Graphic Design Whim: Musician Crushes

Inspiration

Shopping for shampoo and picking up a prescription for back pain at the local drug store last week, I heard a song by the Dodos over the loudspeakers. It was "Fables," a song I think is somewhat catchy, but I couldn't remember that it was in fact the Dodos who wrote it. In fact, trying to recall the artist was giving me fits of discomfiture. This distraction set me up perfectly to heed the pharmacy background music when the next song came on. As the first bars floated down over the mouthwash and toothpaste aisle, I was ready to lump it away in one of several despicable lite rock of top-40 pop categories. This is my usual way of coping with otherwise unbearably insipid ambient shopping music. But instead I found myself lured by cellos and and a woman's alto singing, "I hope you give yourself up too." I texted myself some of the lyrics so I could look it up when I got home. It gave me goosebumps and I found it very attractive. The song was "What Have I Done" by Anna Ternheim, a Swedish recording artist whose music I hadn't previously heard.

Being that I am male, a musician, and an amateur music critic, it only made logical sense that the sounds of beautiful female voices, belying remarkable female minds, encased in winsome female exteriors might cause me some inspiration. It was only a matter of time before said agitation would have me rattling my way back and forth over a computer keyboard in an effort to type my unrequited admiration out into the vastness of the internet. The result is a series of entries that will be published on my blog, in addition to aforesaid "Decade Music" project, entitled "Music Crushes."

Creation

It didn't seem fit for much literary effort, as the concept is more of a back page magazine feature than anything worth much thought. Besides, with a whim, to over-think is to kill. Rather than merely post pastiches of found photography and music video, I wanted some signature touch of my own. I drummed up quick two-step designs that combine fonts and patterns complementing each musician's style or image (or their own album art, if I feel like it). The first one is published as of this morning [link], and features Neko Case and the new favorite number by Ternheim. Next week's entry will feature Basia Bulat and Jenny Owen Youngs. Other artists sure to be mentioned include Leslie Feist, Zooey Deschanel, and Corinne Bailey Rae.