OUGD505 - SB1 Initial ideas

Once the research into UK drill was thoroughly explored, it was possible to establish the different opinions and opportunities that come with it. Although UK drill is a gritty and often violent genre, there are also positive aspects of it that allow people to be expressive of their lives and show people the reality of London's youth. From this point, the aim will be to gather ideas on ways to express how UK drill is seen as well as the ways it reflects to it's audience. These ideas may also show what impact the genre has on society, in particular young people that listen to it.

To brainstorm several ideas for the project, listing words relating to the genre was one way to look at the different possibilities that can be taken in order to represent it. The brainstorming looked into gang culture, slang and the prominent figures of the genre. These are the 3 main components that will allow for a more accurate representation to be made. The aim of the ideas will be to represent the gritty, rawness of the genre, whilst showing the opportunities it has brought about. There were several things that were repetitive in the genre, including the way rappers dress in the music videos, the taunting nature of the lyrics and the words that were used. One thing that was particularly interesting was that in the music videos, rappers would often show commemorative t-shirts with the faces of friends or family that had been lost to gang violence. This brought about the idea to potentially create a garment that would present this tragic reoccurrence.

Another idea was to look further into the design that is used for album covers, as well as the merchandise that may be sold to promote rappers. This will provide an understanding of the aesthetic that is used to portray the genre.

67's album 'Lets Lurk' shows a representation of a map in which the gang is located or is currently active. The use of black and white throughout is reflective of the dark nature of the music and by excluding bright colours the viewer may understand that the music is serious in tone and gritty.

Another example of this would be the Most Wanted album which features several different artists from UK drill. The use of the black and white image of men in masks is more explanatory of the type of music that the album contains. The use of yellow has also worked well because when paired with black it can reflect an image of danger or a warning.

This album cover by Zone 2 was particularly interesting because it is almost metaphorical of the themes of the music. In many drill songs, rappers often refer to their behaviour as animalistic and sometime reference certain animals as similar in nature. The same can be said about other dangerous things that are referenced in their music. For example, in C2 X Russ X Taze - Usual Suspects the bar

 "Heart of a lion, blade of a viking" is used to describe the bravery and danger of the gang.

Ideas

• Use black and white to represent the themes of UK drill. This could be by showing imagery such as gang signs, clothing worn by the rappers, locations they are known from and themes relating to them.
• Represent drill through different metaphorical images. For example, animals and soldiers are often used as comparisons within the songs and could be visualised in design to describe the music.
• Representing different gang locations through design. E.G. notable areas from music videos etc.

These designs were made as a way to present the audience with an idea of the gang signs frequently shown in almost all drill videos.

When thinking about objects relating to the music, many of these could be visualised in the same style. As the music focuses on violence, drugs, and money, the designs were made to highlight this. They also include some of the types of clothing worn by gangs in drill videos, which are often seen as a way to remain anonymous from authorities or to associate members to particular groups.

This idea was to combine the gang sign associated with rap group 67 and the lyrics of their song Let's Lurk. 

In the same way, the gang signs were also combined with the objects associated with drill music. Design in this way, is likely to be more suited for commercial use, such as an album cover.

The next idea was to mimic the minimal black and white style and use it to show the audience locations associated with drill. Here the Kennington Park Estate has been used for the design as it features in many of the Harlem Spartans' videos and its linked to the gang's origins.

Combining elements of all the ideas would provide the audience with a brief idea of what the music is likely to be, where the artists are from and the aesthetic it follows. 

Summary and analysis

At this point, several ideas have been established in terms of which direction to take the project. By exploring these ideas further in more detail, it will be possible to receive feedback from peers on the approaches that work best in communicating UK Drill in a celebratory way. The option to restrict colour in the designs has successfully made them more gritty and reflective of the dark nature of the genre. By continuing to use this aesthetic at later stages, it will be possible to set a dark tone for the audience to interpret. The next step would be to further explore the locations associated with drill gangs and identifying more imagery that can be connected to this genre.