Wednesday 28 March 2012
Monday 19 March 2012
The influence of music on designers and design in general:
Designers Tell How Music Influences Creativity
More Than Just Ear Candy
"Music can be used to activate, stimulate and relax the mind and body," Campbell says. "More and more businesses are recognizing the importance of music in a work environment."
One such work environment is Gil Shuler Design in downtown Charleston, SC, where staffers listen to everything from The Beatles, Miles Davis and The Isley Brothers to Zappa, The Beastie Boys and Filter. A central stereo system feeds speakers in several rooms, each with individual volume controls.
"I’d hate this place without music," says principal Gil Shuler. "The music creates a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. It puts you at ease and makes this more of a fun environment—not a stale, dry one."
Likewise at The Elephant Factory Design Co., a four-person design firm in Garden City, MI, near Detroit, where a single stereo unit belts out Ella Fitzgerald or The Rentals, depending on whose turn it is to play deejay. "I think music totally influences creativity—more so with the emotion of a particular design than with what Pantone I’m going to use," says Mark Penxa, owner and chief designer. "Some of our designs mimic the music we might’ve listened to that day; listening to ‘angry’ music might inspire an ‘angry’ piece."
Other firms agree that music can directly influence design. "Sometimes you get into such a subconscious groove with the music that it comes out in your projects," Vera says. "I used to do a lot of illustrations, and to get into that fantasy-world feeling, I’d put on Windham Hill music. Obviously, music influences us on deep subconscious levels."
John Besmer, principal of Planet Design Co. in Madison, WI, says the connection between music and creativity is undeniable. "If you’re working on a project that’s elegant and beautiful, you might listen to something like jazz, something that puts you in that mood," he says. "But if you’re designing an in-your-face project, you want music that gets you there. After all, you wouldn’t go to the gym and want to work out to a lullaby, right? Music shapes the message."
Most artists have been around the proverbial block often enough to realize that music is one of the most attainable dichotomies of spiritual and creative well-being and mental health. It’s both a stimulant and a relaxant, and we pop it as often as we can.
"The key is finding the right kind of music to stimulate creativity," says Gerald Haman, a creativity trainer with SolutionPeople, a creative brainstorming group in Chicago. "I recommend a variety, because every time the music shifts from one style to another, your brain shifts wave patterns, making you think in a slightly different way. I advise my clients to make their own recordings, in short segments, kind of like a ‘brain barrage,’ or like a channel scan on TV, except it’s all musical." The Elephant Factory’s Penxa says the firm’s favorite music is always the homemade mixed tapes staffers swap.
The goal for creative souls, Campbell says, is to "learn to regulate our minds and bodies using music, that phenomenal catalyst, to help us inwardly vision what we’re trying to accomplish." - http://bit.ly/zvmTBg
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Peepshow's Miles Donovan works regularly for The Observer Music Monthly magazine, creating illustrations of current stars. "I've created hundreds of images of artists," he admits, "and I listen to music constantly - it has always been such a huge inspiration for the illustration work I've created over the years, both in terms of subject matter and the style or way in which I work," he stresses. - http://bit.ly/wqFMfV
Go check out Miles Donovan's illustrations on http://www.milesdonovan.co.uk/
Go check out Miles Donovan's illustrations on http://www.milesdonovan.co.uk/
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Sunday 4 March 2012
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