Working Title: Plastikman’s Closer Album Art
Richie Hawtin, also known as Plastikman, is an influential DJ who rose to fame in Detroit’s techno scene and a leading exponent on minimal techno since the 90’s. His album “Closer” which was released in 2003 experiments with minimal sounds and sparse, mysterious lyrics in some of the songs. The current album art features the macro detail of an iris.
I am looking to do an album redesign across the board, including a new cover for CD and 12” vinyl. It will be a three panel accordion fold. The three panels on the side with the cover art will show the extension of the cover art (only a portion of the photo). I intend to take abstract photographs of lights, landscapes, and anything else that inspires me based on the music I’m listening to. I will incorporate typography that are phrases from the lyrics, saying things such as “disconnect my brain” and “mind in rewind.”
I will also be attempting to incorporate a DIY element that changes the shape of the “bokeh,” or the out of focus light reflection when using a wide aperature. There are several tutorials online and I won’t need too many supplies to achieve it.
As a graphic designer I am really interested in incorporating my talents of design into my photography and doing something minimal and that can really evoke emotion. I want to experiment more with elements of design I enjoy, and in this project I feel typography will be a good element to help evoke a mood.
What do you hope to achieve?
I hope to achieve a surreal group of engaging abstract photographs.
What do you know about your project and what aspects are still up in the air?
I am not entirely sure how I will be incorporating the typography. I originally planned to photograph physical typographic formations/letterforms, but I am not sure yet. Since I have a better grasp on what I want to do with my photography, I want a chance to shoot before I can decide. I might incorporate the phrases digitally in a David Carson-inspired way.
Shooting: I will do some shooting in the suburbs when I’m home for Thanksgiving break to try and find more minimal scenery with nature landscapes. When I come back downtown over the weekend and next week, I will do shooting in my area in Lakeview first, then in the loop when I’m in the neighborhood for school.
Processing: I will probably do a little bit each day. I am constantly revisiting and having ideas after sitting on them for a while. I am constantly collecting inspiration as well.
Design: I will be working with Bridge, Photoshop and InDesign. I will make templates over break and try roughs with my first shots over break and the week after. Once the photos are done, design will be the primary job to complete.
I will have to purchase black cardboard or construction paper for the bokeh, but that should be my only money going into it besides the printing. I will more than likely print both a vinyl and CD size from the Digital Print Center.
Potential obstacles and plans to overcome:
If the bokeh effect is doesn’t work out, I will probably do more texture-based photography, which was already going to be an element in my idea.
dededos
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