Brief
Potential Client: Rolling Stone Magazine
Artist/Album: Blur / The Ballad of Darren
Research
Blur started in the late 80s, hailing from London, UK. The band includes Damon Albam, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree. Primarily known for their baJle with Oasis in the 90s for the title of king of Brit-pop. Best known for "Song 2," a loud, ruckus, fuzzy, and full of woohoo. Their latest album, "The Ballad of Darren," Blur has evolved from their Brit-pop roots to a more subdued lounge/alt-pop. Blur's first record since 2015 is the gentler side of Blur. "Ballad" sets the mood from the album's start with a luscious sonic score. Moving on to "St. Charles Square," a throw-back sound to earlier upbeat and contemplative. "Barbaric," my favorite track on the new album, calms it down with a joyful, polished sound and a syncopated rhythm. The following two songs, "Russian Strings" and "The Everglades (For Leonard)," are both slow, crisp, and delicate, dealing with decline and loss. "The Narcissist" was the featured single of the album; it lifts up the second half with its little sonic wave building and crashing for four minutes. We are treated with three more songs of loss, regret, and questioning faith. Finally, reaching "The Heights," you're treated with a soft gangly guitar, with a hint of feedback on the fringe until the album just devolves into sonic dissidence and fuzz. This record is a tidy thirty-six minutes of relaxing poolside with a cold beverage or at the library reading. This is the sound of a calm centering score for the midlife chill-core scene.
Brainstorming
Collected reference photos of the band and created 20 thumbnail sketches for your illustration
Production
Selected two ideas to move forward with and prepared 5 more sketches to flesh out the idea.
Final Presentation
Final presentation consisted of a mixed analog and digital technique I inked the portraits scanned and built out the scene in Photoshop. It was interesting trying out this for the first time as I have normally just worked in either analog or digital only.
Alex
Damon
Dave
Graham
Digital Final