Case Study 03
Angel Tech is an Experimental band with an eclectic music style that mainly consists of Electronic, Soundscape, Electro Pop, Industrial and Psychedelic. Their songs never follow the standard pop song format.
Target Audience
Ages 18 to 40
Electronic Music fans
Experimental Music fans
Attributes
Soundscapes, Underground, Experimental
Role
Album cover design
Poster design
Promo design
Research
I spent time listening to the album that I was hired to design the cover art for so I could get a idea of how the music could be visually represented. I wasn’t exactly sure what direction to go in but I knew what the client wanted me to avoid; He wanted me to steer clear of making any designs that were too Psychedelic though it was alright to add a hint of it.
I then studied some Psychedelic designs so I knew exactly what I should avoid, which is melting and twirling shapes and colors that bleed into each other. My conclusion was that geometric shapes with definite, sharp edges would be the best direction to go in. It is mostly a cerebral album and so it needed a cerebral looking design.
Problem
- The client is a solo musician who has an eclectic style that consists of
Electronic, Soundscape, Trip Hop, and Psychedelic but he wasn’t sure
how to promote his music to the public. - For his previous LP, he was using an album cover that made his music
come across as merely Psychedelic, but he was attracting all the wrong
listeners who were disappointed in the Electronic elements.
Solution
- I designed an album cover that made Angel Tech appear much less
Psychedelic, and more eclectic and ambiguous by giving the album
cover more of a geometric look with cleaner edges.
Benefit
- Now Angel Tech has a more ambiguous image that makes it harder
for a first time listener to know exactly what to expect, which is what
the artist wanted. - The LP now attracts listeners who want something different and who
are willing to take a chance.
Design Process
- I spent some time alone listening to the LP that I was going to be designing the cover art for. While listening, I sat at my computer with Adobe Illustrator
open and started applying random shapes to the canvass. I knew exactly
what the client didn’t want but had no idea what I would create, so I just let
the music guide me subconsciously. After applying some random shapes, I started to envision circuit boards, and other images related to technology. I decided to go for a design that was really on-the-nose; an android angel. I then gathered images of angels and circuit boards. - By the time I was finished with the first draft, I realized i had something that represented the band clearly and accurately. I then created a color palette form an image of the cosmos.
- Finally, I redesigned the band’s logo and gave it a metallic look to represent it’s heavier industrial side.
results
The album cover art that I designed for the new Angel Tech LP really helped them market themselves a lot better. They were attracting too many of the wrong kinds of listeners with their previous LP due to the Psychedelic artwork on the cover. Since they are an Eclectic and Experimental band, it made sense to put them in the “Other” category on the streaming platforms. The cover art that I designed represented their music much more closely, so they started getting better results and their online traffic increased by 60%. They also started earning 50% more revenue through MP3 Downloads.
Component 1
This is the first phase where I designed the android angel. I started with the angel wings using basic shapes in Illustrator and then added a chrome effect. I then traced an image of an android and made some modifications. lastly, I combined the two images.
Component 2
In phase 2, I created a cosmic looking background with basic Illustrator shapes and a deep space color palette. I then overlayed an image of a circuit borad also made from basic Illustrator shapes. Lastly, I added some layers on top that had a reduced opacity.
Component 3
This phase 3 where I redesigned the band’s logo. I chose a font with sharp serifs to give the logo a more edgy look. Initially, i wanted to use a San Serif font to give it a post-modern look but it seemed kind of boring. I then used a gradient to give it a metallic look. I made the top of the letters black so they’d fade into the dark background.
Final Result
Here is the final phase where I combined all of the images and added a top and bottom layer of two different colors and a low opacity setting. Angel Tech have released thier new LP on CD, Vinyl and on all the online streaming platforms. The artwork is also being used for posters and concert flyers. The band was really happy with the final result and will be hiring me to design future albums and merchandise as well.