~ Secret 7 - Etta James - initial ideas ~

* this song makes me think of christmas and the Sainsburys advert) Its a really classic track that to me just reminds me of being really warm in winter, its a real old comfort. 

At last my love has come along
My lonely days are over and life is like a song, oh yeah
At last the skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up clover the night I looked at you
I found a dream that I can speak to
A dream that I could call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill I've never known, oh yeah
You smiled, you smiled oh and then the spell was cast
And here we are in Heaven
For you are mine at last

The song lyrics are really positive and about a love coming home at last to her. It's beautiful and no-wonder it warms hearts; this is something I really want to capture within my design.

Another important element to this design is that its the oldest track secret - 7 have ever pressed, released in 1961. I feel its important to look at some art and design work from the 60's and see the contrast in style and consider any features I could incorporate in my sleeve.

These examples of 60's album covers use a really expressive use of shape and colour. It's simple yet still portrays a larger picture and overall feel to each style of music.

Thinking of Etta James - At Last in terms of shape

I chose two variations of red (represent love and lust) and a blue (represent being lonely before) and decided to draw out the shapes I felt were appropriate and went along as I listened to the song. 

The song is sung well and often holds long bars/notes. So the drawing ended up with these long flowing lines which I felt looked really appealing; they almost look like written music bars which is most definitely in context. They could also be representative of the timeline and flow of love and life which is informed by the meaning of the song. I really like this 60's approach to shape as something simple yet still expressive and though it was a brilliant place to start for this design.

Towards the late 60's more colourful and in your face uses of expressive shape began to appear in the music & design world. These are a huge contrast to contemporary album cover design. It's something id love to explore and express within my design as the timeline of the track is one of the most important elements as despite it being so old its still so timeless.