After some researching I found out graphic designer Rick Cho (Rowdee) created them. Cho is a Seoul-based graphic designer who works in collage style mixtape influenced design. His early influences was the mixtape from The Diplomats. Cho got his start by creating cover arts for his neighbourhood friends though before this he used to work in the VFX industry working in TV and films. Cho got to work with 6lack for his cutting ties album as well as other international artists such as Taylor Bennett.
In an interview, Cho described his work method to be heavily based on the sound of the music and it's atmosphere. He bases the starting points of his ideas and designs to keywords he could describe the music with e.g. for 6lack's 'Cutting Ties' "gloomy black, dark blue, murky but crispy texture-wise". I really like this approach to design especially for artists as he prioritises the music in comparison to the image of the artists and the feel of the music, however at the same time not to say that he doesn't refer back to the artist themselves, but often the theme and vibe of the music correlates with the artist themselves therefore this is a complete image that is being created with the design overall. In addition, Cho doesn't just go by his own subjective view of the music; he also asks the artists themselves and communicate with them as much as he can as he said, "When I work, I talk with my clients a lot. Even if a client tells me, "Do you," I ask them various questions because I know every person has their own imagination." This way I also admire how he takes time to converse and make sure that at the same time the client is satisfied with the visuals that they are given for their work as well as the clients themselves will want a design that will be eye-catching even before listeners will listen to the music as the clients themselves just like Cho said will have their own way of interpreting their music, especially in a more personal way and so this way the client will feel as if they have participated in the design work and be more satisfied as they are given visuals that suit their preference as well as Cho's.
Looking at some of Cho's designs, I can see that his collage style slightly varies depending on the kind of music he deals with much more than the clients that he works for, and this may be because of what I've said before in this blog. His also got a strong typographical style that matches the aesthetic of the whole song itself which also helps achieve the overall atmosphere of the design in relation to the music. Take for example, Jay Park, he takes on different genres of music and you can actually see the different styles that Cho creates for these genre's.
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1) Yacht ft. Sik K - This song has a very smooth tropical vibe, it's quite 'breezy' and poppy and makes the listeners associate it with a beach of the sun. The usage of heavy imagery, emphasis and obvious link to the sea and a yacht makes the design appropriate and effective as the feel and atmosphere of the music heavily influences the listeners imagination. The use of subtle links to the sea such as the illustrated map trails and compass such as the direction of the type is also very effective as it ties in the design and concept really well without being too much and too literal to the concept. I think it's imaginative enough and actually a good balance of being visually straightforward whilst still being imaginative with how other links could be used making the design work overall. The use of contrasting type styles also help balance the minimal use of colour and imagery in the design as the use of the white space with the contrasting serifs and styles make up for the 'lack of design'. It's also effective as it grabs the listeners attention enough to read the title and artists while looking at the imagery as well.
2) Love My Life ft. ph-1 - This song has a more bouncy feel with quite futuristic bass. Automatically, the use of bright vivid colours caught my attention and immediately made me try and associate the sound of the song to something quite poppy and happy whilst the minimal abstract imagery made me think it's one of those trendy poppy trap songs. Upon listening to the actual song whilst looking at the design, I felt that the design effectively captured the style of the music. This time, instead of being literal with the imagery and connotations, Cho used certain elements like colour, white space, image and layout of text in order to portray the atmosphere of the music which I thought was very successful.
I think, as I went through Cho's work and his archive, I've noticed the consistent effective use of space and layout and balance between text and imagery. This for me is really important as it shows his awareness of being able to showcase the album art itself as well as the client and the song. Having clear hierarchy in information helps listeners and the audience, distinguish which is the most important information e.g song title and artist name and which one's aren't as important.
3) Hulk Hogan - This song was quite different from the other two in the fact that it was quite dark and trap/rap heavy with a deep bass and moderate bpm. Similar, to the previous cover art, Cho has chosen to portray the feel of the music. I think in particular the collage imagery works particularly well as it successfully gives a subtle reference to the concept of the song and at the same time listeners can have their own interpretations of the cover art and assumptions of what the song is going to sound like as well that is very much heavily connoted to the elements that Cho has used e.g. dark colours, rough handwritten typography, handcrafted imagery.
Thoughts and Reflections:
Overall, I really enjoyed looking through Cho's work and as I've made myself familiar to his designs it's made me appreciate album art even more as lots of components and thought are put into it than seen through the actual final design. The process that he goes through and his way of working is also very inspiring for me as he heavily converses and communicates with his clients which is something that I also think is very important. In addition, his working environment and field is something that I'm very interested in as well as I consider music as a big part of my life, I think of it as one of the reasons why I want to do graphic design as a whole, especially with the kind of music that I'm particularly invested in where design in every aspect is very much considered. I also thought at some point of wanting to work in the music industry in some way and I think how Cho operates and his whole ethos speaks to me which is why I have chosen him as one of the designers which I would like to perhaps make a report on and find out more on how he operates and his design processes and more on his beliefs and ethos with working with clients.
https://djbooth.net/features/2018-02-27-rowdee-interview-covered-6lack
http://rowdee3886.tumblr.com
https://www.instagram.com/rowdee38/?hl=en
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