Kieran Johnson proposes creating 5 fictional album covers for a prog-rock band, with each cover representing a different decade from the 1970s to the 2020s. This will allow exploration of different artistic styles appropriate to each era. Primary research will include interviews on the importance of album art. Secondary research will examine iconic album covers. Experiments will test techniques for achieving desired aesthetics for each decade. The project will be evaluated through work-in-progress screenshots, prototypes, and audience feedback to improve the final pieces.

1. Proposal
1
Centre Name and Number:
York College 48357
Student Name and Unique Learner Number:
Kieran Johnson 401100
Project proposal title and date:
A bunch of album covers for a fictional prog-rock band, with a decades theme
Main area of activity:
All of it will pretty much be graphic design
Rationale:
I think that ever since I began the Factual project this year (the fanzine), my work has taken an
upturn regarding how thoroughly I plan the work I do, rather than step in with a rough idea and see
how I can go about it using Photoshop. I think I realised that when it came to this year’s FMP
project, I had to go into the production phase, not only knowing what I had to do, but also knowing
what techniques I needed, how I would do them, and what I want the professional standard piece
to look like. Going in with a few rough plans and then attempting them on Photoshop and
discovering the techniques I need to use will form the basis of me succeeding in this project or not.
I’ve not attempted to create a thoroughly made and planned album cover before, let alone 5
(besides the more restricted introduction tasks from the first year). With this said, I have created a
lot of printed media products throughout my 6 years of studying media, and with the recent
developments of my skills, being more willing to look up tutorials and planning, as well as less
willing to create on the fly, I intend to be fully up to task with making this project and
accomplishment of mine. I want this to be at a standard where I could show other people I know
within the graphic design industry and they think it is professionally done.
Project Concept:
The idea for my project is to create 5 album artworks for a fictional prog-rock/prog-metal band, with
each album representing a different decade of the band, from the 1970s up to the 2010s and
2020s. In doing this, I will be able to explore a wide range of different art-styles and production
techniques that will be based on each particular decade, which I am expecting to include styles like
real-time photography, sketching, painting, and as the project reaches more recent decades, using
more computer-based methods of artwork. Based on my experiences of previous projects, I do
believe that Photoshop will be capable of including these different styles of art for this project.
This project has been born in part due to my recent fascination for the Canadian prog-rock band
Rush, as well as my longer association with my favourite alt/prog-metal band Alter Bridge. As I’ve
already looked at Hugh Syme, Rush’s first choice art director, in my contextual research, I could
further look at his work to delve into the media language that they entail, such as the visual puns
relating to their album titles. I would also like to look at Alter Bridge’s album artworks, as I believe
they somewhat relate to something Syme said regarding the culture switch from vinyls to CDs in
the 1990s changed the way album artworks are handled, given the size difference between them,
as well as the inclusion of booklets and liner notes. I think looking at other bands with iconic album
covers, such as Metallica, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd (especially Pink Floyd for the link with
prog-rock), would be useful as well.

2. Proposal
2
Bibliography:
1. Curzon,P & Thorgerson,S(2011). The Raging Storm:The AlbumGraphicsof StormStudios.
London:DeMiloandStormStudios.
2. Draper,J. (2020). Hugh ‘Starman’SymeTalksHis IconicCoversFor Rush.
3. Interviewees,Name.(2021) Target Audience Interviews(conductedon 3Mar)
4. Johnson,K.(2021) TargetAudience ResearchSurvey(conductedon 3Mar)
5. Mastropolo,F.(2016). The Story Behind to the Coverof The Beatles 'Revolver'.
6. McGuinness,P.(2022). The BeatlesAlbumCovers Explained.
7. Patuto,J. (2021). A Conversation with Hugh Syme.
8. Popoff,M(2021). Limelight: Rush in the80s. Toronto:ECW Press.
9. Rush(2020). Rush – Behind The Cover:PermanentWaves.23 June.
10. Thorgerson,S(2007). Taken by Storm:The AlbumArtof Storm Thorgerson.London:
OmnibusPress.
Week Tasks to be Completed: Specific Tasks
1 Pre-production  Proposal and background research – look at
graphic designers known within the music
industry – Hugh Syme, Storm Thorgerson
2 Pre-production  Research – primary – interview & questionnaire
with people on how they see the importance of
album covers
 Discover music sales regarding the particular
formats they’re sold on
3 Pre-production  Research – secondary – looking at existing
products, regarding how the artwork looks, what
different editions look like
 Ideas: Rush, Alter Bridge, Metallica, Pink Floyd,
etc
4 Pre-production  Experiments – what the best techniques are for
trying to get particular aesthetics off – such as
grunge, sketching, photographic
 Also see what the best tones of colours and
lighting are for particular decades
5 Pre-production  Experiments – continuation of the above.
 Also, potential methods of printing the artworks at
the end of the project
How will the project be evaluated and reviewed:
I intend on taking screenshots of my work during the production phase, and talking about how the
process has been going regarding how I think the work is looking, and how I personally feel about
the progress I make. I also intend on attempting a number of prototypes before I head into the final
pieces to make sure there are numerous options available to me. For example, if I happen to go
down a photographic route for one of my album covers, I’ll make sure to ask peers and my
audiences as to which photo suits best for an album cover, and also include all of them in the
reflections/evaluation piece. This ensures that some audience research is done.
I believe this project, should it go particularly well, would put me in a position where I consider
myself a graphic artist. I feel that the best graphic artists do well to combine a number of factors in
their works, in this case it would be to make sure this fictional band looks presentable, that their
album covers are done to a professional standard, and that their own house style is expressed
throughout the work (for example, I consider that my works tend to use gradient overlays).

3. Proposal
3
6 Pre-production  Pre-Production and planning – brainstorming
aspects such as album titles, translating them
with mock covers – discover what works well for
each title
7 Pre-production  Pre-Production and planning – producing a final
production schedule so I know what to keep track
on
8 Production  First album artwork – start with the 1970s,
potentially more of a photograph with an aged
texture, possibly complex(?)
 Production and reflections (do this daily and
every week)
9 Production  Second album artwork – 1980s, sketched,
colourful aesthetic, potentially complex
10 Production  Third album artwork – 1990s, simpler than the
others (think about context of CDs being the
popular medium), more iconographic, digital
11 Production  Fourth album artwork – 2000s, potentially dry
choice of colours, continued iconography, tones
range from grungy, chic, and metallic
 Draft peer feedback
12 Production  Fifth album artwork – 2010s/20s, continuation of
2000s, more varied tones of colours, throwback
to more complex artwork? (vinyl popular once
again)
13 Production  Improving/going over unfinished details – final
week to complete
14 Evaluation  Evaluation – discussing and explaining why the
techniques I have used have led to the final
product
15 Evaluation  Evaluation – discussing how close the final
products are to my initial intentions
16 Evaluation  Presentation – showcasing my work to people,
seeking to get peer feedback
17 Moderation 
18 Show Preparation  Printing works to be displayed/Producing posts to
present work online through social media
19 Show  Displaying work through online or physical
presentation means