Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Factory Records Style: One unrelated plate at the center with the surround left silent
- Type
- Set in Factory Records Style's manner (Set small at the edge so neither title nor artist takes the stage), and let Hipgnosis's lettering (Type kept minimal, pushed to a corner or onto the reverse) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Factory Records Style's material (Industrial color charts and special finishes borrowed, the print spec treated as work); bring in exactly one thing from Hipgnosis (Real locations and built props, composites with the seams hidden).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Music Graphics, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Factory Records Style An unrelated plate chosen without necessity reads as mere suggestiveness and leaves the listener with nothing to remember.
- Hipgnosis Stacking odd juxtapositions on impulse while skipping the physical staging leaves nothing visible but the roughness of the montage.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Factory Records Style (Style, 1978–1992) and its accent from Hipgnosis (Style, 1968–1983). Structural cues: Refusal to explain; Borrowed imagery from other fields; Restrained typography; Catalogue numbers as institution. Accent cues, used sparingly: Photographic surrealism; Practical effects and retouching; Riddles refusing explanation; The completeness of the square. Composition: One unrelated plate at the center with the surround left silent. Type and lettering: Set small at the edge so neither title nor artist takes the stage. Let one material quality come from the second style: Real locations and built props, composites with the seams hidden. Mood: Rebellion, Calm, Luxury, Exhilaration. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Factory Records Style 1978–1992 / Style / Music Graphics
At the Manchester label Saville made sleeves that refuse to explain the music. Borrowed industrial color charts, classical paintings and waveform diagrams turned post-punk's intelligent void into a style.
- Hipgnosis 1968–1983 / Style / Music Graphics
Thorgerson and Powell's studio brought a photographic surrealism to the record sleeve, staging a burning handshake or a pig adrift in the sky. Trick photography made before CG defined what music looks like when it dreams.
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