DAVID BOWIE + THE YOUTH

DAVID
BOWIE
+
THE
YOUTH
1
THE ASK
Tell today’s youth, most of who have heard of David Bowie but really
don’t know anything about him, why they should worship David Bowie.
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Who is David Bowie? Well according to Wikipedia.org David Bowie is:
“DAVID ROBERT JONES (BORN 8 JANUARY 1947), KNOWN BY HIS
STAGE NAME DAVID BOWIE, IS AN ENGLISH MUSICIAN, ACTOR,
RECORD PRODUCER AND ARRANGER. A MAJOR FIGURE FOR OVER
FOUR DECADES IN THE WORLD OF POPULAR MUSIC, BOWIE IS
WIDELY REGARDED AS AN INNOVATOR, PARTICULARLY FOR HIS
WHO IS
DAVID
BOWIE
WORK IN THE 1970S. HE IS KNOWN FOR HIS DISTINCTIVE VOICE
AS WELL AS THE INTELLECTUAL DEPTH AND CONSIDERABLE
ECLECTICISM OF HIS WORK.”
Ok, so why the fuck do we care? He is an innovator, we all know that word
is currently being tossed around the world like a fresh dollar bill. So really
who is David Bowie? Well to many he is a lot of things and to others he is
nothing. He is a man that has changed the world of music as we know it
for the better, he pushed the envelope of expression to the bitter end, he
fought the man and flipped the “normal” the bird when he was pressured
to conform to their ideals.
Now why are we asking this question? What are we trying to achieve,
well in the brief it said to show why David Bowie is a bad ass mo fo and
why they should worship the ground he walks on. So how do you get
this generation of Taylor Swift, Dubsteppin’’ yahoo’s to care about David
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What is a Taylor Swift Dubstepin’ yahoo? The youth of today have grown up
TAYLOR
SWIFT
DUBSTEPPIN’
YAHOO
with iPods, iPhones, and Mp3’s they have for the most part never heard of
a record, seen a CD or know truly what album art is all about. The Internet,
Twitter, Facebook and Myspace all collectively cloud’s their world with song
after song from all over the world.
They wouldn’t know what good music was if it came up and bite them in
the ass. Now not to say there isn’t good music out their in the world but
they jump from on song to another to another without really landing on
a rhyme or reason why this song is good / popular at the time.
All right so now how does this connect back to David Bowie? What the
youth these days don’t realize is that nothing is new, nothing is truly
innovative, everything is a copy of something else or an adaptation
of something else to make it better.
So how do we make youth want to worship David Bowie?
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When attempting to come up with an idea for this project, I kept thinking
back to the idea that the “youth” we are seeking to have worship David
Bowie are those iPod and Mp3 using yahoos that have no sense of album
DAVID
BOWIE
+
YOUTH
covers or the feel of a vinyl record.
Then I started to look into album art and trying to figure out is there a way
that I can incorporate something as simple as album art, of which David
Bowie has hundreds of amazing pieces to choose from as a basis for an
awareness campaign.
Alright so album art, ok so how is this going to be used? Going back to the
notion that nothing is new, everything is an adaptation of something else
to make something better I started to think of who already worships David
Bowie and considers them an inspiration to their craft. And in turn thinking
about who these “youth’s” are worshiping.
In comes a list of artist, new and old that list David Bowie as a key influence
to their career.
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So who is on this list of artist, new and old that call David Bowie a key
influence to their career?
Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Grace Jones, Iggy Pop, Japan, Madonna, Morrissey, Pixies,
Queen, Roxy Music, The Associates, The Human League, ABC, Adam Ant, Bjõrk, Blondie,
INFLUE
NCED
+
TOP
100
Eurythmics, Gary Glitter, Gary Numan, George Michael, Howard Jones, Jobriath, Joy
Division, Klous Nomi, LADY GAGA, Malcomlm Mclaren, Mark Almond, Moby, Nirvana,
Pet Shop Boys, Placebo, Pulp, Radiohead, Simple Minds, Steve Harley, Suede, Talk Talk,
Talking Heads, Thomas Dolby, Ultravox, A Flock Of Seagulls, Adrian Belew, Bauhaus, Bloc
Party, Blur, Bronski Beat, Chris Connelly, Dead Or Alive, Edwyn Colins, Erasure, Frankie
Goes To Hollywood, Franz Ferdinand, Joe Jackson, Julian Cope, Kate Bush, Kiss, Love And
Rockets, Magazine, Mott The Hoopie, MUSE, Naked Eyes, New Order, New York Dolls, Oingo
Boingo, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Patti Smith, Peter Hammill, Siouxsie And The
Banshees, Smashing Pumpkins, Soft Cell, Super Furry Animals, Supergrass, Television,
The Church, The Feelies, The Runaways, The Smiths, The Verve, Thompson Twins, Tv On The
Radio, Wang Chung, Yello, Zolar X, A-Ha, Alphaville, Berlin, CALVIN HARRIS, Fad Gadget,
Falco, Felt, Interpool, Inxs, Janells Monáe, Jane’s Addiction, Kaiser Chiefs, LA ROUX, Lazer
Crystal, Manic Street Preachers, MARILYN MANSON, Modern English, Momus, Nine Inch
Nails, Scissor Sisters, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Sweet, The Breeders, The Chameleons U.K.,
The Cure, The Psychedelic Furs, The Teardrop Exploes, The The, The Tubes, The Undertones,
‘Till Tuesday, Vampire Weekend And The Hoof & The Heel
In looking into who was listed as saying they where influenced by David
Bowie I picked up that a few artist has been on the Billboard Hot 100 in
the last few years. The five artist I noticed were Lady Gaga, Muse, Calvin
Harris, La Roux and Marilyn Manson. A interesting mix of people all
claimed to be influenced by David Bowie.
6
THE ANSWER
How to get the youth of today to worship David Bowie? Get them to
associate David Bowie with someone they already worship. And also
get them to connect to the fact that potentially that artist would not
be around if David Bowie had not lead the way so many years ago.
7
HOW
TO
EXECUTE
Collecting all the album artwork from David Bowie over the years to
construct a grid showcasing all that he has done in the past and showing
really why he should be worshiped.
Then finding the right photo to work in correlation with the grid of album
covers was the next task. And work in the constraints that this isn’t set
up as a “true” campaign to get someone to purchase an album but really
to get people aware of David Bowie and his influence in the world we live
in today.
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Using the same style that was used for the previous designs the concept
can be developed further and contain photos of David Bowie with album
art of the people he influenced and be more remittance of a movie poster.
These would ideally be set up in the same area as the series of plastered
prints but be a stand alone piece that would tie in the idea that David
Bowie influenced many people, including star performances today.
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Custom background for Pandora or iPhone 5 lock screen
CAM
SANDAGE
+
WK
12.9
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