SECRET 7" - T-REX : Get it on

Brief

Secret 7" take 7 tracks from 7 of the best-known musicians around and press each one 100 times to 7" vinyl. The Brief entailed choosing a song to visually interpret in my own style, resulting in a one-of-a-kind sleeve for every 7”. The brief was pretty open and we were able to produce pretty much anything as long as it is within the size constraints and doesn't include the song name or artist on the design.

This was a good brief to get me back into the swing of things after my dissertation. I decided to first of all concentrate on T-Rex and the tune Get it On which happens to be a song I love and admire. Marc Bolan and T-Rex are brilliant and have created so many catchy riffs and rhythms. Because of my previous interest in the Band I decided that this would be the right tune to get me going.

Lyrics

"Get It On"

Well you're dirty and sweet
Clad in black
Don't look back
And I love you
You're dirty and sweet oh yea
Well you're slim and you're weak
You got the teeth
Of the Hydra upon you
You're dirty sweet
And you're my girl
Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On
You're built like a car
You got a hubcap
Diamond star halo
You're built like a car
Oh yeah
You're an untamed youth
That's the truth
With your cloak full of eagles
You're dirty sweet
And you're my girl
Well you're windy and wild
You got the blues
I'm your shoes and your stockings
You're windy and wild
Oh yeah
You're built like a car
You got a hubcap
Diamond star halo
You're dirty sweet
And you're my girl 

From listening to the lyrics it is quite clear that the song is about sex, there is not much more too it really, he mainly sings about what his 'girl' is like. It is a simple tune with a catchy riff, the theme is simple and to the point which could result in some quite humorous sexual imagery.

Research

I decided to research into Marc Bolan and T-Rex to see if there was any visual references I could use on the album cover to show some kind of link between the band and the song and found that Marc Bolan generally played with 2 signature guitars. The Gibson Les Paul and also the Gibson Flying V. After looking at both of these guitars I found strong feminine and masculine references which I could play on. This was a huge coincidence but also really useful imagery to work with.

Marc Bolan's Signature Guitars

The Les Paul's silhouette is quite feminine, the body shape has the curves of a woman and also the channel changer looks just like a nipple. With a bit of experimenting with  the colour scheme I think it will be possible to emphasize these features to make it look more woman like.

Marc Bolan's Flying V also looks quite penis like which will also be a nice piece of imagery to play around with. I think there is potential for something quite interesting here and I will experiment further to try produce something which has strong sexual connotations. I think using Marc's guitars also help to build the link between the band and the song and strengthens the concept.

Initial Ideas / Design Boards

Because the deadline for this brief was fast approaching I set it as a fairly quick turn around project. I came up with the various Ideas for the cover over the course of a day. My initial idea's consisted of ways I could link music and sex thinking about the various components involved with music and sex. I wanted the imagery to be quite humorous and funny as there is no serious way of tackling the theme and the song is quite open as it is.

From playing guitar I realized there were some sexual references involved with the instruments and components, for instance the act of plugging in the AUX cable to the guitar can is quite sexual and this could be emphasized by the shapes of different guitar bodies. I wanted the design to be quite in your face and bold as the song doesn't really hold anything back. With this in mind I tried producing 'musical sexual imagery' which ties the 2 subjects together. I experimented with different instruments and musical equipment/components to draw references to the song, using phallic imagery and playing with the shapes of the instruments.

I also looked at using iconic aspects of Marc Bolan to reference T-Rex further and draw a link between the song and the artist. I looked at Marc's iconic hair and signature guitars and fond that there was definitely something valuable in the guitars. I thought this was a nice link to the band and also could use the shapes of the guitars to reference sex and highlight the theme of the tune.

I also looked at trying to incorporate the female and male icons to show the link between the sexes. I didn't think this was a strong enough link however so scrapped that idea on the head. I did like the 69 treble clef but I didn't think this concept was as relevant to T-Rex as some of the others and I wanted to try emphasize that aspect too.

Digital Mock Ups

After assessing my designs I decided to push the guitar concept further and work on how I can push the sexual references with Marc's signature guitars. I think this had the strongest concept and links the band and the song in a clever and interesting way. I think this idea is a lot less smutty than the other designs which is also a good thing as it is more subtle but still funny. I started by drawing up the guitars and experimenting with the colours to emphasize the human element of the design. The pink colour scheme helps to give the guitars that human element needed to make the instruments more sexual.

I experimented with how the guitar could be placed on the album cover in a position which will emphasize the references to the woman's body further. I found that the Les Paul was really curvy like woman and the channel changer looks just like a nipple which is perfect. By hiding more of the guitar and only showing a portion, it helps to make it look more human like, rather than being just a guitar.

I tried loads of different compositions until I found one that worked. I found they worked better on paper and when I was digitizing my designs they didn't quite have the same affect as I would of liked.

This design was a bit too smutty and I also don't like the composition, I don't think it works very well, there is definitely more room for improvement.

I started looking at the Flying V a bit more and decided hat the 2 guitars need to be in proportion as the design wasn't working like this. I don't think that the guitar looks that penis like either when it is all in view. The sexual emphasis is not there. I decided I needed to have a re-think.

After re accessing the flying V I figured I could experiment with the body more, I figured the body looked less like 'testicles' and more like open legs. I could still use the head of the flying v to reference the penis, so I decided to split the image up in an attempt to highlight the song theme.

To make the guitars look even more sexual I added underwear to the instruments in order to push the references further and make it clearer as I found some people still couldn't see the sexual connotations that the instruments display. I think this is a nice humour extra which improves the design and makes it clearer whilst still relating to T.REX and Marc Bolan.

It took a while to find an arrangement which worked best.

The exrtra knickers spoilt the composition so I decided to scrap that idea

After messing about for a while with the composition I decided on this design to work on, I found there was even a silhouette of a woman's figure in the negative space.

Final Design Colour Schemes

I decided to brighten up the colour scheme after printing it out as it wasn't as vibrant as I would of liked. I decided a much brighter colour was needed to emphasize the psychedelic era Bolan was from and also to give it a bit more sex appeal.

I wasnt happy with the knickers on the flying V so decided to add suspenders and fish net stockings instead, this adds a kinky element to the design and reinforces the subject matter.

I experimented with different colours but thought that the black and pink combo worked best and emphasized the theme more. Black and pink is very lingerie like.

Final Design

This was the final design I created for 'Get it On' I was really happy with the outcome in the end and have had some really good feedback, everybody could tell the theme of the song and hopefully the signature guitars relate back to Bolan well. The colour scheme is bold and reinforces the message, its almost very PVC like in some respects. I look forward to hearing back from secret 7".