The Experimental Approach ("Memphis")
Hip, contemporary and exciting. These were the three guiding principles that brought the "Memphis" design movement to mind. Memphis design is all about aggressively "challenging the norm", being expressive, and proudly standing out as unique. It accomplishes this through vibrant colors, textures, shapes and patterns. I felt these were relevant ideas to communicate visually for Music Nova Scotia, since musicians themselves often challenge the status quo and express just who they are through music. Memphis is also strongly associated with a particular period in time (1990's), creating a sense of nostalgia and familiarity among one of Music Nova Scotia's core demographics.
Nova Scotia's collective musical talent is diverse and inspiring. The Memphis approach to the design aims to emulate those qualities, while also maintaining a delicate balance in hierarchy. This makes it visually engaging at a macro level, but highly usable at its core. Ultimately though, the primary objective here was to evoke those wonderful feelings of discovery, fun, wonder, and excitement we feel when listening to music or watching a live band perform.
The "Clean & Refined" Approach
Realizing that Memphis styling is not for everyone, I prepared an alternate, more subdued concept. I suspected that key stakeholders wanted to land somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. Preparing both concepts would allow me to evaluate their reaction and modify and consolidate the two designs where appropriate.
This concept, while more subdued visually, still aligns with those key emotional principles.
The use of shapes was subtle but purposeful in this design, with concentric circles resembling vinyl records, dot grids signifying control knobs or beat pads, and curves used as sound waves.
A sense of realism was also incorporated here by leveraging subtle shadowing techniques on key components in the design. In addition, upcoming events are contained in what appear to be concert tickets, connecting the subject matter to the real world. Treatments like these help to create an overall theme and strengthen the composition's harmony.
