End of module evaluation

Overall, this module has allowed the development of skills, especially with production. With having the requirement to screen print the j card it forced myself to learn how to transfer digital design skills into physical form. The brief itself allowed exploration of a topic of which created interest for myself, with the outcome of any object allowing creativity. The brief helped to develop research skills, with having to search deep for information of which is not commonly known within the micro genre. With the group branding, it allowed collaboration between peers, helping to enhance my skills in teamwork, with following the same branding principles throughout all outcomes. Furthermore, it allowed me to be challenged with the individual responsibility and the task of creating gifs of which aren't my strength. With the three outcomes for the brief it tested the use of time, with the production needing more time to allow errors and lead time. This deemed a challenge but has taught skills with how to become quicker at making design decisions and how to transfer these designs onto different materials and methods. Screen printing was the most challenging part of the brief, with not having experience so it was a whole new learning curve, however was beneficial to my knowledge and practice to be used with further projects.

Final J card and cassette

The final results had changed from the initial final design, with having to use one less colour for ease of process, getting grid of the crowns and shapes and the different turn out of the colour. The colour outcome I wasn't happy with, with the pink looking like a red and the colours showing up too dark on the stock. However, the rest of the design I am happy with, with the big improvement needed for next time is aligning properly so all elements work well and the folding of them, so they work nicer outside the J card. The J cards work better in the cassette, with the use of the glitter cassette adding to the visual language and creating subtle interest.

Final crit

like the Ikea instructions
limited colour palette of j card works well
j card could be more ambitious
the colour palette of the flag doesn't really link with the other elements
love the object - best element
love the object- interesting and has a funny side to it
can see the consistency between the j card and the flag
instructions might work better on a really thin paper stock, with creating a stronger connection
the Ikea illustrations could have been pushed to include on the j card
work isn't visually consistent although separately works well
object is strongest but could be made clearer as not sure what they are instructing me to do or the story it's telling
all have quite different visual languages
the flag and j card works well together because of the imagery and colour scheme - could I adapt the imagery of the instructions to become more consistent
the instructions are a little hard to understand what is happening  but I like the paper stock
interesting type and layout on the j card
nice texture
typeface on the j card is cool and suits the genre
linking it to ABBA and Ikea was perhaps too obvious could you have tried to make more obscure links to the genre
the link to Ikea isn't strong enough
the designs are perhaps are not tacky enough

overall, with the feedback it is clear that the most succesful element of the brief was the Ikea instructions, with the illustrations creating interest and the production becoming more professional. It is clear that the visual language of the three components don't match as well as they should have and this should been considered more in the production.

Last day of screen printing

With the intention that all that was to be done was the text, the already don layers were took and the text tried to be screen printed. I then figured out that the board was blocked and so the text wouldn't come through at all, so the screen was power washed many of times to try and get rid of the emulsion which may have still been there. However, this wasn't working so I started of the process again with a new small screen. The process was started again and another positive was printed, with this time having the process happen much quicker because of knowledge and lack of time. When the board was finally ready the text was printed, and worked this time. It was too found that by printing both the title and the artists was unsuccessful because of the wrong alignment. So the title was covered when printing the artist to try and sort the problem out. It proved difficult to try and align the artists to end up not at the very top of the page. With the alignment not ending up the best, it was decided not to add the shapes because of the lack of time left for error within the process.


The final results;

 

With the final ones, they were cut to size and folded, however the first lot of folded ones didn't seem to fit the cassette properly so they were re cropped mark and re folded, to which created some unprofessional folds, to which needs to be learnt to do better next time, but however works when in the cassette tapes.

Final outcome of the flag

The final outcome of the flag deiced to have the background being blue in order to keep the understated yet the colour scheme of which is reflected in the genre. The flag uses the details inspired by the cover of Fernando. With the outcome being simplistic it doesn't overdo the visual language for the genre, creating a aesthetic that is true to the genre.

Second versions of the J cards

With the alignment not going correctly on the backs of the J cards and the pints themselves not turning out the best quality because of the first time screen printing, it was decided to start the process again whilst the other screen was drying. The process was then started again with adding the two layers of colour to the women and aligning the back two layer of the map and woman. The outcomes came out much better, with the medium showing up stronger and the technique being more confident.

Final outcome of the object

With having developments of the different front covers and formats of which the instructions can be made into, the decision was to make a large hand out of which would be folded yet would also work as a poster. The design features the Ikea man in different scenarios of which are representing the different steps to achieve if wanting a successful Swedish schlager song. The illustrations create interest and humour, with the link clearly being made with Ikea. The paper stock printed on was a 90gsm A3, with the disseverance that you cannot print double sided on any bigger and this stock was the thinnest, with the aim to match the stock comparatively to the instruction manuals. The instructions ended up being the strongest piece made, with the production values more professional and the deliverance more effective and interesting, to which may have been a bette idea to have used on the j cards.

Screen printing - the failure of the crown layer

With having the two layers of the design done, the crowns were then screen printed. Metallic binder was mixed to create the gold binder. It was found that because the alignment of the women didn't exactly match up to the positive, the line of crowns also didn't match up, therefore not be able to use them. To sort out the problem, the crowns were printed one by one, however this was a lengthy process of what seemed to not give the bets results also, so it was deiced to abandon the idea. With the other screen having been ripped, the process was started again and the other positives were exposed. With the other screen, the backs were aligned with using the individual screen mats (not very well) to the repeated pattern. The layer of the woman was aligned but however didn't block out the crops marks so therefore the wrong alignment was clear.

Screen printing, second layer

With already having the first layer of the design, the second layer of the blue colours women was added, with aligning them to be overlaid. Some of the designs weren't as successful because of the bold imprint of the colour or with it being too faded. With waiting for the medium to dry, a second screen was obtained to expose the other positives of which would be needed for the use of the back cover. After coating the screen and waiting for it to dry, the screen had been found to have a rip in it from being in the drying rack. Because of the rip, the process would have to restart again with a different screen as I could no longer use the screen with the rip. With the design already started, I experimented with the crown layer, with creating the gold by using a metallic binder, of which only showed up well with a couple of layers. It was found that because of the un perfect alignment of the women, the crowns therefore didn't align.

First stages of screenprinting

With the intentions of starting the printing process, the screen was looked for yet discovered that it had been stolen. Because the screen had been stolen, I had to use a smaller screen and go through the whole process again. In the meanwhile the paper stock of watercolour was chosen to be used, with the aim to have a texture of which would have gone nicely with bit map effect of the j card. However, the library had ran out of bit map to which the paper stock of a 300gsm white card was used, which still had some texture to it. With the screen exposed and dried, with only being able to fit the inside positives of the woman on it, the first layer of the dark pink was printed.

Positives and exposing the screen

With the added crop marks to the images, the positives were made with having 5 layers. The design of the woman dancing was made into a repeat pattern to make the process of aligning the back easier. With the screen that was washed it was then coated and after it had dried, then exposed with all the layers on one massive screen. The positive was then washed off and left to dry to then begin screen printing the following day.

Start of Screen Printing

To start of the screen printing process I cleaned a screen of which is big enough to fit all the layers of the design on in between figuring out how to create crop marks on the designs which will be exposed.

Flag developments

With the initial ideas for the flags not communicating the genre as effectively as wanted, further research was done to gather ideas for the visual language. With the research into Abba ad their cover art, it was chosen to adapt their use of borders of which would create a simplistic yet visually correct design to represent the genre.

 

Continued development of j card designs

With the development of initial ideas for the j cards, with outcomes such as;

 it was decided and critiqued that were too formatted and trying too hard as an aesthetic. So Instead, the initial ideas were looked back on, with the potential to develop them to have a better visual language.

The design of which was changed for the back cover featured the woman with guitar as the overlapping layers and the colour scheme to convey the genre well, however the design needed changing. The woman was centred for the front panel, with placing the made typeface inspired by the Eurovision logo, with the choice of naming it 'Dancing queen' to resemble Abba's influence and the performance side to the genre. The tracks were placed in between the shapes with using the typeface, With the comments that this seemed too formatted, a curved path was made with just using the artist, to which better reflected the cover with highlighting the movement of dance.

The inside was chosen to be a repeat pattern of the woman dancing, with this being deemed the most successful first initial idea. The colours were changed in order to fit the back cover better and the crowns were changed to have a variety of crowns of which fit the contemporary nature of the genre better and will create interesting texture when screen printed.

development of j card designs

With the previous critique feedback being that the designs visual language wasn't conveying the right sort of language, and that perhaps should be more 'tacky', further research was done for ideas. With finding that Abba was inspired by the genre and had an impact for the future generation of it, their album and single covers were looked at. With their prevalent use of borders in their covers, I experimented with using borders to the initial ideas of which I already had to change the aesthetic. I also used contemporary images as well as the British library ones.

Developed research

Schlager goes back way before Abba, the group who did the most to bring its catchy melodies, dramatic final key change, and spangly stylings to the world.

Melodifestivalen,often features modern schlager hits, giving it a second name by some: Schlagerfestivalen

The Melodifestivalen (which selects the Swedish competitor at the Eurovision Song contest) is popularly also called Schlagerfestivalen("the Schlager Festival") or Schlager-SM (Swedish schlager championship), since it has traditionally been characterised by schlager songs. The Eurovision Song Contest has also been called "Eurovisionsschlagerfestivalen" (Eurovision schlager festival) or schlager-EM ("European schlager championship"). The amount of schlager has decreased drastically in recent years, but schlager songs are the most likely genre to win the competition ("Evighet" (English: "Invincible" in 2006 by Carola and "Hero" by Charlotte Perelli in 2008, for example). Melodifestivalen is the most popular TV program in Sweden. It is broadcast annually, and in 2006 an estimated 47 percent of the Swedish population watched the final. In Sweden "schlager" is often used to refer to Eurovision-participating songs.

Two characteristics of Swedish schlager are a pronounced Key change before the final chorus and their three-minute length (the maximum song length permitted at the Eurovision Song Contest). Some Swedes dispute the meaning of "schlager" with respect to Swedish music; it may be used indiscriminately to describe all popular music, "older-sounding" popular music, Melodifestivalen songs, Eurovision songs, songs with a "catchy" chorus or dans band music. Both Bjorn and Benny Andersson of ABBA were influenced by schlager music early in their careers.

Schlager music emerged in Europe after the second world war as a backlash against Rock and roll in America. 

An enormous genre often forgotten in music genealogies is “Schlager”. The word is also synonymous with the type of song (“a Schlager”) and is German for hit song (to hit = schlagen). But the genre has a much greater reach than simply Germany and Austria. Neighboring countries Netherlands and Belgium, as well as former Yugoslavian countries and Sweden and Finland all have rich traditions of Schlager music. Its roots lie deep in traditional Folk music (particularly town criers and troubadours) but the style evolved into a more popular form of music starting as early as the thirties in some countries. Like troubadour songs, Schlagers are emotional, sentimental ballads, though often superficial in nature. They tell tales about love, misfortune or happiness, but always in a conservative and politically correct manner. After World War II and especially the Rock ‘n’ Roll revolution, Schlager singers went on the defense, as they felt threatened by this new type of popular music. Since Blues, Jazz and Country had little influence in prewar Europe, the rise of Rock ‘n’ Roll was even a greater shock and of more significance there. Thus a much greater production of Schlagers saw the light, produced in a lightweight pop manner with piano, guitar, accordion or folk instruments. Each country has its own history and differences when it comes to Schlager, but the common thread outlined here stretches outside borders. Schlager remains an undying genre, alive in many “folky” bars, community centers, or at huge Schlagerfestivals.

The style emerged in Europe after the Second World War, partly as a backlash against American rock and roll, and uses simple patterns of music. Typical schlager tracks are either sweet, highly sentimental ballads with a simple, catchy melody or light pop tunes. Lyrics typically center on love, relationships and feelings. The northern variant of schlager (notably in Finland) has taken elements from Nordic and Slavic folk songs, with lyrics tending towards melancholic and elegiac themes. Musically, schlager bears similarities to styles such as easy listening music.

The German word schlager meaning of a "(musical) hit". The style has been frequently represented at the Eurovision Song Contest and has been popular since it originated in 1956, although it is gradually being replaced by other pop music styles.

Over time, schlager music has gradually shifted on to electronic music rather than generic pop music, due to its widespread use of synthesizers throughout its various implementations in the recent years.

The contest is also known as ”Schlagerfestivalen” or ”Schlager-SM” in the media. ”Schlager” is a Swedish name for the type of music that was synonymous with the contest in the 80’s. Uptempo, poppy songs with throwaway lyrics, and with arrangements often inspired by Abba’s ”Waterloo”. Typical ”Schlager” songs include ”Bra Vibrationer” by Kikki Danielsson(MF 1985), ”Fyra Bugg och en Coca-Cola” by Lotta Engberg(MF 1987), ”Take me to your heaven” by Charlotte Nilsson(MF 1999) and ”Listen to your heartbeat” by Friends(MF 2001). A key change is almost compulsory. SVT are now trying to get away from the ”Schlager” tag however, encouraging other types of music to compete in the contest.

schlager, a local variant of schmaltzy Europop loved by Swedes

In Sweden, the love affair with schlager is near universal. There are always a few modern schlager acts competing in Melodifestivalen, the Pop Idol-style contest with which Sweden chooses its Eurovision entry, and which is by far the most popular programme on Swedish television. Indeed, the five-week selection process is often referred to by Swedes as "Schlagerfestivalen". - the gaurdian

Schlager goes back way before Abba, the group who did the most to bring its catchy melodies, dramatic final key change, and spangly stylings to the world. But it's the stars of the 1980s and 1990s who now personify the genre. Chief among them is Carola Häggkvist, who won Eurovision in 1991 and is known as Carola. When she performs at Wonk this week it will mark a reconciliation with her gay fanbase following a decade in which she has been more or less barred from gay clubs and Pride festivals after calling homosexuality "unnatural" in an interview.

Other schlager favourites are Charlotte Perelli, who won Eurovision in 1999 and represented Sweden again in 2008, and who is also performing at Wonk; Shirley Clamp, a long-term runner-up who has never made the Swedish selection but had a string of chart hits, and, more recently, the Eurodance band Alcazar.

"We take it extremely seriously, but there is also this awareness of it not being serious," explains Niklas Altermark, a PhD student and schlager fan. "There's this agreement that if you sit down and have a schlager night that this is far removed from the stuff you actually like. The people I hang out with like opera and independent music, and art bands and stuff, but we all sit down and say, 'oooh, nice hook in that chorus'. I don't watch it ironically, it's something else. It's almost like it's a cultural event divorced from music."

Alasdair Rendall, who co-founded Schlagerfest, a London club night dedicated to Swedish schlager, puts the genre's crossover to the UK gay scene down to Eurovision. "Eurovision has a big appeal among the gay community, particularly in Britain," he says. "And it's through Eurovision that they've discovered the Swedish Melodifestivalen."

although it is gradually being replaced by other pop music styles.

Both Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA were influenced by schlager music early in their careers.

“Specifically it’s the importance to their music of Swedish folk songs and of a sound called Schlager, which means ‘hit’ in German.” Bereft of rhythm and blues or soul influences and cloyingly kitsch and sentimental to modern ears, the central European sound of Schlager was vastly popular – the soundtrack to a million camping holidays and cabaret evenings. “It’s not cool music,” says Palm, “but Abba grew up loving Schlager and they added other things that they loved like The Beach Boys and The Beatles to that simple blueprint. Millions of people related to it.

The Swedish Schlager has become a real cult and there are a lot of bars and discos playing especially this kind of music which is always a great fun as everybody can sing along the lyrics and mostly the songs are danceable. It’s also a very Swedish thing, which cannot being compared with e.g. the German Schlager. The Swedish ESC songs have become evergreens and they are always played on the radio as well. At the popular Ållsang på Skansen – the summer TV show on SVT, which is being broadcasted for 8 weeks in summer each week. There are a lot of previous and current ESC singers singing their hits and the open air audience is singing along. There are songbooks with the lyrics and everybody should contribute by singing in this unique show. The hosts are going through the audience and force people to sing in the TV micro.

Over the years a lot of singers have become stars with the Swedish Schlager such as Carola, Charlotte Perrelli, Lena Philippson, Måns Zelmerlöw, Sanna Nielsen, Martin Stenmarck, Jill Johnsson, Marie Bergman, Roger Pontare, Tommy Nilsson, Lotta Engberg, Kikki Danielsson and many more.
There are always great moments e.g. Kikki Danielsson with “Bra Vibrationer”  
or Arvingarna with “Eloise”

Unfortunately, the current Melodifestivalen (Swedish national final) is giving more priority to contemporary pop songs, the classic Swedish Schlager is getting less represented every year, even if the composers still try to bring the Swedish Schlager in.

In Sweden we actually have a Eurovision music “genre” called “schlager” – nightclubs have schlager dance floors all year round, there are schlager cruises, and specific schlager words (“schlagerhysteri” = schlager hysteria, “schlagerfeber” = schlager fever, and “schlageryra” = schlager frenzy), and every year between February and May, the media is full of schlager news. It really is ESC fever!

Sweden’s pop past is a sentimental journey through the world of schlager music. Loosely translated from German to mean “a hit”, Swedish schlager music generally consists of short, simple, light songs about love and relationships that feature memorable hooks and perhaps a key change. Schlager music basically is a style of pop music. But given America’s and the UK’s bi polar attitudes towards pop in contrast to Sweden’s enduring respect for the genre, it’s fitting that the Swedes have their own term for it outside of English.

Early schlager was derived from traditional Swedish folk, classical, and cabaret music and remained that way until after World War II, when a previously-isolated Sweden began exchanging culture with the rest of the world in earnest. The biggest musical influences in the 50s and 60s came from America and the UK, changing the direction of schlager music and eventually giving birth to the mother of all schlager bands: ABBA.

Abba single covers:

Melodiestivalen and eurovision:

Ikea instructions: