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Design Autopsy #1: Ayria’s Gun Song CD design
By Destroyx | December 16, 2008
In this column, I’ll be dissecting one of my published designs and showing the conceptual development of the design from the initial brief to the final design. This week I’ll be exploring one of my personal favourite designs commissioned by one of my good friends Jennifer Parkin.
I had the delight of meeting Jennifer of the Ayria fame on the road in early 2007 while we were on the Cruxshadows tour. We got along like a house on fire and have remained good friends through many hilarious tour adventures and hardships. We’ve lugged our suitcases all over the world and driven through icy storms across many countries while singing 80’s tunes and practising our karaoke skills. In the above photos you can see Jenn’s an extremely fun character (in the second photo she’s signing someone’s behind!… fun times).
Late last year Jennifer approached me asking if I wanted to do the artwork for her upcoming CD’s and merchandise and I jumped at the opportunity. The first piece of work I’m going to showcase here is the artwork I designed for her Gun Song EP.
PROCESS
As a part of her brief, Jennifer sent me some of her inspirational images which represented her vision for the branding of her next EP. I then collaged them into a mood board which I often referred to while I was designing. The mood board established the feel for the colour scheme and texture of the design. The images very much reflect the personality of the music and the target market. We decided to go for something that had attitude yet also had a fierce feminine aesthetic.
MOOD BOARD
After reviewing the mood board, I decided to create some imagery and textures inspired by it. I also had to keep in mind that the textures had to compliment the promotional photographs that Jennifer had already taken in Canada as well as with the lyrical imagery of the music. I didn’t have much fun spray painting outside in zero degree temperatures in Berlin, but the textures I created were definitely worth it as I constantly used them in the artwork. I came up with the idea for the dripping hearts from the title of one of her songs “Hearts for Bullets”. I used some stencils, spraypaint and ink to create the splatters which were then scanned in by Zoog. Later I would make them into photoshop brushes so I could access them quickly.
Below is a texture board of some of the visual language I came up with to express the brand of Ayria.
VISUAL LANGUAGE & TEXTURE BOARD
After I had generated this visual library of textures, the design part was more straight forward. I didn’t make many drafts of the final design because I had planned what I wanted to do conceptually on paper. Overall the design has a youthful and glamorous yet harsh edge which I believe reflects her music.
FINAL DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE ACTUAL PRODUCT
Next week I’ll be talking more about the creative process I undertook to complete Ayria’s Hearts for Bullets album and its matching merchandise.
Topics: Design, Design Autopsy |
December 20th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Jennifer from Ayria here. Working with Amelia on these projects for the new material was just amazing and inspirational. She got inside my head and interpreted my thoughts and music through visual design. I have so much love and respect for this woman for her artistic talent. Much love! <3
December 20th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Wow, this is actually amazing :)
I Love Ayria, and I think your design is just wonderful!
and very inspirational :)
x
December 20th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Jenn- Hiiiiii Jenn! I LOVES YOU!! *hugs* I’m emailing you large file tomorrow!!! Working with you was a pleasure. It was so nice to do this project with you. =)
Blitz- Thank you! Ayria is AMAZING… if you haven’t bought her new CD, go and do it soon. It’s really worth it.
December 20th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Very cool! So…your moving to the US when?
-S/D
December 20th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Very nicely done! Amazing and just as the other stated I adore Ayria!
December 20th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Beautiful, beautiful work, Amelia! You never cease to amaze me!
December 21st, 2008 at 1:01 am
Pyromantic- Hello miss! *huggles* So nice to hear from you! I didn’t get to see you this year =( Maybe next year when we get back to the states.
Crystal- Thanks Crystal! I love Ayria too, so when she asked me I was so excited to be able to do it!
December 21st, 2008 at 1:10 am
Ego- Hey Steve and Donna… I miss you guys so much. =( Can’t wait to get back to the states… definitely going back around August next year for a tour so I have to catch up with you guys.
December 21st, 2008 at 2:32 am
Wow, this is awesome!! =) Thanks so much for posting it, what a treat!
December 21st, 2008 at 9:06 am
This makes me even more excited for my copy to arrive- This is one I didn’t get from itunes because I want to have a copy of the masterpiece art to go with the masterpiece music!
December 21st, 2008 at 10:37 am
Woof-Woofalot- Thank you sir for your comment. I am glad you enjoyed it. Next week I’m going to be showcasing the album artwork, and it’s much more spectacular =)
Garnet- YAY! I’m so glad you ordered it. It’s totally worth it. I would definitely suggest getting the limited edition boxed set too. The extra CD is worth it and you get some nice merch with it too =) She is the BEST.
December 21st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Wow..I am truly impressed. I hadn’t a clue that you had designed Ayria’s album art..and Angelspit’s! I looked at some of your other art as well, and you have a sensational talent for creating original work. Beautiful job, and best of luck in the future!
<3
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:26 am
Janine- Yup… I’m a busy beaver. Design is probably my first love actually, and then music comes after. Thanks for your comment sweetie!
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:43 am
DX, your artwork was what sold The Gun Song EP to me actually! I heard “the gun song” and the Angelspit remix and was infatuated, but the sexy-angelspit-esque artwork really made it for me, its a pleasure flicking through the booklet.. im a freak for CD booklets haha
x
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Videokid- Ohh.. that’s good to know. I’m really glad you bought the CD. Have you got the album? There is 16 pages of artwork in there and I think it’s a marvellous CD.
I love CD booklets too!
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
hehe “hearts for bullets” is sitting under my xmas as we speak :D
December 27th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Thanks so much for sharing your insights. I am constantly amazed and inspired by the marketing and design mastery that both you and Zoog demonstrate. I really appreciate your encouraging and arming your admirers with the tools and wisdom to succeed.
DIY OR DIE!
mTRxMEk
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