The Image of an Artist – Creative Direction for the Music Industry by Danillo Arantes

JUNE | 2020

THE

IMAGE OF AN ARTIST Creative Direction and Design for the Music Industry

Victorian College of the Arts | University of Melbourne Master of Production Design for Screen Industry Investigations A Student: Danillo Arantes | 1019766

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OVERVIEW

01. INTRODUCTION ......................................... 04 02. BRANDING AND MARKETING FOR THE MUSIC INDUSTRY.......................... 06 03. WHAT DEFINES CREATIVE DIRECTION? ......................................................... 11 + Gavin Taylor & Carpe Interviews. 04. CASE STUDIES............................................. 18 04.1. Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia 04.2. Harry Styles’ Fine Line + Bradley Pinkerton Interview. 04.3. HAIM’s Women in Music pt. III 05. CONCLUSION ............................................ 26 3

INTRODUCTION

Cognition â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the states and processes involved in knowing, which in their completeness include perception and judgement. Cognition includes all conscious and unconscious processes by which knowledge is accumulated, such as perceiving, recognizing, conceiving, and reasoning. Put differently, cognition is a state or experience of knowing that can be distinguished from an experience of feeling or willing. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Britannica Dictionary <https://www.britannica.com/topic/cognition-thought-process>

Perceiving, judging, recognizing, conceiving and reasoning â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all actions humans consciously or subconsciously do on a minutely basis. The constant action of experiencing the world by collecting all perceptions and associating them while also creating collective cognitive memories that form the understanding of the world around them. A smell can easily bring up a taste, textures are tools to remember feelings, and sounds, most certainly, can bring up visuals memories.

A song can easily bring recollections of the feelings someone felt while listening to it before, or also, memories of certain occasions in which that same song had been played. The sound itself can create a whole sort of sensations, but in order to be remembered later, 4

it usually relies on the visual perceptions it brings together with them. Artists and all the professionals involved in the Music Industry understand that very clearly. They are successful not only by having amazing records being put out and shared with the world but by being remembered for several different aspects – the message they wish to send through their music, who they are as people and, certainly, how do they (and their songs) look. That can sound vain or superficial but it is actually a very important part of the process, since it is not only relying on how the artist is visually perceived but how the image they aim to show is seen in the world. The Music Industry really understands that – specially considering the amount of visual materials listeners are subjected to through all the different digital platforms they have access every day. A successful artist is not the one that plays on the radio all the time anymore, but the one that is remembered by others and, sometimes, by how unique they are1. When an album is released, a new “era” usually comes with it, and that also means every single material that is released by that artist during that time – from the album art itself, to the music videos, the fan merchandising, the live and TV presentations or even a simple magazine or talk-show interview. For each new release, these artists and their labels are trying to conceive a new cohesive world and, subsequently, a new image2. They will inhabit this world for this next phase of their artistic careers and it is important to know what will make them memorable, more interesting and, obviously, more successful. Success in this case being measured by how people take interest on them and by how profitable their art ends up becoming – how the album, concert tickets and merchandising sell. That is where the Creative Direction decisions play the most important role in this process – they generate the artist the world will remember and, subsequently, its success. Sitting on this interesting place between storytelling/message imagery and the branding/marketing of an artist (and its products), those involved in the Creative Direction process for the Music Industry work closely with a wide range of other professionals and the artists themselves to envision these “eras” – as they are usually referred to –, which is the focus of this article. How important is the image of an artist, the creative direction approaches to developing it and its relation to their listeners/costumers’ perception and interest? As mentioned before, a combination of artistic messaging and brand development. By giving a better insight on the definitions of Creative Direction and the professionals involved in this discussion as well as a deeper understanding of the Branding and Marketing aspects of the Music Industry, the main intension is to explore what is usually considered when designing for the world of Music. With the example of a few 1. Patrick Wikström, “The Music Industry in an Age of Digital Distribution.” OpenMind BBVA. 2. Jack Sonnucks, “How to be a Creative Director in 2018”. i-D Magazine.

current successful releases (Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia; Harry Styles’ Fine Line and HAIM’s Woman in Music part. III – to be released in the end of June 2020) and some insights from professionals working in the industry, this article will show that the simple branding for commercial success is just simply not enough, but that an artistic messaging/creation as an unprofitable piece of art will also not succeed.

BRANDING AND MARKETING FOR THE MUSIC INDUSTRY As mentioned previously in this article, in order to understand the visual creative direction decisions concerning projects for the Music Industry, it is also essential to understand the reasoning behind them. This comes to the point of questioning not only how these art pieces and products are developed but also why they are created. Why are these so important and why do they matter for those investing in them?

It is, obviously, in the interest of the artists themselves to create visuals that provide a visual manifestation of their sound and the message they want to convey, but that should not be the only reason. As mentioned previously, these visual materials should not be produced only as an artistic communication tool to explain the artist’s intent but to, essentially, promote their material3. The verb “promoting” becomes essential when it comes to the discussion of design for Music in comparison to some other industries under the helm of the “Entertainment Industry”. Marketing and Branding also become important concepts for the production of these visuals.

To put it simply, the branding and marketing of an artist usually comes as part of the process of promoting their image and their materials. The artists themselves are

3. David Baskerville and Tim Baskerville, “Music Business Handbook and Career Guide”. SAGE.

Fig.02. - Lady Gaga â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chromatica (2020), album photography.

willing to put their music out to the world expecting that the listeners (and possibly fans) appreciate the art they have created. In order to survive in this industry and to continue to be able to make a living out of it, these artists need to convince those listeners to be a part of their journey and, basically, sustain their art. The public can do that buying their albums, by getting themselves familiarized to the songs and interested enough to buy tickets for live shows or, even more, by investing money in physical merchandising. As most of the other industries that are part of the Entertainment Industry, Music – even though a form of art – is also a commercial enterprise4. It depends on the direct consumption of its products in order to exist, following along all the other businesses types that thrive to maintain themselves in a capitalist world. The terms Branding, Marketing and also Advertising then become very important in this discussion. Differently from the Film and TV industry, for example, the designers and creatives working for music projects are essentially part of the Public Relations and Marketing departments of any given company. While the design of a film should be done to support the story that will, later, be promoted by a marketing team, in Music, every design decision is helping the artist to tell a story while also developing their branding that will, subsequently, influence all the marketing decisions. 4. David Baskerville and Tim Baskerville, “Music Business Handbook and Career Guide”. SAGE.

Fig.03. - Frame from Maggie Roger’s “On + Off” music video.

According to Stacy Fuller (the Head of Integrated Marketing at Refinery29), to understand these three terms – Branding, Marketing and Advertising – it is important to think of Branding as the identity of a product (or of the artist, in this case) while Marketing is the way and method used to make this identity seen – Advertising being one of them5. In Music, those involved in the creative direction decisions are supporting the artists by understanding them in order to create their identity (their brand). While being developed, this identity is also influencing the tools, platforms and ways that will showcase these artists and their music to the world (marketing). They go “hand in hand”: identities are created to be profitable and to be relevant to a contemporary society, and promotional strategies can only be developed after a fully developed brand has been created. You can only promote effectively something that is clear with its intentions. The concept of “promotion”, as mentioned previously, becomes what differentiates designing for a music video from a short film, for example – it is part of the branding of an artist’s “era”, an album. It has to make sense to the content and the message of the music while also taking part on the development of a branding/identity package.

5. Stacy Fuller, “Master Class: Creating Branded Content with Stacy Fuller of Refinery 29”. Sundance Collab

Fig.04. - First Aid Kit, bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s promotional material

WHAT DEFINES CREATIVE DIRECTION? After going a little bit deeper into the understanding of how this industry works and why visuals and the decisions around them are so crucial to the success of an artist, it is important to understand the ways it is realized. “Creative Direction” is the term most usually used to describe everything that brings all the different visual aspects on board of each new project. It can be done by creative teams within the labels (also called “creative services”)6, by the artists themselves or by other professionals with the title of Creative Directors. The term creative direction – as many other similar terms/roles – can be confusing when it comes to the actual understanding of what it represents. To put it simply, the creative direction embarks everything that makes the design of a specific project what it is – the creative direction decisions are there to set up all the rules for all the different visual materials that should be produced7. To put into perspective, the role of a “creative director” or a “creative team” is similar to the role of a production designer in the film industry. They are creating the “look and feel” of every visual decision that surrounds the artists and their “eras” but also touching all the different products related to those artists. They not only oversee the design of music videos, for example, but all the different photo shoots, graphic design, styling and even live performances. They do not necessarily execute all of those different projects but they control the cohesiveness of other professionals’ ideas in order to fit in the world they are creating. There are no set rules of what the role of a “creative director” is like or who can take it. Those responsible could be hired by the labels to create those visual projects for all their signed artists, but they could also be approached by the artists themselves and brought to their own projects. Those involved, and taking charge of those creative decisions, could have incredibly different backgrounds – from photography to visual art. As long as they have a clear vision and the ability to put together the team of creative professionals they need to achieve the desired artistic and promotional material they aim to create, their job can be successfully done. It is difficult to limit what these creative decisions are supposed to achieve since each project and artist can have completely different branding and marketing approaches. The creative direction for a visual album (when every single song is accompanied by a music video) is completely different from the creative direction of a “live experience” release, for 6. David Baskerville and Tim Baskerville, “Music Business Handbook and Career Guide”. SAGE. 7. Jack Sonnucks, “How to be a Creative Director in 2018”. i-D Magazine.

example â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with installations, events, pop-up stores, etc. If they will have vinyl LPs being produced or if the album release will be entirely online â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all those decisions are intrinsically attached to the marketing financial departments. The different kinds of promotional campaigns also rely on the goals they want to achieve. It is not just about the artistic material but what and to whom it is designed for. In most cases, the public (the fans) dictates the way in which promotional/design decisions are made â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they have expectations that usually should be considered in order to maintain the success those artists aim for. For the creative direction teams, it is a constant balance between authenticity, creative freedom, financial/promotional production and recognition. At the end of the day, all of those involved are artists/designers and their work should be recognized not only for its marketing purposes but for their artistic value.

GAVIN TAYLOR

LA BASED, BRITISH CREATIVE DIRECTOR

01. Usually, how does the collaboration between you (artist/designer) and the music labels/ musicians happen? Do they approach you with a clear vision for the project or are you free to develop it from scratch? – Theres no set way, sometimes its the label and the artist gets involved later, then as the relationship grows with the artist they may reach out directly from then on. Its usually very collaborative regarding the vision, the artist may have the start of an idea that I then develop, equally, there is no concept and its my job to present an idea that I feel works for the music.

02. Who are the people that usually get in contact with you to create the visual material? – Sometimes the label, sometimes management, sometimes the artist, if varies.

03. Who are the other creative professionals you usually collaborate with to create the projects (photographers, designers, etc.)? How does that collaboration usually happen? – Once I’ve developed the concept I will usually have photographers / stylists etc. in mind that will work for the project. I usually reach out to them, then present to the label.

04. How much time do you normally have from being approached to design something until having to fully deliver it as a final product? – Again it varies, most of the projects that I work on these days are quite involved and some might run for several months before anything is released. 13

05. Do you enjoy the process? And how do you feel about working for the Music Industry? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I love it, I really feel blessed that these artist entrust me with the visual representation of their music. 06. How did you find yourself in this role? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Thinking a little differently than my piers whilst studying at college pushed me towards music packaging. It was an outlet without restrictions.

Fig.05. - Gavin Taylor, Creative Direction projects.

CARPE

BRAZILIAN CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND DIGITAL ARTIST

01. Usually, how does the collaboration between you (artist/designer) and the music labels/ musicians happen? Do they approach you with a clear vision for the project or are you free to develop it from scratch? – Usually, the music labels are the ones who get in touch with me to develop the ideas. Some artists already have a fully flushed idea about what they want the aesthetic of their albums, or only singles, to look like. I can see that most of them actually come to me due to aesthetic of my work, that goes from digital collage to image manipulation with a somewhat abstract concept of scenary.

02. Who are the other creative professionals you usually collaborate with to create the projects (photographers, creative directors, etc.)? How does that collaboration usually happen? – It depends on each project, in some I have the freedom and resources to put a team together and brainstorm creative strategies. But what ends up happening, a lot of the times, is myself having to take charge of everything. Due to the fact that my process usually follows the same structure (idea/research/production/post-production) I end up taking charge of the whole process.

03. How much time do you normally have from being approached to design something until having to fully deliver it as a final product? – Usually I establish the time frame, which depends on how big the project is. In general, I ask for 20 days to produce the materials and, in some cases, when required, I end up working beyond that – on other related materials that come up as a consequence of these first projects.

Fig.06. - Carpe, Creative Direction and digital art projects.

04. Do you enjoy the process? And how do you feel about working for the Music Industry? – I do. I enjoy it very much. I like to create and I believe that working for Music, in parts, can be more freeing. But I have to confess that the Music Industry itself has its issues, to put it simply. Due to the fact that I love music and everything that is part of its universe, it is much more freeing and enjoyable than other advertising projects, for example, that I still work for.

05. How did you find yourself in this role? – So, I “flirt” with Design since I was 14 years old, and I work professionally since I was 17/18. Up to this point in my journey, I worked on three different advertising agencies while also juggling my own projects on the side. Today I work as a full time digital artist. What makes me really interested in the work is the freedom really, and how happy I am to create as an artist. As I mentioned previously, I work on several different kinds of projects and I definitely want to expand my career in that sense – working on more “palpable” projects. 16

Fig.07. - Frame from AURORA’s “Queendom” music video.

CASE STUDIES In order to illustrate the role that Creative Direction plays in new releases in the Music Industry and to the success of its artists, three different projects released between 2019 and 2020 were selected to be a part of this research. The idea was to understand a little bit more about how some of the decisions behind these successful projects were made and how cohesive and effective the look of its products/art projects were. Dua Lipa’s sophomore album Future Nostalgia takes her listeners to an 80s and 90s inspired look and sound for the present and the future; Harry Styles’ Fine Line show the ability and the need of an artist to create its own identity and maturity after years being part of this industry; and HAIM’s (still to be released) Women in Music pt. III, show us how simple design, style and consistency can create memorable visuals that become a signature branding.

Future Nostalgia (2020)

Fine Line (2019)

Women in Music pt. III (2020)

04.1. Dua Lipa “Future Nostalgia” Released on all platforms on March, 27th 2020, Future Nostalgia is the second album of the “Best New Artist” Grammy award winner Dua Lipa. The English singer is a great example of an artist that was fully embraced by the music industry, due to the success of her first self-titled album, but that had to face a great deal of expectations and criticism on her way to her second project. As the artist herself explains in an interview to Zane Lowe from Beats 1, in Future Nostalgia she had not only a better understanding of what was expected of her as a “new pop force” but also how to place herself within the music industry to create something that was both expressive and unique. As she mentions on that same interview, her career really exploded after the release of “New Rules” which, by that time, had already been the “sixth or seventh” song from her first album to be released as a single. For the first album, she was not worried about being cohesive with the sounds or looks as she was for the second one. For that first one, the goal at that time was to simply have songs played on the radio and to become a better-known artist. When it came to Future Nostalgia, her intent was to create an 18

Fig.08. - Collection of images from Dua Lipaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Future Nostalgia

era that would be reflected not only in all songs – with a cohesive style of music production – but everything related to it – from her looks up to her stage performances. The fact that she had now made herself one of the top selling pop artists in the world, she definitely had a lot more saying in her new project as well as resources – financial and creative. For Future Nostalgia, the intent was to create a contemporary sound that was based in the icons of the 80s and 90s, with a “dry bass” and disco-inspired sound, and colour, fashion and a designed look inspired by those decades – with, obviously, a set foot on contemporary times. The retro inspired look was enriched by bold videos, photos and graphics. Even being produced and shot by different producers and directors, the videos of the three main singles Don’t Start Now, Physical and Break My Heart show the collaborative effort to create the intended aesthetic of her new project. By using graphics by Guillaume Sbalchiero in all her projects and photography by Hugo Comte (iconic 90s and “90s style” photographer), Future Nostalgia is a great example of how a strong concept can be interpreted by different artists without loosing its original value – proving to be a legitimate strong concept. In the future, people will certainly remember this time as her “half-blond, halfbrunette” period surrounded by bold colours and big productions – which could seem superficial, but proves to be a successful example just for creating its own general imagery in people’s minds. 04.2. Harry Styles “Fine Line” Being one of the biggest names in Music, currently, Harry Styles is a good example of an artist who has a series of videos, photo shoots and promotional material executed by several different creative professionals from all over the world but overseen by a creative director. Her name is Molly Hawkins. Fine Line was their second project together, with the first being Harry Styles’ selftitled and first solo album. Working with famous directors and photographers to produce the look of this more mature and established look for Harry. The cohesiveness of all materials is clear – beautiful productions featuring Harry in colourful and stylish clothing surrounding by highly designed worlds with a very sophisticated look, artistic vision and high production value. Coming from his teenage years as a boy band icon, Harry Styles and Molly Hawkins are creating this mature and unique image for the artist who also aims to be different from 20

Fig.09. - Collection of images from Harry Stylesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Fine Line

his band peers. Still part of the pop music world but with sounds that draw from classic, indie and folk rock, the musician has been willing to create an image for himself that goes beyond stereotypical looks. The creative direction decisions not only show how unique Harry (and Molly) wants to be seen as, but also how attentive to contemporary art and design the artist is. Ever since his last years as part of One Direction, he has been considered a fashion icon, taking risks and being a recurrent figure in the Fashion World. The visual materials for Fine Line reflect that even more â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from the Tim Walker (famous fashion photographer) cover to the extravagant Falling music video outfit. Fine Line is also a great example of how diverse and full of opportunities the Music Industry can be, bringing professionals from all over the world to collaborate in different projects. For instance, Bradley Pinkerton, a Melbourne-based designer who contributed to this research, created all the graphic material for the album, posters and social media. 21

BRADLEY PINKERTON MELBOURNE BASED GRAPHIC DESIGNER

01. Usually, how does the collaboration between you (artist/designer) and the music labels/ musicians happen? Do they approach you with a clear vision for the project or are you free to develop it from scratch? – For the most part the record labels, creative directors or even the artist will approach me via email or even through DM on Instagram. They usually have a loose direction of what they want to see but sometimes they do give creative freedom. I’m happy with either way.

02. Who are the people that usually get in contact with you to create the visual material? – I would say that creative directors are the people who get in contact with me the most. There have been a few projects where I work closely with the directors, sort of like a team, and we create strong visual material together.

03. Who are the other creative professionals you usually collaborate with to create the projects (photographers, designers, etc.)? How does that collaboration usually happen? – There have been a few times where I collaborate with other designers. This can have its own pros and cons. A few of my close friends are designers themselves so it’s always a pleasure to work on a project together with them. You really value each other’s skill sets.

04. How much time do you normally have from being approached to design something until having to fully deliver it as a final product? – The time is really hard to write down. As some projects can last a few days or even a few months. My longest project was for the whole brand of a pop singer. That one lasted around 6 months from receiving the brief and seeing the brand go public.

Fig.10. - Bradley Pinkerton, Graphic Design projects.

05. Do you enjoy the process? And how do you feel about working for the Music Industry? – 100%. Music is where my passion lies outside of design, which is my other passion, so it’s been amazing to blend both worlds together. I feel really grateful to be able to help musicians visualise and create brands for them. 06. How did you find yourself in this role? – I studied in Perth and moved over to Melbourne for an internship. After that ended I worked a few different studios around the city here before eventually deciding to start up my own studio and pursue my own work full time. It was extremely daunting and scary at the time but I feel happy to have built somewhat of a name out of it. 23

04.3. HAIM “Women in Music pt. III” Being known as the “three cool Californian sisters from the San Fernando Valley”, HAIM has been establishing themselves as one of the most iconic indie/pop rock bands from their generation. Also taking inspiration from 90s bands and styles, they have been creating an image – since the beginning of their career – that relies on simple but effective branding. With their signature style, and choreographed music videos shot by Paul Thomas Anderson, they managed to make just the simple act of walking in the street together a very interesting thing. Everyone that listens to “Want You Back” cannot help but picture the three sisters walking and dancing in the long empty street “in the Valley”. For Women in Music pt. III, they continued to use that aesthetic to promote their singles. All three first music videos released – “Summer Girl”, “Now I’m in It” and “Hallelujah” – have been shot by Paul Thomas Anderson, using of other memorable solutions to make them different from each other but cohesive amongst themselves. From walking down the streets taking layers and layers of jackets and sweaters off while followed by a saxophonist, to long shots inside an empty theatre. HAIM is also a great example of artists who work with the same creative director to maintain their image. The three sisters work with Imogen Snell, from the newly established ISSTUDIO, in most of her photo shoots and promotional material, guaranteeing the cohesiveness of their image – even as simple as it is. When even SNL8 makes a skit impersonating a band without even mentioning it, everyone can see how effective branding can be.

Fig.11. - Frames from SNL skit “Cute for Time: Friendship Song”.

8. “Saturday Night Live” – American TV show, NBC.

Fig.12. - Collection of images from HAIM’s “Women in Music pt. III”

CONCLUSION A lot can be taken from the process of analysing creative decisions. It is possible to learn new techniques, to understand modern society and its interests, to reflect about the impacts of a world that has become more and more digital and therefore, visual. But mostly, what can be seen is its intent. Nothing is designed without creative parameters and limitations, and what guides this process is, and should be, what matters and what are its intentions.

After researching about designing for the Music Industry, it is possible to explain its process and function by placing it on a spectrum where one end is pure “storytelling” and the other is “product sale”. As mentioned previously, it is different from designing for a film because the content/story is not the only aspect driving the decisions; on the other hand, it is not like a hand wash commercial in which you are only focusing on the product itself. Designing for Music is about creating identities that represent art and, therefore, another exciting and challenging task. Some may see having a commercial value attached to this process as a degrading aspect, but to others, it can be seen as a mechanism of identity and world building – creating memories and iconic images to be remembered till the end of time.

REFERENCES

Wikström, Patrik. “The Music Industry in an Age of Digital Distribution.” In Ch@nge: 19 Key Essays on How the Internet Is Changing Our Lives. Madrid: BBVA, 2013. Sunnucks, Jack. “How to Be a Creative Director in 2018.” I, May 21, 2018. https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/ mbkvyv/how-to-be-a-creative-director-in-2018. Stacy Fuller’s “Master Class: Creating Branded Content with Stacy Fuller of Refinery 29”. Sundance Collab Macy, A., Hutchinson, T. and Allen, P., 2016. Record Label Marketing. London: Focal Press. Baskerville, D. and Baskerville, T., 2010. Music Business Handbook And Career Guide. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. Rabideau, M., 2018. Creating The Revolutionary Artist: Entrepreneurship For The 21St Century Musician. London: Rowman & Littlefield. Von, H., Aust, M. and Kothenschulte, U., 2011. The Art Of Pop Video. Berlin: DISTANZ Verlag GmbH. Complex. 2020. The Creative Directors Behind Your Favorite Music Artists. [online] Available at: <https://www.complex.com/style/2013/10/creative-directors-musicians/frida-giannini> [Accessed 3 April 2020]. Gaca, Anna. “RIYL: Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia.” Pitchfork. Pitchfork, March 27, 2020. https://pitchfork.com/ thepitch/riyl-playlist-dua-lipa-future-nostalgia/. Freeman, Jon. “Dua Lipa’s ‘Future Nostalgia’ Is the Disco Liberation Soundtrack We Need Now.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, April 22, 2020. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dua-lipa-future-nostalgiadisco-987812/. “Sex, Bono and Depression: How Haim Embraced Chaos and Made Their Most Revealing Album Yet.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2020. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-05-21/ haim-women-in-music-part-iii. Douris, Raina, and Kimberly Junod. “Self-Isolating HAIM Shares Stories From Upcoming Album, ‘Women In Music Pt. III’.” NPR. NPR, April 23, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/23/842712267/self-isolating-haimshares-stories-from-upcoming-album-women-in-music-pt-iii. Sheffield, Rob. “Harry Styles Reveals the Secrets Behind ‘Fine Line’.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, December 13, 2019. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/harry-styles-secrets-of-fine-line-926657/. Havens, Lyndsey. “How Molly Hawkins, Harry Styles’ Creative Director, Got Into the Music Biz.” Billboard, February 14, 2020. https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/legal-and-management/8550950/molly-hawkins-harrystyles-creative-director-interview. Mazurek, Brooke. “From Kanye to Kings of Leon, Why Artists Need Creative Directors In The Age of Instagram.” Billboard, October 17, 2017. https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/lifestyle/7767647/from-kanye-to-kingsof-leon-why-artists-need-creative-directors-in.

THE

IMAGE OF AN ARTIST