THE PHOENIX:
JAMES BROWN
James Brown was quite the legend of his time. He rose from poverty to being the Godfather of Soul and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Contemplating on the continual rising and falling within James Brown’s life, I realized he was like a phoenix; a magical bird that is born from fire and ash and dies by fire and ash. I used this as a guideline for naming and designing the album, book cover, and new song titles for the vinyl design.
INSPIRATION & DESIGN PROCESS
When one thinks of music and design from the 60's and 70's era, usually warm, bright colors and crazy patterns come to mind. I felt this was important to incorporate into my designs; however, the more I thought about it, it was too easy. I wanted a visual system that alluded to this time period but still said more about the artist and his music.
​
After I connected his likeness to the legendary Phoenix, I was set on the idea of illustrating ashes and embers but it wasn’t getting a very realistic or intense effect as I had imagined. After much deliberating, I incorporated photography into my design to get the harsh reds and oranges of a fire burning a log. Drawing from this imagery, I began to create a set color scheme of smokey greys, reds, oranges, and golds to carry out through my visual system and still connect it to the iconic design of that time. To further the idea of a timeline of rising/falling, I also incorporated subtle gradient designs into this system.
