metal in paris

Master's Thesis Projet – Layout With More to Come

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Metalhead culture

Music and community go hand and hand, and the goal of this thesis was to document and shine a light on the metal scene in Paris.

As a metalhead who is still relatively new the Paris, I wanted to combine my passion for the music with graphic design to meet people and have the opportunity to create something new. The metal identity and culture is something that I experienced and knew in the states, but was interested to research and dive deeper into this local community to see what cultural aspects are shared across boarders.

Some of the key elements I used throughout the quarterly are my photographs, linoleum prints, and experimental type.

Focusing on the impact that the sailing industry has on the environment, key elements such as the linoleum print topographic map connect the nautical audience to the physical sea. Many of the motifs used throughout the magazine speak to the maritime audience, including the nautical flags and semaphore signals which create extra headings or messages. The balance between simple vector elements and textures from photo and type represents the dichotomy of sailing; it can be relaxing yet tumultuous.

Inspired by the history of metal album covers, the blackletter font is used for the headlines and the base of the handlettered logo. Starting with the base color and lockup of the headline, I then rendered it in 3D in Illustrator to create light, shadow, and a sense of depth. Next, I cut out the darkest side angle of the letters to create a more seamless look of text on photo, as well as added noise and texture.

I hand illustrated this logo, based off of the details and aesthetics of metal band logo's. Most metal genres have their own unique styles and details that represent what type of metal music it is, which is an important part of the identity and culture of the design aspect of metal. To the descerned metalhead eye, a thrash metal logo looks different to a death metal logo, which looks different to a black metal.

The important part of my project is that I was focusing on metal as a whole, not a specific sub-genre, so it was important to create a blend of styles, rather than pigeonhole the logo to one category and risk loosing representation.

I did this by drawing slightly more natural curves while keeping the sense of density. It was also key to balance the line between style and legibility, as metal logo's do not prioritize reading, as a thesis paper title, it was important to remain legible.

The digital illustration style follows the style of the metal logo featured of the cover of the zine, reminiscent of the iconic metal logos and album artwork.

As shown on the spread to the right, and the back cover, sigils were another visual I incorporated in the illustrations to reflect the symbolism and thematic of many metal genre aesthetics. The illustration on page 38 is an interpretation of the baphomet sigil and the backcover is the leviathan cross.

Handwritten pull quotes and lyrics help connect the texture of the images with the illustrations throught the zine. Because song lyrics have such an important role in the metal genre, I thought it was important to highlight the connection to the human experience by utilising the handwritten style. It feels natural and authentic to the metalhead voice and experience.

photography

The color photos feature as accent spreads or to highlight the start of a new section of the paper. The colors in the image fit within the palette of the project while staying true to the stage direction.

Within the sections of my paper, I used a gritty, black and white style to create texture and focus on the subjects and energy of the scene. Lighting color and quality varies greately throughout concerts and venues, so this helped created a cohesive visual langauge.

All photos were taken by me in venues across Paris and the surrounding area.

Stylistically, my goal is to recreate and represent the feelings, atmosphere, and emotions of attending a metal concer. The movement, lighting, and texture are the key ways I acheive this look.