
Illustration • System • Research
Fall 2021 • GRA4197C: Visual System Design
Overview
The goal of this project was to identify an album that I found to be especially intriguing or valuable, whose visual design was lacking. I was then tasked with creating a new visual language based on the concepts and themes of the album, and to present that language through an album cover, posters, Spotify assets, and Instagram posts.
Album Selection
While I am not completely opposed to the current visuals of the album, I do think there could be improvement. From some research on the decisions behind the album design, it seems that the Japanese characters are purely aesthetic and, in that sense, I don’t think they contribute much to the album overall.


Mind Map
In order to gain a better understanding of the content, concepts, and themes of the album, a mind map was completed while listening to each track. On this map I noted majors themes of each song, capturing the main idea. While completing this map I realized most of the songs were about love in some way: feeling grateful, longing, reluctance, physical distance, and feeling inadequate are just a few.

Moodboard
Once I had captured the themes of the album, I turned to finding existing inspiration for my new design. I looked for albums that I liked not only for their music, but also their design. Specifically, I was looking at how these albums had used image quality and atmosphere in their design, and how that related to what I knew of the music.
Composition and layout were explored, as I planned to use illustration for the cover and not photography. I also looked at illustration styles, iconography, and typefaces.

Visual Language

Social Good Component
