Secret 7

I thought it would be a good idea to begin my research into the Secret 7 brief before the tracks for 2017 are released, this way I'll have a good understanding of the standard of work and what can be expected by this brief.

2016 WINNERS AND EXAMPLES OF WORK

Kristen Liu-Wong - The less I know the better

• Great use of pastel colour palette, compliments the techno/80's style illustration. 
• Use of symmetry within the composition, makes for easier viewing of the design - allows the viewer to explore the smaller details of the illustration with ease.
• The composition allows the illustration to stand out more despite having a lot of smaller details.

Robertus Alexander - Art School

• Really fresh and clean design, love the use of the two colours, work really well together.
• Great combination of graphic type combined with images of nature , works really well and compliments the unnatural blue colour of the scenes.
• I really like the use of overlap of the type on the imagery, I could play around with this design idea.

Josiah Craven & Jenny Briggs - Worry

• Simple yet effective collage, simplicity makes the collage feel naive matching the song title of 'worry', along with the pastel colour palette, it works really well to portray this album cover.
• Use of own photograph within a textured background is effective, i could consider using photography as a way of making my illustrations.

Jasmine Parker - At Last

• I really enjoy the hand made nature of this album cover, something that is usually seen as quite a graphic artwork has been transformed in a purely painted piece, I really like this, maybe thats an element that I could consider in my own work?
• Again, i like the simplicity within this piece, the colours of the sky/road give the impression that the woman has been waiting for what has seemed like a never-ending time and AT LAST her bus is arriving. I think this narrative aspect is quite important in an album cover!

Pat Bradbury - Art School

• The COLOURS! I'm so drawn into this collage piece, the colours, shapes and textures all work together to create the album cover illustrating the concept of art school, a messy, experimental bold piece.
• It would be interesting to be really experimental with colour, It definitely stands out and this is a definite positive when entering a competition, however I'd need to be careful that my design didn't get over complicated and over crowded.

Charlotte Mei - Imagine

• I've been a fan of Charlotte Mei for a long time now, I find it interesting to see successful illustrators and designers work within this brief alongside students, that so exciting!
• I'm a great fan of the textural paint marks within Mei's work, I think it really compliments the childish nature of her work. As I've said previously i would like to be more loose with my work, experimental and 'messy' in a sense, i need to loosen up a bit and i think this brief is a really open and great opportunity to do so.

Graham Roumieu - Art School

• Again, something that drew me to this particular design was the very hand crafted feel to it, the textural marks of the paint, visibly hand made, something i STRIVE for in my work. It works really well next to the finer lines of the illustration.
• One bright bold colour is something that makes this piece stand out, i wonder which is actually more effective? ONE colour of a selection of few really bright and bold tones. I suppose it depends on the way they're used. This piece, I don't think would work well with loads of colours, the illustration needs to stand out against the background and it wouldn't with a lot of complicated tones.