Eric Carlyle

To further my exploration of creative methods I decided to look at the work of Eric Carlyle. Eric's layering of tissue paper is a somewhat iconic process, in which completely differs his work to that of other illustrators. His unique style may also be the reason in which 'the hungry caterpillar' became so successful. Due to the variety of style, his pieces appear extremely intriguing, and stand out against others. As this is a factor I would like my album cover to maintain, I feel that this style should be explored.

From my initial drawings I  began to develop further sketches thinking about scale, shape and colour. The design primarily focused upon the reconstruction of the civil rights logo, due to Etta's involvement within the campaign. 

A three tone approach was used, something in which I felt didn't work successfully. Although impactful I sense that the purely white and black hands are not truly representative of the races, and appears somewhat offensive. I also felt that the design did not appear as visually interesting as other approaches, and was very dull in design. A red background was used in order to connotate the danger/bloodshed in the past, with the overlaid handshake depicting a brighter future whereby both races are equal. The overall process to develop this pieces seemed difficult due to the multiple layers involved, also the opacity of the tissue paper was an issue. If I were to re-develop this piece I would definitely consider building the skin colours through multiple realistic tones, a factor in which I feel would allow a completely different atmosphere to be taken from the design.

Although I won't be submitting this piece I still felt that it would be a good practice to depict it in context. Compared to the previous designs in which have been selected for secret 7, I do not feel that this design personally has the same stance. The contextual aspect behind the piece is its strongest factor, and as the consumer would not be aware of this its aesthetics appear weak. The main concept behind this piece is that of Etta's role within the civil rights movement, as her music was seen to involve black talent within the average day of a white man. The civil rights logo was depicted in order to exhibit her role during this challenging time.Carlyle's layering of tissue paper was then mimicked in order to express the duration in which it took for the civil rights act to be past, with the decision being built upon layers of trust, commitment and hard work. A red background was then chosen in order to suggest the movement away from danger/bloodshed to a future in which both races may be equal.