For a while now I have been salivating to take classes via UCLA Extension. So I took the opportunity to do so this past summer when I came upon a class that I feel, was made for me . . . Music + Graphic Design. They knew I was coming . . . Here is a class representing my two loves. Music and Graphic Design. How grand is that! Through the years I have been able to design for bands/musicians: CD artwork, websites, logos, and flyers! And now I find a class that marries the two and I was in heaven.
The instructor has been doing art for bands for many years, working for Warner Bros. Records and then has been the designer for Wilco for many years. He brought in many colleagues that work in the industry from photographers, stylists, to managers. My fave was a former designer for Rhino Records. Very cool box sets like this one that were designed by him were amazing. He came in with like 3 duffle bags full for show and tell.
Our assignment was to take a band and carry them though from logo design to merch design.
The class kicked my butt. It was harder than I thought it was going to be. Maybe it was the band that I had chosen or not. Who knows. I know now I need to step up my game and think outside the box. Most of the folks in the class were in the design certificate program so their stuff was phenomenal. A lot of my design sense comes from DIY aesthetics and I get to think like what if I had a huge budget that I can take the design to the fullest and not think like there is no money!