CONCEPT No Surface All Feeling is a song by the Manic Street Preachers and one of the songs chosen for Secret 7 this year. This design for the 7� record sleeve plays on the tactile references within the song title. Using the design and structure of Braille, a language used by blind people in order to read, the cover has removed the vital element to Braille. By having the text printed as opposed to raised, the surface has been removed from the language, the text is rendered useless in its original context. The word in question on the sleeve is feeling spelt out in Braille, and repeated to create a pattern. Hence, no surface, all feeling.
OUGD503
Secret 7
Charlotte Price
RESEARCH
OUGD503
Secret 7
Charlotte Price
IDEAS The title, All Surface No Feeling has tactile references. Inspired by the title, ideas began to formualte around the idea of texture. The submission specifications call for digital designs only, so creating a textured cover would not fit the brief. This realisation lead onto thinking about other uses of and ways to represent texture. Braille is a language created for blind people so that they can read. Letters are created using different combinations of 6 dots, and these dots are raised in order for blind people to feel and “read� along. The brief is Secret, meaning the title or band name must not be revealed anywhere on the cover, but as the title will likely not be readable by any body, this creates a loophole.
OUGD503
Secret 7
Charlotte Price
D E V E LO P M E N T Developing on the idea of using Braille, the initial design used the whole title. By breaking up the words within the title in a way that Braille would not normally be displayed, the title is made less obvious and a more abstract pattern is created. Further analysing the title revealed the structure and ordering of words can be played upon. By removing all other words except ‘feeling’, the title has become true - as in ‘all feeling’. Creating digital mock ups for the designs helped to visualise what the final submission would look like.
OUGD503
Secret 7
Charlotte Price
PRODUCTION Secret 7 is an online brief and the designs are sent in digitally to be printed. This means that manually produced work and any finishes on the design will not be considered or reproduced. Sending off a digital copy for the submission was straightfoward however the design could be taken a step further, if not used only for the brief. Spot varnishing uses the same process as screen printing, using exposed screens onto which a varnish is applied to a design. In tests for a physical sleeve spot varnishing partially worked, however due to human error in the exposal of the screen, the varnish was not able to be applied to all areas of the design. The test prints looked effective, but as the process did not work as cleanly as hoped, the final physical sleeve was digitally printed.
OUGD503
Secret 7
Charlotte Price
E VA L UAT I O N The final design for Manic Street Preachers No Surface All Feeling works by taking the title and playing on the concepts within it. By utilising the tactile references, the removal of any texture within the cover renders the use of Braille pointless, echoing the desperate and melancholy overtones within the song itself. Playing on the way the title is worded, the repetition of the word ‘feeling’ accurately represents the title in a subtle way. This subtlety is also found in the minimalist style of the cover. The repetition of the dot sequence on the sleeve in a pale grey creates an interesting but pared back focal point which forces you to concentrate in order to really see the design. Spot varnishing a successful cover would have looked professional and given a bit of depth towards the design, however the adding of another texture to the sleeve would have counteracted the concept.
OUGD503
Secret 7
Charlotte Price