The Beatles Album Tribute
Typography // Personal Project
The Beatles' The Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band album is one of the most influential, creative, and profound albums of all time. Given their level of stardom, The Beatles wanted to make this album different from anything else they had done before. They wanted to be The Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band, which gave them the liberty to push their creative boundaries. Inspired by its layers of complexities and revolutionary impact on music production, I designed a tribute book about it for my typography class.
Background
I wanted to further my knowledge in typography so I took a 12-week class at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle taught by Jeff Barlow. My final assignment was to design an entire book around a particular music album in order to apply my knowledge around typefaces, grid layout, and type hierarchy. I went with The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album and the theme of “breaking boundaries” since the album was the first of its kind to utilize its unique recording technologies.
I was especially inspired by the circus sounds in the song “For the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” which was achieved by the band literally cutting up pieces of tape they had recorded and splicing them back together randomly. The final theme, colors, and layout of my book stemmed from this inspiration.
My Process
Research & Understand the Album
I researched online and browsed books at the local library to learn what the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album was all about. I dug into the story behind each song and listened to the album on repeat for a week to immerse myself in the music, lyrics, and how all of it aggregates into the album that came to be "the most important compact release there could ever be" according to George Martin, their producer.
I researched online and browsed books at the local library to learn what the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album was all about. I dug into the story behind each song and listened to the album on repeat for a week to immerse myself in the music, lyrics, and how all of it aggregates into the album that came to be "the most important compact release there could ever be" according to George Martin, their producer.
Draw a Pagination Plan
I drew up a pagination plan that consisted of the sections and page layouts I was thinking of including in the book.
I drew up a pagination plan that consisted of the sections and page layouts I was thinking of including in the book.
Imagery
I decided I wanted vintage circus images to capture the timeless, whimsical nature of the album. So I started gathering a range of vintage circus images that could potentially fit into my book.
I decided I wanted vintage circus images to capture the timeless, whimsical nature of the album. So I started gathering a range of vintage circus images that could potentially fit into my book.
Ideate
I was very inspired by how The Beatles cut up strips of recorded tape to splice one of their songs so I started experimenting with physically cutting strips of images.
I was very inspired by how The Beatles cut up strips of recorded tape to splice one of their songs so I started experimenting with physically cutting strips of images.
Color Choices & Layout
I wanted to split the book into four distinct sections. In their album cover, each of The Beatles band members wore a different color—magenta, red, yellow, and light blue. I decided I would weave in those same colors into my book to represent the different sections.
I wanted to split the book into four distinct sections. In their album cover, each of The Beatles band members wore a different color—magenta, red, yellow, and light blue. I decided I would weave in those same colors into my book to represent the different sections.
I ultimately chose to use a 4-column grid layout as the basis of my book. With an even number of columns, this layout provided a sense of symmetry and structure in contrast to the rest of the book where I wanted to incorporate more dynamic visuals and movement.
Iterate & Refine
As I continued to refine my visuals, I decided to incorporate small, medium and large images that could be spread throughout the book to create good pacing and rhythm for the reader. Some pages had a small image, some had medium and large images, and others had no image at all. I also integrated diagonals and triangles that complemented the images. These variations in page layouts helped create movement throughout the book.
Iterate & Refine
As I continued to refine my visuals, I decided to incorporate small, medium and large images that could be spread throughout the book to create good pacing and rhythm for the reader. Some pages had a small image, some had medium and large images, and others had no image at all. I also integrated diagonals and triangles that complemented the images. These variations in page layouts helped create movement throughout the book.
Final Edits
I wanted to incorporate an additional layer of depth into my design. I took the diagonals and triangles one step further by having them connect from one page to the next. I did this to signify the underlying cohesiveness in theme and sounds across all the songs on the album, despite the seemingly random sounds one might hear at first. I also made the images overlap the shapes on each page to represent the layering techniques The Beatles incorporated into their album.
I wanted to incorporate an additional layer of depth into my design. I took the diagonals and triangles one step further by having them connect from one page to the next. I did this to signify the underlying cohesiveness in theme and sounds across all the songs on the album, despite the seemingly random sounds one might hear at first. I also made the images overlap the shapes on each page to represent the layering techniques The Beatles incorporated into their album.
Learnings
This was a very intense project for me as I was balancing both work and finishing this project for class. Working with a grid system was challenging for me, but once I got the hang of it, things started to come together. Constant iteration through feedback was crucial to the completion and ultimate direction of my book.
Overall, it was a great project that allowed me to apply all my skills. It was amazing to hold a physical product after all the hard work!
