OUGD505 - SB1 Development and Proposal

After establishing several approaches to the design elements of UK drill, it is possible to then apply the aesthetic of the genre to the object that will be displayed at the end of the project. Many of the designs created up until this point have been created with commercial use in mind. For example, after looking at the ways in which album covers are designed for UK drill artists, it was easier to create designs that would be suited for that format. The next step in the development would be to establish a way to apply this knowledge to a different format. As previous critiques had suggested, creating an object that is related in some way to the music videos or the culture of UK gangs, would be one way to convey the ideas of the genre to the audience.

As the audience in mind will be the general public, the object being created will need to be more explanatory in nature when communicating what the genre is like. This way, people who may not be familiar with the style can understand what messages it tries to portray. It has already been established that the themes surrounding this genre are gritty and often violent in nature. Therefore, when designing the object, it will be necessary to have these themes in mind.

Proposed idea

Having previously looked at way that colour could be incorporated into the designs, it was necessary to find colours from the music videos as references for the development. These colours were then applied to the balaclava designs, as a way to show the glamorisation of the genre. In the same way, the object could be a real balaclava on display, with the colours from the investigation used for the design.

The idea could be to display the words associated with the genre on the balaclava. Before deciding this, it would first be beneficial to look back and access which elements would need to be improved. Therefore, it will be easier to build up a design strategy of ways to create the outcome and the appropriate materials and processes needed.

Typeface
During the earlier stages of the project, an investigation into typeface used for UK drill showed that the styles were varied in terms of approach. When assessing the album covers, music videos and channels on YouTube, it was clear that the fonts would either be rough designs or bold fonts that had tight kerning. Therefore, by experimenting with both hand drawn lettering and different bold fonts, it will be easier to find a suitable approach.

Materials
In terms of the materials for the outcome, it may be beneficial to look at the processes involved in work that has already been created for the genre. For example, looking at the ways in which the genre is advertised for underground events and the types of products that are made for its audience. Another idea that came to mind was to look at the objects relating to metaphors that the genre uses. For example, some gangs within drill often compare themselves to soldiers. Therefore, by looking at the attire and objects relating to soldiers, it may be possible to communicate ideas of the genre through that avenue.