An Investigation Into How Graphic Design Can Aid The Communication of a Theme Within The Context of a Concept Album Michael Nunn

Introduction:

In this research proposal I will be studying the visual identity that can be created for bands to market their music through the use of graphic design. I will be focussing, but not limiting, my research to the designers and artists that have created work for bands and musicians that produce concept albums. My research will focus on the designers behind musicians that create a conceptual narrative through music and I aim to explore the lengths to which designers can aid these types of albums with a strong visual identity. I want to see how far you can push the limits of what is expected of a band’s image in order to tell the story and whether there is a limit. It is my belief that by researching the methods used by artists and graphic designers, useful information can be extracted from it that will apply to other genres of music and the mindset behind its design will be very similar regardless of the visual output.

I shall propose a short manifesto, based on my research, that will communicate ways in which designers can create a visual identity for a band or musical artist. In this I aim to explore the ways in which a graphic designer can use the visual cues of the musician’s genre to their advantage, whilst avoiding certain cliches that can damage or miscommunicate the intentions of a band or musician’s visual identity. I will take into account the temporal aspects associated with releasing music in this day and age by acknowledging the changes in the way that we buy, listen to and consume music over the past few decades compared to this modern era.

I shall then evaluate the effectiveness of my manifesto by using the principles I establish to brand a relevant band with an appropriate visual identity and produce a physical product in keeping with the visual cues of my chosen band’s genre, whilst avoiding misrepresentation through the use of cliches I will have established through research. Through this I aim to position myself within the world of a designer who specialises in working with bands to create strong and marketable visual identities. I will do this through focussing on artists who have been successful in accruing a career creating cover art and accompanying band branding art throughout the ages.

Throughout this essay I will refer to both musical artists and graphic designers. To avoid confusion, henceforth when I state “Musician” I am referring to musical artists, bands or clients that are being branded and I will be using “Designer” to refer to graphic designers, visual artists or other creative directors that produce visuals and whose work I will be predominately studying.

Nick Hayes and Woody Guthrie:

A concept album is defined as “an album that has a unifying theme or that tells a single story”. 1 However, this meaning has become quite subjective; some saying it must contain

1 Collins 2018, Definition of 'concept album’, accessed 20 April 2018, a narrative, whilst others argue it only needs a theme to be a concept album.2 Both can be enhanced by clear visual identities. These visual trends have changed over the years, but there are consistencies in the approach to designing a concept album, rather than any other commercial release. I will be researching this by looking back at the origins of concept albums and seeing how they have evolved into modern thematic releases.

One of the pioneers of the concept album was Woody Guthrie and his album Dust Bowl Ballads. Released in 1940, it told stories of economic hardships based on fictional characters inspired by Woody’s own life and the people he had met.3 Whilst this was one of the first concept albums, its visual identity barely existed beyond a grainy photograph of a house’s silhouette and some fairly appropriate fonts heading the album cover. I believe that Dust Bowl Ballad’s real value is in its influence; it paved the way for other musicians, such as Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra, to tell stories through their music 4, but furthermore, it opened a door for designers to have their input.

Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads (1940) 5

2 Sturges, F 2009, ‘The return of concept album’, Independent, 1 October, accessed 21 April 2018,

3 Wikipedia 2018, Dust Bowl Ballads, accessed 20 April 2018,

4 Sturges, F 2009, ‘The return of concept album’, Independent, 1 October, accessed 21 April 2018,

5 Wikipedia 2018, Dust Bowl Ballads, accessed 20 April 2018, Nick Hayes is a cartoonist who saw Woody Guthrie’s song based tales as a chance to create something more in depth and further the original work’s inspirational and creative reach in a new way; a graphic novel.6 Hayes’ illustrated novel titled The Dust Bowl Ballads not only told the story of Woody, but actually gave a much wider understanding of the environment in which these songs came about, in a visual and creative way.

Woody Guthrie And The Dust Bowl Ballads - A Graphic Novel By Nick Hayes (2014) 7

Whilst this was a retrospective expansion of an older story, it does speak volumes for the relevance of how 21st century mindsets allow us to reimagine stories and keep their messages relevant. Dust Bowl Ballads speaks a lot about the socio-political climate of the great depression in America and through this album, revitalised by Nick Hayes’ creative output, the resilient narrative can be revived and used to reflect on how things have changed in this era.

6 Cape, J 2014, ‘“This machine kills fascists”: Nick Hayes’ Woody Guthrie, the Dustbowl Ballads’, The Woolamaloo Gazette, 1 November, accessed 19 April 2018,

7 Cape, J 2014, ‘“This machine kills fascists”: Nick Hayes’ Woody Guthrie, the Dustbowl Ballads’, The Woolamaloo Gazette, 1 November, accessed 19 April 2018, Woody Guthrie And The Dust Bowl Ballads A Graphic Novel By Nick Hayes (2014) 8

Storm Thorgerson and Pink Floyd:

Pink Floyd - The Division Bell (artwork by Storm Thorgerson, 1994) 9

8 Cape, J 2014, ‘“This machine kills fascists”: Nick Hayes’ Woody Guthrie, the Dustbowl Ballads’, The Woolamaloo Gazette, 1 November, accessed 19 April 2018,

9 Thorgerson, S 1995, The Division Bell, Accessed 20 April 2018, One of the most notable figures of the album artwork world is Storm Thorgerson, considered by many as one of the best album designers in the world. What interests me most about his work is his approach to it. When describing his thought process when working with a band he said:

"I listen to the music, read the lyrics, speak to the musicians as much as possible. I see myself as a kind of translator, translating an audio event – the music – into a visual event – the cover. I like to explore ambiguity and contradiction, to be upsetting but gently so. I use real elements in unreal ways.” 10

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon (artwork and variations by Storm Thorgerson, 1973) 11

Whilst much of his artwork is very abstract and often surrealist, it appears to come from a place of understanding the work he is representing. I believe this is the key to his success; the more you understand about the band you’re representing, the more relevant the artwork can become without limiting the creativity.

“it related mostly to a light show. They hadn’t really celebrated their light show. That was one thing. The other thing was the triangle. I think the triangle, which is a symbol of thought and ambition, was very much a subject of Roger’s lyrics. So the triangle was a

10 Sweeting, A 2013, ’Storm Thorgerson obituary’, The Guardian, 18 April, accessed 21 April 2018,

11 Thorgerson, S 1973, Dark Side Of The Moon, accessed 21 April 2018, very a useful – as we know, obviously – was a very useful icon to deploy and making it into the prism – you know, the prism belonged to the Floyd.” 12

In the case of Dark Side of the Moon, arguably his best and most recognisable piece, it came from a lateral thought process. He was able to use this, seemingly unrelated, object and apply an open sense of meaning to it; it is recognisable and iconic, but it came from a place of context from Storm getting to know the band and being active in taking it to new places.

“Thorgerson showed Powell a black-and-white photograph of a prism with a color beam projected through it — an image he’d also noticed in a physics textbook.” 13

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon (artwork by Storm Thorgerson, 1973) 14

I believe it is important to acknowledge in this instance that simply depicting elements of the story in a literal way isn’t always the best use of cover art; it is a platform for creativity that should serve the purpose of expanding the listener’s immersion in a visual way.

12 Rolling Stone 2011, ‘Storm Thorgerson: How I Designed the Cover of 'Dark Side of the Moon’’, 28 September, accessed 4 May 2018,

13 Deal, D 2017, ‘“The Dark Side of the Moon”: How an Album Cover Became an Icon’, Medium, 27 November, accessed 21 April 2018,

14 Thorgerson, S 1973, Dark Side Of The Moon, accessed 21 April 2018, Roger Dean & Yes:

Over the years, designers have had a huge impact on the way we perceive music by using a visual language to portray the sound of any given musical style. This visual language is often described as cymatics. Similar to onomatopoeia (the method of using “a word that phonetically imitates, resembles or suggests the sound that it describes”15) cymatics use graphic styles associated with a genre to instantly summon the sound in your mind and visually communicate a musician’s style.

Concept albums have been very closely linked to the progressive rock genre of music, despite the fact that any album with a theme or a story can be one. I believe one of the reasons for this is due to the work of artist Roger Dean. He worked closely with a number of progressive rock bands in the 70s, most of whom were creating music that told stories. Dean lent his sublime, surrealist painting style to many iconic albums of the time.

Yes Songs (artwork by Roger Dean, 1973) 16

The success of these albums, tied closely with these phenomenally vast fantasy landscapes, began to define the cymatics of progressive rock music, and by association concept albums as well. One band he worked very closely with was Yes. He produced the majority of their cover art for them in his signature style. He described the mindset behind creating these landscapes by saying:

“All the early Elvis Presley albums would have him on the front. He was his brand identity. With a band like Yes that didn’t work – you had to have some graphic expression of who

15 Wikipedia 2018, Onomatopoeia, accessed 24 April 2018,

16 Dean, R 1973, Yes Songs, accessed 24 April 2018 they were, and that had to have the feel that it was the band. So we tried to get a visual metaphor, not just for the music, but for the band themselves.” 17

It is important to acknowledge his awareness of brand identity, even as a painter; every band must present themselves in a coherent and brand aware way, much like any other business, and in creating a band’s visual identity it has to be fit for purpose and attract the right kind of attention. Before social media, most musician’s music was discovered by the general public in record stores and the use of striking imagery on vinyl was the clearest communication of a band that was not known to a potential customer browsing the racks. Roger Dean’s awareness of how this process worked meant he could draw people in with his artwork by striking those cymatic cues of progressive rock that he helped to create.

Yes - Close To The Edge (vinyl gatefold artwork by Roger Dean, 1972) 18

Nathan Spoor and Coheed & Cambria:

Concept albums of the 21st century have taken modern approaches to the idea of conveying a theme or narrative accompanied by music. Coheed & Cambria are one of these bands that carry the torch of concept based, progressive rock and metal music. They exclusively write concept albums and the stories being told with their music all exist within the same fictional universe. Each album adds to the overarching science fiction story; often done by exploring different time periods and key characters. Herein lies a problem from a storytelling point of view; with so many characters, time periods and

17 Smith, D 2017, ‘Roger Dean, the man behind the artwork of prog band Yes, exhibits at Sheffield Park’, The Argus, 27 September, accessed 8 May 2018,

18 Edathikunnel, T 2012, Album Review: Close To The Edge by Yes, 18 June, accessed 10 May 2018, storylines, the actual plot can get very convoluted and lost when only told through lyrics accompanied by music.

Lead singer of Coheed & Cambria, Claudio Sanchez, and his wife, Chondra Echart, decided this was an opportunity to expand the band’s reach, and the general understanding of his story, by starting their own comic book publishing company, Evil Ink Comics19, and producing The Amory Wars comics and graphic novels that follow the tales of lead characters Coheed and Cambria. As such, the album covers tend to mimic the traditional colourful comic book style, but with the dark intricacies of the Amory Wars illustrators.

The Amory Wars - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 20

19 Evil Ink Comics 2018, About, accessed 8 May 2018,

20 David, P 2010, The Amory Wars Chondra: “Yeah. There are two: sometimes the two kinds of fans, where it’s someone will come up because of the music, and they’ve never read a comic. They’re like, what is this? And then they pick up a book. And maybe the next time you see them, they’re not only reading our titles, but they’re reading other books in the comic world. Over the years you start to see them, and this becomes their thing. And they love comic books out of somebody who came and didn’t understand what it was all about.” 21

This is one example of how promoting music has changed over the years; in order to get noticed in an oversaturated market, filled with thousands of bands in every genre imaginable, new methods of promotion have to be developed. Rather than seeing this as an obstacle, Coheed have proved that it can be an opportunity to expand into new creative avenues. As Chondra stated, often discovery of the comics lead to fans discovering the band and, conversely, discovery of the music can lead to fans discovering comics. This creates a mutually beneficial relationship tying two creative fields together that promotes both simultaneously.

One of the advantages of having a comprehensive written narrative existing alongside an album, is the freedom gained from not having to describe the story in full within the confines of a physical release. Where once the lyric booklet of a CD or Vinyl would be used to explain the concepts, this space can instead be reserved for artwork that simply adds a visual element to the existing understanding, thus furthering the immersion.

Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman (Ascension) (artwork by Nathan Spoor)22

21 Bloxdorf, B 2017, ‘Claudio and Chondra talk the Future and THE AMORY WARS at NYCC 2017!’, Comicsverse, 4 November, accessed 25 April 2018,

22 Spoor, N 2012, The Afterman, accessed 9 May 2018 Coheed & Cambria’s double album The Afterman (Ascension and Descension) uses this to illustrate each song with a painting, compiled into a booklet insert for the physical releases of the album. The artwork for each song was created by Nathan Spoor “known for his acrylic paintings and the popularisation of the Suggestivism art movement.” 23 For the Afterman artworks, he uses suggestivism as a way of communicating lots of parts of the complex story with symbolic and suggestive visual cues. For example, in the artwork for Goodnight Fair Lady, he communicates a part of the story where the lead character’s wife is drugged in a bar. He uses the demonic creatures emerging from the glass to suggest further evils and betrayal beyond this already criminal act. 24

Goodnight, Fair Lady (artwork by Nathan Spoor, 2012) 25

23 Wikipedia 2018, Nathan Spoor, accessed 9 May 2018,

24 Coheed and Cambria, 2012. Inside The Concept: Goodnight, Fair Lady. [online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=PFyWWUFY1ts&list=UUcZd1CCYQVxRDdEXoWS6x0g&index=3&feature=plcp [accessed 9 May 2018]

25 Spoor, N 2012, Goodnight Fair Lady, accessed 9 May 2018 This platform for tying in a contemporary art style into the promotion of their music is another example of the symbiosis that two creative medias can achieve to benefit both parties; artist and musician. The album is constructed in chronological order, with each of the songs forming the chapters of a story. The inclusion of this sugestivist allows for lots of detail to be communicated with little more than a visual and further prompts listeners to engage, and potentially invest, in the supporting literature by purchasing the comics and graphic novels.

Ion Lucin and TesseracT:

In the modern era we are seeing a revival of bands with elements of progressive rock in their style that have moved past the, now cliche, visual elements of fantasy paintings, like Roger Dean’s work. The trends in cover art visuals seem to align much closer to contemporary graphic design, with geometric shapes at the forefront of most covers, often displaying very clean and futuristic looking pieces, but in a minimalistic fashion than a Roger Dean painting.

Likewise the trend of modern progressive band logos have taken on a cleaner image with little to no distortion in typefaces. This can be most easily perceived by comparing posters for festivals that focus on specific genres. For example, two festivals that may be perceived as presenting similar heavy bands, but in fact differ in genre quite a lot, are Bloodstock and ArcTanGent. The majority of the festivals’ bookings both focus on bands that feature heavy guitar driven bands, often with screaming vocals. However Bloodstock features more bands that follow the death metal genre, whilst ArcTanGent features mostly modern prog bands, most of whom follow the mindset of classic progressive rock artists who are more likely to concern themselves with concept albums.

ArcTanGent Festival Lineup (Left)26, Bloodstock Open Air Festival Lineup (Right)27

26 Bloodstock Festival 2018, accessed 10 May 2018,

27 ArcTanGent Festival 2018, accessed 10 May 2018, The immediate visual cues show a much cleaner, modern look to the bands listed at ArcTanGent and a dirtier, more visceral look to those listed at Bloodstock. I believe this shows the trends behind modern progressive bands and their attitude towards a visual presence; whilst more traditional heavy metal bands, like those at Bloodstock, follow trends from the origins of thrash metal bands, predominately from the 1980’s, the modern progressive bands, by nature, are at the cutting edge of graphic trends and push forwards by creating their own cymatics to signify their genre and their sound.

The band TesseracT’s album Altered State, described by Monolith online magazine as "probably one of the most complete examples of the genre to date.”28 is a perfect depiction of contemporary graphic design and progressive concept albums working hand in hand in the modern era.

TesseracT - Altered State (artwork by Ion Lucin, 2013) 29

28 Simon, 2013, ‘TESSERACT – ALTERED STATE’, The Monolith, 15 May, accessed 1 May 2018,

29 Simon, 2013, ‘TESSERACT – ALTERED STATE’, The Monolith, 15 May, accessed 1 May 2018, Ion Lucin is the designer of their cover art and accompanying imagery. Lucin is a motion graphic designer who focuses mostly on 3D rendering to create moving objects in digital space. His digital composition Spherikal30 inspired the album cover, which is a still directly taken from his work. I believe the method of focussing on the sphere, and how he manipulates it digitally whilst keeping the similar black and white minimalist feel, is similar to the way in which Storm Thorgerson branded Pink Floyd with the prism when designing Dark Side of The Moon. It becomes an object of curiosity, moreover when it evolves and becomes something new, but familiar.

Sophia Groves and Arcane Roots:

Musicians Arcane Roots build on this modern styling to brand a similar band, but they approach it from a more tactile and cinematic viewpoint. Their sounds encompass most of the prog styles including heavy synth based songs, but they also blend it with heavy guitars, much like TesseracT. Album art designer Sophia Groves’ work on the Melancholia Hymns albumdisplays all of her strengths; as a photographer and graphic designer she is able to create this vast landscape that has a sense of amazement and wonder to it by pairing her photography with her eye for creating contemporary fantasy visuals.

Arcane Roots - Melancholia Hymns (artwork by Sophia Groves, 2017)31

30 blackdotmedia, 2016. "Spherikal" by Ion Lucin (remixed sound design). [online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqqAKO3EsXI [accessed 8 May 2018]

31 Groves, S 2017, Melancholia Hymns, accessed 10 May 2018 Furthermore she is able to pull out elements turning them into separate works that depict each song and add to the context. More chaotic songs like the aptly named Everything (All At Once) are reinforced with a linear logo that reflects the sound. Likewise, simpler, cleaner cut songs such as ending track Half The World are depicted with a single line creating a division in the space - further telling the story of a split mindset and how it can feel incredibly polarising.

Arcane Roots - Melancholia Hymns (vinyl lyric booklet) 32

Arcane Roots’ style remains esoteric, with unclear meanings that are left open to interpretation, thus making it imperative to guide whatever emotions are intended with subtle visual cues like the linear styles. With these simple line forms, a story is told through mood and is reinforced with the cinematic landscapes, adding another layer of setting to a concept.

32 Groves, S 2017, Melancholia Hymns, accessed 10 May 2018 Manifesto For Designing A 21st Century Concept Album:

Based on my research, I have devised a short list of guidelines that should be taken into consideration when designing a concept album in the 21st century.

Designers should seek to expand the concept being communicated on the album, be it by setting the scene with more visual depth, or bringing new light to parts of the story that are less at the forefront of the music, but still a vital part. Design is a tool; a tool with which to build on existing immersion.

Designers should work closely with the musicians to understand the nature of their music and their sound, so as to create an accurate visual identity that is in keeping with other artists that play similar music. If it sits too far outside the visual cues also used by the musician’s peers then the band may be misinterpreted, therefore harming their brand. This can lead to musicians not being booked for the right shows, appealing to the wrong audience and creating a discord between them and an already oversaturated market.

Designers should seek to keep up to date with modern graphic design trends so as to play into the cymatics of whichever genre they are designing for, however this should not limit creativity. Personality must shine through; the best designers tailor their own style and its visual qualities to the contextual needs of a band or musician.

Designers should play to their strengths in order to create immersive visuals that others may not have even considered using. Be it small, like the prism from Dark Side of the moon, or more cinematic, like the dramatic landscapes photographed by Sophia Groves on Melancholia Hymns, they should reflect the designer’s identity and seek to apply that individuality to whichever project they are working on.

Designers should be aware of how the music is being released and acknowledge the ways in which we consume music in the modern era. This includes staying aware of parallel creative avenues, such as graphic novels, comics and books as potential supporting promotional material. Likewise, whilst there has been somewhat of a revival in vinyl releases, most music is discovered through a strong social media presence and streaming services such as Spotify. Any supporting artwork should be fit for the purpose of being discovered in this way, acknowledging the context associated with releasing music in the 21st century. Mike Nunn and Shadow Aspect (Totality): Development

Using this manifesto, based on the research I have undertaken, I decided to play to my strengths of using physical methods, such as ink, paired with digital manipulation in order to design an album sleeve that fits the modern progressive rock/metal genre I aim to portray cymatically.

As a musician myself, I saw this as an opportunity to use my research as inspiration to create an album with a running narrative that ties into the progressive rock and metal genre, not only in the way it sounds, but with its visual identity.

Inspired by the in depth story telling of Coheed & Cambria, I wanted to write my own story as a way of guiding the music. Each song should represent a key part of the story and, likewise, each part of the story should have a strong visual quality, in order to further tell the story.

I began by storyboarding the flow of the story, using key words to reflect each event. The story revolves around the discovery of plant matter, observed on the surface of the moon (referred to as Luna). A research voyage then discovers beings living within Luna’s surface. Throughout the story we discover the beings (The Silent) have used up all the resources within the planet through to the core - mirroring the wasteful attitudes we as humans tend to display - and out of desperation The Silent hunt the humans.

The bleak storyline needed similarly bleak imagery to reinforce this overarching theme of uncertainty - referring to the discovery of new life and finding them to be hostile. I began by drawing influence for my initial sketches from Muhamed Iqbal Yarafin (Ibayarafin)33 He creates dark horror atmospheres with abstract mountain styles, heavy detail and an imitation etching style using ink pens. I sketched out some of the imagery that came into my head after reading back my original story outline.

I further experimented with ink and water on paper to create a number of blotted ink pieces. These created a space-like atmosphere when inverted on photoshop.

In an attempt to gain some more depth to create the tangible, cinematic feel, inspired by Sophia Groves’ landscape photography, I experimented with inverting photography. These created the imagery for, what would eventually become, three songs: Hostile, Preserve and Hope.

In response to the song branding done by Arcane Roots, I wanted to assign specific artworks to each song to give them their own identity within the story. To maintain a contemporary graphic design, I used a clean, sans serif font with wide kerning to create a sense of space and disconnection, again in relation to the original story.

Each image aims to capture the mood and events of the song and themes present at their time of occurrence:

Luna sets the scene. It is a version of the moon we are familiar with, but it appears distorted and almost decaying. The Silent depicts the crack from which plant matter was observed to be growing. But the crack is blackened to foreshadow an imminent and deceiving conflict. Hostile, a violent song, is busy and aggressive to represent the conflict between the humans and the silent, whilst Hollow, a softer song, feels almost empty, apart from the inky clouds, represents the emptiness of a decayed planet and the hopelessness of a civilisation doomed. Preserve presents a deep but mysterious pit, suggesting the possibility of a future, chased by the imminent pressure that all may be lost. Hope shows that growth is possible, however bleak; depicted by hardened moss growing on a rock.

33 Yarifin, M 2017, accessed 9 May 2018 Matter shows a splurging source of energy, but one that is fading and has turned black, almost bleeding out its own existence. Departure signifies the fleeing of the sole human survivor, running from his problems and denying everything that has happened. Luna will soon eclipse behind him, and soon earth will follow in its footsteps.

The song titles themselves came from the key words from my initial storyboard. Outlining the story as a synopsis including these words in chronological order, against the bleak inky setting provides listeners with a brief contextual background to the album’s concept.

The album cover and reverse, mocked up for a vinyl pressing below, seek only to mirror the echo the story by setting the scene. I have chosen a vinyl as my final product, as it is the most spacious way in which to include supporting artworks, a vital feature in a concept album in the 21st century. 34

34 Nunn, M 2018, Context 2: Totality, accessed 10 May 2018,