by Suzanne Moore
“I must have known that I was destined to become a griot for my tribe. Would that I had been as passionately interested in medicine or architecture or banking or anything equally useful – but rock n roll became the focus of my life”. The Restless Generation: How Rock music changed the face of 1950’s Britain. This griot or story-teller or genealogist or praise-giver is Pete Frame. Now in his 60s, the time has come for both a re-appraisal and a celebration of what, in a distinguished career, he is still best known for: his hand written Rock Family Trees. Four anthologies of these genealogical music trees have been published and some of the original material exhibited in art galleries. But never before has an entire product design course engaged with his work, and figured out how to make sense of it for the 21st century. The BBC made two six-part series of the Rock Family Trees and Frame’s beautifully handrendered typography has been used on record covers by everyone from The Byrds to Talking Heads. There is something manic, obsessive but incredibly moving about what
the late great DJ John Peel called Frames’ “almost lunatic scholarship...” charting the evolution and progression of rock music. But what remains striking all these years later is the sheer elegance of his format. Now is the time with the setting up of the company, Family of Rock Ltd, which will extend and diversify Frame’s original concept into areas of digital art, fashion and architecture, and TV, to re-evaluate Frame’s work in a design context, and see its potential. To launch many new developments yet to be announced by Family of Rock, and figure out to help frame more than signed prints and new vinyl pressings, a group of students from BA (Hons) Product Design at Central Saint Martins, have been commissioned to bring together the worlds of music, design, social history in an innovative and incredible accessible way, to see what further development of Frame’s ideas could be delivered, as inspiration and ideas for future merchandising.
BA PRODUCT DESIGN 2009
CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN CHRIS LEFTERI, COURSE DIRECTOR
Ken Hyunkuk
Leyil Kara
Ioannis Karagkounis
Lang-Woo Lee
Aaron Liu
William Lo
Yan Lu
Emese Mandzรกk
Celene McDowell
Joseph Mosha
Ruben Pariente
Wookie Park
THE INKLINGS OF ROCK
Ken Hyunkuk
kennovative@googlemail.com
FINAL CONCEPT A poster using 3 different types of ink; Fluorescent ink, Thermochromic ink and U.V ink to highlight different aspects of the Rock Family Trees.
OTHER CONCEPT
A communication device which connects people who have similar taste in rock music. The written part of the bangle lights up when two people have the same rock band bangle and the bangle also plays rock music.
Leyil Kara
leyilkara@gmail.com
FINAL CONCEPT The blackboard enables individuals to personalize their own Rock Family Trees. It incorporates a clock with the hour hand acting as a magnifying glass so that you can see particular information on the Rock Family Tree more clearly.
OTHER CONCEPT
Each rock group will have their own rhythm box with their tree on the cover and their own sounds in the box. Each box is made from different materials and different amounts of each material to create an individual sound; wood, plastic, metal, even small rocks.
FINAL CONCEPT Using leather, velvet and chrome, compliments the product it contains with a tactile experience relevant to the rock history it contains. Vinyl stickers add individuality and reflect the content. A disc, with the story of the poster narrated by Pete Frame, merges the product and container into a unified experience.
T he Enhanced Family Tree Package Ioannis Karagkounis ioanniskaragounis@gmail.com
Limited Edition Poster Case
OTHER CONCEPT
Collections are assortments of objects and social statements, and those who collect become part of communities where the objects are narratives. This set of cards made from fragments of the Family Trees, use augmented reality to give the owner the opportunity to experience the family trees three dimensionally through the use of the web in a communal site where rock enthusiasts meet to share their experiences.
Jang Woo Lee Jangthr@daum.net
FINAL CONCEPT This iconic poster celebrates the calligraphy of Rock Family Trees. Its package is transparent which not only shows the content but also advertises it to others while it is carried around.
OTHER CONCEPT
Collector Cards – each card is customized for each rock group and forms a poster that once completed creates the whole Rock Family Tree. This is a fun, affordable way to engage in the Family Trees collection, making a great starter pack present.
FINAL CONCEPT Aaron Liu
like22wyf@hotmail.com
These products are intended to be used either together or individually. The USB Rocker can be used to share exciting images and experiences from rock concerts. The Rock Glove can be worn at rock concerts and the Rock and Roll Condom is a tongue in cheek product with a fresh approach to condom packaging.
William Lo
w_lkh@hotmail.com
OTHER CONCEPT
A digital photo frame for different Rock Family Tree posters. It is touch screen so that you can zoom into specific points on the Family Tree. There is also a special t-shirt shaped frame available.
FINAL CONCEPT The poster celebrates the calligraphy, unique knowledge and heritage of Rock Family Trees. The package of the poster is also significant, as it becomes the poster’s frame.
FINAL CONCEPT
Yan Lu
yan@yanlu.com
This cabinet is for rock fans to display their collections. The lines from the Rock Family Trees become the shelves in the cabinet and the calligraphy becomes the decoration on the front of the case.
OTHER CONCEPT
DoHammer is a plain aluminium box that, when you hammer it, the text of the Rock Family Trees emerge.
FINAL CONCEPT Each book puts a certain Rock Family Tree into context by summarizing the most significant moments and events in the time in which the particular bands existed. Each reader can add their own stories and memories into the blank pages at the back in order to ‘keep the book alive’.
Emese Mandzák emese.mandzak@gmail.com www.emesemandzak.com
OTHER CONCEPT
Rock Family Trees Projector – This can be used to project Rock Family Tree posters onto the wall. The projector is designed to be easily adjustable and transportable.
THE FAMILY OF ROCK BOOK
FINAL CONCEPT The Family of Rock Projector is an overhead projection system that enables you to enlarge and show off your favourite Rock Family Tree posters. The poster is electroluminescent so that the tree unfolds in front of your eyes. It can be used as a backdrop for parties or as a permanent talking point as it is a unique crossover between interior design and home entertainment.
Celene McDowell ccmcdowell@gmail.com
OTHER CONCEPT
A Rock Family Tree hoodie that can be individually customised with badges, fabric, paint, stitching, slashing indeed anything or any way that rocks your world.
POSTER CASE WITH MP3
Joseph Mosha josseph@me.com
FINAL CONCEPT
OTHER CONCEPT
The Family of Rock poster case has been designed with a builtin mp3 player to bring the Rock Family Trees to life. The case itself is made using recycled CD’s and posters printed onto TYVEK, a waterproof, tear-proof recyclable alternative to paper.
Family of Rock LampThis light is a made using interchangeable shades to visualize the Rock Family Trees.
Ruben Pariente
ouaimagueule@hotmail.com
Flight Case Poster Scroller A Family Trees Collector Item
FINAL CONCEPT The Flight Case Poster Scroller is a collector’s item with a scrolling system inside the tube which allows you to move the poster up and down behind the window.
OTHER CONCEPT
The Guitar Poster Case has been designed so that people can carry their posters around - like rock stars.
Wookie Park
wookie_fresh@hotmail.com
FINAL CONCEPT The tube, which splits from the white middle line, has a mechanism so that when you want to display it on the wall it rolls down automatically using a remote control. You can also turn on the UV light when it gets dark to reveal the beautiful calligraphy of the Rock Family Trees.
OTHER CONCEPT Digital Poster. iPod touch has the function of touch navigation which allows the user to navigate the page with their finger - the screen is also flexible.
to close by Pete Frame
Drawing on my training as a draughtsman and lifelong love of rock n roll I have been drawing Rock Family Trees, depicting the history of bands, for many years. During this time they have appeared on album sleeves and CD inserts, in various publications and as the basis for television programmes.
Even so The Trees were often seen only as vehicles to convey maximum facts and information and I was often described as a list-maker or a rock n roll trainspotter. I was overjoyed, therefore, when I met Professor Lorraine Gamman of Central Saint Martins and learned that she saw beyond The Trees’ functional aspect and appreciated the art and design that went into their execution. In our first conversation, she even very flatteringly compared them with the clarity and ingenuity of the famous London Underground map.
My meetings with Lorraine coincided with the formation of the Family of Rock, a company eager to explore untapped potential in my family trees – and it was they who suggested a collaborative project with the college. I had the great pleasure of meeting the students and talking with them about my work, viewing the results and the mix of ideas and enthusiasm inherent in their designs has been a thrilling new experience.
some more info Family of Rock Ltd is a new company, which holds the rights to Pete Frame’s Rock Family Trees. These are beautiful, hand-rendered, iconic repositories of knowledge, dating back more than thirty years. In addition to the rock musicians actually named in Pete Frames’ Family Trees (and their fans that delight in collecting and displaying such information) there is a wide potential market for a unique range of products connected to the Trees. The FoR Company seeking to create greater exposure for Rock Family Trees approached Prof. Lorraine Gamman at Central Saint Martins with a view to engaging with Design and Innovation. She introduced us to the BA (Hons) Product Design 2008-9 course and Family of Rock aiming to get a new, fresh takes on the Trees created a student project for them. Students were specifically asked to create interactive as well as promotional concepts, aimed at turning an established 2D idea into 3D objects, as well as interactive web visualisations
The Team included: A student cohort, with an interest in music and the music industry, who elected to tackle this brief as a Client project - a requirement of the BA (Hons) Product Design course. They spent 12 weeks exploring a brief delivered by the client as a way of giving the students real world experience. Their work was reviewed by: - Pete Frame (the artist) - Ben Wolff and Andy Dean (founders of Family of Rock) and Scarlet Moore, as project manager. - Chris Lefteri and Prof. Lorraine Gamman, BA (Hons) Product Design with help and support of design tutors David Scothron and Roger Arquer who all helped critique and refine student concepts. The final design outcomes were a range of project concepts that could be used to further merchandise Rock Family Trees at a future date and which you can view in the catalogue and exhibition created by the students. This is what the client said about the project:
‘The partnership with CSM has allowed us to extend the vision of our company into previously unconceived dimensions. It’s an honour to mirror the passion and excitement that music routinely brings to us in areas of innovative design that are emerging from the discipline. To take Pete Frame’s hand rendered iconic designs of over 30 years standing into new ways is not only invigorating, but congruent, evocative, stimulating and confrontational. To be associated with Central Saint Martins has proved to be a prestigious and rewarding partnership.’ Ben Wolff. The Boilerhouse Boys - Ben Wolff and Andy Dean - arrived at the cutting edge of the new music business made from their roots as groundbreaking DJs, multimillion selling song writers, producers and remixers. Working together since the mid 80s hosting The Boilerhouse - “the out of town club” Dean and Wolff moved to writing, producing and remixing for artists as varied as Donna Summer, Gabrielle, Texas, Shaznay Lewis, Chaka Khan, The Stereophonics, Sarah McLachlan, A Tribe Called Quest, Pop Will Eat Itself and Lewis Taylor, with over twenty
million credited sales to date. Five of their records featured in the top 500 records from the 20th century and are winners of numerous awards and accolades including ‘Grammys’, ‘Brits’ and the Ivor Novello award. They are ambassadors for Krug and Inventors of over 130 worldwide filed innovations in music and technology. They currently are co-founders, directors and CEOs of 6 companies including Music Technology Ltd, Youthanasia, Freekly, and The Family of Rock.