How to art direct a metal band

Howdie

I love metal
I paint and draw since I am 6 years old.
Art school rejected me, si Ive been educating myself.... :)

Two years ago a friend of ine asked me to join his metal band as the lead vocalist. I didnt do any metal or singing until then. It sounded like a challenge, and I accepted gladly....

But with the music, there have to be some visuals. Something to engage the eye when you listen to the sound I thought... Something appealing, mystifing.... Something that wants to tell a story. If possible in accordance with the lyrics of the song.

Same thing with the whole band... I thought and still think: like a brand.... something that goes with the band all the way... look at these examples, recognise something?

cover.jpgkisspng-nirvana-logo-sticker-decal-nirvana-5acc4ee75a9c05.0385341915233389833712.jpg
gojira-logo-1.jpg

Every band has a visual representation, and visual merketing for obvious reasons. Likely money and recognisability...

So...

How did I start?
My thought process was as said before. We settled after long debates on the bandname:

Diabeu
The writing of the name is always essential... I invested a good deal of time in the font design. There were many iterations....

diabeu varianaten.jpg

compilation.jpg

Ater two months I settled on:

17.jpg

With the name there comes already a clear visual message… and thats good.
My initial tryout was like this:

only logo.jpg

But I didnt like it too much... and I looked for other forms. I did like the idea though, some kind of head above the bandname...
Next step:

turntable title.jpg

The band liked the design. Its clear connection to the name. Since this was the first picture with the font, I decided to take the art direction journey from there...

Please lilke and share if you found this inspiring...
Feedback is key, please tell me what you think...

JD

H2
H3
H4
3 columns
2 columns
1 column
Join the conversation now