Elbow, are an alternative british rock band from Bury, Greater Manchester and the brief is to develop typographic interpretations of selections of music. Initially for the 2008 Mercury music prize winner ‘ The Seldom Seen Kid’ but later explored into the entire discography. Considerations of the brief are my inspired interpretations of each album into typography, with contextual research to reflect the band’s album intentions and history. then applied to CD packaging and a range promotional Gig posters to mark rereleases of albums.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 1 of 10
Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
Packaging and type examples of the developed typefaces for ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ Individual type compositions for specific lyrics from each track on the album, with visual imagery from in and around Manchester, the Band’s origin.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 2 of 10 ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’
Each album has both a Jewel case CD and Limited edition Laminate fold cover. Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
seldom light
seldom book
seldom medium
The developed typefaces for The Seldom Seen Kid, in a range of weights for different uses and context. These have been applied to the promotional gig poster on Board 1.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 3 of 10
Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
‘Build a Rocket Boys!’ the latest album is a reflection on the development of the band, introducing new techniques and attempting new sounds and experimentation. As the name and visuals suggests, ‘Build a Rocket Boys! that when the album was completed ‘we’re immensely proud of what we have created, getting the same warm glow of having realised all of the plans we made as boys. The album title recommends for everyone to have a go, and take chances.’ -Guy Garvey, elbow.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 4 of 10 ‘Build a Rocket Boys!’
Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
The playful nature of the typography and colour choices reflects both the intentions the band and the inspired sound of the album. Song titles have been applied to the same pattern, to create a print available with the Limited Edition cover.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 5 of 10 ‘Build a Rocket Boys!’
Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
Leaders of the Free World was an expression of the current governments in power, and situation of power throughout the world. The imagery reflects the geographical nature of the issue, and print production onto canvas adds a tactile approach, better resembling a map quality.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 6 of 10 ‘Leaders of the free world’
Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
The typeface is a slab serif created from inspiration of the album, applying presence and reflecting the nature of the issue. Working as caps, slight inperfections in character shape reflect back to the overall nature of the band, not over opinionated.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 7 of 10 ‘Leaders of the free World’
Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
‘Asleep in the back’ the first album from elbow was seen as revolutionary for the genre at the time, bringing new ideas and sounds to a wider mainstream, producing conceptual music and hailed as the ‘seminal album of the millenium’ and given both a BRIT and Mercury Music prize nomination.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 8 of 10 ‘Asleep in the back’
The typeface produced, works off the conceptual nature of the album and time of release (2001) Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
Initially producing the top typeface example and very conceptual, further developing type treatments to improve readability and explore range of application.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 9 of 10 ‘Asleep in the back’
Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011
‘Cast of thousands’ works on a variation of the first album ‘Asleep in the back’, taking very conceptual ideas and seen as very innovative at the time. The typeface focuses around the manipulation of circular characters and ‘thousands’ through the subtle applied on which it is applied.
Elbow Typefaces applied to contextual examples for the band elbow Board 10 of 10 ‘Cast of thousands’
Luke Hallam - lh85996 - FMP - www.luke-hallam.co.uk - June 2011