Final Major Project - Fictional band - Discover: Unit 12/13

 Final Major Project - Fictional band:
Discover

For my FMP I have decided to create a fictional band that respond to the theme of Democracy, Protest and Empowerment. This will be achieved through synergy between the band's visual elements and assets, their music, and the message they represent.

In the Discovery phase of my work, I studied a variety of sources to inform my later production of visual assets for the fictional band. I began by creating an ideation mood-board collecting my thoughts with visual representations from other artists. This included the work of  Taiyo Matsumoto, the fictional bands 'Peach Riot', 'Gorillaz', and 'Sex Bob-Omb', concept art from the SEGA title 'Jet Set Radio', and album art for the band 'Mass of the Fermenting Dregs'.

Furthering this initial ideation stage, I attended a Mass of the Fermenting Dregs concert at EartH Theatre, London. While attending this show, I paid close attention to the stage layout, lighting colours used, and outfit choices of the band. In doing so, I discovered the lighting colours typically reflect the themes of the songs using colour symbolism (eg. blues and purples for melancholy, reds for upbeat/love/anger). The lead singer's outfit choice of a floral patterned summer dress was also used in contrast to their heavy rock music.

To consider an artistic style to influence my later work, I then looked at the artist Mitsuru "326" Nakamura. 326 is predominantly known for using exaggerated proportions and simplistic shape language to disguise darker symbolism in their work - such as internal and sexual organs. I enjoy his use of colourful and playful imagery and how it contrasts with the darker tone of some of his work, however I personally find the 'kawaii' aesthetic slightly too childlike to convey a meaningful message. I personally believe 326's primary intentions of his work is to distort the expected norms of cutesy and childish artwork- encouraging his audience to deeply analyse his work to find the hidden darker imagery, rather than take it at face value.

As a method of primary research, I visited the Ravensbourne prototyping building to discover methods I may use to create later outcomes for this project. In doing so, I learned about the Zund cutter - predominantly used for cutting, scoring, and creating folds in paper. I may experiment with using this cutter to create a mockup CD/record sleeve for my fictional band's debut single. I could also pair this with the laser cutter to create a mockup vinyl record to put inside the sleeve.

Annette Richardson then hosted a Colour Theory workshop, in which I discovered the benefit of using a variety of colour sourcing techniques such as complimentary colours, triadic colours, 60:30:10 ratio, tetradic colours, analogous colours, and monochromatic colours. This will help to inform my later work in deciding on a colour palette, as my colour blindness can make finding complementary colours a difficult task at times.

Moving back onto secondary research, I skimmed through the book "Empire of Dirt - The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music" by Wendy Fonarow. This text introduced me to the connotations of indie music in contrast to popular/chart music. It discusses how Indie bands place themselves in direct opposition to 'the mainstream' by remaining intimately/personally connected to their fans, appearing to be "down with the working class", and dressing similarly to their audience by sporting clothing associated with the DIY aesthetic of punk and grunge. This information will help me to develop both a visual style for my fictional band by applying similarly considered aesthetic choices, as well as inform my narrative for which the band represent. To link back to the theme of democracy, protest, and empowerment - I could possibly use the concept of 'the mainstream' to represent control and dominion over both music and populous, and perhaps my fictional band represent direct opposition to that.

I then visited the Secret 7" exhibition, in which a variety of artists produced new prospective single covers for a selection of songs by seven different artists. By visiting this display, I discovered the visual styles of both designers and musicians that specifically appeal to me. I selected my personal favourite works and realised that the singles were predominantly based on Siouxsie and the Banshees, showing how her visual aesthetic appeals to my own personal taste. Using this information, I might include visual references to her iconic look in my own designs. I also discovered that I favour illustrated single art out of a variety of other styles (such as photography and sculpture), however I also enjoy when illustration is combined with printing and collage techniques.

To better understand how a musician may create a character or persona to embody their music and ideology, I scanned through the initial pages of Simon Goddard's "Ziggyology: A Brief History of Ziggy Stardust". This book documented how Bowie's ideation of the Ziggy Stardust character was developed from his idea that there was intelligent lifeforms living in outer space, on other planets, and on stars, coupled with the idea that planets and stars could be also be embodied by characters themselves.
This information will help me to develop ideas for possible character storylines/backgrounds. One key idea I had from reading this text is to create a character that is detached from humanity to comment on the state of the world the band are occupying - as I enjoy the idea that by separating one character from their respective environment creates a contrast in regards to that character's ideals, aspirations, and perspective.