The Vaughn Oliver competition brief asked designers to: “express yourself through type and image in response to music. This is a brief that is open to experimentation and innovation. Your solution should be considered as a limited-edition deluxe item.”
We were given a list of albums to choose from and I chose L.A. Women by The Doors. At the time that this album was made there was much civil unrest in California, however, it was always shown to be a glamours and desired city to the world. I based my designs on the song the album is named after, L.A. Women, and this was expressing how Los Angeles is a façade - not as glamourous as it may seem.
To express this, I experimented with the distortion of a perfect barbie doll, which has commonly been used to express the perfect appearance. The distortion was created by using a flexible mirror, creating an unusual and ‘uglier’ image of the perfect barbie we know and love. Additionally, the album opens to a distorted mirror inside for an interactive experience for the listener, distorting their face when looking at it.
