Further artist research

Oliver Pitt

After my initial crit, I was suggested to look at a few artists for visual inspiration. Oliver Pitt is very strong in how he uses very ugly textures and chaotic visuals; I really like the the layering in the design above, and how it uses a simple two toned effect. It works really effectively by how 'ugly' the textures are; it lures you in and the detail provides a more immersive audience relationship. Just the cover in itself makes you want to turn the page over. 

The textures in this design also play with illegibility and an allusive experience; it links to how I want to play with this in the sense of censorship. I could maybe try create a super abstract typeface and push my concepts further?

This simple concept of showing band members could maybe work in the context of a zine for my outcome; I could maybe make a posterzine to accompany the album cover?

Jacob Wise

I love the shapes in Jacob Wise's type design, and how lucid they feel; they definitely align with my concept of creating an abstract typeface, however in the opposite way. They play with super flowy silhouettes which still explore illegibility. I could take inspiration from this by developing a much more warped typeface which could still communicate the idea of censorship?

This concept explores the use of a plastic bag to provide layers to an album cover; the type is printed separately onto the plastic; this is a visually interesting way to combine text and image, and could be useful to me as I want to create two very chaotic and powerful elements, which could be hard to combine of the same layer. 

Mould Map zine

MouldMap is a publication that I was told to look at in my crit. I love their combination of super neon and alien colours with these crazy textures, I feel like they align with my style a lot (and also love neon green like me). I like how brave they are and how their design looks so fearless; this embodies the attitudes of punk/ post punk in Russia, as they fought against the norm and authority of Soviet government. With bands such as Molchat Doma, they rebel against their upbringing and write about the supression by the Soviets. 

I also love how they use nostalgic elements with their design; these gradients/ glowy effect work super well in developing a sense of retro design, yet it seems to have a futuristic atmosphere. I think in my outcome, I need to find this balance of nostalgia and the essence of transformation of post punk from normal punk in Russia - the genre adds new components and characteristics. 

I like how Mould Map also reference video game visuals in their work; it gives it a more playful atmosphere, as well as tying into that theme of nostalgia previously mentioned. A lot of their work also plays with the concept of illegibility, which i think is going to be the centrepiece of my design.