for the beginning of the idea generation stage of this brief i produced a number of thumb nail design sketches just to get down all of my ideas as quick as possible.
This idea comes from the lyric 'digging holes in the neighbourhood' and is simply a dark hole in the centre of the design and then root like creases emanating from the centre. this is taken from my analysis of the lyrics which suggested that these holes were the idea of setting roots down. i would create this by scanning in a creased piece of paper.
This idea was inspired by my research into the existing massive attack albums which produced the idea of something darkly appealing. this brought me to the idea of black smoke. This would be contained within a glass to symbolise the idea of being trapped which comes from the title of the song Karmacoma which suggests the idea of being trapped by cause and effect in a cyclical fashion.
This also comes from the concept of being darkly appealing. When considering the logic of creating something unsettling I came to the idea that juxtaposition of something familiar and something slightly alien or unexpected. So I have combined something which represents life (eggs) and something completely separate and unassociated from life (mechanisms or robotics) in an effort to unsettle but interest.
this idea originates from the same theme. the setting is homely and comforting with a bright check table cloth, there is even steam rising from the bowl as if it is filled with soup, yet in stead of soup there is a thick oily almost conscious substance.
This shows a curling growing fern which will have aspects of mechanical cogs in parts. This is also drawn from creating something darkly appealing but juxtaposing imagery.
This is a slightly more illustrative idea compared to the previous sketches which would be translated to photography to get that gritty look which would work so well for the massive attack identity. This shows a round about in a spaghetti junction with aspects of a face fitted within its curves. This originates in the idea that Karma is something cyclical and continuous. the face aspects and the cartoonish illustration style that would be utilised would reflect the strange and triply quality of the song.
This idea was taken from the theme of cause and effect as stimulated by the title of the song. I wanted to communicate the theme to the audience and not be overly cryptic and so I went with the idea of a domino which clearly demonstrates it. Once again I have made the dots holes, much like the first sketch with roots emanating from them.
This theme of cause and effect brought me to the idea of a newtons cradle. This is because it demonstrates the transferral of momentum, a physical representation of the transferral of Karma if you will. I am unsure of how to present it but am thinking about a simple close in photograph.
The most important part of the cradle is the balls and so I also considered having an extreme code in shot. This developed into something Salvador dali-esque in an effort to represent the trippy nature of the song and its strange complexity.
This came from the 'coma' part of the title and would be represented as a vector graphic. However, I rather feel this this is just a stage I had to go through to get to the slightly better ideas.
Once again this is a development from the 'coma' part of the title and just experimenting with how to represent it but I found that I have difficulty with doing something different or interesting with it.
This is taken from the lyric 'money like paper with faces'. It got me thinking about the possibility of some kind of origami face or portrait where each fragmented fold of the paper shows a snippet of a £5 note or similar. This has more of a statement and meaning than some of the other ideas because it suggests the belittlement of consumerism and our dependence on money, which is clearly what the song is referencing with this lyric.
This paper face idea developed into paper or fragmented lips kissing a surface. This was taken from another lyric 'phenomenally and properly kissed' The origami effect could be achieved by either actually folding something or digitally fragmenting an image and following the lines created with the pen tool in illustrator.
Once again this was another slight development of the previous idea, just contextualising it slightly with two disembodied pairs of lips kissing, once again in the oragami style.
This idea comes from the theme of cause and effect and the idea that karma is always about balance and that good things are repaid by good. There would be lighter versions of the scales in different positions to suggest the previous lack of balance, as is someone were striving for it. This could be both a vector graphic and an image but would need further development in any case.
This idea originates from the lyrics 'emotional ties remain severed'. I wanted to look at the way they might trap an individual because entrapment is such a continuous theme in the song. It could also be said to be inspired by parts of the music video in which a man is bound to a frame in a very similar way to this idea. I am un sure if this would be photographic, possibly I could experiment with different types of collage, even creating images with coloured wool to suggest that these emotional tie create us as people.
This was a mix of two previous ideas, one the emotional ties and the other the origami lips. This is almost a way of presenting how the emotional ties are made. This could be a mix of collage and photographic imagery.
This is a development of the newtons cradle idea making the melting element even more pronounced until it is almost like a salvador dali painting, matching the trippy quality of the song.
The idea of karma and therefore cause and effect got me thinking about superstitions and the way apparently nonsense things cause bad luck. This took me onto the idea of seven magpies 'seven for a secret never to be told' which also fits exactly with the secret seven brand. This could be made from detailed pen drawings which would match the slightly creepy tone of voice that comes along with this theme.
This could be incorporated into a pattern like cover design produced from seven magpies. This could be done in illustrator using the pen tool to create black and white vector graphics. This could create a sleek repetitive pattern that would look almost like a kaleidoscope which once again fits the weird tone of the song.
This is a combination of the newton's cradle and magpie idea. This would be a really nice photo of the cradle and then the magpies would be pen drawings o top. There are eight magpies but one os about to be crushed by the incoming ball, brining home the idea of cause and effect.
Once again this is an attempt to create a pattern with the shapes of seven magpies, but there is no reasoning behind the way they are arranged so I will not pursue this idea any further.
A heavy oily background could be used and then edited into the shape of the newtons cradle and the magpies so that it appears that the magpies are emerging from the cradle. This suggests cause and effect both in the seven magpies and the newtons cradle but also add a weirdness and darkness which helps to achieve the tone of voice wanted.
This is once agin a representation of the seven magpies idea and using an oily dark background and the bottom right corner and the magpies would be inverted pen illustration so it would look like the surface had been scratched away. This could be done by screen print as well.
This could be done in a similar media but with the bird illustrations stacked like jenga bricks suggesting the idea of balance and cause and effect simultaneously. This could also be simple black illustrations on white paper.
As well as being the end of the magpie rhyme I have reversed the R in never. This is taken from the film The shining which is constantly referenced in the music video and therefore must have been an influence on the song but is also very well known as an unsettling symbol.
This would be a simple black and white vector graphic but the edges would be shaped by the shapes of emerging magpies.
Magpie feathers are very distinctive so I think it would be just about recognisable. They would be delicate pen and ink drawings, done much larger and shrunk down to appear more complex.
This is using the think oily background I mentioned earlier and is based around the idea of the depth of meaning as if the cover its self is a deep opaque pool. the way some one is actually drowning in it is a play on the idea that the listener can't help but become immersed in the song.
This comes from the seven magpies idea but with the sinister addition of them being dead, this was an attempt at creating a darkness but I think this starts to be too extreme and logical.
