Showing posts with label Iconography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iconography. Show all posts

Friday, 10 January 2014

Iconography Investigation: Avicii











Falling into the genre of electro/dance, much of Avicii's iconography is centred around clubbing, parties and colour. Within all of his CD covers also lies the theme of escapism in some form, mostly through the slanted AV logo which is used amongst his fan base to connect everyone together; if you are part of the Avicii 'clan', you are somewhere you belong with lots of likeminded people. 

Avicii has grown enormously in popularity over the last two or so years, and is well known for the catchy, lively club anthems with relatable and realistic lyrics, providing an escape for the audience; someone who is in the same situation. 


In terms of the link between the lyrics and the CD artwork, there is again this strong connection to the praise and pride of being individual. There is also a strong representation of Avicii as an artist. This is cleverly shown on the CD cover for the single, 'I Could Be The One' where he collaborated with Nicky Romero. They divide the album cover in two from corner to corner and edit 'vs' (versus) in betwen, which represents a battle. The contrast in terms of colour is clear too; Avicii is represented with bright pink and orange gradients, which represent his sound as lively, colourful and fun but also complex: layered and evolving. In contrast, Romero is represented with darker grey outlining which shows how his style is much more toned down, simple and consistent. In many ways, these two opposites seem to balance each other out. 

Furthermore, Levels' cover artwork relates both to its music video and the idea of escaping to a different place. The music video starts with a man in an office environment, talking to a fellow co-worker, when he suddenly starts to dance. He scribbles Avicii's name on various surfaces, and dances on tables, while co-workers disapprovingly observe. Later, he gets immobilised by a taser and falls into a coma, where he has a vision of himself pushing a boulder up a mountain while lip-syncing the lyrics. At the hospital, just before he wakes up, a flower sprouts from his mouth, which infects the male nurses looking after him with an unknown substance, making them collapse to the ground. At the end of the clip, all the doctors and nurses end up dancing, also presumably infected. This heavily links to the front cover in that it could be interpreted that the eerie doorway is the abandoned/infected hospital, and perhaps it represents ground level, holding connotations to letting go and becoming free (preferably due to/through the music). 

He has his own font which is used to spell out Avicii; it is slanted and modern which linked to the tone of his music; edgy, different and new. It is also where his logo has derived from, as by filling in the 'A' and the 'V', you get unusual, parallel triangles. If you had never heard of Avicii before, and you just came across the triangle symbol logo, there would be a very subtle link made to the AV theme, which makes it easier to recognise his work. This was also used in the above music video, 'Wake Me Up' which highlighted the idea of people feeling isolated and out of place until they discovered Avicii. 

Overall, the iconography clearly represents Avicii as a new, modern and fun artist, which really suits and supports his music work.

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

Iconography Investigaton: Lupe Fiasco


The song, 'Superstar' by Lupe Fiasco matches the iconography of his album cover (right) due to several things. Firstly, he appears to be floating around in outer space, which holds connotations to him being, 'out of this world' and also to stardom and celebrity; being or feeling superior. Secondly, He appears to be surrounded by his influences, including video games, a phone, books, a boom box etc which at the time were all very popular, high tech bits of equipment. This links to the sound of his music, as it is quite futuristic and lively, connoting a new, fresh sound for the audience to hear.

The lyrics of the song match the visuals; superstar' is quite a sci-fi word, with similar lexis relating to astronomy, space, rockets, flying etc and this fits n with the look of the cover; the bright lights and the fact he is floating.

The sound of the music fits with the look of the album cover because it has quite a mellow, chilled out vibe to it, but has fresh, modern tinges, demonstrating the fact he is an upcoming artist. Additionally, the fact he doesn't fill up the whole space suggests that the album is not all about him, so perhaps the songs are focused on other concepts (e.g. Superstar = fame and money) or he collaborates with other artists too.

In terms of the typography, he uses and Old English typeface which goes against all he has been representing. Personally, I find it difficult to read and I do not think it fits in with the rest of the iconography particularly well.

We will make sure that within our digipak, our font matches the conventions of the dance/pop genre, so looking into this particular artist's iconography has made us recognise the importance of the font within the ancillary tasks.

Saturday, 4 January 2014

Iconography Investigation: John Newman

I decided to firstly focus on the iconography of our chosen artist, John Newman to allow me to identify with his image a little more.


John Newman's style is very retro and vintage, which derives from his inspiration and love of jazz and blues music. This approach is evident to see both in the music video and his CD covers. 

His music video for 'Love Me Again' cleverly links to the theme of the single's artwork in that it follows this classical theme. In his music video, there are dancers which, judging by the clothes and verisimilitude, is centred around the 1960's/1970's period. We can tell this by the old fashioned dancing shoes and bag, and actually, the event itself - as it is probably unlikely that you would come across a similar dance freestyle class now. The lack of mobile phones and other modern technology is also a clue. The video seems to have been filtered during editing with creams and browns, again highlighting vintage elements and in a way, the theme of something being worn out and used; secondhand. Despite being a reasonably upbeat, dance/pop song, it has surprisingly dull hues within the visuals, so they are intentionally breaking the conventions of the genre in order to meet the needs of the artist. 

This transfers across to his album (Tribute) and it's artwork. It is almost Great Gatsby themed; it is regal and glamorous. 

It also links to the tone of his music, which combines jazz/blues rhythms with more modern, lively beats. Furthermore, the name, 'Tribute' is a rather royal term and prestigious in itself. It stands for appreciation, praise, gratitude, recognition etc which relates to many of his songs relating to break ups; he is saying goodbye and thank you. The typography also fits in really well with the existing theme, and being a bold, sans-serif font is eye-catching. 

We want to make a similarly successful link between our music video and our digipak, so this has been a useful example to study. 

Overall, his iconography has been consistent throughout the majority of his career, and his style has been clear from the beginning, making it easy for the audience to recognise and support him.

Friday, 3 January 2014

Iconography Research

WHAT IS ICONOGRAPHY?
Iconography is the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these.

It is used to describe  the visual language of cinema, particularly within the field of genre criticism/identification.

Iconography is an important aspect of genre. We expect to see certain objects on screen when we see a particular genre, for instance in a Western, dusty lonely roads, saloon bars, cowboy hats, horses, sheriffs badges, guns etc would be what we are expecting from the genre. These genre indicators are called the iconography of the mise en scene or genre. 

Iconography is essential in setting up a genre and ensuring a convincing verisimilitude is created. It is especially important when establishing a location, for instance, if a film is set in London, there will be shots of recognisable elements belonging to this location, e.g. Big Ben, red buses, the River Thames, the London Eye, black cabs etc. This way, the setting is clear from the start which makes for easier consumption of media for the audience.