I've been posting a selection of desirable design for music that plays on notions of collectability but, before going too far down a nostalgia route and forgetting the rationale for what I want to do, I'm posting this video as a quick reminder.
I had already considered the idea of an 'unplayable' music format that links with the Matthew Dear 'Totem' and the Scion booklet. I suggested etched discs or CDs printed on both sides with the packaging for these containing the download links. The product itself would be a physical collectable.
I'm still interested in exploring these over coming weeks. However, I was just considering the whole 'circular' format of CDs and vinyl and wondered about replacing these with other circular items. I was just thinking about whether a 5 inch buzz saw blade that was packaged as a CD might be an interesting and provocative 'object'. Only there's this concept of potential format destruction that I'm toying with [although some of the ideas hinge on the availability of specific machinery/facilities] and this kind of hazardous emblem might work within that. But it's just one idea.
Anyway, the video here ironically demonstrates my proposed circular unplayable music format actually being played.
13/08/2010
Ben Drury and Will Bankhead for Mo Wax
When James Lavelle first launched his Mo Wax record label, it had a Swifty-designed identity that placed it a bit too neatly alongside a London scene and labels like Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud. As releases like DJ shadow's 'In/Flux' began pointing towards weirder musical territory, it deserved an aesthetic that wasn't rooted in that vintage-inspired, Beatnik-y jazz style. So (alongside seminal graffiti artists like Futura 2000) designer Ben Drury and photographer Will Bankhead took it in a new direction.
I might be a bit biased about the importance of these sleeves as I was working in a record shop during this era, but new Mo Wax packaging always appeared to be greeted with interest. By the way, I did mention Will Bankhead earlier and I will be coming back to some of his more recent work [as a designer] plus I'll also dig out some later inspirational material from Ben Drury.
I might be a bit biased about the importance of these sleeves as I was working in a record shop during this era, but new Mo Wax packaging always appeared to be greeted with interest. By the way, I did mention Will Bankhead earlier and I will be coming back to some of his more recent work [as a designer] plus I'll also dig out some later inspirational material from Ben Drury.
"James [Lavelle] encouraged us to source new materials, use special printing processes, develop new packaging solutions and to experiment across the range of formats, his mania for novelty and the profuse output of the label made this both an instructive and intense period and some of these sleeves are among my personal favourites."
Ben Drury
12/08/2010
The Return Of Liner Notes: Scion Releases Album As Booklet
From: PSFK
Date: 11/06/10
Date: 11/06/10
Scion A/V is releasing a new album called Blu Jemz’ Night People, featuring Turntable Lab Radio’s Blu Jemz along with The Hardy Boyz, Mobroder and several other artists. The launch is unique as there is no music CD or physical media involved; instead, they have put together a booklet with extensive liner notes and a link to download the songs. Liner notes, rarely featured in music releases now, are usually printed on the inside of an album and contain information about the artists, lyrics and some anecdotes about the album. Blu Jemz said that with re-introducing liner notes, they hope to bring back the excitement it brought to an album.
The booklet is designed by Japanese illustrator Rimo, and is limited to only 1000 copies.
Portishead - Third by Marc Bessant
Originally documented at: Sleevage.com
Designer Marc Bessant:
Designer Marc Bessant:
“After the ten year gap from the last record I knew the only visual which had stuck in the public eye had been the ‘P’ character, it was an established brand which I wanted to not only reintroduce but reinforce. We were keen to avoid anything ‘conceptual’, no puns or noir imagery, that was all dead to us, I wanted to present a box, which simply holds the music, with the least amount of information on it which would ultimately say everything – essential minimalism – which I felt captured the Eastern Bloc coldness of some of the music I was hearing in the studio.”
Tom Hingston Studio: Visualising Music
Another interview with Tom Hingston although this one specifically asks him about his process when designing for music. I've posted some of his work at the bottom too although I couldn't find decent resolution images of some of my own personal favourites. I may have to dig those out to scan or photograph.
From: Pingmag
Date: 03/09/08
If you ask graphic designers how they got into graphics in the first place, a lot of them will tell you about their favourite album covers or something else visually related to music. Enter London-based Tom Hingston: For over ten years, he has been designing quite a lot for music, from flyers for the legendary Blue Note club to Massive Attack’s covers. So for today, PingMag asks Tom about visualising sounds.
Written by Chiemi
Tom, how did you get involved with music projects?
In the mid 90’s, I started out designing flyers for the Blue Note club in London’s Hoxton Square. Through the club, I met a lot of really talented people — DJs, promoters and producers who went on to start up their own clubs or record labels and asked me to be involved. I guess it kind of grew from there really.
Did you set up your own studio straight after that?
No, I had a full-time job working for Neville Brody at the time. And I was designing the club artwork in my evenings and spare time. As the club blossomed, the more the workload increased and what started off as two, or maybe three flyers a week became ten or fifteen different bits of artwork, and slowly it was becoming a full time job in itself. So something had to give — either the freelancing or my job. I made the decision to set up on my own.
Okay… We know that by now you do all kinds of work, but for today, we’d like to focus on your designs for music. How do you visualise it? Any tips?
An open-minded approach is key to each project. This is underpinned through a process of research which will then help us shape and define our ideas. Collaboration has always formed a fundamental part of our approach as well, over the years we’ve worked with some of the best photographers and image makers in order to realise our vision.
Creating what, for example?
With Massive Attack’s “Collected,” we needed to find a symbol that encapsulated or conveyed the emotions and ideals of the band. With it being a “Best of,” a more obvious route would have been to utilise their trademark flame in some way. So instead we thought, a nicer way to approach the cover was to adopt a technique that we’d used before on their other album “Mezzanine:” a collage or composite of different elements, but applied to a new set of images. Working with Nick Knight, we took a still life of roses as the core element and introduced other layers over the top. When you first look at the rose, you see this very beautiful flower, or group of flowers. However on closer inspection, all these other hidden layers are revealed.
The working relationship we’ve established with Massive Attack is quite different to that we have with any other artist or band; it’s quite an organic process that takes place.
What means “organic process” exactly with them?
Robert from Massive Attack will come up with themes or words that are applicable to that project or that piece of music, and between him, Nick and I. We’ll gradually forge how the thing will look. We’ll push and pull each other in different directions until we end up in a place we’re all happy with.
A very ideal designing process! Any other favourite artists to work with?
Gnarls Barkley has been a great act to work with. With “St. Elsewhere,” the band were adamant that they didn’t want to be on the front cover – which is great because it opens you up to endless possibilities. Their initial references to us were early psychedelia, a lot of that West Coast imagery from the late 60’s, early 70’s. I’ve got a few books on Cuban posters from a similar era — not the political ones, which is what most people know of Cuban imagery –, but all the early cinema posters which are a lot more psychedelic. And the band were really supportive. They saw those early references and just allowed us to go ahead, which is great to have that level of trust from an artist.
What is most important when designing for music?
For us, it’s important that the design captures the tone and mood of a record but also becomes an expression of our own personal ideas and inspirations at that particular time.
What is a good design for music?
To create something that’s both unique and beautiful.
And what would be a good album cover?
The Beatles’ The White Album and Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here are two of my favourite album covers.
Good choice! Those are masterpiece for both music and design! Finally, what is the greatest thing to design for music?
When you’re designing for an artist whom you really respect and admire — that’s exciting. We’ve always tried to design for music we really like, and that’s what makes the project both inspiring and enjoyable.
Profile: Tom Hingston
From: Computer Arts Projects (Issue 88)
Date: 08/06
Tom Hingston’s career in music design has taken in everything from creating flyers for club nights to putting together some of the most memorable cover images of the last few years...
“The ‘Ballistic Rose’?” laughs Tom Hingston, head of the London studio that bears his name. He’s referring to the bruised, metallic sculpture on the cover of Massive Attack’s greatest hits collection. The simultaneously dark and appealing image – one of the most recognisable covers of the last six months – was developed by Tom Hingston alongside photographer Nick Knight. It was a concept Hingston describes as “difficult for the band to get their heads around,” but it was a completely new approach and a break from their trademark flame.
“We thought a nice way to approach the cover was to adopt a technique that we’d used before on Mezzanine – a collage or composite of different elements, but applied to a new set of images,” says Hingston. “So that was our train of thought. Working with Nick Knight, we took a still life of roses as the core element and added other layers over the top. When you first look at the rose you see this very beautiful flower, or group of flowers, and then when you look into it further you see all these other hidden layers.”
It’s a technique that has helped Hingston rise to the forefront of UK music design, and has seen his studio expand into fashion, working with such distinguished names as Dior and Mandarina Duck, as well as film titles for Anthony Minghella. But he’s still driven by the excitement that hit as a teenager in London.
Hingston explains that a trip to a Neville Brody exhibition pushed him into abandoning plans to take A Levels and instead embark on a BTECH course, which eventually led him to a place at Central St Martins. “I remember going up to see Neville’s exhibition at the V&A, and I must have been 15. It was incredibly inspiring and it really pushed me on,” he says.
Then came the chance to work with his hero. “My personal tutor in my final year was a guy called Jon Wozencroft, who wrote both of the Neville Brody books. Not only was he a great tutor, but Jon was still working at Neville’s studio,” says Hingston. “There was a vacancy for a junior designer, and he recommended me. So I went and met Neville, who’d been a hero of mine for years and had this nerve-wracking interview, and that was it – I got the job, which was so exciting.”
By that time Brody’s studio had broadened out from the editorial with which he’d made his name, and Hingston soon found himself working on everything from corporate identities to the original Sony PlayStation to film titles. And, encouraged by his boss’s philosophy of experimentation even if it resulted in mistakes, Hingston was soon progressing up a steep learning curve.
After a couple of years, Hingston was being approached more and more by friends needing work for projects they were setting up. Surfing the curve of a new wave of London nightlife and music culture, he was soon designing for one of the legendary clubs of the capital in the mid-90s. The Blue Note was home to, among others, Talvin Singh and James Lavelle’s events.
“Sav Remzi had taken over running the club. We did the logo, and started doing all their artwork and flyers,” says Hingston. “As the club blossomed, the more the workload increased, and what started off as two, maybe three, flyers a week became ten, fifteen different bits of artwork the club needed, and it was slowly becoming a full-time job.”
Going freelance
Taking the plunge and heading out on his own was a wise decision, but one – as anyone who has headed down the freelance path will testify – that wasn’t without its teething problems. “Initially I thought that I’d probably work from home and see how that went. I lasted about a week and a half with couriers coming to the door, all that kind of thing. It’s really good to have that separation between your home life and work,” he says.
But despite initial difficulties Hingston soon found his feet, and it helped that one of his first high-profile clients was the ridiculously influential dance outfit Massive Attack – a group which has always placed a high premium on great design.
Hingston’s relationship with Massive Attack goes back to Mezzanine, the band’s third album. “A friend of mine is pals with their manager. And he basically said ‘Well, the band are down in Bristol, and they’re finishing off their album, and starting to think about artwork.’ Prior to that they’d always worked with much bigger design studios, and I think that what 3D from the band wanted was to have a bit more of a one-to-one relationship with an art director or a designer,” he says.
Hingston explains that Massive Attack’s ‘collective’ philosophy, born out of hip-hop and club culture, means that the band’s 3D – himself a former graffiti artist – was looking for a different way of working from the start.
“I hate to use this word, but it is an organic process,” Hingston says. “D will come up with themes and words that are applicable to that project or piece of music. When it comes to album projects we’ve always collaborated with photographer Nick Knight. The three of us push and pull each other in different directions until we’re in a place where we’re all happy.”
Creative freedom
But Hingston says working with some of his other clients – such as cutting-edge hip-hop outfit Gnarls Barkley, whose St Elsewhere album was recently given the Hingston Studio treatment – can be a very different process.
“That record, Crazy, was kicking around last year, and because of Dangermouse’s commitments with Gorillaz, there was a gap between them delivering that single and then the album coming out. Which was good, because it gave everyone time to go away and think about it as a campaign,” begins Hingston.
“They approached us in November, but the whole time they were saying ‘At any time the album’s going to be delivered, and then it’s all hands on deck.’ But that didn’t happen until the early part of the year.
“They were adamant they didn’t want to be on the front cover, which is great because it opens you up to endless possibilities. Their references to us were early psychedelia, a lot of that West Coast imagery from the late-60s/ early-70s. Those early stages of a project can be tricky because you’re basically attempting to articulate something that doesn’t actually exist, so it requires a lot of trust from the artist. They allowed us to go ahead and get on with it.”
Hingston’s studio uses the standard designers’ tools. “We work on Macs, and use Photoshop for all our image manipulation. We use FreeHand for drawing up type and the vector-based stuff. We also use QuarkXpress, which everyone loathes, so we’ve just started to use InDesign. On the moving-image side, we’ve been doing more stuff in After Effects. And then for the film titles, we’ll go out of house to a facilities house, and we’ll use Flame, or more high-end software.”
Whatever program he’s using, Hingston’s still driven by the same love of the possibilities that drew him to the V&A to see the Neville Brody exhibition many years ago. “What’s always at the forefront of my mind is that you are creating a sleeve that you want to be as iconic as possible, regardless of where it’s going to be sold. It’s got to work when it’s a thumbnail on Amazon, it’s got to work on the shelves at Tesco, and on the racks at HMV.”
It’s a conundrum Hingston loves solving, because at heart he’s still a music fan. “The reason we realise the ideas that we’ve been able to, is because of our relationships with the artists,” he says. “And for as long as there are artists out there that I want to work with, I’ll keep on working in music.”
www.hingston.net
Date: 08/06
Tom Hingston’s career in music design has taken in everything from creating flyers for club nights to putting together some of the most memorable cover images of the last few years...
“The ‘Ballistic Rose’?” laughs Tom Hingston, head of the London studio that bears his name. He’s referring to the bruised, metallic sculpture on the cover of Massive Attack’s greatest hits collection. The simultaneously dark and appealing image – one of the most recognisable covers of the last six months – was developed by Tom Hingston alongside photographer Nick Knight. It was a concept Hingston describes as “difficult for the band to get their heads around,” but it was a completely new approach and a break from their trademark flame.
“We thought a nice way to approach the cover was to adopt a technique that we’d used before on Mezzanine – a collage or composite of different elements, but applied to a new set of images,” says Hingston. “So that was our train of thought. Working with Nick Knight, we took a still life of roses as the core element and added other layers over the top. When you first look at the rose you see this very beautiful flower, or group of flowers, and then when you look into it further you see all these other hidden layers.”
It’s a technique that has helped Hingston rise to the forefront of UK music design, and has seen his studio expand into fashion, working with such distinguished names as Dior and Mandarina Duck, as well as film titles for Anthony Minghella. But he’s still driven by the excitement that hit as a teenager in London.
Hingston explains that a trip to a Neville Brody exhibition pushed him into abandoning plans to take A Levels and instead embark on a BTECH course, which eventually led him to a place at Central St Martins. “I remember going up to see Neville’s exhibition at the V&A, and I must have been 15. It was incredibly inspiring and it really pushed me on,” he says.
Then came the chance to work with his hero. “My personal tutor in my final year was a guy called Jon Wozencroft, who wrote both of the Neville Brody books. Not only was he a great tutor, but Jon was still working at Neville’s studio,” says Hingston. “There was a vacancy for a junior designer, and he recommended me. So I went and met Neville, who’d been a hero of mine for years and had this nerve-wracking interview, and that was it – I got the job, which was so exciting.”
By that time Brody’s studio had broadened out from the editorial with which he’d made his name, and Hingston soon found himself working on everything from corporate identities to the original Sony PlayStation to film titles. And, encouraged by his boss’s philosophy of experimentation even if it resulted in mistakes, Hingston was soon progressing up a steep learning curve.
After a couple of years, Hingston was being approached more and more by friends needing work for projects they were setting up. Surfing the curve of a new wave of London nightlife and music culture, he was soon designing for one of the legendary clubs of the capital in the mid-90s. The Blue Note was home to, among others, Talvin Singh and James Lavelle’s events.
“Sav Remzi had taken over running the club. We did the logo, and started doing all their artwork and flyers,” says Hingston. “As the club blossomed, the more the workload increased, and what started off as two, maybe three, flyers a week became ten, fifteen different bits of artwork the club needed, and it was slowly becoming a full-time job.”
Going freelance
Taking the plunge and heading out on his own was a wise decision, but one – as anyone who has headed down the freelance path will testify – that wasn’t without its teething problems. “Initially I thought that I’d probably work from home and see how that went. I lasted about a week and a half with couriers coming to the door, all that kind of thing. It’s really good to have that separation between your home life and work,” he says.
But despite initial difficulties Hingston soon found his feet, and it helped that one of his first high-profile clients was the ridiculously influential dance outfit Massive Attack – a group which has always placed a high premium on great design.
Hingston’s relationship with Massive Attack goes back to Mezzanine, the band’s third album. “A friend of mine is pals with their manager. And he basically said ‘Well, the band are down in Bristol, and they’re finishing off their album, and starting to think about artwork.’ Prior to that they’d always worked with much bigger design studios, and I think that what 3D from the band wanted was to have a bit more of a one-to-one relationship with an art director or a designer,” he says.
Hingston explains that Massive Attack’s ‘collective’ philosophy, born out of hip-hop and club culture, means that the band’s 3D – himself a former graffiti artist – was looking for a different way of working from the start.
“I hate to use this word, but it is an organic process,” Hingston says. “D will come up with themes and words that are applicable to that project or piece of music. When it comes to album projects we’ve always collaborated with photographer Nick Knight. The three of us push and pull each other in different directions until we’re in a place where we’re all happy.”
Creative freedom
But Hingston says working with some of his other clients – such as cutting-edge hip-hop outfit Gnarls Barkley, whose St Elsewhere album was recently given the Hingston Studio treatment – can be a very different process.
“That record, Crazy, was kicking around last year, and because of Dangermouse’s commitments with Gorillaz, there was a gap between them delivering that single and then the album coming out. Which was good, because it gave everyone time to go away and think about it as a campaign,” begins Hingston.
“They approached us in November, but the whole time they were saying ‘At any time the album’s going to be delivered, and then it’s all hands on deck.’ But that didn’t happen until the early part of the year.
“They were adamant they didn’t want to be on the front cover, which is great because it opens you up to endless possibilities. Their references to us were early psychedelia, a lot of that West Coast imagery from the late-60s/ early-70s. Those early stages of a project can be tricky because you’re basically attempting to articulate something that doesn’t actually exist, so it requires a lot of trust from the artist. They allowed us to go ahead and get on with it.”
Hingston’s studio uses the standard designers’ tools. “We work on Macs, and use Photoshop for all our image manipulation. We use FreeHand for drawing up type and the vector-based stuff. We also use QuarkXpress, which everyone loathes, so we’ve just started to use InDesign. On the moving-image side, we’ve been doing more stuff in After Effects. And then for the film titles, we’ll go out of house to a facilities house, and we’ll use Flame, or more high-end software.”
Whatever program he’s using, Hingston’s still driven by the same love of the possibilities that drew him to the V&A to see the Neville Brody exhibition many years ago. “What’s always at the forefront of my mind is that you are creating a sleeve that you want to be as iconic as possible, regardless of where it’s going to be sold. It’s got to work when it’s a thumbnail on Amazon, it’s got to work on the shelves at Tesco, and on the racks at HMV.”
It’s a conundrum Hingston loves solving, because at heart he’s still a music fan. “The reason we realise the ideas that we’ve been able to, is because of our relationships with the artists,” he says. “And for as long as there are artists out there that I want to work with, I’ll keep on working in music.”
www.hingston.net
Music artwork by Build
Further to my posting of material that I have inspiring from an aesthetic standpoint, I've collected together a number of projects by Build.
Michael C Place is the creative director of the London agency and initially followed his dreams to design record sleeves by working with Trevor Jackson and The Designers Republic. Build itself actually does a large amount of work outside of music material but I've featured his work for Flying Lotus [that I thought was not entirely dissimilar to Tom Hingston and Nick Knight's artwork for Massive Attack's Mezzanine] plus the packaging and identities for Simple Records and, sister label, Aus Music. Again, all of these operate as part of a collectable series.
Michael C Place is the creative director of the London agency and initially followed his dreams to design record sleeves by working with Trevor Jackson and The Designers Republic. Build itself actually does a large amount of work outside of music material but I've featured his work for Flying Lotus [that I thought was not entirely dissimilar to Tom Hingston and Nick Knight's artwork for Massive Attack's Mezzanine] plus the packaging and identities for Simple Records and, sister label, Aus Music. Again, all of these operate as part of a collectable series.
Michael Hernan logotypes
A designer whose work within music includes identities for labels including Classic and Giant45, Michael Hernan also came up with the two pictured logotypes. The first is for the mighty Bush label and the latter for the third in Dave Clarke's 'Red' trilogy which was issued via Deconstruction [his 'Red 1' and 'Red 2' were released by Bush].
In both cases, the projects were driven by a typographical identity with little in the way of other imagery. Additionally, these were visually alligned with a series of releases to further that collectability.
In both cases, the projects were driven by a typographical identity with little in the way of other imagery. Additionally, these were visually alligned with a series of releases to further that collectability.
Pop memorabilia strikes a chord with investors
From: The Telegraph
Date: 04/06/10
Date: 04/06/10
"The Sixties was the start of a cultural revolution. It's where it all started, when the most iconic bands existed. Every generation is interested- from the ones who were young in the sixties and watched these bands, who aspire to recreate their youth and everyone since that date has been influenced by The Beatles, The Stones, by Elvis."
That's the view of Neil Roberts, head of the department for Popular Culture for auction house Christie's and it's why sixties pop memorabilia hasn't felt the effects of the recession. He expects just as many bidders as ever at the house's Rock and Pop sale on July 1 and puts this down to the unique nature of music culture collectables.
While the art world in general may have suffered losses, with reserve prices not being met and dwindled sales, this area of alternative investment continues to grow. This is because, although pop culture collectables may offer a healthy return on sale, profit is not the driving force behind the investment.
The Sixties is the most popular and prevalent decade for music memorabilia. Within this sub sector, The Beatles are the most popular group. There are thousands of Beatles fan-sites on the internet, and hundreds are devoted to the buying, selling and trading of the so-called fab four's memorabilia.
Pop and rock memorabilia became sought after as collectables in the Eighties and the value of items have generally increased dramatically over this time. The most expensive and probably well-known sale in this sector was John Lennon's piano on which he composed 'Imagine'. It was bought in October 2000 by the singer George Michael for a hammer price of £1.45m, with an extra 15pc commission bringing the total sale price to £1.67m.
Though this sector generates some high end items, music memorabilia is a good starting sector for the budding collector or investor.
Mr Roberts points out tickets and flyers as an undervalued area- one that he predicts will do well in the future.
He said: "Tickets and flyers for old concerts have almost fallen under the radar. I think they are an interesting area and certainly more accessible. They have the band name, time and date- they represent a time in culture and I think that area will evolve and become more sought after."
These are easier to source for new collectors with the internet opening up a world wide trading forum, though Mr Roberts warns to check for authenticity.
He also recommends going direct to the source for these type of collectables, try to buy off people who collected themselves through experience, scour car boot sales and older family members lofts and garages.
Another area which Mr Roberts thinks is up and coming is original artwork. As CDs and digital downloads have taken over the music industry, LP sleeves and the original artwork on them become rarer and more sought after.
He said: "Album sleeves played such an important role in the past, you went and picked up your vinyl every Saturday and what was on the LP sleeve was important. I think that's an area that's going to be more in demand in the future."
Old LPs can currently be picked up in charity shops and traditional record stores for £5-£20 and with correct storage may be worth considerably more in twenty years time.
As with all art work, correct storage is important to protect against damage. Mr Roberts recommends keeping posters, vinyl and tickets on display so they can be enjoyed but in specially frames out of the dangers of damp and direct sunlight.
Though a bit of damage does not degrade the items' worth too much, as he says, "You expect all records to have a bit of damage just because down the years they do get slight tears or a bit scuffed. The only time it really matters is when there's a tear over the signature or there's a bit missing. Sometimes people like a little bit of damage as it adds to the authentic look."
Photos should be looked after similarly. The Christie's sale includes a 21 print archive of the 1997 photographic exhibition 'Was There Then' featuring the members of Brit-Pop band Oasis.
The lot includes a signed copy of the exhibition book by all four members and carries an estimate of £18,000 to £20,000. Mr Roberts predicts that just as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are the holy grail for collectors now, Oasis, Blur and The Stone Roses will be in the future.
He said: "Pop memorabilia is and always will be very popular. The only problem being that through time things become more mass produced and the rarity side of it will disappear. But then again maybe it won't as things become more throwaway, you just don't know."
"The good thing about items like these is you can enjoy them while they grow in value, hang them like pictures on the wall. As for instruments, they're meant really for display, but if you had a Jimi Hendrix guitar I'd be tempted to pick it up and give it a quick strum!"
Emma Wall
The iTunes Icon: How Do We Represent Post-Disc Media?
From: PSFK
Date: 08/07/10
Date: 08/07/10
Last week, Gizmodo’s Matt Buchanan mused how little iTunes in 2009 has to do with the CD icon we click on to launch it—Apple’s original “Rip. Mix. Burn.” promotional slogan seems so antiquated today.
The laptop this very post is being composed on has had its CD-RW drive used only once or twice since it was purchased at the beginning of this summer—perhaps poignantly, a CD placed inside and forgotten was recently removed because of the annoying spinning noise it created every time iTunes was started; the disc was not a medium but an irritation. So Buchanan asked Gizmodo’s readers to re-imagine iTunes’ disc and music note icon design for an era in which compact discs are used only by the Luddite, the stubborn audiophile, or the moping young man hoping to win back his ex with a mix CD. At this point, iTunes handles not only music, but our photos, television episodes, movie rentals, mobile contacts, and other sundry media duties. Let’s not forget what the purpose of graphic design is within the context of the desktop or dock—the icon should convey the utility of the program in a way that catches the eye with familiarity and conveys its own meaning clearly.
The results of the icon contest are a mixed bag—mostly joke entries, though a couple seem good enough to be viable replacements.
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