OUGD603: Brief 5 / Secret Seven

Brief 5: Secret Seven – Competition

I enter this competition every year not necessarily to win but as an opportunity to try a different and new style of design, allowing for experimentation and development with my skill set whilst broadening my visual tastes. The music video of Less I Know The Better is full of sexual imagery, and the lyrics are about suppressing the feelings of jealousy after a break-up, when both try to date new people and usually one of them (in this case the guy) still has the hope in retaking the relationship or at least there are remains of sexual attraction for her he cannot control. He still has her in his mind and cannot forget her. He may still have feelings for her and suffers while imagining her with the new guy, “Oh my love, can’t you see yourself by my side. No surprise when you’re on his shoulder like every night. Oh my love, can’t you see that you’re on my mind”.

My design is an entry for the song ‘The Less I Know the Better’ by Tame Impala. It has been influenced by the music video, which is full of sexual imagery. The colour scheme has also been influenced by the video, in which mostly red, blues and pink are used. The song is about a boy finding out the girl he is in love with is in a relationship, visually the bright vibrant colours symbolise the feeling of being in love - his world being full of life and happiness. The eyes-on-you resembles his loved up world being shaken and disrupted. In the end, I just wanted to create a visually pleasing and interesting design that people would want to own, the less you know the better.

Working on a short-term brief, such as Secret Seven, which is an open and experiential brief, I find stress reducing. I find that I work a lot better in shorter periods of time and am often happier with what I’ve produced. This is because I get a lot more involved and dedicated to the brief when the deadline is shorter and tend to find that working on longer briefs, I can be easily get distracted and get bored of working on them for so long. Overall, I am really happy with the outcome, within the short time frame for the brief and I feel that I have been able to create a fitting design.

Secret Seven: Lyrics

Lyrics

[Verse 1]Someone said they left together
I ran out the door to get her
She was holding hands with Trevor
Not the greatest feeling ever
Said, "Pull yourself together
You should try your luck with Heather"
Then I heard they slept together
Oh, the less I know the better
The less I know the better

[Chorus 1]Oh my love, can't you see yourself by my side
No surprise when you're on his shoulder like every night
Oh my love, can't you see a child on my mind
Don't suppose we could convince your lover to change his mind
So goodbye

[Verse 2]She said, "It's not now or never
Wait ten years, we'll be together"
I said, "Better late than never
Just don't make me wait forever"
Don't make me wait forever
Don't make me wait forever

[Chorus 2]Oh my love, can't you see yourself by my side?
I don't suppose you could convince your lover to change his mind

[Outro]I was doing fine without ya
'Til I saw your face, now I can't erase
Giving in to all his bullshit
Is this what you want, is this who you are?
I was doing fine without ya
'Til I saw your eyes turn away from mine
Oh, sweet darling, where he wants you
Said, "Come on Superman, say your stupid line"
Said, "Come on Superman, say your stupid line"
Said, "Come on Superman, say your stupid line"

My Interpretation 

I think the song is about suppressing the feelings of jealousy after a break-up, when both try to date new people and usually one of them (in this case the guy) still has the hope in retaking the relationship or at least there are remains of sexual attraction for her he cannot control. 

He still has her in his mind and cannot forget her. He may still have feelings for her and suffers while imagining her with the new guy, "Oh my love, can't you see yourself by my side. No surprise when you're on his shoulder like every night. Oh my love, can't you see that you're on my mind".

She still gives him some small hopes, because she doesn't want him to feel bad: "It's not now or never // Wait 10 years, we'll be together". And he agrees in waiting: "Better late than never. Just don't make me wait forever".

Secret Seven: Video Stills

Music Video Stills 

I have always been a fan of hallucinatory Tame Impala Music Videos. The Less I Know the Better video tells the story of a basketball player who gets his heart broken when the cheerleader he loves starts hooking up with the team's gorilla mascot (named Trevor). The video is a mix of animated illustration and high school scenes, and colour. It is well worth a watch and have a lot symbolic messages throughout (hair, bananas, sports, sex) which also make the video very conceptually pleasing. Below are my video stills - some really great imagery. 

More Visual Inspo

Secret Seven: Visual Research

Visual Research 

Tame Impala album covers, music videos, event posters are always really creative, colourful, and psychedelic. So for visual research I have been looking at their previous artwork as they always spark inspiration. Below are my favourite pieces... 

Brief 07: Secret Seven

Competition Brief // Secret 7"

Every year I have entered this brief, as well I am in the mood to create something creative and hands-on after writing a dissertation for an entire term. As well as that Tame Impala are one of my favourite bands, so I'm really looking forward to designing a sleeve! I am going to give myself a week to complete this brief.

Brief

Create a sleeve design that symbolises the song 'The Less I Know The Better' by Tame Impala. If the design is chosen to be in the exhibition it will then be up for sale. Be as creative and unique as possible; they are looking for something that stands out and shows true skill and creativity. Concentrate your design on what will be the front, only this will be visible in the exhibition.

Mandatory Requirements

• Your design must not include the artist’s name or the song title.
• Dimensions should be 184mm x 184mm, with a 3mm bleed all the way around. That’s 190mm x 190mm in total.
• Your file must be produced in CMYK so it’s set-up to be printed. Any PMS specials will be converted. Metallic or fluorescent inks cannot be reproduced
• Your file must be 300dpi
• Your file must be saved as either a Tiff, JPEG or PDF
• You must have until 23:59 GMT on 2 March 2016 to upload your designs. Late submission will not be accepted. We advise that you don’t wait till the last few minutes to upload, as the site will be busy

Deliverables

• A 184mm x 184mm record sleeve cover, physical or digital.
• Minimum of 3 Design boards
• Relevant blogposts.