The Zenith project gives seniors a chance to pursue something that they are really interested in. We are given the tools and time needed to delve into our passions and find out what it is that we are truly passionate about. We are given two months to work on a project of our choosing that we get to design ourselves.
For my Zenith project, I am going to be making a short album (3 songs minimum) and market it and myself as an artist. I plan on making shirts, hats, and a website to help “sell” my music/brand. Depending on how much time it takes me to make the music and logos/album art, I want to possibly create more products like enamel pins. This Zenith project is a new challenge for me, because I have never made an original song with lyrics before. I am also pretty new to product/logo design, so having a varied selection of things to do will provide me with a lot of new experiences and challenges. For my Production Class, I will explore Corel Painter and Adobe Illustrator to make the products that I want to sell as well as create my album art. I am also going to explore the marketing side of design as a whole.
Logo and merchandise sketches
It took some time to decide on what my artist name and album title were going to be. I decided to go with HEM as my artist name for several reasons. HEM is basically a mash-up of my initials, since a lot of people call me “Em” for short and my last name starts with an H. HEM is also somewhat of a mix of the pronouns his and hers, making the name itself sort of rebellious and contradictory, and since that was the sort of vibe I wanted to go for with my music, it felt like a perfect fit. Kindly Disregard is a polite way to excuse yourself and I used this short phrase as a sarcastic way to address the people that may listen to my music.
The sketching process and getting my ideas out on the screen was really fun. I bounced around using a lot of different designs for my logos and merchandise. It took me a couple of weeks of sketching before I finally decided on what I was going to use for my final version of my album art and logo.
Writing lyrics
Writing the lyrics for my songs was interesting to say the least. It took a lot of time for me to finish and be happy with my lyrics and the way they flowed with one another. The lyrics are empowering and shine a light on how women are treated in America.
California
Lookin good everyone sought her
Temper: hot, boiling like water
Clean–pristine, the perfect daughter
Just one thing nobody’s taught her
She’s California,
She holds you close,
Then tells ya no
Because ya know
That’s the game a this week
Hot to the touch
It’s just too much
Then not enough
She’s makin’ me weak
Changes her mind
Tries to be bonafide
It doesn’t come out right
Everybody take a seat
It’s time for the show,
Turn on the radio
It’s all for you so
We can watch it on repeat
(California)
She’s so beautiful–she lies,
She’s so beautiful –she hides
What she’s feelin inside,
California~
She’s California,
She holds you close,
Then tells ya no
Because ya know
That’s the game a this week
Hot to the touch
It’s just too much
Then not enough
She’s makin’ me weak
Good
You’re treating me like a miasma
Don’t hang with me you don’t have ta
But hiding your feelings ain’t gonna
Make you feel better, uh uh
It’s not my fault, I’m good at what I do
And right now what I’m doin is you
Take my heart and tear it in two
That’s alright I’m still gonna pursue
You
You’re a warning sign I’ll fail to yield to
Maybe it’s naive to trust you
But what you’ve got is hard to come by
Smile wide and my heart pumps just right
You’re ideas are old and out dated
You act so cold and so jaded
Forcin your feelins ta fade it
Ain’t really gonna persuade it
It’s not my fault, I’m good at what I do
And right now what I’m doin is you
Take my heart and tear it in two
That’s alright I’m still gonna pursue
You
You’re a warning sign I’ll fail to yield to
Maybe it’s naive to trust you
But what you’ve got is hard to come by
Smile wide and my heart pumps just right
Who
Sugar rush, caffeine high
Don’t know what, don’t know why
It’s not really my place to ask questions
Who are we to defy our expectations?
Who am I to judge your true intentions?
I’ll tell you what I know for sure
The tide always leads to the shore
But when the rich steal from the pockets of the poor
Who are we?
We’re reckless and stupid
Should probably be more cautious
We’re nieve call in cupid
We’re love sick, gettin nautious
My feelin’s gettin pent-up
Gotta keep up the ruse
Letter came in, rent’s up
Guess I got nothin to lose
I’ll tell you what I know for sure
The tide always leads to the shore
And when the rich steal from the pockets of the poor
Who are we?
Soundcloud
My main purpose for this project was to market and create an appealing aesthetic for my artist brand. I worked really hard on the lyrics, but the actual musical aspect was somewhat put on the back burner so I could focus on making my marketable products and the message I was trying to send with my lyrics.
finalized logo and album art
I decided to use the colors pink, black, and yellow as my main colors in my logo and album art. I chose these colors because they work really well together and create a striking look that is hard to ignore. Pink is a traditionally feminine color and sticks out against the black background. My music and overall vibe is reflective of that inability to fade into the background and the need to be seen and express differences between people. To be unapologetically different and to love yourself and others for their best and their worst.
The eye inside the mouth idea came from the traditional way that women are supposed to be “seen not heard” and not to break from their roles as mothers and caretakers. The unnatural yellow color of the iris is uncanny and watchful, completely contradictory of the album title “Kindly Disregard”. I chose my name for the album as a sarcastic play on a formal way of speaking that is mostly expected of women who are supposed to be “ladylike” and apologize for things that are out of their control. In my workplace, I and many of my female coworkers have had men try to flirt with us at work and many times I and my coworkers find ourselves apologizing for not being interested. Women often have to make excuses for their behavior that should be seen as completely valid, like making up a fake partner to avoid the awkward tension that comes from turning someone down. The juxtaposition of the album title “Kindly Disregard” and the bright colors and strange imagery is supposed to reflect how women are supposed to act versus how we feel. We want to defend ourselves, but we are expected just to take what others say to us and turn the other cheek, which exposes us to the possibility of another metaphorical slap in the face.
Merchandise
