Year
Spring 2020
Skills
Research
Editorial/Layout
Typography
Copywriting
Photo-Illustration
Vibrations
Vibrations is a book exploring the history of an artifact: The Record Player. Within Vibrations the reader explores the record player's history, cultural impact, and its' place in the modern age as well as speculation for the artifact's potential future. Beginning with extensive research, the visual direction and concept of the book revolves around the driving force of the record player: vibrations. The visual language draws its elements from the history and physical form of the artifact itself. Vibrations is an experiment in editorial design, pushing spreads to be dynamic and alive while coherently presenting a connected narrative.
Visual Language
While developing the visual language, I wanted to remain true to the character and personality of the object. Record Players pumped life, love, and culture into our society and I made sure the book would echo this inviting but energetic tone.
I knew I wanted to do very dynamic and experimental spreads, so when picking the color palette I chose colors that felt comfortable, muted, and vintage. I drew color inspiration from 70's album covers.
I needed my type to be flexible and fit a variety of treatments. I chose Freight Display Pro for my headings. This typeface is bold and modern and contextualizes my work within the traditional editorial design aesthetic. For the subheadings and body copy I chose Gotham Rounded. This rounded geometric san serif has a friendly tone and contrasts nicely with Freight Display Pro. For the accent typeface I chose Matchbook Regular. This rounded and wide slab serif carries a vintage sensibility and ties the brand to the golden age of the record player.
To create cohesion between the images I added a gradient overlay to the photos. The textures and elements I derived from the artifact. I used circular motifs throughout the book to echo the shape of the Record. The lined patterns come from the grooved surface of the Record. The grainy gradients represent the static/white noise that is characteristic to the Record Player's unique sound. The speckled texture visualizes the specs of dust that cling to the surface of the Record. The brand captures the novel experience of listening to music on the Record Player.
I decided to make Vibrations have 12 inch square pages, the same size as a vinyl record sleeve. I wanted the form and size to easily connect viewers with the artifact from the second they picked up the book. The front and back covers, although still within the branding, look distinct from the rest of the book. I designed these surfaces to look like the front and back of a vinyl record sleeve to push the initial connection to the artifact even further and to spark interest. When readers pick up Vibrations, just the form of the book would make them want to open the cover and see what's inside.