Picture, Symbol, Icon – Week 1

Graphic design is an important feature of art in every form. It is visual communication which is international and eliminates the need for most words in certain contexts. This project is based on this area of art and design to encourage us to be bold and work outside the box when designing promotions for our or any design.

For the week one project of “Picture, Symbol, Icon” we have been given a design brief requesting that we design a record cover based on a song from a list we have been given. I have chosen ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ by Bauhaus (1979) as it has interesting word choice and I really enjoy their style of music.

Research

The designer of the current cover is Vaughan Oliver, a British designer known for his gothic and dark record covers where he has taken inspiration from Salvador Dali’s surrealist works. What inspired him to become a designer however was his love for music. This lead to him becoming close with the label 4AD (but not exclusively) which he helped build the visual identity for as in their early years they didn’t have a fixed genre.

Current cover

The existing cover for ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ relates to the song’s title well as Bela Lugosi was the first actor who played Count Dracula in the 1931 film. I will look to include this in my cover because it is a main feature of the song and I think it could work well if I use my printing ink to give it the rough and ominous texture like what is seen on the existing cover. The black and white keep up the Gothic theme of the band but some bold colours, like red, might fit in well here to relate to the vampire theme. The contrasting colours are also eye catching due to the dramatic shadows being cast. The bat’s wing reaching from the top left corner and down to the right is a great way to draw the viewer’s eye across the page and it helps them realise the detail the designer has went into when creating this piece. Bela Lugosi’s face features in the cover too which directly relates to the title of the song, the film and the actor. It also adds to the creepiness of the works as everything is somewhat blurred up to the actor’s face which is sharp.

Possible inspiration for the design

Looking at the original poster for ‘Dracula’ it is clear to see where Oliver got his inspiration for the record cover. The wings/cape take up a big portion of both artworks: they both create a large, looming presence which dominates a portion of the page and they are both broken up really well by the balance of light and dark colours. The dark colours in both works are mostly on one side drawing the eyes to these features and inevitably to ‘Dracula’s’ face.

Possible inspiration for the design

Mood board

Different concepts

Final idea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The eerie figure in Arron Horkey and Vania Zouravliov’s “Dracula” print has heavily influenced my record cover’s design.