Final year project
'Create a brand For yourself as a DJ and as a… [Read more]
'Create a brand for yourself as a DJ and as a music producer' : artist logo
Creating a brand for myself as a DJ and as a Music Producer began by developing a suitable logo. I wanted to create something that would be timeless, simple, and clear. I had to also consider how versatile the logo would be in terms of where it would be seen; whether it be on album covers, festival poster designs, or merchandise that, after many iterations, led me to a logo that was interesting but, crucially, still readable as 'Stevie'.
The fact that the logo could be simplified to '-V' gave it an independent distinguishing feature that could become an identity in itself, saving space and time purely because of its association with the brand. Finally, I paired it with an appropriate electric/neon blue (inspired by EDM and club culture) that would remain consistent throughout the rest of the work for this project.
'Create a brand for yourself as a DJ and as a music producer' : album cover art
Inspired by the shamanic-esque rituals, animalistic responses, the social inclusion, and the loss of inhibitions synonymous with EDM culture I created this artwork to represent the Album 'EDM at 2AM'. With all music, there is a certain change of state in the brain through the release of endorphins stimulating feelings of Euphoria. To capture this, I created the effect of a jigsaw puzzle, falling apart and taking the reserved, subdued part of our consciousness with it, visualised using the black and white image as the foundation for this piece. Beneath is the subconscious reaction to the music and the expression of the reverse side of our personality, much like that of the 'shadow personality' in Jungian psychology which acted as the early inspiration for my work.
'Create a brand for yourself as a DJ and as a music producer' : 'Tomorrowland 2026' festival poster design
As part of my brief, I designed a poster that would incorporate elements of both my album cover artwork and promo material used for the 'Tomorrowland' EDM festival. The festival is renowned for its decadent, psychedelic stage design and as an awe-inspiring gathering between people of different cultures, races, and social groups from all over the world. To capture this, the artwork was intended to be overwhelming and ethereal through both the garish, eye-catching colours and the exotic imagery used throughout the piece. I wanted to create an environment that you would want to be a part of and something to be excited about. In other words, the art was developed with the intent of being an experience in itself, which was helped by the use of perspective and leading lines towards the centre of the image.
'Create a brand for yourself as a DJ and as a music producer' : merchandise design | T-shirt - front
This is one of the items of merchandise that I designed to promote the album above. The difficulty with this part of the project was in trying to create an item that people would want to wear regularly and so I focused on making something that is fashionable and not just a novelty garment that would become obsolete when any publicity around the album had died down. Therefore, the final outcome involved breaking down elements of the album art and piecing them together (including details from my own knowledge of electronic music) to fit this criterion which began with designing the front of the t-shirt, using a puzzle piece as a link to the design on the back.
'Create a brand for yourself as a DJ and as a music producer' : merchandise design | T-shirt - back
The aim for the back of the t-shirt was to draw as much attention to the wearer as possible. This was achieved by enlarging the image so that it would fit over the entire back of the shirt to take advantage of the garish colour scheme. From creating this piece I began to gain an understanding of how and where to place design elements so that they fit together in a way that was fashionable and purposeful. For example, I wanted to show the striking psychedelic, animalistic side of the art but in a way that didn't dominate the whole garment, which is why I, again, broke the image down into missing puzzle pieces as a clue to what is on the front. In other words, both the back and the front are aesthetically and intrinsically linked to one another.
'Create a brand for yourself as a DJ and as a music producer' : merchandise design | beanie - style 1
This was the first out of two beanie designs and, in this case, focused on something more subtle placed on the up-turned part of the garment. Similar to the t-shirt, I broke down the album art into something that was simple but still ultimately retained design elements that could be associated with it. In this case, I included the Tiger's head and the psychedelic design that took the form of a single puzzle piece with one element overlapping the other. After testing this with other features such as the typography from the album I felt that, in terms of being a fashion item (which remained as my focus for the entire part of this project), the final outcome was suitable as it was for my brief and, more importantly, was not overbearing for what space there was available on this piece of clothing.
'Create a brand for yourself as a DJ and as a music producer' : merchandise design | beanie - style 2
This was the second beanie style that I designed for but this time, I wanted to take advantage of all of the material which led me to an outcome that was pattern-based and that wrapped around the entire garment. For all aspects of the merchandise, the designs were placed on clothing that was black instead of any lighter colour, as I felt that this was more suitable for presenting them. In the same way that the album cover is based on dark tones so that the focus is almost entirely on the garish colour scheme beneath, the merchandise was a reflection of this.
Stephen Thomas
My final project is an homage to the first period in my life that, once I finish University, is uncertain and represents an example of one of the pathways that I could venture down.
Playgroup, primary school, secondary school, sixth form, university were necessary steps in my life, but for the first time, there is no evident 'next step' after I leave university which, inevitably, comes with a degree of uncertainty and so I wanted to produce work that was an example of a possible future that I could create for myself. This manifested in creating the material that I could use to promote a future version of myself as a music artist that required taking advantage of my skills as an illustrator, my Photoshop abilities, and the layout techniques for typography I had learned in earlier work.
In this sense, there was a level of introspection over how my feelings and thoughts of what I could accomplish are not dissimilar to others, especially with regards to uncertainty. Therefore, for the final outcomes, I had been able to develop my ability to visualise certain esoteric aspects of psychology in a way that is empathetic and relatable. This provided me with a way of connecting with my audience for this project whilst still being rooted in Graphic Design in relation to the presentation.
Final year project
'Create a brand For yourself as a DJ and as a music producer'
Experience
Instead of a placement year, I decided to establish my own company producing the designs for and selling streetwear. This was a personal test to see if I would be able to handle the business and commercial aspects of a brand as well as creating a product that people would want to buy into. I developed strengths in beginning to understand consumer psychology as well as how a brand can be built around its philosophy which, if strong enough, can be incredibly influential over the chosen target market.
Throughout the course of this personal project, I wanted to experiment with and widen my understanding of how I could create designs for clothing as well as our website (two avenues that I hadn't explored before) in what is an incredibly saturated market, before learning how to take advantage of search engine optimisation and how I would present content on social media. Although the project didn't work out exactly how I had planned, it was a highly rewarding experience in developing my skills as a designer and being tenacious enough to learn new ones when necessary, the result of which I experienced first-hand through a targeted audience response.