OUGD406 - Secret 7"

Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think

Music video:

Lyrics:

[verse 1]
What goes on?
Rollin stones of the rap game not braggin
Lips bigger than jagger , not saggin 
Spell it backwards
Im a leave it at that..

That aint got nothin to do with rap
Check the facts expose those cats
Who pose as heros and take advantage of blacks
Your governments gangster so cut the crap
A war goin on so where you at?

Fight the power comes great responsiblity
F the police but whos stoppin you from killin me?
Disasters , fiascos over a loop by pe
If its an i instead of we
Believin tv
Spittin riches , bitches, and this new thing about snitches
Watch them asses move the masses switches
System dissed them but barely missed her
My soul intention to save my brothers and sisters

Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that

[verse 2]
Screamin gangsta 20 years later
Of course endorsed while consciousness faded
New generations believing them fables
Gangster boogie on two turntables

Show no love so its easy to hate it
Desecrated while the coroner waited
Any given sunday so where yall rate it?
Wit slavery, lynching , and them drugs infiltrated

Im like that doll chuckie , baby
Keep comin back to live love life like i'm crazy
Keep it movin risin to the top 
Doug fresh clean livin you dont stop

Revolution means change
Dont look at me strange
So i cant repeat what other rappers be sayin
You dont stand for something
You fall for anything
Harder than you think
Its a beautiful thing

Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that

[verse 3]
So its time to leave you a preview 
So you too can review what we do
20 years in this business
How you sell sell soul, g wiz
People bear witness
Thank you for lettin us be ourself
So dont mind me if i repeat myself
These simple lines be good for your health
To keep them crime rhymes on the shelf
Live life love like you just dont care 
5000 leaders never scared
Bring the noise its the moment they fear
Get up still a beautiful idea

Get up
Throw yo hands in the air
Get up show no fear
Get up if yall really care
Pe 20 years 
Now get up

Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that
Get up
Hard...just like that

An article I found in Crack Magazine including an interview with Public Enemy

I began by drawing thumbnails of my initial ideas. My main themes in these ideas were based around puzzles and patterns to visually represent the song. I am aware that this song is associated with the London 2012 Paralympic Games, however I wanted to focus more on the meaning of the title as opposed to the more obvious, well known aspects related to the song.

Most of my initial ideas were my own patterns and designs, I wanted to experiment with creating a design that is 'harder than you think' to design.

There is a strong association between this song and the Paralympic games. The song accompanied the Channel 4 footage during the games in 2012. I carried out research into the designs for the Paralympic Games to discover if there were any ideas I could incorporate into my own work.

The main Paralympic logo:

Accoding to wikipedia 'The Paralympic symbol consists of three agitos, coloured red, green and blue; the three colours that are most widely represented in national flags around the world' this is shown below:

Images featuring the medallion:

Further development of my initial thumbnails

My 5 favourite designs:

1

2

3

4

5

During the crit on Friday we were put into groups of five. We presented our five favourite designs and 30 thumbnails of initial ideas to the rest of our group. After explaining our design process we were given feedback from the other members of the group. I was given a lot of constructive feedback which I found useful for refining my idea. As a group we agreed that outcome 1 (shown above) was the most effective design. Some main ideas for adapting this design further included:

1. Convert the image into a negative similarly to outcomes 2,3 and 4.

2. Experiment with using more numbers in the empty squares. Could possibly work with Public Enemy statistics or statistics taken from the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

3. Add emphasis to the concept of sudoko by placing small numbers in the corners of various empty boxes. Aim to do this in a well-justified manner so as not to create distraction or unnecessary confusion to the overall design.

4. Possibly modify the positioning of the numbers in order to emphasise the theme of a clock. Could place the numbers outside of the band for example.

5. Experiment with adding a chain similar to one shown in outcome 5. This would make the relation to Flavor Flav's medallion more easily recognisable. Use a more detailed chain than the one used in outcome 5.

I experimented with the design, taking all of these feedback elements into account. I preferred the design in negative. It was striking and also more similar to the original design it was based on. I found that including small numbers, no matter what the relevance, made the design more confusing. They distracted from the main clock numbers originally used. I included the second band as recommended. I think this makes the design more interesting. 

My final outcome intends to approach the connotation of 'harder than you think' in a subtle and simple manner. I have intended to form a link between three main elements:

 the Public Enemy logo

The design featured on Flavor Flav's clock medallion

a sudoko puzzle.

The significance of sudoko is that at first it may seem easy, yet once attempted its more difficult than expected. My final design includes twelve squares in total. I used this to visually represent the connection to sudoko. By placing the clock numbers 12, 3, 6 and 9 into the squares I have based the appearance on a 9x9 sudoko square. Instead of 9 being the highest number, in this case it would be twelve and so on.

The final outcome:

The next stage in the Secret 7" process was to submit our final vinyl cover designs online at www.talenthouse.com. The image requirements were: a 190mm x 190mm, 300dpi JPEG file produced in CMYK mode. We were required to provide a title for our submission and include a short description. This was followed by a confirmation as shown below: 

My talent submission page 

My talenthouse profile 

Finally we received an e-mail from talenthouse confirming a successful submission to the Secret 7" competition. 

When the results of the Secret7 competition were announced, I received an e-mail to inform me that my design had been chosen as one of the top 50! 

Before responding I ensured my design met all of the correct print requirements:

 300dpi

CMYK

190cm x 190cm (including bleed)

Tiff or JPEG format

_____

Once happy with all of these I used wetransfer (as required) to send my original file off to Secret7. I received another email a few days later to confirm the download had been successful!

I liked the Secret7 Facebook page in order to keep up to date with news and progress about the exhibition. On their page there were various interesting and exciting posts about professional designers and their contribution to Secret7 this year. A week before the exhibition in Shoreditch, they announced that their online gallery was now ready to view. Below are two screenshots of my work being displayed in the online gallery.

On Saturday 18th April I went to the Secret 7" exhibition at Mother in Shoreditch where I was able to view my work among all of the other winning sleeves. This was the first time my work had been displayed professionally by an organisation outside of university so I felt extremely proud to be a part of it. In gereral I was very pleased with my final vinyl cover design. This project helped me build confidence within my design practice and I felt privileged to be chosen as one of the top 50. In addition I feel I have become more aware of Art Against Knives and am happy to know the sale of my design has gone towards a good cause. 

Below are a few photos which I took at the exhibition in Shoreditch East London.

A few weeks after the exhibition, the Artists were revealed in the online Secret7" gallery. I was so pleased to see my name under my design amongst so many great artworks.