently the use of the square has been very popular with Kpop album designs and a more structured and geometrical way of structuring the text layout out against the image can be seen. In a way in makes the albums look ore like posters and and the use of single colours makes the album look balanced and simple. It makes it look very clean and contemporary, however, I think it's becoming old quickly as too many groups have this kind of concept and now albums look increasingly basic and as if not such thought have gone into it but instead a trend is followed in an attempt to look relevant which really doesn't make anyone stand out form the rest. 

I'd like to use a more handmade method with some usage of digital media e.g. Photoshop in order to create fresher album designs. I'd like to use collage and use of pen and ink in order to create new images which can express the mood of the music and the group's image, instead of following the 'square' trend. 

"Begin with the end in mind"

On Tuesday, I started to develop the concept that I wanted to do for our self-branding brief. Penny gave us an idea of where to begin and how to think of it with the quote "Begin with the end in mind". With this quote, I thought of where I wanted to work and what I wanted to do based on my current interest and things I like.

For me, I have always been exposed to different cultures and different types of music and listened to Korean pop music. Kpop for me is very interesting as it doesn't only involve music but also different areas of design, form music video, fashion and film, and most of these areas also interrelate and link together, where designers, directors and the singers themselves communicate with each other in order to create designs and concepts which fit the singers interest and also satisfy the designers wants and ways of working.

I want to be part of a graphic design team who works on album designing for a Korean artist. I specifically want to do album designing as I find Kpop album designs to be much more innovative and interesting than most normal western albums, and album design and packaging is one of the ways in which a singer's identity and look can really be portrayed. It also gives room to be creative and use different types of media in order to express the songs and the overall mood of the album and the artist. It can also tie in the overall concept that the singer is going for which can also relate to the fashion and music video concepts.

Presentation Interim Crit

We had a crit on our initial presentation in order to see how far we've gone and to get peer and lecturer feedback in order to improve it.

Feedback I got:

• Artist Relevance and research - talk and research more about the artists within K-pop as well as what they do and how they influence my work because it was apparently getting very interesting when I started talking about it.
• Zoom in on details of images and picture 
• Make it really punchy and focus on the 'stand outs' from the minimal exercise.
• Add in gifs or animations or videos
• Work on the beginning of the presentation to be more punchy and interesting and get the presentation going.

Thought about my Ideas

After sharing my ideas with Penny, I was told that maybe my idea was too broad and general and it doesn't really relate to self-branding as it doesn't say anything about why I want to be a graphic design in the K-pop industry. After getting this feedback, I decided to go back on my ideas and think back to why and what specifically do I want to do in order for me to have more specific ideas for designs and application that will relate to how I would like to brand myself and my brand identity.

Three Application Ideas for Self-Branding

For this self branding brief, I've thought of applying the idea of how Kpop groups are branded e.g. in terms of having band logos, colours etc. but reflect it on to Leeds. I've thought of maybe taking aspects or things which make up Leeds and make them a 'group' in order to brand Leeds. 

• Multi-cultural 
• Universities
• Museums
• Food
• Fashion

In terms of reflecting back to K-pop culture, each aspect can have a 'role' in the group much like how each person in a Kpop group has a role e.g. dancer. Doing this, will be the bases of branding Leed. 

Start of Self Branding

Today was the start of our self-branding brief. We did exercises which helped us identity ourselves and what other people may think k about us. It also helped us generate ideas of areas which we were confident and good in and also different areas outside of design that we enjoy. Doing this gave us a broader range of concepts and ideas to play with which we could incorporate in our own study and help us shape our self-branding identity.

I was struggling most of the time as I thought that I had a lot of ideas which didn't really seem to fit or link together which made me really confused. The ideas didn't really fit with design but were much more general and I didn't know how to incorporate it with design and my own practice. To get out of this struggle I decided to write general themes which I'm really interested in at the moment: collaging, awareness of different cultures, cooking, colour coordination, languages. I'm also very interested and have been a fan of Korean Pop for a long time and I thought I could reference it; particularly how groups are tied to a specific 'look'; they have their own logo's, group colours, fan name etc. Specifically, group 'Seventeen'  mostly composes, produces and choreographs their songs and dances and are hands on to the production of their music, unlike others. I also talked to Penny about how I could pull theses ideas together as I was struggling a lot of how I could do this.

• Tying it all together with culture and 'making' (creating by hand).
• "Making shit ideas look good"
• "Making" - incorporating the fact that groups 'make' and cultivate their own songs and performances <-- link to cooking as well.
• Creating things differently to how Kpop albums may look like e.g. digital designs, slick and formatted typography, so instead maybe trying hand drawn or hand made things from collages; cutting and sticking. 
• Mixing different cultures together e.g. English culture and Korean Culture, Creating a collage of Leeds but making it look like a Kpop album, Branding Leeds in a way a kpop band may be branded and promoted. 
• Rough
• DPR +ian - director Dream Perfect Regime - was an idol and part of a Kpop group himself but now works as an art director and creates music video and album concepts for other artists.

Mr. Bingo Do Lecture

Today we watched a Do Lecture by Mr. Bingo and the '29 things he's learnt'

Overall, Mr. Bingo works and has worked in various different fields in design from illustration, branding to packaging. Through his lecture his emphasised the fact that he is his own person and doesn't really work for anyone. He creates designs that satisfies him. He creates designs that his audience can participate and interact with e.g. writing hate postcard mails to people, where they pay him money for him to send them hate mail. I think this works as it began to grow, I think more people wanted to be 'included' in that little group or niche and for his audience to feel like they have talked to him on a personal level. It may also act as kind of like a collectable and the fact that he creates different illustrations for each person makes it unique as its 'one of a kind' and different from everyone else, increasing its value and more people will likely to want to have one. I also liked to fact that his is persistent and try out different methods in order for his work to work out in the end, and how he has used his connections to his advantage and created work that is authentic and unique through his humour and wit. He also adopts to new trends and what is new therefore making his designs fresh and innovative each time.

Start of Studio Brief 3: Self Branding

For this brief we are to design, develop and produce self-branding that effectively communicates and promotes me as an individual. designer and learner. I should be able to reflect upon my learning aspirations and design directions.

I need to work in 3 stages
Concept 

• whats my story and audience.

Design 

• concept to visual identity (logo, font, colour palette, imagery etc.

Production 

• 3 min applications