Follow the Rhythm – Research Process
Beginning the project
I usually start with a spider diagram when beginning a project, I thought about songs I could use for this project and what lyrics had the word ‘Line’ in them and I thought about and included songs about lines.
Sketching ideas- Collage work
I began with looking at graphic designers I found the most influential for this project and bringing their influence into my experimental research. I have looked at Jamie Reid and Scher previously for different projects. Leading on from this I created a few collages, by using parts of magazines and old newspapers. From looking at a Jamie Reid’s work I was inspired to try his techniques of collage and type work, he uses with torn up pieces of paper and images to create his collages and I thought this would be a good way for me to get my ideas for this project flowing and to generate new and exciting concepts.
I was drawn to Paula Schers work so I did a collage piece based around her ‘Bring in da funk’ piece, with bright, eccentric yellow torn up pieces of paper with accents of black and red. I played about with the song lyrics and their size and layout. I used a 1975 song with lyrics I felt paired nicely with the colour scheme and type style. I always found Schers work loud, expressive and in your face, drawing your eyes to the font and the words especially. This could be an effective concept for a lyric poster.
I moved onto a collage inspired my Jamie Reid’s and his work he did with the Sex Pistols. I liked the ransom letter technique and wanted to experiment with it myself, so I tried it out with a Harry Styles song with the lyrics ‘ You’re so Golden’. I cut out yellow and black letters from old magazines, getting different sizes and styles. I’m not sure this type of style fits the vibe of the song but it was a fun experiment.
I am fond of the 70’s retro style posters, its fun and lighthearted and I wanted to create a collage page with this style, so I tried it out with my paint pens on torn up pieces of blue paper. I chose to pair this font with another Harry Styles song with the lyrics ‘ treat people with kindness’. I stretched out the letters and tried to form them into a circle shape, this could also look nice as a full page piece and not just limiting it to a circle. Here I also tested out a couple of letters at the bottom, I like this font style with the lines and I really to want to portray the line element within my lyric poster.
What I have learned…
After looking at all of my ideas, sketches and collage work I have decided to go with the retro theme for my follow the rhythm poster. Out of all of my ideas I favoured this design and style. My collage work was successful I haven’t experimented with this techie before but I have learned that this is a great exercise! I think it got me to produce ideas and compositions very efficiently as well as creating some nice colourful and textured pages within my sketchbook. I will definitely be revisiting this technique for future projects. The next stage is to draw up some designs with this specific 70’s retro style and then take it digital.