Graphic Design Critique Forum

[topper]

So, I've been chatting with other TBers who do the graphic design for their bands.

I thought it would be cool if we could have a place to post our stuff and hear from other designers what they think.

Basic ground rules:

1. Tell us a little about the band's style, music, etc.
2. No flaming even if you hate the design
3. Try to offer constructive criticism that the designer can use to improve their design
4. Remember you're bass players, not kids

[topper]

I'll start. Here's a design in progress for a CD my band is working on. We're a mostly acoustic, original folk group. Many of the songs have a beautiful, haunted sort of feeling to them.

The band photo is just a place holder. We don't have the final shot yet.

This is for a six-panel "green wallet" that Oasis makes. What you're looking at is three of the panels as if it were opened all the way up.

[topper]

And here's a 17x11 poster to match the CD design.

[mpm32]

That looks cool and perfectly fits the style of music you do.

My current band is a cover band and we play classic rock, plus some 80's and 90's. I always like to make a logo that people will recognize when on a sticker on the back of a car or on a t-shirt.

[topper]

Cool! I think your design achieves that. It would stand out on a bumper sticker. It looks like you went with a kind of cherry red, why not something more true red or a fire-engine sort of red? I think that might look like a Yield sign or a fall out shelter sort of sign if you did.

[xgator4u]

Switch positions of plan and bail out, IMO

[nsmar4211]

Naw leave em. One way it's The Plan and the other it's Bailout Plan. However, you might consider making the triangle a bit smaller to be able to make the name bigger.... I see nothing but the triangle and the name is an afterthought .

Tigerlily:
Love the design of the cd thing (I assume the other three panels have the band info?)
On the poster though, I was wondering what the other two people play...... I see guitar/bass/violin but there's 5 peeps... two singers?

[cowsgomoo]

Originally Posted by mpm32

That looks cool and perfectly fits the style of music you do.

My current band is a cover band and we play classic rock, plus some 80's and 90's. I always like to make a logo that people will recognize when on a sticker on the back of a car or on a t-shirt.

black symmetrical logo in white circle on a red background? I think a certain A. Hitler used that style at one time or another

maybe get some armbands produced.. that kind of thing lends itself to it

[topper]

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

Naw leave em.

I agree.

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

Tigerlily:
Love the design of the cd thing (I assume the other three panels have the band info?)

Yup! Though not much. We're putting lyrics etc. online and referring peeps to the website.

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

On the poster though, I was wondering what the other two people play...... I see guitar/bass/violin but there's 5 peeps... two singers?

Actually, it's three and a half singers... Though at times we all sing. Three of the members are the primary vocalists doing three part harmony on every song. A fourth member sings harmony here and there in performance and does lead on one song. The fifth member is me, the only guy in the band. I sing a little, but with so many fabulous vocalists in the band, there's not much need for me to sing.

Check out our previous CD (before I joined the band) at http://www.TigerLilyTheBand.com

Design-wise, do you think I need to somehow represent the vocalists along with the instruments on the poster? How would I do that?

[topper]

Originally Posted by cowsgomoo

black symmetrical logo in white circle on a red background? I think a certain A. Hitler used that style at one time or another

Easy there...

I didn't see any semblance to Nazi's or Hitler here. Made me think of fall out shelters or road signs or something.

[nsmar4211]

Topper:

Well, the reason I asked is the violin piqued my curiosity. I see from website looks like one of the people plays percussion? Perhaps adding that behind the acoustic guitar on the right....
No real need to represent the vocals unless you want to add a mic laying across the bottom (use the mic cable as kind of a bottom border)... I was just wondering what other instruments were in the group or if it was a string trio

[mpm32]

Originally Posted by cowsgomoo

black symmetrical logo in white circle on a red background? I think a certain A. Hitler used that style at one time or another

maybe get some armbands produced.. that kind of thing lends itself to it

Excellent, I'm so glad you got that message. It will go well with the neo-nazi music that we play.



Dude, seriously? I think you can see the same thing on any electrical panel.

[Josh Ryan]

Stay civil. I think he meant it as a friendly warning that it could be misinterpreted.

[cowsgomoo]

yeah, I didn't mean any offence although I was pretty drunk at the time I posted that

from a European-person perspective it just reminded me of the way the nazis displayed their swastika... maybe there's just a cultural difference in how we see it

designers just have to be careful they don't accidentally cause offence, is all i'm really saying... I work for a web design agency, and we were recently commissioned to design & build a website for a government funded 'religious diversity' type organisation website, and you would not believe the things you could unwittingly cause offence to people of varying denominations with.. colours, shapes - it was a nightmare

[nsmar4211]

Cowsgomoo.......you really shouldn't drink and type then ...... cause from over here I saw nothing resembling "that" in that logo . Still don't see it!

Besides if you started nitpicking things like colors.......well, there's only so many. Doubt there's going to be a problem unless your band is using a giant brown truck as your logo (ala UPS). *runs away from the political correctness gang*

The electrical box point brings up something.......to make it stand out even more you could fill in part of the white with bright yellow! Course, it'd make tshirt printing more expensive...but for the rest of the merch color is color..

[mpm32]

ah, that's why sometimes the internet is hard to have conversations on, I was really just being sarcastic and bustin' chops. I forgot to add the smiley.

[topper]

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

I see from website looks like one of the people plays percussion? Perhaps adding that behind the acoustic guitar on the right....
No real need to represent the vocals unless you want to add a mic laying across the bottom (use the mic cable as kind of a bottom border)...

I like the idea of adding a drum. I don't know about the mic. Most of the instruments are acoustic and despite the fact that I play electric bass and we have a huge PA we still think of ourselves as an acoustic act. A mic just wouldn't fit with that.

How about this poster? I've added a hand drum and swapped out the picture, look at the poster in the previous post and tell me which photo you like better (and why) and whether or not you like the addition of the hand drum.

[mike phillips]

like the design but to me the instruments look to new, like an add in a catalog. maybe you could tone down the colors a bit. give the instruments a more warm feelin to go along with the b&w shot.

[cowsgomoo]

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

Cowsgomoo.......you really shouldn't drink and type then ...... cause from over here I saw nothing resembling "that" in that logo . Still don't see it!

I totally stand by what I said, drunk or sober

[topper]

Originally Posted by mike phillips

like the design but to me the instruments look to new, like an add in a catalog.

Hmmm.... that's a good idea.