As we had decided to work together as a group for the
Dr. Me brief, we needed to be organised and prepare for the deadline by having
regular meetings every week. Since we were designing cassette covers and
recording our own mixes we needed to have cassettes to put music onto and cases
for them to be held in. Each member in the group wanted different coloured
cassettes for them to fit within their overall designs personal taste. After
our first initial discussion as a group we decided on what we should order in
preparation, I ordered all the cassettes that were needed for us to send to Dr.
Me.
The Cassette package
Our collective didn't have an identity and we needed one to be able to brand our cassettes. After we had endured the long process of choosing a name, which is 'Jarg People', we were all then quick to sketch out logos and stick with something for the meantime. We decided that a hand drawn logo would be perfectly suitable for the project because it represents the DIY nature of a cassette label and can look aesthetically pleasing. Jake drew a whole bunch of different logo variations, which can be seen below.
The group suggested that several versions of the logo could be incorporated throughout our indentity because they all looked visually similar, as they were hand drawn. We refined the logos to only 3 designs that we thought were most effective, because we didn’t want to work with too many different ones as it could look inconsistent. The ‘Six Tapes’ logo was also hand drawn and made to look like it says sex tapes. This was done by making the letter ‘i’ look like an ‘e’ that has been filled in.
Harry & Joe Valentine printed stickers out for us to include within our final package to send to Dr. Me.
As we had given ourselves a name and an identity the next step was to produce our own designs and mixes. Before ordering the tapes, the cassette length needed to be chosen. We agreed on recording at least 30 minutes worth of music each, which meant the cassette tapes had to be 15 minutes on each side. As I was producing my own beats I decided to choose a lower duration and order a 20 minute long cassette tape, because creating 30 minutes worth of original music would take far too long.
RESEARCH
We had our name, logos created and the cassette tapes ready. As initially planned we wanted to each include our own music mixes onto tapes, but when we had met up to discuss the presentation of the tapes we wanted them to be packaged in an interesting way. Looking at different cassettes gave us a better idea of how we wanted to package our work for it to be sent off. We all agreed on using plastic cassette cases because they allow the cassette cover designs to be slide easily. However, since six different cassettes were going to be produced, we wanted them all to be packaged together as well. After coming across a record label that released cassettes in plastic baggies, we decided on doing something similar. We wanted to package all our cassettes in one big plastic baggie because it would make it much more convenient to send off to DR. ME and because other printed work could be included in the package.
MY DESIGN PROCESS
As we had given ourselves a name and an identity the next step was to produce our own designs and mixes. Before ordering the tapes, the cassette length needed to be chosen. We agreed on recording at least 30 minutes worth of music each, which meant the cassette tapes had to be 15 minutes on each side. As I was producing my own beats I decided to choose a lower duration and order a 20 minute long cassette tape, because creating 30 minutes worth of original music would take far too long.
For my cassette design I wanted to create a sleeve that had several different collages on the inside cover, because I wanted to make the most of the cassette design and have it act like a pull out poster, allowing the viewer to fold out the sleeve. I decided to do my collages on photoshop rather than by hand because it enables me to experiment quicker.
I used my own photos for the collages because I like re-using my photography within projects and I also don’t feel comfortable using other people’s photographs in my work. Organised a group of photographs that I thought had potential to become good collages because of the content displayed, which was mainly people and landscapes. This then enabled me to create contrasts between images. I created 4 collages using the simple formula of combining 2 images, where the landscape or person is cut out and replaced by another texture or landscape. The sky has been cut out and replaced on two of my designs because of the surreal effect it produces. Altering the colours between photographs further improves the contrast between images. For the inside cover on the cassette sleeve, I created a collage with my own illustrations and paint strokes because I wanted to represent more of my personality along with my music productions.
The template I used for the cassette sleeve
My Final Cassette Sleeve
The black and white images in my designs are the most effective because of the difference in comparison to the colour photographs that they are placed on top of.
Joe's designs for the Packaging/Baggie.
Joe screen printed baggies and incorporated all of our signatures/names on the back.
A Nicholas Cage face was printed because we though it was quite humorous.
Jakes design
Joe Valentines design
Harry's design
Will's Design
Joe Lindley's Design
After receiving all the files and cassette templates from the guys I went to digital print.
just had to print cassette sleeves / designs as postcards as well.
Other than submitting our cassettes and packaging, we decided to create a bigger package by including stickers and postcard versions of our cassette covers. Joe Lindley screen printed the plastic baggies for the tapes to packaged in and incorporated a humorous Nick Cage print on the back of them. Joe valentine and Jake printed off the Jarg People stickers. I visited digital print to print off everybody’s cassette sleeves and postcards. We placed our Jarg People logos in the same place on the tapes because we wanted them to look consistent.
Since everything for the DR. ME brief had been designed, all that was left was the music that needed to be on the cassette tapes. Harry, Joe Lindley and Will recorded theie mixes using vinyl and record decks, whereas Joe Valentine and Jake used computer software to compile their own mp3 mixes. I produced my music on my sampler and on Logic Pro X. After the music had been recorded we used my cassette recorder to transfer the digital music files onto the cassette tapes, which took a very long time because the mixes have to played all the way through in order for them to be transferred. In the future the group will have to purchase more than one to use because its takes up far too much time.
Postcards
FINAL PACKAGE
Here's a GIF I made
Joe created a custom Jarg stamp because our work wasn't being sent on its own, Our level 6 class were given the option to submit their work all together.
Evaluation
Before sending our cassettes off to Dr. Me, we wanted to take photos of our work, so we could promote it online. I took the photos of the cassettes in the studio with the help of Jake, Harry and Joe valentine, who placed the tapes in different arrangements. We’re very pleased with what we have achieved whilst working as a group together for the first time. We have managed to produce 6 individual cassette tape designs along with postcards, stickers, packaging and music mixes. The project has been successful because the designs have been visually consistent as they all include a collage design aesthetic and our Jarg logos. It’s also an effective outcome because it fully encompasses what Jarg People are about; it represents our interests and personalities as a design & music collective. The final outcome that is presented and packaged presents a strong DIY feel, which is what we wanted to achieve. Our submission for the DR. ME brief is also strong because it definitely will stand out as mailer. It’s a package that someone would want to keep if they received it because it features various work and is a substantial size. Three hours worth of music will also keep DR. ME occupied for some time too.
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