Initial Album Packaging and Merchandise Ideas

So, I've been looking at producing this edition of the album as a 12" vinyl, mainly because they are bigger which gives me more room to wiggle in in terms of design and packaging. However I also wanted to view this project as producing a limited-run of this particular design, and I thought a vinyl would be something more distinct than a typical CD, especially in that serious music collectors often have record players and, more to the point, record collections. I also think a really outstanding vinyl has way more 'Oomph!' than a titchy CD!

For this reason I wanted to design the packaging as something different, not just a record sleeve or something that opens out. I'm also considering making a prototype for this though, so it must be feasible in means of production and printing.

Merchandise is something almost every single music artist has as part of their package now, whether it be cool, grunge-rock t-shirts and tote bags to cutesy comfy pillows with Elton John's face on. Iggy already has a range of merch including t-shirts and totes (of course!), along with a cloth fan, temporary tattoos, patches and artsy nail stickers. Therefore I don't really want to do something similar to these, they've been done before and it would be easy to make the mistake of creating something identical.

Ideas I'm throwing around at the moment include her own actual fashion range, maybe some provocative bikinis or swimsuits (sex and erotica are often underlying in her lyrics although not something I want to focus on too much), instead of the cookie-cutter t-shirts and hoodies with a logo on that she promotes at the moment. A make-up range could appeal to her female fanbase, however some market research would be needed to be able to make a definite decision on this.

1950s Women's Fashion

To further help my research I first tried looking in the library for books concerning 1950s fashion, however all the books I looked through had only very small sections on it with no real pictures for reference, or were more focused on prints and textiles rather than actual cuts and styles of clothing.

And so I turned to the internet to help. There are lots of blogs run by girls and women inspired by 50s fashion and consequently there is lots of reference material for me to use, wether it be vintage photographs or images of modern vintage-styled clothing.

These two modern dresses are directly influenced by the 1950s. Halterneck cuts were popular at the time too, as well as polka dot prints, and the dresses have the typically big, full skirts of the 1950s. This type of dress gives the wearer a petite hourglass figure and a girly charm, and so it could be a good dress to experiment on the GHW (Grand High Witch) with.

Wiggle dresses were a tighter, sexier form of dress for women in the 50s. It emphasises the female form and is both sultry and powerful, so yet another good choice for a witch. Another example of figure fitting clothing is in the form of trousers and capri pants, popular with young women at the time. Pencil skirts were also worn, particularly by 'greaser' girls rather than their more feminine counterparts.

Jaqueline Bissett

Jaqueline Bissett uses traditional media in her fashion illustrations, and specialises in live sketch events and catwalk shows. She uses ink and water colour in fluid movements to depict her figures, with varying line weights to give depth and character, and Letrafilm to add block colour.

 

Her illustrations exude elegance, due to the smooth contours of her lines. I like the texture of the brushed ink and think it softens the sometimes aloof atmosphere of fashion illustrations. 

 

 It must require very good control of a brush to achieve this kind of linework, especially when using ink which has a tendency to be difficult at times. I think the fluidity of the lines is where the magic of these illustrations comes from- the lines flow very naturally and aren't just some impersonal straight lines made with a ruler that anyone could do. Although quite far removed from my own work, I am interested in the way Jaqueline controls her lines and would like to try something similar with my own illustrations. 

This is my most favourite of all Jaqueline's illustrations. Not many of her finished pieces feature full backgrounds and other figures, and all of her subjects are typically female. The piece is also more subdued than some of her other illustrations, using a more subtle colour scheme instead of bold, bright palettes such as crimson and cobalt blue.

This piece shows the versatility of the Letrafilm in my opinion. The film can be layered over the top of itself to produce darker tones or even new colours altogether, and this way of adding colour seems simple however very effective. I would like to try this myself, either using Letrafilm if I can source it or turning to digital means if not.



All images research only