Why I Chose my Major Project Topic
When deciding upon a topic for my Major Project, not only did I simply begin to merge my favourite topics of music, illustration and animation; I also took into account the exciting changes in music visuals which I have been seeing recently.
This idea first came to me when I noticed that the popular music platform, Spotify, has introduced animated gifs instead of the standard static album artwork that is usually displayed alongside the music. This struck me as really innovative and I couldn't see why this hadn't been done before. Artists have begun using it as a way of advertising their new upcoming albums when you listen to their older music too. I've noticed that recently this is being used more and more and seems to be becoming more effective.
As well as this, illustration and animation is being used more to advertise music festivals. This is most likely due to the eye-catching colours and movement techniques that can be used, rather than day-to-day videos of the artists playing their music. One example of this that I have seen this year is by Truck Festival, whose poster has animated components that they are able to share on their online platforms. They are also using short, looping animations in order to post updates about tickets and acts, which are always very eye catching. If you look through their instagram, you can see that the majority of their posts are videos due to the animations.
Not only this, but even the static poster is illustrated, which I personally think adds so much more character to the post and makes you stop and look at it properly.
As well as Truck Festival, I've noticed that over the last couple of years Parklife Festival have released their lineup via an animated short. The acts which they announced are incorporated into an entertaining animation, which makes the audience want to continue watching, meaning they are more likely to notice an act they like and therefore attend the festival. Below is 2019's lineup animation, which each year is produced by Studio Morross.
As well as animation, I knew I wanted to create static artwork first. This way I could illustrate the album artwork and animate using the separated layers. I then began to consider the vinyl revival and how nowadays vinyls are regaining their popularity and their availability is increasing. People like to have vinyls available in order listen to their music in a more authentic way; and also I personally like to collect vinyls as it's nice to feel as though you have a physical copy of your favourite music to keep forever and admire. I have noticed some of my favourite indie bands have illustrated album covers, rather than photography based ones. Here are a few examples of the art work that I have seen which has inspired me to do this as my Major Project:
Because of this I plan on creating physical mock up vinyls, so that my vision of having my artwork available for vinyl is easily understood by an audience. I think that Louie's audience will tend to be young people who like me, appreciate having physical vinyl copies of their favourite music. His lyrics tackle a lot of subjects, usually revolving around mental health, which a lot of young people struggle with nowadays and therefore they may relate to Louie's feelings. I am therefore taking into account what visuals a younger audience may appreciate and am looking at new album artwork from artists who also fit into the indie category, like Louie. I want my art to reflect the feelings Louie is expressing, such as loneliness and I will also consider my colour pallets and how they reflect the general mood of the music.
